Chapter 1: What caused the recent correction in the precious metals market?
That bracelet on your wrist just shrunk in value in recent days. I'm David Brancaccio. After a surge in the price of precious metals last month, there was a crash with the price of silver now down 24% over five days. Let's consult economist Julia Coronado, founder and president of Macro Policy Perspectives. Hiya. Good morning. Let's first talk about commodities here.
Did you see the price of silver went off a cliff last week? Gold down, little blips upward this morning. But what ails this market after such a boom?
you just put your finger on it. Once you have a boom and speculators pile into something, then inevitably there's going to be a moment where some of the speculators get out of the market and you can have pretty significant corrections. So this has been a market on a tear, all the precious metals.
And yeah, it went through a severe correction, but it's still up quite a bit over the last few months.
Also, apparently some of the volatility we're seeing more widely, for instance, in some of the stock prices are market players trying to parse the nomination of Kevin Warsh to be the next head of the Federal Reserve.
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Chapter 2: How does Kevin Warsh's nomination impact market volatility?
I mean all the ā marketing on Mr. Warsh is that he wants to bring interest rates down the way the president wants to. But when you look at his track record, you see something different, Julia?
That's right. So when Kevin Warsh was a governor at the Fed years back, He was known to be a bit more hawkish. He did not like the Fed using its balance sheet. He didn't like lower rates or easy money. And of course, that's exactly what he's promising to fight for now, or he wouldn't have gotten the job from President Trump. So there's a bit of confusion.
But the market was, you know, amongst the four finalists, he was maybe the least dovish or the least easy money leaning. And that may have been one of the catalysts for the metals correction. And then that spilled over into a crypto correction over the weekend. And now we have some stock future pressure.
But again, we have been on such a crazy, relentless tear in many of these markets that it's almost an excuse for a pullback rather than pointing the finger directly at the Kevin Walsh nomination.
Chapter 3: What insights can we gain from the upcoming hiring and unemployment reports?
Now, briefly, Friday, we get the big hiring and unemployment reports, but also the revisions. Give me a sense.
The big annual revision. So remember last fall, we got a preliminary peek at that, and it was a large downward revision of 900,000 jobs lower than previously estimated. All of that gets worked into the data report. in a very detailed way with the report this Friday. So we get to see what is the true hiring rate that we are at, or at least a bit closer to reality.
And that's always very exciting for data wonks like myself.
Economist Julia Coronado is also a professor at the University of Texas, Austin. Thank you. My pleasure. Bloomberg News is reporting that the Trump administration is setting up a $12 billion minerals reserve, an effort to mute China's ability to leverage its supplies. Think strategic crude oil reserve, but for rare earths. Stocks in the miners way up this morning, up 6.5% for USA Rare Earths Inc.
To Japan now, where one out of every five people over the age of 65 is living with dementia or has early symptoms. Tech companies in Japan are focused on this. The BBC's Suranjana Tiwari reports.
In a lab at Tokyo's Waseda University, half a dozen humanoid robots are being tested to perform various tasks. The idea is that they'll become future caregivers for those seeing a decline in capabilities and to solve a chronic shortage of care workers.
iREC is a 150kg humanoid robot that can already handle several tasks, from nursing care like changing positions and putting on socks, to daily housework like scrambling eggs and folding laundry. Assistant Professor Tamon Miyake says developing such robots takes incredible precision.
It's extremely challenging because robots must precisely control the force they apply when interacting with people. That requires full body sensing and adaptive understanding.
But robots like IREC are still prototypes. Researchers here say it may take another five years before they can provide physical care.
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Chapter 4: How are businesses in Japan responding to the dementia crisis?
Here's Tamon Miyake again.
Robots should supplement, not substitute, human caregivers. So while they may take over some tasks, their main role will be to assist both caregivers and patients. Elderly people to come and also to be checked.
Tech companies are also developing new ways to screen for dementia, including one tool from Fujitsu. A camera films a person moving and then AI analyzes their posture and gait. Changes in how a person moves, like shuffling while walking, slowing down or difficulty in turning, can be some of the earliest signs of dementia. AI-GATE analyzes posture and movement using skeleton recognition.
It's non-invasive and easy to deploy in clinical settings. Hidenori Fujiwara from Fujitsu explains why the technology is so useful.
Chapter 5: What innovative technologies are being developed for elderly care?
If doctors can use motion capture data, such as walking patterns or posture, they can intervene earlier, prescribe treatment and delay the onset of dementia.
In the years ahead, Japan faces major pressures, a shrinking workforce and rising social care costs. Innovations may not replace humans just yet, but they could help ease stretched resources, from screening to caregiving support, and ensure older people stay active and engaged for longer.
Surjanan Tiwari is with our newsroom partners at the BBC. I'm David Brancaccio, Marketplace Morning Report, from APM, American Public Media.
Chapter 6: How can AI help in early detection of dementia symptoms?
For second and third generation kids, holding on to your family's culture can be difficult and expensive. I'm Rima Grace, and this week on This is Uncomfortable, I talk with author and journalist Ayman Ismail about how passing down his Egyptian roots to his kids has become a line item in his monthly budget.
I don't want to have kids who can't speak Arabic or read Arabic. This is the only chance I get to do this, right, when they're really, really young. I won't get another chance to help guide them and help them learn Arabic for the sake of them being connected to this massive heritage that they're inheriting.
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