Breaking! Iran announces, attacks US aircraft carrier, "loses combat capability"!

Iranian military reports latest news!

On March 13, according to Xinhua News Agency citing Iranian media, the Iranian Armed Forces Command announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy attacked the U.S. Lincoln aircraft carrier. The carrier has now lost combat capability and has left the area of the incident to return to the United States.

A few hours ago, U.S. Central Command stated on social media that the Lincoln strike group is “projecting power from the sea,” continuing to support military actions against Iran.

Additionally, on the evening of March 12, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that recently, several senior Iranian nuclear scientists were attacked, and Iran will “launch an unprecedented offensive” against Iran.

Iran: Attack on “Lincoln” aircraft carrier causes it to withdraw

According to Xinhua News Agency citing Iran’s Islamic Republic Broadcasting on March 13, the Iranian Armed Forces Command stated that the IRGC Navy launched an attack on the U.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which has now lost combat capability and left the area to return to the U.S.

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency on March 12, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Gharibabadi, said that Iran’s strike on the “Lincoln” aircraft carrier was “a warning to the aggressor.” He emphasized that as the aggression continues, “the losses of enemy forces and equipment will increase.”

Previously, Iran repeatedly claimed to have launched missiles at the “Lincoln” aircraft carrier. The U.S. military has repeatedly denied that the “Lincoln” was hit by Iranian missiles, stating that Iran’s missiles did not even come close to the carrier.

Notably, the U.S. Ford-class aircraft carrier also experienced an incident. The U.S. Navy Central Command issued a statement on social media on the 12th saying that a fire broke out on the USS Ford, but the cause was unrelated to combat.

The statement said that a laundry room on the ship caught fire but has been contained. The ship’s propulsion system was not damaged and remains fully operational. Two injured sailors are currently receiving treatment. The USS Ford is currently involved in military operations against Iran in the Red Sea.

On March 13 local time, Iraqi militia group “Islamic Resistance Organization” issued a statement claiming to have attacked two U.S. aerial refueling aircraft, one of which was shot down.

The group stated: “To defend sovereignty and airspace from enemy aircraft intrusion, we shot down a U.S. KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft in western Iraq.” Later, the group issued another statement saying that within the past 24 hours, they attacked a second U.S. KC-135 in western Iraq, causing it to make an emergency landing.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on the evening of March 12 said that recently, several senior Iranian nuclear scientists were attacked, and Israel will “launch an unprecedented offensive” against Iran.

Netanyahu stated that Israel is “crushing” the Iranian regime and is also “striking and crushing” its “proxy” Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said Iran is the “greatest threat to Israel’s survival” that Israel can handle.

He also said he has led multiple overt and covert operations against Iran aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. He claimed that previous military strikes against Iran have significantly weakened Iran’s capabilities, including a deadly attack on senior scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear program last June, and recent attacks on several other Iranian scientists.

Regarding recent military actions against Iran, Netanyahu said they are destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, missile and launcher arrays, military headquarters, power centers, and more targets. He stated: “We will strike proactively,” and will “launch an offensive against Iran with unprecedented force.”

War breaks longstanding strategies, investors seek hedges

The traditional stock-bond seesaw has long been Wall Street’s “golden rule” for hedging risks. However, as the Iran conflict escalates, the fundamental assumptions supporting hedging strategies for decades are crumbling.

Typically, government bonds that rise during market turmoil to buffer stock declines are now moving in the same direction as stocks amid historic upheavals in the oil market, leading to a “stock-bond double kill.”

According to Bloomberg, stocks and bonds are currently moving in the same direction, while the oil market is experiencing unprecedented volatility, with momentum trading rapidly unwinding. This has forced fund managers to abandon traditional investment scripts. New strategies emerging include not only going long on the dollar but also selecting stocks, options overlays, and some less common areas in the credit market. Chinese stocks and the Australian dollar have become new targets, while demand for commodities like aluminum and soybean oil is also rebounding.

Bloomberg notes that the core of this rebalancing is growing concern that sustained oil price increases could trigger inflation while weakening global economic growth, potentially causing stagflation. This has led to a surge in cross-asset correlations, prompting investors to rethink hedging strategies. How they respond is a test of the risk framework that has remained relatively stable since the global financial crisis.

Gama Asset Management’s global macro portfolio manager Rajiv Demello said, “Since correlations have shifted, the obvious rebalancing between stocks, bonds, inflation-linked bonds, and gold no longer protects portfolios. The range of effective risk diversification tools has greatly narrowed.”

One reason broad strategies are unsuitable amid current turbulence is that inflation risks will prevent aggressive rate cuts during economic downturns. Without central bank action, traditional 60/40 portfolios may fail again.

Instead, Goldman Sachs Asset Management is lowering market sensitivity through nonlinear downside protection strategies (limiting losses during large sell-offs), credit hedges, and increasing cash allocations to risk-hedging strategies.

Invesco recommends buying commodities transported through the Strait of Hormuz, including aluminum and grains, while Gama Asset Management has increased dollar cash holdings and hedged with stock futures. Pictet Asset Management’s multi-asset team has reduced stock holdings, increased put options on stocks and corporate bonds, and increased dollar exposure.

According to Bloomberg strategists, as investors seek safe havens, a multi-theme defensive strategy covering nuclear energy and digital economy stocks is gaining attention in Asia.

Fund manager Gary Tam of Puson Fund Management said, “Traditional hedging tools haven’t attracted the usual safe-haven capital flows, so we’ve reduced reliance on broad cross-asset hedges and focused more on stock picking and targeted stock risk management. Before March arrives, we’ve lowered active risk by increasing cash and shifting to defensive sectors.”

Notably, Chinese stocks unexpectedly became a safe haven, supported by the logic that China’s diversified energy supply reduces reliance on the Strait of Hormuz shipping routes and oil imports.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has become a safe-haven currency, supported by rising oil and gas prices and recent rate hike expectations. Aletheia Capital analyst Neil Gunan Thiruchelvam noted that Malaysia, with its exposure to oil and commodities and weaker correlation with other emerging markets, is another overlooked target.