What’s taking place: China’s benchmark iron ore futures rallied an eye-popping 10% to a report excessive on Monday.

“The demand picture in China is very buoyant,” Warren Patterson, head of commodities technique at ING, defined. Outside China, the financial state of affairs can be wanting “more optimistic,” placing a pressure on iron ore provides.

Additionally, there are sturdy incentives for factories in China to ramp up metal manufacturing, which requires iron ore, Patterson informed me. Geopolitical tensions between China and Australia, a key provider of uncooked supplies, are an element, too.

The explosion in iron ore prices comes amid a broader metals boom. The value of copper additionally hit an all-time excessive on Monday, whereas metal prices are roughly triple their 20-year average. The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, which is at its highest stage in a decade, has risen in 14 of the previous 15 buying and selling classes.
Investor perception: Metals mania is nice information for the shares of mining corporations, that are up sharply. Rio Tinto (RIO) shares rose greater than 3% in London on Monday, whereas Glencore (GLCNF)‘s inventory is 2% larger.

But Patterson expressed issues about simply how lengthy the shopping for spree can final — particularly as a result of a rising variety of skilled traders are piling in.

“We’re seeing a lot more speculative and investor money coming into the iron ore market and the broader commodities complex,” he mentioned.

Anxiety on Wall Street about inflation is pushing merchants to contemplate hedges. And when there are worries about rising prices, traders are likely to favor bodily belongings that may act as a retailer of worth — like metals.

The run-up might have gone too far, although, making a painful bubble that might be about to pop.

“I struggle to see a number of metal prices sustaining this move,” Patterson mentioned. “We’re getting to a stage where prices are not aligned with the fundamentals.”

Speaking of upper prices: A cyberattack compelled the biggest US gas pipeline to close down Friday, and analysts are apprehensive the disruption may lead to a spike in gasoline prices. The Colonial Pipeline system spans greater than 5,500 miles and transports about 45% of all gas consumed on the East Coast.

Dogecoin tumbles after Elon Musk’s SNL jokes

Turns out that shoutouts from Elon Musk aren’t at all times useful for dogecoin.

After pumping up the meme cryptocurrency within the lead-up to Musk’s Saturday Night Live look, traders bought off dogecoin sharply after the Tesla CEO joked about it on the present and referred to it as “a hustle.”

Dogecoin was down 40%, buying and selling as low as 44 cents early Sunday. The cryptocurrency was promoting for about 66 cents simply earlier than SNL went on the air Saturday night.

It was buying and selling at 51 cents early Monday.

Remember: Musk has been the loudest and most distinguished supporter of dogecoin. He regularly tweets concerning the cryptocurrency, and simply considered one of his weird missives to his 50 million followers can set off an enormous value bounce.

It’s unclear what drove the dogecoin selloff. Perhaps traders wished Musk to say one thing extra supportive of the digital coin — or possibly it was simply one other instance of its infamous volatility.

Watch this house: Dogecoin was buying and selling so actively that Robinhood introduced early Sunday morning it was having issues processing crypto trades. The app has since resolved the problems.

To the moon: While dogecoin struggles, ethereum is skyrocketing once more. The cryptocurrency was final up 17%, hitting an all-time excessive of greater than $4,180 on Monday.

Why Peloton may initially refuse to recall its treadmills

You’d suppose that federal security regulators would have broad powers to order the recall of merchandise they discover harmful and even lethal.

You would be wrong, my CNN Business colleague Chris Isidore studies.

Agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration usually can solely request — not demand — that corporations order a recall when issues come up. If the corporate says no, security watchdogs must file lawsuits to pressure the matter, a step they’re loath to take, based on consultants.

“You do see a lot of companies recognize that it is in their interest to do a recall. But there are a lot of times companies don’t do a recall, and you have a fight that largely takes place outside the public eye,” mentioned William Wallace, supervisor of security coverage for Consumer Reports.

That toothlessness has been on full show with Peloton (PTON)‘s treadmills.

US regulators issued an “urgent warning” for individuals with younger kids or pets to cease utilizing the machines after confirming one kid’s demise and 70 different accidents. It took almost three weeks for the corporate, which estimates the recall will price about $165 million in misplaced gross sales, to lastly take motion. Its CEO apologized for the delay final week.

Investor perception: Peloton’s shares are down nearly 15% this month and have dropped 45% because the begin of the yr.

Up subsequent

Coty (COTY), Marriot (MAR)t, Tyson Foods (TSN) and Weibo (WB) report outcomes earlier than US markets open. Novavax (NVAX), Roblox, SmileDirectClub (SDC) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) comply with after the shut.

Coming tomorrow: US inflation knowledge for April can be carefully scrutinized as traders monitor rising prices.



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