In today's Recap, Marcello shares with us recent events that have seen a reduction in global tensions, offering some relief from heightened concerns regarding a possible World War 3. However, challenges persist in the business world, with companies like Tesla and Apple facing difficulties. Meanwhile, the commodities market experiences interesting fluctuations, notably with coffee, tea and cacao prices on the rise. 

Shares of U.S. based tech firm NVIDIA fell -10.00% on Friday at $762.00, it was the worst day for the chip-maker since March 2020, when the company’s value was one-twelfth of its current valuation. The stock plunge wasn’t tied to any news out of NVIDIA. It came as  investors scaled back their holdings of many semiconductor stocks ahead of earnings later this month.  The U.S. streaming giant Netflix shares fell -9.09% on Friday at $555.04, after saying it will stop reporting subscriber growth in its quarterly earnings starting in 2025. Shares as a result suffered their worst day since July. The UAE continues to reel from floods caused by the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the desert state, with airlines, banks & city transport facing major disruptions & service outages. Roughly a year’s worth of rain pummeled the normally arid Gulf country in a span of just 12 hours. And in many homes & businesses across Dubai & other emirates, running water & power are no longer functioning. 100’s of cars were left abandoned on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Highway as drivers’ engines died while water rose around them. The city’s metro became an overnight shelter, as people working in & around some stations couldn’t get home. In a significant move, Tesla has announced plans to reduce its global workforce by 10%, affecting approximately 14,000 employees out of the total 140,473 globally as of December 2023. This decision comes amidst a challenging landscape for the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, with declining sales and increasing competition leading to an intensifying price war within the EV market. Adding to the shake-up, two top executives are set to depart from the company, signaling internal changes. In response to market dynamics, CEO Elon Musk has unveiled plans for the development of the Model 2, a more affordable vehicle option slated to begin production in late 2025. These developments come against the backdrop of Tesla's stock performance, which has seen a notable decline of 35.01% over the course of 2024. Apple has ceded its position as the world's leading phone maker to Samsung. The tech giant experienced a decline in phone shipments, with a notable 9.6% decrease compared to the previous year. In the first quarter, Apple sold approximately 50.1 million iPhones, marking a decrease of 5 million units compared to the same period last year when it shipped 55.4 million iPhones. As a result, Apple's global market share saw a modest increase of 17.3%, while Samsung surged ahead with a market share of 20.8%. China has embarked on the construction of an underwater data center with performance capabilities equivalent to that of six million PCs. This groundbreaking project is driven by the goal of conserving energy, with estimates suggesting it could save a staggering 122 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Spanning an area nearly the size of ten soccer fields, the underwater data center represents a bold leap in technological innovation. Remarkably, just one of these underwater computers has the processing power equivalent to that of 60,000 regular computers, showcasing the immense potential of this cutting-edge initiative.

Most Asian Pacific stock markets fell, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.  In China new home prices have fallen for a 9th straight month, falling -2.2% year on year in March.

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.

In today's Recap, Marcello talks about how both China and the US have issued stark warnings about potential dangers accompanying this coming eclipse. Meanwhile, concerns arise in the tech sphere as Google's A.I. is found venturing into uncharted territories, prompting questions about its ethical boundaries. Amidst these developments, the financial markets witness a historic moment as gold prices soar to record highs, signaling potential shifts in global economic dynamics.

U.S. services industry growth slowed further in March, while a measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs dropped to a 4-year low, which bodes well for the inflation outlook. Services are the main driver of inflation, via higher wages.The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Wednesday that its non-manufacturing PMI fell to 51.4 last month from 52.6 in February. It was the 2nd straight monthly decline in the index since rebounding in January. Data last week showed services inflation excluding energy & housing cooling considerably in February, after accelerating in January. 

The gold market continues its unstoppable run to record highs, as it touches an all-time high of $2,350 an ounce ahead of the weekend. The latest rally comes after geopolitical tensions in the Middle East heat up because of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city & creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands. Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.5. The depth was about 35 kilometers (21 miles). The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast a tsunami of up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) for the southern Japanese island group of Okinawa. 

