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Trade Wars
U.S. Home Price Growth Slowed in March
U.S. home-price growth slowed slightly in March as higher mortgage rates intensified the affordability squeeze among home buyers. The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices across the country, rose 0.7% in the 12 months through March, compared with a 0.8% increase in February. For the 10th consecutive month, inflation outpaced national home price appreciation, the survey said.
Chicago reported the highest annual gain among the 20 cities with a 6.1% increase in March, followed by New York and Cleveland with annual increases of 4% and 3%, respectively. Seattle posted the lowest return in March, falling 2.5%. “The 30-year fixed rate dipped below 6% in late February but rebounded to roughly 6.4% by the end of March, re-intensifying the affordability squeeze on buyers and potentially further damping home sales and price growth,” said Nicholas Godec at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Read more at The WSJ
The Housing Market’s Latest Hurdles: Copper, Lumber, Diesel and Aluminum
Rising mortgage rates aren’t the housing market’s only problem. Higher prices for building materials are boosting construction costs and busting renovation budgets. The data-center boom and disruptions at the world’s second-largest copper mine have pushed the metal’s prices to records. Lumber prices are up because of import taxes and sawmill closures. The Iran war has shocked fuel and chemical markets and boosted prices for resins and plastics as well as the costs of delivering materials such as wallboard and cement to work sites.
Taken together, these rising input costs are adding to an affordability problem that is pushing homeownership beyond reach for more Americans. In addition to boosting the base cost of building and remodeling homes, rising materials prices are contributing to the inflation that has pushed up financing rates. PulteGroup executives recently told investors that higher wood and metal prices will factor into the cost of homes the builder sells later this year. They said they are pushing back on fuel surcharges from suppliers, who are trying to cover diesel prices that have risen roughly 50% since the Iran war began at the end of February.
Read more at The WSJ
TMV Logistics Launches $200M Maritime and Logistics Fund Anchored by American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Prologis Ventures
TMV today announced the launch of TMV Logistics, LP, a $200M venture fund dedicated to maritime and logistics innovation and safety. The fund is anchored by strategic commitments from American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the global leader in classification and technical advisory services and Prologis Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Prologis the world's leading logistics real estate company. TMV Logistics will back pre-seed through Series A companies rebuilding the core infrastructure of maritime, shipbuilding, ports, and intermodal logistics.
Ports and intermodal logistics networks face growing pressure to increase capacity amid geopolitical disruption, energy volatility, and labor constraints. These dynamics are accelerating adoption of automation, AI, robotics, and alternative energy systems, reshaping how global supply chains operate. The TMV Maritime and Logistics fund will invest across five core technology themes:
- Industrial-grade autonomy and operationally resilient systems
- Verticalized robotics for real-world deployment
- Operational AI for decision-making and orchestration
- Maritime dual-use technologies
- Energy transition and next-generation fuels
Read more at Morningstar
Micron Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap For The First Time As Stock Surges 18% on UBS Target
Micron topped a $1 trillion market value for the first time on Tuesday as shares popped 18%, driven by insatiable artificial intelligence demand for its memory chips. The stock surge came as UBS nearly tripled its price target on the stock from $535 to $1,625 a share, citing long-term agreement opportunities with partially fixed pricing. The new price target suggests shares could more than double from Friday’s close.
Micron is among a fresh crop of chipmakers benefitting from the next stage of the AI race. Investors are snapping up stocks tied to central processing units and memory, needed to run and process agentic workloads, in a battleground once dominated by Nvidia. Explosive demand for AI has led to a global memory shortage that chipmakers like Micron are struggling to fill. That’s allowed Micron and peers SK Hynix and Samsung to hike prices. Micron’s stock has more than tripled year to date.
Read more at CNBC
Aerospace Parts Maker Doncasters Files For US IPO
Doncasters, a manufacturer of complex parts for aerospace engines and industrial gas turbines, filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. on Tuesday. The U.S. IPO market has shrugged off geopolitical conflicts, with several large offerings pricing over the past month after a brief lull in March.
U.S. listings have raised roughly $50 billion this year, a 145% jump from the same period last year, according to data compiled by Dealogic. Jefferies and Morgan Stanley are among the underwriters for the Doncasters offering. The company will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DPC.”
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Lilly Agrees to Buy Trio of Vaccine Developers
Eli Lilly agreed to acquire three vaccine developers in deals worth up to nearly $4 billion combined, the company told The Wall Street Journal. The deals, announced Tuesday, mark a new push by the weight-loss drug market leader into infectious-disease prevention. The Indianapolis-based Lilly has agreed to acquire Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Co.
- Curevo is developing a shingles vaccine that Lilly believes could be as effective as the current standard but with reduced side effects, said Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific and product officer. Lilly could pay up to $1.5 billion in cash for Curevo, including an undisclosed upfront payment and a potential subsequent payment if a certain milestone is met.
- LimmaTech is developing vaccines against bacterial pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus. Lilly agreed to pay up to $780 million in cash for LimmaTech, including an undisclosed upfront payment and additional payments for certain clinical and regulatory milestones.
- Vaccine Co. is developing a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus. Lilly agreed to pay up to $1.55 billion in cash including an undisclosed upfront payment and potential clinical and commercial milestone payments.
Lilly has had infectious-disease products in the past, including one of the original polio vaccines and Covid-19 antibodies, but the segment hasn’t been a key area of focus at the company for a while. If the new acquisitions pan out, vaccines could become a core focus joining diabetes, obesity, cancer, immunology and neurodegeneration.
Read more at The WSJ
Ferrari Launches $640,000, Jony Ive-Designed, Glass-Clad Electric Speedster
On Sunday, Europe’s most valuable automaker took the wraps off its first-ever model without an internal combustion engine. Named after the Italian word for light, the Ferrari Luce will test the appetite of the superrich for EVs when electric vehicles have fallen out of favor in the U.S., the world’s top market for luxury cars. Designed in partnership with celebrated Apple alumnus Jony Ive, the model also represents a leap into a new technology for a brand built over decades around the size, sound and sensation of traditional engines.
The Luce (pronounced loo-chay) will be among the most expensive Ferraris that aren’t part of a limited production run. The company said the starting price would be 550,000 euros in Italy, equivalent to roughly $640,000. The Luce is the first Ferrari with five seats—an option ruled out by the axle in its traditional powertrain configurations. Despite the roominess, the EV accelerates from 0 to 60 miles an hour in less than 2.5 seconds for a top speed exceeding 190 mph, the company said. The power comes from four motors, one for each wheel.
Read More at WSJ
BP Removes Chairman After Concerns About Bullying Behavior
BP has removed its chairman, Albert Manifold, after the oil major’s board was told that he was verbally abusive and bullying toward employees, and had mishandled company information, according to people familiar with the matter. The London-based company said Tuesday that its board had unanimously decided that Manifold should no longer serve as chair, and that he would depart immediately. Concerns about Manifold’s abusive behavior relate to conduct toward both junior and senior employees, the people familiar with the matter said.
In addition, the board believed that Manifold shared privileged information with people who weren’t supposed to have it and withheld information from the board, one of the people said. Manifold’s abrupt departure adds to the leadership turmoil in recent years that has hamstrung BP, a storied yet often troubled energy producer. The company has now had three chief executives and three chairmen since 2023. Numerous executives and other board directors have also left the business as it executes a major strategic shift to boost oil and gas production after an ill-timed turn toward renewable energy.
Read more at The WSJ
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