A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business' Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here . You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. New York (CNN Business) Some investors look to copper prices as a bellwether for the global economy. If you're one of them, you have good reason to be worried. What's happening: Copper prices hit 16-month lows on Thursday as traders dumped the metal. They've dropped more than 11% in two weeks. "Copper prices are just starting to account for the fact that global growth is slowing," Daniel Ghali, director of commodity strategy at TD Securities, told me. The metal is used in many construction materials, including electrical wires and water pipes. That means it's often viewed as a proxy for economic activity, since demand tends to heat up when the economy is expanding and cool when it's contracting. It's affectionately referred to as "Dr. … [Read more...] about Another recession warning: Falling copper prices
Supply risk management
Costco violates animal welfare laws to sell $4.99 chicken, suit says
To better control the price and size of its chickens, Costco decided to wean itself off major poultry producers and build its own supply network in the Midwest, where the company created an entire infrastructure from scratch. It was a half-billion-dollar gamble that some worried would hurt the warehouse club's reputation, even as it kept the company supplied with millions of chickens that Costco roasts in-house and sells at a loss to attract new members and more foot traffic. Last year, not even 24 months into its poultry experiment, Costco was the target of an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals, which showed a Nebraska barn crowded with birds, some with open sores, sitting in their own feces because they were too top-heavy to walk. The investigation led to a Nicholas Kristof opinion piece in The New York Times. It also led to news stories in Nebraska, where Costco built a $450 million poultry complex in Fremont, as well as a petition to urge the company to adopt better … [Read more...] about Costco violates animal welfare laws to sell $4.99 chicken, suit says
Fed Attacks Inflation With Highest Rate Hike Since 1994
4 Business The central bank raised it's key interest rate by three-quarters of a point, part of a campaign to tighten credit and slow inflation. Associated Press , News Partner Posted Replies WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday intensified its drive to tame high inflation by raising its key interest rate by three-quarters of a point — its largest hike in nearly three decades — and signaling more large rate increases to come that would raise the risk of another recession. The move the Fed announced after its latest policy meeting will raise its benchmark short-term rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent. With the additional rate hikes they foresee, the policymakers expect their key rate to reach a range of 3.25 percent to 3.5 percent by year's end — the highest level since 2008 — meaning that most forms of borrowing will become sharply more expensive. The central … [Read more...] about Fed Attacks Inflation With Highest Rate Hike Since 1994
‘This Is a Recipe for Disaster’
People lined up outside of Department of Health & Mental Hygiene clinic on June 23 in New York City. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images As the city’s LGBTQ+ community prepares to revel in Pride festivities this coming weekend, the mood outside of the sexual-health clinic in Chelsea on Thursday, where hundreds of men lined up to be vaccinated against monkeypox , was decidedly not festive. “The city and the federal government are not doing a great job to protect the gay community during this outbreak,” said James Krellenstein, an activist who managed to get an appointment and received his first shot on Thursday. “This is a recipe for disaster that will lead to a mass-transmission event.” On the eve of the first Pride parade to have a full slate of programming since the pandemic began , many in the gay community are feeling anxious about monkeypox , the smallpox-like disease that’s been detected in 3,500 people around the globe. While the number of … [Read more...] about ‘This Is a Recipe for Disaster’