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake recorded in New Jersey that shook residents in surrounding states & New York City on Friday morning was one of the strongest in state history. The temblor was reported about 5 miles north of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, Friday, according to the U/S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 45 miles from NYC, where residents reported shaking furniture & floors. It is the strongest quake to hit NYC in 139 years. The last one was dated on August 10, 1884. It is the strongest in New Jersey in 240 years, last recorded in 1783. The earthquake and its aftershocks have been felt in multiple U.S. states. 

Archaeologists are now investigating claims about a long-lost group of giant humans who supposedly stood up to 10 feet tall & lived in caves in the southwestern U.S.  Supersized human skulls, 15-inch sandals & massive hand prints have been uncovered in excavations inside a cave in Lovelock, Nevada since 1912, that have continued to spark the curiosity of scientists & the public at large for more than a century.

Stay up-to-date with Marcello's weekly recap! This time, we're exploring the latest developments surrounding Tesla's challenges, eclipse conspiracies, and a controversial water related decision in California. Morgan Stanley's adjusted forecast for Tesla's vehicle deliveries is causing a stir, while Xiaomi's bold entry into the electric car market sparks intense competition in China. As the April 8th eclipse draws near, travel restrictions and safety concerns mount, with NASA and CERN preparing for scientific investigations. Meanwhile, California's approval of Bill Gates' sewage-to-drinking-water plan is causing people to debate. 

Cocoa futures surged above an unprecedented $10K a metric ton this week an all time high with prices of the key chocolate ingredient doubling this year. Cocoa has more than tripled in cost over the past year. The market is being hit by poor crops in key West African growers,  putting the world on course for a 3rd straight annual supply deficit. The world is facing the largest cocoa supply deficit in  +60 years & chocolate consumers will see the effects w/higher prices soon. The International Cocoa Organization forecasts a supply deficit of 374K tons for 2023-24 season, a 405% increase from a deficit of 74K tons in the previous season.

Investment banker Morgan Stanley’s head of global auto & shared mobility research Adam Jonas, cut his forecast for Tesla vehicle deliveries saying he expects the electric vehicle behemoth to raise prices to compensate. He now expects Q1 deliveries of 425,400, a 9% decrease from his previous forecast of 469,400. Jonas’ new forecast still implies +0.6% y/y delivery growth. He also lowered his full-year delivery estimate to 1.95M, down from 1.99M, or 8% year-over-year growth. Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi stated on Thursday it will sell its 1st car for far less than Tesla’s Model 3, as price wars heat up in China’s hotly competitive electric car market. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said the standard version of the SU7 will sell for 215,900 yuan ($30,408) in the country, a price he acknowledges will mean the firm was selling each car at a loss. Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 245,900 yuan in China. Lei claimed the standard version of the SU7, beats the Model 3 on over 90% of its specifications, except on 2 aspects that he said it might take Xiaomi at least 3 to 5 years to catch up with Tesla on.

The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted last fall in the Southern District of New York on federal fraud & conspiracy charges related to his role in the collapse of his crypto exchange firm FTX in November 2022. On Thursday he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, after  A jury found Bankman-Fried illegally used FTX depositor funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury properties & private planes as well as making huge political donations. 

Krispy Kreme shares surged +39.36% on Tuesday at $17.35, its best day on record for the stock. McDonald’s plans to sell the company’s  doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, with the initial roll-out beginning later this year. McDonald’s shares were little changed during the session. Krispy Kreme stock is higher by +14.98% in 2024 & 11.58% year on year, with a market cap of $2.1B.

A report from the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday showed initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 210K for the week ended March 23. Initial filings for unemployment were slightly lower than the 211K that economists had predicted. 

This time around, Marcello's diving into the some of the most important topics of the week. We're talking about record-breaking stock markets, wild predictions for Bitcoin hitting $250,000, and Tesla's sneaky move to bump up the price of the Model Y by $1,000. 

