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© 2026 DailyDropNo. 5
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, FRI., OCT. 9, 2026No. 5 · Morning, 6:00 a.m. CEST6 a.m. CEST
AEX1,121.20▲0.31%10/8EUR/USD1.1216－0.00%10/9S&P 5007,765.36▼0.47%10/8WTI$91.50▲3.60%10/8Gold$4,157.00▲0.20%10/8
World · OilPress ✓ 6 outlets · figures attributed to sources

Trump rules out an attack on Iran until after the elections. The Houthis fire on Riyadh, and oil rises again

Washington says it is holding ‘productive talks’ with Tehran and will not attack before the American elections in November. The same day the Houthis attacked Riyadh airport and the oil price climbed again. Stocks slipped along.

President Trump said on Thursday that the United States is holding ‘productive talks’ with Iran and that he will not attack the country before the November midterm elections. Reuters, NU.nl, Der Spiegel, Radio-Canada and Bloomberg reported the remark; NU.nl called it a pause in attacks. The war began in February with American and Israeli strikes on Iran. According to Livemint, it is costing Trump support among voters and putting pressure on Republicans who want to hold on to their narrow majority in Congress. Bloomberg Television also reported that Trump said he was no longer seeking a deal. That sentence has so far appeared only there, and what exactly he meant is unclear. The New York Times wrote that the Pentagon has drawn up options for three days of strikes, while over recent months the president has repeatedly rejected a restart of the war. According to the Indian newspaper Economic Times, Iran says it is keeping its uranium. Russia stands behind Tehran: after meeting his Iranian counterpart Pezeshkian in Turkmenistan, Putin said he wanted to do everything to end the war (Al Jazeera, Le Figaro).

The pause brought no calm to the Gulf. The Houthis in Yemen claimed a new attack on Riyadh airport on Thursday and threatened to hit Saudi Arabia’s oil installations. The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles heading for Riyadh and Khamis Mushait (Hindustan Times); Reuters and AP reported smoke near the airport. Lufthansa and Indian carriers suspended their flights to Riyadh (Reuters). Turkey, according to its foreign minister, is considering supporting Saudi defences but rules out an offensive role. Prices reacted at once. A barrel of Brent climbed back above $104, according to Australian newspapers; American crude WTI rose about 3.6 percent, to around $91.50. The S&P 500 lost 0.47 percent on oil worries and inflation fears. The American ten-year yield nonetheless fell 4.6 basis points to 5.231 percent, after an auction of thirty-year government bonds drew strong demand. Fed board member Waller said, according to Reuters, that more rate hikes are needed, although there is room on the pace. The effects reach beyond the Gulf. Ryanair chief O’Leary said, according to Reuters, that the sharply higher jet fuel price could last until 2028, and Asian countries are building up oil reserves and speeding up their switch to renewable energy (Reuters). For the Netherlands this means more expensive fuel and an uncertain energy market, even though the AEX still rose 0.31 percent on Thursday, to 1,121.20 points. The euro held around $1.12. How much the pause is worth therefore depends less on Washington than on what Tehran and the Houthis do in the coming days.

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By the numbers
+3.6%US crude (WTI) to about $91.50 a barrel, Thursday close
> $104Brent a barrel, according to Australian newspapers
5.231%US ten-year yield, 4.6 basis points lower
Technology · MarketsPress ✓ 5 outlets · revenue figure from one source (FT)

OpenAI revenue is $20 billion lower than reported, says the FT. The Nasdaq falls 1.25 percent

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that OpenAI’s annualised revenue is some $20 billion lower than previously reported. Reuters, CNBC, Bloomberg and the FD carried the story. Two summaries of the FT piece cite just over $50 billion, against about $68 billion in earlier reports; the higher figure is said to have included partners’ gross revenue. That has not been independently confirmed, and OpenAI did not respond in the reports we saw.

On Wall Street the Nasdaq closed 1.25 percent lower at 27,193.34 points, the S&P 500 fell 0.47 percent and the Dow gained 0.10 percent. Chip stocks such as Nvidia and Micron slid; the Philadelphia chip index and TSMC’s American listing lost more than 3 percent. MarketWatch quotes analysts who say the difference lies in how revenue is counted, not in weak demand for AI. Bloomberg expects Asian tech stocks to follow. The market for corporate loans to tech companies also came under pressure: according to Bloomberg, investors are repricing the risks of debt financing for AI. For the Netherlands it is mainly the chip chain that matters. Watch ASML and other chip companies on the Amsterdam market today: if they slide at the open, that drags the AEX down with them. A single report does not prove a trend break; the upcoming quarterly results of the chip companies will show whether demand is really cooling.

