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Rare earth stocks find themselves underground on Monday as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects that China and the U.S. will work out a trade deal in the near future. Meanwhile, stock markets largely soared on news of the trade optimism, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up roughly 0.5%, the S&P 500 up 1%, and the Nasdaq up 1.6% as of midday Monday. Bessent, appearing on CBS Face the Nation Sunday news program, said that he anticipates that China will resume soybean purchases from the U.S., and that there could be an announcement on Thursday when President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in South Korea. I’m not going to get ahead of the two leaders who will be meeting in Korea on Thursday, but I can tell you we had a very good two days, he said. “So I would expect that the threat of the 100% [tariff] has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime. Part of those export controls concerns rare earth minerals, which are used in the manufacturing of a wide variety of products, such as vehicles and consumer electronics. And Bessents comments led to some earthquakes in the market on Monday, as rare-earth stocks fell significantly. Shares of MP Materials, for instance, were down more than 9% since the market opened, as of midday Monday. USA Rare Earth Inc., likewise, was down roughly 10%. Notably, MP Materials share price is up more than 312% year-to-date and USA Rare Earth shares are up roughly 85%. So investors are still making out well, despite todays downturn. The issue at the molten core of the rare earth trade is the fact that China controls the vast majority of rare earth mineral production and refining. By some measures, the Chinese control as much as 70% of rare-earth mining, 80% of refining and processing capacity, and more than 90% of the worlds supply. That means those minerals are scarce, which drives up pricesand share prices of companies operating in the space outside of Chinese control. While we dont know yet what kind of trade deal or agreement will surface later this weekor if one will at allBessents signaling that things are heading in a positive direction is whats having an effect on rare-earth stocks today.
Category:
E-Commerce
If it seems like Black Friday deals, and holiday shopping in general, is starting earlier and earlier, you’re right. Just in time for, um, Halloween, both Walmart and Best Buy have announced plans for their 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Black Friday, always the day after Thanksgiving, falls on Friday, November 28 this year. Deals generally continue through that weekend into Cyber Monday, which falls on December 1. However, in recent years, many retailers have jump-started the sales some two, or even three weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. And this year is no different. Here’s what to know. When do Walmarts Black Friday deals start? The world’s largest big box retailer often sets the schedule for Black Friday deals, according to Axiosso take note. This year, Walmart said it will hold two different Black Friday sales events, rolling them out at different times online and in stores nationwide. Walmart+ members (those who pay for the retailers subscription tier) get first access to the deals starting on Thursday, November 13 at 7 p.m. ET, with sales opening for everyone else online and in-stores on Friday, November 14 and ending on November 16. The second event starts on the Monday before Thanksgiving, on Monday, November 24 at 7 p.m. ET for Walmart+ members; then online-only on Tuesday, November 25 through Thursday, November 27; and finally, both in-store and online on Black Friday itself, Friday, November 28 to Sunday, November 30. Walmart Cyber Monday 2025 sale The same drill goes for Cyber Monday, when Walmart+ members get early access beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 30 for the online-only sale. The sale starts on Monday, December 1 for all shoppers. Best Buy 2025 Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales Best Buy is starting even earlieron Halloween (yes, you read that right). This Friday, October 31, Best Buy is rolling out its early Black Friday tech deals called “DoorBOOsters”available on the Best Buy App, BestBuy.com and in-store. Members of Best Buy’s two programs, My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total members, also get up to $25 in bonus rewards on select products. More Black Friday sales kick off Thursday, November 20, with savings on computing, gaming, home theater, wearables, and more. Cyber Monday comes a day early, on Sunday, November 30, with up to 50% off select tech. No one does the holiday shopping season like Best Buy, so we decided to expand the definition of holiday and start the fun on Halloween this year, Jason Bonfig, chief customer, product, and fulfillment officer at Best Buy, said in a statement. Whether you want to shop in your costume, or wait until Black Friday, well be here all season long with the best gifts, unbelievable deals and endless ways to discover the coolest products. Holiday shopping is forecast to increase at a lower rate than last year, as Americans feel the effects of Trump’s tariffs; inflation and the skyrocketing cost of living, including higher grocery costs; and a government shutdown which has many federal workers going without paychecks amid mass firings. Holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 2.9% and 3.4% in 2025, according to Deloittes annual holiday retail forecast, versus 4.2% in the same period in 2024.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its official: Twitter.com is about to bite the dust forever. According to a series of tweets from Xs @Safety account, posted between October 24 and October 25, the social media platform plans to finally retire the Twitter domain on November 10. Currently, searching for Twitter.com still leads directly to X, but soon, that will no longer be an option. The domains phase-out comes more than two years after Twitter owner Elon Musk renamed the platform X in July 2023, much to the dismay of many loyal users. At the time, critics argued that the rebrand was destined to fail, with some going so far as to call it brand suicide. And while many former users have indeed jumped ship to competing platforms like Threads and Bluesky in the years since Musks $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022, it looks like the new name is here to stay. The announcement that Twitter will soon disappear into the annals of internet history came subtly buried in a message from Xs @Safety account that, due to the domains retirement, users who rely on certain two-factor authentication (2FA) methods will need to update their log-ins before November 10. Heres what you need to know about the notice: How to make sure your X account doesn’t get locked According to an initial post from @Safety, all X accounts that use a security key as their 2FA method will need to re-enroll their key in order to keep accessing X after November 10. Per a second post, a security key does not refer to users who rely on an authenticator app to log into X. Instead, this notice only pertains to anyone using a physical security key (like a Yubikey), or a passkey, which is an encrypted, passwordless log-in option that typically requires users to enter a face scan or fingerprint scan. These methods are typically used to keep accounts safer, since they make it more difficult for hackers to access passwords and log into accounts remotely. If you use a security key or passkey to log into X, heres what you can do before November 10 to avoid locking your account: Open your account and navigate to Settings. Select Security and account access, then click “Security” and open the Two-factor authentication section. Click the Add another key option and follow the steps to create a new security key or passkey thats linked to the x.com domain rather than the former Twitter.com domain. Per the @Safety post, After November 10, if you havent re-enrolled a security key, your account will be locked until you: re-enroll; choose a different 2FA method; or elect not to use 2FA (but we always recommend you use 2FA to protect your account!) X did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment on what other steps its taking to ensure that the Twitter retirement process proceeds smoothly.
Category:
E-Commerce
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