NVIDIA made waves as they unveiled their next-generation chips, propelling shares up by 1.07% to $893.98 on Tuesday. The company also announced plans to introduce their first iteration of AI graphics processors, dubbed Blackwell, later this year. This move marks a significant step forward in the realm of artificial intelligence and graphics technology, showcasing NVIDIA's ongoing commitment to innovation. U.S. Fed released new economic projections, w/officials expecting the economy to grow +2.1% in 2024, above what's considered the U.S. economy's long-run potential & an upgrade from +1.4% growth seen in Dec.  Unemployment rate only expected to hit +4% by the end of 2024, barely changed from current +3.9% level, while a key measure of inflation is projected to keep falling, but at a slower pace, to end the year at +2.6%. Updated economic projections have the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food & energy rising at +2.6% rate by the end of 2024, vs +2.4% seen in the projections issued in Dec. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, while sales of previously owned homes increased by the most in a year in February, signs the economy remained on solid footing in the first quarter. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 2K to a seasonally adjusted 210K for the week ended March 16, Analysts had forecast 215K claims in the latest week. Existing home sales rose +9.5% last month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38M units, the highest level since February 2023. The monthly increase in sales, was also the largest since February 2023. Gold prices surged to a new record above $2,200 an ounce, after the U.S. Fed  maintained its outlook  for 3 rate cuts this year Wednesday, indicating it doesn’t  seem to be alarmed by a recent uptick in inflation. Bullion rose as much as +1.6% to $2,220.89 an ounce in early trading, before paring some gains. The price has spiked  around +11% since mid-February, underpinned by long-standing support including heightened geopolitical risks & increased buying by central banks, led by China. The rapid ascent has surprised many seasoned market observers & traders.  Darden, the parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, has issued a warning, noting a trend of lower-income customers reducing their visits to its brands. Conversely, the company reports an uptick in visits from higher-income diners. This shift in consumer behavior underscores the economic disparities impacting the restaurant industry, highlighting the challenges faced by businesses catering to diverse income demographics. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the tragic attack at a concert hall in Moscow last Friday. The assault resulted in the loss of at least 40 lives, with over 100 civilians sustaining injuries. 

In this week's recap, Marcello informs us that the Tesla stock was downgraded due to converns volume by Wells Fargo; In a controversial moment at the unveiling of a 'male' humanoid robot in Saudi Arabia, dubbed Inapp, the machine apparently touched a female reporter inappropriately; Bitcoin's meteoric rise continues as it surpasses gold in investor portfolio allocation, according to JPMorgan. Additionally, Bitcoin now ranks as the 8th largest asset in the world, overtaking silver, and has also surpassed the Swiss Franc to become the 13th largest currency globally.

Tesla stock fell 4.54% on Wednesday at $169.48, after Wells Fargo downgraded the electric vehicle maker to underweight from equal weight, noting risk to volume as price cuts are having a diminishing impact. Shares of Tesla are down -32.49% in the past 3 months, -31.79% in 2024 & -7.96% y/y, with a market cap of $565.43B.  Prices for 2 of the world’s most important mined commodities are diverging quickly, with copper now rallying above $9,000 a ton, as supply cuts hit the market & iron ore sinking as demand headwinds mount. Copper has surged 5% this week, ending a months-long spell of price inactivity, as investors focused in on risks to supply at mines & smelters. Tentatively, traders are also more open to the idea, that the worst of a global downturn is in the past, particularly for metals like copper, that are increasingly used in electric vehicles and energy renewables.  On Thursday, Cocoa's May dated futures hit a new record of $7,489 per metric ton. Cocoa is now up more than +16% on the week, on pace for its 10th weekly gain in 11 weeks. The commodity is also on track for its best week since Feb. 23, when cocoa gained 17.13%. Adverse weather conditions and an onslaught of the cacao swollen shoot virus propelled cocoa prices to a new record high this morning. Rising cocoa prices have hurt chocolate confectioners such as Hershey, which is down nearly 20% in the past 12 months versus the S&P 500′s 31.5% gain.  U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Statistics reported that February’s producer price index (PPI), a measure of wholesale inflation, rose +0.6% last month, amid a surge in the cost of goods like gasoline & food, which could well fan investor fears, that inflation was picking up again. A +1.2% jump in the prices of goods accounted for nearly 2/3 of the increase in the PPI. Goods prices were driven by energy products, which surged +4.4% after declining -1.1% in January. Excluding food & energy prices, core PPI climbed +0.3% in February. Economists had expected a +0.3% gain for headline PPI &  a +0.2% increase for the core reading. JP Morgan & Chase, the largest bank in the United States & the world's largest bank by market capitalization as of 2023, fell -1.78% on Thursday at $187.97, after the Federal Reserve announced the bank was fined almost $350M. The U.S. central bank explained that JPMorgan was hit with $348.2M in fines by a pair of U.S. bank regulators. The punishments are tied to a program to analyze firm & client trading for misconduct, that has been deemed insufficient. The stock is up +10.51% in 2024 & +49.41% y/y, with a market cap of $551.25B. Shares of California based Fisker collapsed -51.94% to $0.15 on Thursday, following a report, citing people familiar with the company, who said the electric vehicle developer hired restructuring advisors for a potential bankruptcy filing. The stock is down -91.15% in 2024 & -97.41% y/y, with a market cap of $172.49M.  The Bank of Japan is expected to move toward ending its negative interest rate policy by April, contingent on annual wage negotiations. Japanese government bond yields rose Monday, while the yen strengthened. Japan’s 2-year government bond yields hit a 13-year high on Monday, amid speculation that the Bank of Japan will soon tighten monetary policy. The yield on the 2 year JGB rose to +0.2% on Tuesday, having last reached this level in January 2010. The yield on the benchmark 10 year JGB also climbed to 0.778%, its highest level since November 2023.