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Word of the day
Annualised revenueStock market

Revenue over a short period, for example a month, extrapolated to a full year. Handy for fast growers, but sensitive to how you calculate it.

Politics · The HaguePress ✓ 2 outlets · vote counts from NOS

House wants the rainbow flag at parliament after all: 90 votes for, 36 against

The rainbow flag will hang on the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) building on Sunday after all. Late on Thursday evening a majority voted, in a roll-call vote, for a motion asking for just that: 90 members were in favour, 36 against. NOS and NU.nl reported the result. The motion came after the plan to raise the flag was withdrawn following an objection from the SGP.

Sunday is Coming Out Day, a day that draws extra attention to openness and acceptance for LGBT+ people. The decision shows that a majority in the House supports the flag, even when a small party objects. Whether the flag may hang more often from now on does not follow from the vote. That requires a separate arrangement.

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United States · JusticePress ✓ 8 outlets · date according to NYT and Spiegel

US to broadcast execution of the Fort Hood shooter live

The Pentagon says the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad will be broadcast live. Secretary Hegseth had said earlier that the execution would be ‘public’. Reuters, AP, the BBC, the New York Times, The Guardian, NU.nl, de Volkskrant and Der Spiegel reported it. According to the NYT and Der Spiegel, the execution is scheduled for December 3. Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, shot dead thirteen soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.

According to DW, it is the first execution by the American military since 1961. The New York Times calls a public execution in modern times unprecedented. What the broadcast will look like and who may watch is not yet known. What is already clear is that the decision will provoke much debate about the death penalty and about executions as public spectacle.

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Ukraine · DiplomacyPress ✓ 4 outlets · death toll 30 to 33, not yet established

Russian bomb on city buses in Kramatorsk kills at least thirty people. Rubio: the war is stuck

A Russian aerial bomb hit buses in Kramatorsk on Thursday, a city just behind the front in eastern Ukraine. De Volkskrant, Reuters and Italy’s ANSA report 33 dead, CNA 30. The death toll is therefore not yet established. Photos from local authorities show burnt-out wrecks and bodies in the street. President Zelensky said the attack ‘will not go unanswered’. Secretary of State Rubio, according to Reuters, called the war a dangerous stalemate; the Kremlin said it agreed.

Diplomacy follows today. Reuters reports that Witkoff and Kushner, Trump’s envoys, are meeting Ukrainian negotiators, and according to Zelensky those negotiators travel to the US on Friday. That fits the Dutch cabinet’s choice of a harder tone toward Moscow. Ukraine says it has hit Russia’s largest oil refinery, and drones struck a Yandex data centre. Both reports come from a single agency (Reuters) and have not been independently confirmed.

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In brief
  • American Express fined $350 million over inadequate anti-money-laundering controlsReuters · FT
  • People take to the streets in Spain after the death of a woman who symbolised the housing crisisNU.nl · Reuters
  • Fire in the car park beneath the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam; heavy smokeNOS · NU.nl
  • US suspends Microsoft from a residence programme for H-1B workers, says VanceReuters · AP
  • Starbucks looked into a takeover of Chipotle, the FT reports; Chipotle jumpsReuters · Bloomberg
  • SpaceX buys spectrum and targets American mobile carriersReuters · Bloomberg
  • Meta bans ads from ByteDance, TikTok’s former owner, in the USFinancialJuice · Bloomberg
Seven minutes every morning, one front page — see About

Unverified — what we could not confirm

“Trump has rejected five Iran attack plans and a three-day attack is coming.” The number five appears only in a forum post. The NYT writes that the Pentagon has drawn up options and that Trump repeatedly rejected a restart. Trump himself says he will not attack before November.
“The AI bubble bursts: OpenAI is worth $20 billion less.” This concerns annualised revenue, not value, and the figure comes from one source (FT). Analysts point to a difference in calculation method. OpenAI has not responded publicly.
“The attack on Kramatorsk left 33 dead.” Three sources say 33, CNA says 30. We have not seen an official final figure.
Glossary · dotted words — economics, law, security and science terms explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDETrump rules out an attack on Iran until after the elections. The Houthis fire on Riyadh, and oil rises againWorld · OilOpenAI revenue is $20 billion lower than reported, says the FT. The Nasdaq falls 1.25 percentTechnology · MarketsHouse wants the rainbow flag at parliament after all: 90 votes for, 36 againstPolitics · The HagueUS to broadcast execution of the Fort Hood shooter liveUnited States · JusticeRussian bomb on city buses in Kramatorsk kills at least thirty people. Rubio: the war is stuckUkraine · Diplomacy