U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign and economic policy event at the Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at Rockland Community College, State University of New York, in Suffern, New York, May 22, 2026.
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Hello, my name is Hui Jie from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
The Chinese philosopher Laozi once said: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
But that largely presupposes progress, and that’s not necessarily what’s happening for the United States in the Iran war.
What you need to know today
The timing of an Iran deal remains uncertain, but traders are feeling relatively optimistic after US President Donald Trump said talks were “progressing well.”
Oil prices continued to fall, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures at $96.14 and $90.30 per barrel, respectively, providing some relief to energy markets. U.S. stock market futures rose, with futures for all three major indexes up about 1% as markets returned from the Memorial Day weekend later today.
Former CIA director and former four-star general David Petraeus has suggested that Iran may be blinkered over the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict’s defining flashpoint.
The incident comes as the US military carried out a “self-defense” strike in southern Iran early Tuesday, which US Central Command said was “to protect US forces from threats from Iranian forces.”
CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said targets include missile launch sites and Iranian vessels attempting to plant mines.
But President Trump also introduced a new wrinkle in the negotiations, linking the Iran peace deal to Arab countries that are signatories to the Abraham Accords, an agreement to normalize relations with Israel.
Pakistan flatly rejected the request, reportedly saying the two issues “are not and cannot be linked.” And Saudi Arabia said it would not sign the deal unless it paved the way for a Palestinian state, an extremely sensitive issue for Israel.
And with President Trump insisting it’s “a great deal for everyone, or no deal at all,” the question is whether demands for the Abraham Accords will be the latest event to break up negotiations.
— Lim Huijie
And finally…
Investors warn of boom-bust cycle in memory stocks amid AI excitement
Strong returns in memory stocks have contributed to the strong gains in the U.S. and South Korean stock markets in recent years, but market watchers warn that investors are forgetting market cyclicality at their own peril.
The memory industry has been experiencing a period of sustained growth since the launch of ChatGPT in December 2022. This has led to a huge demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
William de Gale, a portfolio manager at Blue Box Asset Management, told CNBC on Wednesday that the industry tends to have “highs and lows.” “Long-term, this is a pretty scary industry,” he says.
— Joseph Wilkins