In today's Recap, Marcello tells us how Bitcoin reached a new record high during this week of trading, also gold reached also a new historic high on Tuesday; Elon Musk is now the second richest person in the world. Musk has suffered a lost in his net worth of about $31B over the past year. There is another regional bank in the US that is facing trouble as the New York Community Bancorp halted trading on the NYSE.

Despite the present political rhetoric in the U.S. concerning inflation over time, the actual evidence is quite shocking. In January 2021, the cost of a monthly fixed 30 mortgage on  a $400K home was $1,349.00. In January 2024, just 3 years later the cost was $2,148.00 at 7.09% interest, a +59.2% increase.  Britain's Conservative government in power for 14 years announced a 10B-pound ($13B) cut in labour taxes on Wednesday, paring emergency reserves to pay for it, in what may well be the last budget, ahead of an election where the Conservatives are down by 20% in polls. The budget fell short of the big give-away, which the right wing of the party had been hoping for. Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer nonetheless said the budget was the "desperate act of a party that has failed. The rate of social security contributions is to be reduced by 2% for the 2nd time in just over 3 months, in a move worth several 100 pounds a year to some 27M workers. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest in Texas history, has ravaged over 1 million acres of the Texas Panhandle. With only 15% containment, it has claimed two lives and spread into Oklahoma, scorching 31,000 acres. Reports indicate that over 80% of Texas cattle feed lies in its path. The local utility company is suspected as the likely cause. Another regional bank finds itself in dire straits as trading of New York Community Bancorp is halted on the NYSE. The bank has acknowledged "material weaknesses" in loan oversight, sending shockwaves through the financial community. Wednesday's plummet of more than 42% underscores the severity of the situation, with shares now down 60% since the beginning of the year. Tesla's Euro Gigafactory near Berlin faced an unexpected halt in operations as CEO Elon Musk labeled an arson attack nearby as "extremely dumb," resulting in a power outage. This outage incurred significant losses for Tesla, amounting to hundreds of millions of Euros and leaving around 1,000 vehicles unfinished on Tuesday alone. The situation prompted the evacuation of the Tesla site, which employs 12,500 people, with most employees sent home until further notice.

