In this recap, in U.S. market news, Monday saw NYSE volume sink, resulting in the slowest trading day of 2024, while U.S. stock markets were mixed on Tuesday. Wednesday witnessed a major sell-off driven by higher-than-expected inflation in March, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates anytime soon.
In conspiracy/weather news, significant events included the breaking loose of 26 barges on the Ohio River, the detection of avian flu in the seventh state, and water rationing in Bogota, Colombia. Additionally, top economists, including Barack Obama’s Treasury Secretary, uncovered the real inflation number under Biden, reaching 18% and hovering at a 40-year high. The NJ National Guard conducted a hypothetical search for a nuclear bomb at a New Jersey basketball arena, and the CDC admitted to accidentally inflating children’s Covid death numbers due to a coding logic error. Japan released irrefutable evidence that all COVID variants are man-made.
Regarding commodities, military tensions between Israel and Iran triggered a surge in gas prices to a five-month high. Cocoa prices touched another all-time high, and coffee prices rose sharply due to concerns about crops in Brazil and Vietnam.
In financial and banking news, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the U.S. budget deficit topped $1 trillion halfway through the current fiscal year, driven in part by rising interest payments on the national debt. US CPI in March rose by 0.4% for the month and 3.5% year-on-year, spiking inflation and making Federal Reserve interest rate cuts less likely. JPMorgan shares fell after disclosing that net interest income levels may fall short of analysts’ expectations in 2024.
Economically, India’s economy recently expanded at its fastest pace in six quarters, surpassing expectations with 8.4% growth from October to December, underscoring India’s growing importance as a growth region.
In corporate news, an OpenAI board member stated that almost all forms of human labor will be replaced by AI. Tesla announced a price increase for its fully autonomous driving service, and Alphabet (Google) reached an all-time high in trading its shares.
In trade news, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she wouldn’t rule out any measures, including potential additional tariffs, in response to China’s green energy exports and subsidized clean energy products flooding international markets.
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