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Trade Wars
Slump In Commodities Rattles Global Markets
Commodities markets slumped on Monday, led by deep losses in gold, silver, oil and industrial metals, as the choice of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair unleashed selling in risk assets that sent precious metals tumbling for a second session. Gold slid 5% to its lowest in more than two weeks, while silver fell more than 7%, following records hit by both metals last week. Oil , dropped nearly 5%, easing from multi-month highs, and London Metal Exchange copper fell 3%.The decline began on Friday, with the steepest one-day drop in spot gold since 1983, for a fall of more than 9%, while silver plunged 27% in its largest daily decline on record.
"The decision by markets to sell precious metals alongside U.S. equities suggests investors view Warsh as more hawkish," said Vivek Dhar, a commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). A hawkish Fed signals interest rates will stay higher for longer, supporting the dollar and raising the opportunity cost of gold and silver, dimming their appeal."A stronger U.S. dollar is also adding pressure on precious metals and other commodities, including oil and base metals," added Dhar, who is sticking with a gold price forecast of $6,000 in the fourth quarter, however.
Read more at Reuters
Big Three Memory Chip Manufacturers Policing Customers To Prevent Hoarding — Employee Says Industry Relationships ‘Matter In A Crunch’
The three major memory chip manufacturers — Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix — are reportedly becoming stricter when it comes to chip orders. The companies will conduct more stringent due diligence measures, including confirming the identity of the end-user, the quantity of the order, and even asking if the demand is real. These measures come as the memory chip supply remains tight, with AI chip makers still demanding huge amounts of HBM, taking up capacity that would otherwise be used for consumer memory. The current situation is particularly harsh for smaller companies that cannot afford to pay higher memory chip prices or lock in more expensive long-term contracts.
The AI infrastructure build-out is the primary reason for the global memory chip shortage, especially as memory chip makers prioritize large orders from hyperscalers and AI chip makers like Nvidia. This is especially true given that these AI tech giants aren’t price-sensitive, and they’re willing to pour nearly limitless amounts of cash into whatever hardware they need to stay ahead in the AI race. On the other hand, consumer electronics are hardest hit, with nearly all models taking the brunt of the supply crunch. This also goes beyond the usual memory modules, laptops, and GPUs that were the first to be affected by the shortage, as even smartphones, TVs, set-top boxes, home routers — practically every “smart” electronic device and even automobiles — will have difficulty sourcing memory going forward.
Read more at Tom’s Hardware
Caterpillar’s Q4 Sales Hit Record High And Build Momentum For 2026
Caterpillar reported record high sales and revenue of $19.1 billion during the fourth quarter, driven by strong demand for construction, mining and power equipment as tariff uncertainty affected manufacturing costs. The Irving, Texas-based company saw double-digit sales growth across its three primary segments during the period. Operating profit, however, was $2.7 billion, a 9% decline over last year. Higher tariff and restructuring costs were partially offset by turbine and engine orders from oil and gas and data center customers.
Caterpillar recently agreed to supply two-gigawatt generators for American Intelligence and Power Corp’s multibillion-dollar data center development in Mason County, West Virginia. Excluding this deal, the company’s order backlog reached a record high $51 billion at the end of the year. Construction and mining equipment sales also increased during the period over the previous year. However, segment profits fell short due to “unfavorable” tariff costs and prices. Caterpillar reported a nearly $1 billion impact on manufacturing and $282 million linked to higher restructuring costs.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Another Multi-Billion Dollar Order by Delta
Delta Air Lines made its second booking this month for new widebody aircraft as it works to update and expand its global route network. The value of its order for 16 Airbus A330-900s and 15 A350-900s was not announced but could be worth up to $6.5 billion based on list prices for those two models. The total combines new orders with 10 previously acquired options, and it adds 20 new options for future widebody aircraft orders.
Earlier in January Delta made an estimated $17-billion commitment to update its widebody fleet with up to 60 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline has long preferred Airbus models. Currently its fleet includes over 500 jets of all models. It has a total of 232 narrow-body and 85 widebody aircraft on order with Boeing and Airbus for future deliveries. The latest investment in new Airbus jets also includes dozens of Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 and Trent XWB-84-EP engines to power the twin-engine aircraft.
Read more at American Machinist
GE Tests Hybrid Electric Engine Tech
GE Aerospace reported new progress in its development of hybrid electric aviation, with completion of successful demonstration of power transfer, extraction, and injection in a high-bypass commercial turbofan engine. The engine developer stated that its researchers had advanced their understanding of the hybrid electric engine’s system integration and controls. Through its joint venture CFM International, GE is engaged in several efforts to promote electric aircraft engine technologies.
The hybrid electric engine architecture that GE Aerospace is developing incorporates electric motor/generators in a gas turbine engine to supplement power during different phases of operation. The design optimizes engine performance, so the aircraft can operate with or without energy storage like batteries. The ground tests of a modified GE Passport engine were completed in 2025 at a GE Aerospace test operations center in Ohio, in a partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The GE Passport is a smaller-scale version of the CFM International LEAP engine, which is the model used to power the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo series jets, the largest-selling commercial aircraft in the world.