In this recap, signs of consistent strength in consumer spending persisted, with the NASDAQ achieving its first record close in over two years. NVIDIA, for the first time, reached a market capitalization of $2 trillion, experiencing a 66% surge in its stock value in 2024 and a 244% increase year-over-year. Investors continue to favor mega-cap technology stocks as a hedge against slowing inflation. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency news saw Bitcoin reaching a fresh high of $64,000 on Wednesday before retracing, marking its highest level since November 15, 2021. Additionally, it surged by 21.54% on Friday, hitting record highs in a dozen other currencies. In commodities, the world's largest chocolatier, "Barry Callebaut," announced a significant workforce reduction of about 19%, affecting 2,500 jobs. Meanwhile, cocoa prices reached record highs for nine consecutive days, reflecting supply concerns. Financial and banking news revealed that despite reported growth of $334 billion in Q4, US GDP expansion came at the cost of adding $834 billion in debt. The US national debt reached $34.4 trillion on Wednesday, increasing by approximately $1 trillion every 100 days. In economic news, India's economy outpaced expectations in Q4, growing at its fastest pace in six quarters with a growth rate of 7.6%. Conversely, China's manufacturing activity contracted for the fifth consecutive month in February. Corporate developments included Google's parent company suffering a $70 billion loss in market value in a single trading day following an incident involving a controversial AI chatbot. The CEO of Kellogg's suggested that low-income individuals should consider eating cereal for dinner to save money. On a positive note, Warren Buffet, at 93, continues to lead Berkshire Hathaway, which posted its second straight record annual profit. Berkshire's annual operating profit climbed by 21% to $37.4 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations. In the realm of technology, Telegram announced plans to share 50% of ad revenue with channel owners. Apple canceled its plans to build an electric car and is focusing on generative AI. Elon Musk sued OpenAI for breach of contract. Investment news highlighted the Walton family's sale of over $1.5 billion worth of Walmart stock, along with notable figures like Bezos, Zuckerberg, Dimon, and Gates also selling significant amounts of stocks as the market hits record highs. Internationally, agricultural ministers from the EU convened in Brussels to address the crisis as farmers blocked border crossings between Poland and Germany. Sanctuary cities in the US are facing financial pressure due to the recent surge of illegal migrants, with cities like Chicago and NYC imposing restrictions on busing migrants from the South. Many experts argue for more federal assistance to ensure these cities can cope with the influx of migrants. NYC, for example, received $145 million, less than 10% of what it spent on migrant services in fiscal 2023.

In this week's recap, Marcello talks about the recent success NVidia is having thanks to its essential participation into the rising AI race; Elon Musk's Neuralink has succesfully implanted a chip into a human patient; Trump announced the launch of his own sneakers line.

In Q4 of fiscal 2024, NVIDIA data center segment, where its high end AI chips are manufactured saw revenue rally $18.4B. In the same quarter, a year ago, the entire company’s revenue came in at $6.1B. Net income for Q4 2023 was $12.8B. Annual profits in fiscal 2024 have reached $32.3B. In fiscal 2024, NVIDIA revenue grew 126% from the prior year with the 4th Quarter revenue up +265% from the prior year period.  NVIDIA is replacing Tesla as Wall Street's most traded stock, adding to its prominence after becoming the 3rd-most valuable U.S. company & providing more evidence of how central AI-related bets have become to investors. About $30B worth of NVIDIA shares changed hands daily on average over the past 30 sessions, pulling ahead of Elon Musk's electric car maker, which averaged $22B per day over the same period. Tesla since 2020 had dominated daily U.S. stock trading,  with turnover, a stock's share price multiplied by the number of shares exchanged, peaking above $35B several times in recent years.  Central banks have been solid gold buyers for over a decade; however, their appetite has become insatiable in the last 2 years as global reserves have risen by over 1,000 tonnes in both 2022 & 2023. Commodity analysts note that in the last 2 years central bank gold purchases as its share in global demand has tripled, representing between 25% & 30%. Mexico's outgoing president has taken steps to promote a smooth hand-off for national oil firm Pemex, but the latest moves will likely postpone a day of reckoning for the world's most heavily-indebted oil firm. Last week, President Lopez Obrador rolled out new support for Pemex, part of his goal to make Mexico self-sufficient in the production of motor fuels, unveiling a new tax break worth about $6.4B. It follows a huge $90B in gov't support given to Pemex since Lopez Obrador took office in 2018, spanning tax cuts & capital injections, most of it to service a debt load of  $106B. The firm's distressed finances may fall to former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, Lopez Obrador's anointed successor & current front runner. The European Union seems set to fine Apple about 500M  Euros ($539M) over alleged breaches of EU competition law, it has been reported. The fine is expected to be announced early next month. Last year, the European Commission accused Apple of distorting competition in the music streaming market via App Store rules that prevent developers from informing users of other purchasing options. The 1st human patient implanted with a brain-chip from Neuralink appears to have fully recovered & is able to control a computer mouse using their thoughts, the startup's founder Elon Musk has stated. "Progress is good, & the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of. Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking," Musk said in a Spaces event on social media platform X. Neuralink has said, that the initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts. Neuralink, which was valued at about $5B last year, has faced repeated calls for scrutiny regarding its safety protocols.

