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Today's big stories

Commodity prices have been hitting new highs left, right, and center
If you want to understand why ether's been on a tear, you need to go back to why it was created – Read Now
Nestlé announced it was entering the plant-based dairy market, just as Oatly prepares for its stock market debut

Hot Commodity

What’s Going On Here?

The prices of commodities have hit their highest levels in almost a decade, as everything from copper to lumber becomes worth its weight in gold in the post-pandemic recovery.

What Does This Mean?

Metals, food, and energy are the bread and butter of any growing global economy, but lately there have been supply problems with all three. China’s been cutting steel production citing environmental concerns, while striking port workers in Chile – where a quarter of the world’s copper is produced – are threatening to delay supply of the red metal. Transportation hiccups have been an issue too, and so has the damage to crop yields from poor weather.

That imbalance between supply and demand has conspired to send a key index of commodity prices up 70% from last March’s lows. That’s its highest level since 2011. In fact, soybean prices are up about 50%, corn over 40%, and copper and oil around 30% this year alone.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: There’s plenty more where that came from.
The eurozone economy shrank last quarter, so there’s a lot of potential growth up for grabs in the region. And that – as investing heavyweight Pimco has pointed out – could push demand for commodities even higher. It’s a trend investors look like they’re already well aware of: basic materials companies in Europe – think paper manufacturers and mining firms – kicked off Wednesday as the market’s best-performing stocks, which means your investment in Dunder Mifflin could finally be about to pay off in a big way.

Zooming in: Wood comes good.
A resurgent US housing market has boosted demand for lumber in recent weeks, sending wood prices soaring. That’s not ideal news for home buyers or home fixer-upperers who are now forced to cover the higher costs, but it certainly bodes well for Home Depot and Lowe’s first-quarter updates later this month.

You might also like: The pros and cons of investing in commodities.

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2. Analyst Take

The Secret To Ether’s Recent Heroics Might Be In Its Origin Story

What’s Going On Here?

Bitcoin’s rally might’ve stalled, but ether – forever the crypto bridesmaid – has been more than happy to steal its thunder.

The number two cryptocurrency has hit high after high in the last week, crossing the $3,400 mark on Monday to set yet another new record.

And when you glance at how the two front-runners both began, you start to realize just how much groundwork ether’s laid for that outperformance to continue.

Bitcoin, after all, is only really good for one thing: storing value. But ether is central to a complex and still-developing network of decentralized applications.

So that’s today’s Insight: how ether’s past has laid the foundations for an exciting future.

Read or listen to today’s Insight

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