Read more at American Machinist
Dow to cut 4,500 jobs as part of $2B savings plan
Chemical manufacturer Dow announced on Thursday the launch of a cost-savings program to achieve a near-term improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $2 billion. The strategy, dubbed “Transform to Outperform,” includes cutting its global workforce by 4,500 employees, according to a press release. Dow expects to spend approximately $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion to implement the plan, including up to $800 million on severance, COO Karen Carter said in a Jan. 29 earnings call.
The program also aims to “radically simplify how we operate, streamline our end-to-end processes, reset our cost structure and modernize how we serve our customers,” CFO Jeffrey Tate said in the call. The restructuring plan builds on a previously announced $1 billion savings plan that resulted in the layoff of approximately 1,500 workers. Dow later increased its savings goal to $6 billion in April 2025.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Toyota Is the Only Automaker To Air a Commercial During Super Bowl LX and This Is It!
Toyota is the only automaker that has confirmed its presence at Super Bowl LX this year. It would be the first time that all automakers skip the big night of the NFL final. So, all eyes are on Toyota’s "Superhero Belt" short film! The 30-second footage is a story about a grandfather taking his grandson on a ride in the first-generation Toyota RAV4, after safely fastening the belt of his child seat. The story comes full circle 30 years later, as the grown-up grandson takes his grandfather for a ride in the latest-generation Toyota RAV4, looking like he is returning the service by switching places. "Superhero belt!" says the one who is getting in the driver's seat now.
Toyota is the Official Automotive Partner of the NFL, so it couldn't have missed a chance to show a commercial at the Super Bowl LX, when the Seattle Seahawks will face the New England Patriots in a rematch of the Super Bowl XLIX. The Japanese automaker has one more spot to debut during the week leading up to the event. No other automaker has confirmed its presence at the NFL final. However, there is still time, as many announced they would air commercials at the event on the last homestretch. Kia is one of the car manufacturers that leaves it for the very last moment.
Read more at Auto Evolution
Castelion Invests $220 Million To Build Hypersonic Manufacturing Facility In New Mexico
Castelion has announced plans to build a hypersonic manufacturing campus in Sandoval County, New Mexico. The company, which develops hypersonic strike systems, is investing more than $220 million in the project and expects to create approximately 300 high-paying manufacturing jobs. The project, known as Project Ranger, will span 1,000 acres and include 21 buildings dedicated to hypersonic manufacturing operations. Once complete, the campus will support solid rocket motor manufacturing, static testing, and final assembly of hypersonic weapons.
The first building is scheduled to be completed in summer 2026, with all facilities ready for production by the end of 2026. The site is designed to enable high-cadence production to support domestic manufacturing capacity. The project represents more than $220 million in private investment and is expected to generate significant long-term economic impact for the region.
Read more at Plant Services
New Cars Are Increasingly Becoming A Luxury Amid K-Shaped Economy Concerns
American consumers are hitting a fork in the road when it comes to the U.S. automotive industry. Affluent buyers are purchasing new vehicles at increasingly higher prices, while lower-income ones are continuing to drive used models. This trend is a growing concern for auto executives and feeds into worries that U.S. consumers are facing a “K-shaped” economy, where the wealthy keep seeing gains while those who have lower incomes struggle.
Cox reports that the share of new-car buyers with incomes of less than $100,000 has dropped from 50% in 2020 to 37% last year, representing millions of lost sales. On the other end of the spectrum, the share of buyers with incomes of more than $200,000 has grown from 18% to 29% during that timeframe. The shift has occurred as MSRP, or manufacturer’s suggested retail price, hit an average of $51,000 in 2025, according to Cox, and as buyers are also dealing with higher insurance costs and inflation. New-car sales were at record levels of more than 17 million prior to 2020 but have experienced mixed results since, ending 2025 with 16.3 million sales. Brand-new vehicles have never been for the majority of U.S. consumers, but automakers have increasingly been pricing millions of Americans out, including by cutting entry-level vehicle lines such as small cars.
Read more at CNBC
Department of Energy Announces New Efforts To Boost Nuclear Fuel Supply Chain
The Department of Energy announced Wednesday an initiative aimed at building out the nation’s nuclear fuel supply chain as interest in the emissions-free power source grows. The DOE is asking states to express interest in hosting “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses,” which would support activities across the nuclear fuel lifecycle – including recycling used fuel. Only about 5% of the value of the energy is used by a reactor, meaning the used fuel has the potential to be recycled. At present there is no commercial-scale uranium recycling in the U.S. The DOE said this would also redirect spent uranium from ultimately being sent to Yucca Mountain.
Ultimately, one of the proposed campuses could house the entire fuel cycle from enrichment all the way to recycling. The sites could also potentially have advanced reactors, power generation and co-located data centers, since it’s easier to do everything under one roof rather than having to transport fuel. Earlier this year, the DOE announced $2.7 billion in funding aimed at boosting the country’s enrichment facilities, including $900 million that was awarded to Centrus to expand production at its Piketon, Ohio, plant. The facility hasn’t yet reached commercial scale.
Read more at CNBC
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