Israel intensified its bombardment of Rafah in Gaza's south ; Greek farmers were expected to drive into Athens with tractors to protest outside parliament over the impact of rising energy costs; NVIDIA last week's market capitalization eclipsed Amazon's & Alphabet’s to make it the 3rd-most valuable company, behind Microsoft & Apple. 

In this week's Recap, Marcello talks about some massive explosions in the sun that have caused blackouts near Australia and Asia similar to what they called the Carrington event in 1859; Mutan wolves that roam in the Chernobyl exclusion zone have been found to have some cancer-resilient genomes that could help humans fight cancer; China's central bank has injected the financial system with liquidity to stimulate production growth.

As China's central bank unleashes liquidity into the financial system to prod growth, banks are now chasing factories with cheap loan offers. But squeezed out by bigger rivals, smaller firms are unwilling to take on loans to finance new business, in what economists see as a broken link in China's increasingly inefficient monetary policy. Investment by private companies, which according to state officials provide 80% of urban jobs, fell -0.4% last year, while state investment rose +6.4%. China's consumer prices fell at their steepest pace in more than 14 years in January, while producer prices also dropped, ramping up pressure on policymakers to do more to revive an economy low on confidence & facing deflationary risks. The world's 2nd-biggest economy has been grappling with slowing prices since early last year, forcing policymakers to cut interest rates to spur growth, even as many developed economies were focused on taming stubbornly high inflation. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday that the consumer price index (CPI) fell -0.8% in January from a year earlier, after a 0.3% drop in December. The European Union's climate change monitoring service said on Thursday that the world just experienced its warmest January on record, marking the first 12-month period in which temperatures averaged more than 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial times. Already 2023 was the planet's hottest year  in global records going back to 1850, as human-caused climate change & El Nino, the weather pattern that warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, pushed temperatures higher. The previous warmest January was in 2020, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) records which go back to 1950. Mutant wolves that roam the human-free Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have developed cancer-resilient genomes, that could well be key to helping humans fight the deadly disease. The wild animals have managed to adapt & survive the high levels of radiation that have plagued the area after a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant exploded in 1986, in the world’s worst nuclear accident.  Humans left the area after the explosion leaked cancer-causing radiation into the environment & a 1,000-square-mile zone was abandoned to prevent further human exposure. In the nearly 38 years since the nuclear disaster, wildlife has returned to  the area, including packs of wolves that seem to be unaffected by the chronic exposure to the radiation. King Charles of the United Kingdom has been diagnosed with cancer it has been announced. The 75-year-old monarch has returned to London from Sandringham to begin treatment immediately. It is not connected with his recent surgery & is not prostate cancer, but medics spotted it when he underwent his medical procedure for an enlarged prostate. The King's diagnosis will pose serious questions for the working of the monarchy, with fewer working members of the royal family & the Princess of Wales out of action, due to abdominal surgery until after Easter. Spanish farmers blocked traffic on several major highways & burned tires on Tuesday, joining colleagues in other European countries protesting against high costs, bureaucracy & competition from non-EU nations. Spain's Agriculture Ministry announced Tuesday it will distribute an extra 269M Euros ($289M) in aid to nearly 140K farmers to help alleviate the impact of the long-running drought & the war in Ukraine.Over the past few weeks, farmers in European countries including Germany, France & Belgium have held protests that sometimes turned violent