How desperate do you think the Chinese government and the Communist Party are to staunch the escalating losses in the country’s biggest black hole—housing and property?

The Dow starts this week on new ground after the record close on Friday left the best-known US market index above the 40,000 level for the first time in history.

A big week for commodities—one of the biggest in months—with metals surging and oil ticking a touch higher for a smorgasbord of factors, from Gaza and Ukraine to Chinese property issues, along with expectations of interest rate cuts in the US, Europe, and Australia.

Rate cuts, mood changes, and volatile commodity prices—especially copper and gold—are on the agenda alongside the release of central bank board meeting minutes from the Fed and the Reserve Bank, early results of the May survey of business activity in major economies, and 17 speeches or public appearances by senior Fed members in the US over the next five days. However, amidst this busy business schedule, the most significant event of the week remains the quarterly financial report for the first quarter.

Talk about a brave move—President Biden’s attack on the Chinese electric vehicle markets is nothing but a load of hot air; real Alice Through the Looking Glass material. Putting tariffs on something that is not there will have no impact whatsoever.

Warren Buffett’s $US6.7 billion move into the smaller insurer Chubb, controlled by a long-time family friend, dominated this week’s final quarterly data drop from the world’s most followed investor. Safe to say, the new investment is what investors focused on.

Chinese EV maker Li Auto is reportedly undergoing massive layoffs as sales fall short of budget and the price war intensifies. Chinese media reports say the cuts could be as high as more than 18% of its 31,000 workforce.

US stocks may have had a great opening on Wall Street Thursday, but they didn’t end well, the green (and record for the Dow) ending in the red. However, for the retail giant Walmart, it was a record-setting day as earnings and revenue topped all forecasts, belying gloom about weak consumer demand.

Wall Street enjoyed a nice bounce Wednesday after US inflation edged down to 3.4% in April, and retail sales slowed by more than many analysts had forecast.

The economic forecasts of the 2023-24 federal budget have already experienced a miss, with March quarter wages growth slowing more sharply than forecast. This was attributed to the first fall in private wages in over three years and a slump in public service increases.

CSR (ASX:CSR) has reported higher profits from its building products business but a loss from aluminum for the year ending March 31, its last results as a listed company. The company is being taken over by Saint-Gobain, the large global building products group based in France, for $US4.32 billion.

The recession in the global lithium and battery materials markets has finally hit home in China, with BYD, the world’s biggest maker of electrified vehicles, postponing a key project slated for Chile.

So, the cash will be spent, the surplus run down, and deficits of more than $70 billion in 2024-25 and 225-26, but all this as consumers retreat into their shells.

Even though the Fed has made it clear there will be no rate rise until it is really convinced that inflation is falling sustainably, big global investors are ignoring that and are off in their own world of 'Rate Cuts Loom.'

Ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget, the Australian economy eased in April, with business conditions and confidence back around long-term readings, but retail still remains very weak.

Private equity group Anchorage Capital Partners has stunned investors, including ARN, with its shocking decision to drop out of the bid for Southern Cross Austereo. This move will likely kill the $250 million offer.

A solid finish to the stock markets on Friday, but today will see a more circumspect ASX re-open.

China's consumer prices rose for a third straight month in April, while producer prices extended their declines, as cost pressures remained mixed across a stuttering economy.

For all the noise and punditry about Tuesday night’s 2024-25 federal budget, investors will be looking later in the week to see what happened with US consumer inflation in April.

A test this week marks the last days of the US March quarterly reporting season. Only a handful of S&P 500 companies might be reporting, but a couple are going to be pretty influential, especially in the consumer sectors, with mighty Walmart and Home Depot, America’s biggest DIY group, both reporting on Thursday.

Gold prices rose on Friday for their strongest week in six, as bets of an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve again moved into the center stage.

The weakness in US oil drilling continued last week with another fall in operating oil rig numbers.

The 2024-25 budget will be the billing focus for Australian markets for part of this week, at least, though wages data on Wednesday and the April jobs report could very well take over as the focal points.

Australians just don’t seem to like gold as an investment—or rather, they don’t seem to like investing in the metal like investors in India, China, the US, and many other countries do.