🇬🇧 Food, glorious food

What’s going on here?

Experts predicted that copper could outshine gold by reaching record-breaking prices by 2025.

What does this mean?

The world’s taken decades to catch onto the fact that fossil fuels are destroying the planet. But after a slow start, governments around the globe are suddenly clamoring over electric energy. So much so that copper – a key component of electric cars, wind turbines, and solar power systems – is in short supply. There’s little chance that the metal will fall out of favor anytime soon: Citibank estimates that renewable energy initiatives could double demand for copper by 2050. And at the recent COP28 climate change conference, more than 60 countries were in favor of a plan to triple global production capacity for renewable energy by 2030. So unless copper miners find a faster way to shore up stock, experts believe copper prices will tick up by some 75% in the next two years.

Why should I care?

For markets: Gold’s old news.

The prospect of rising prices has plenty of companies pouring cash into the industry and shaking hands with key suppliers to make sure they have a stake in copper’s future – gold producers Newmont and Barrick Gold, to name two. That bet will take years to pay off, but in the meantime, their leaning into copper could make gold’s price swings easier to stomach.

Zooming out: Read the room.

If you had any sense of style in the mid-noughties, you sported a color-changing mood ring. Well, copper has taken that spot for investors: it may be less aesthetically interesting, but the metal can indicate the state of the global economy. After all, it’s used in a ton of industries, so the busier they are, the pricier copper is. Make sure to keep an eye on it this year: China’s still working on its long-awaited comeback, and if the country finally builds some momentum, that’ll likely show up in copper’s pricing.

What’s going on here?

UK grocery inflation showed signs of slowing down just in time for the holidays, letting Brits enjoy their festive favorites – no gruel in sight.

What does this mean?

Food’s been a major catalyst of inflation over the last couple of years, with blocked supply chains limiting supplies and making even everyday essentials more expensive. But now, it looks like the Bank of England’s inflation-fighting interest rate hikes are finally paying off. British grocery prices still climbed 6.7% higher in December, but the drop from November’s 9.1% increase marked the biggest slowdown since 2008. That was enough to pull cash-strapped Brits back into supermarkets: they made nearly 500 million trips to the shops in the month up to December 24th, the most at that time since before the pandemic. Their shopping carts weren’t sparse, either, with the average household spending an all-time high of £477 ($602) on groceries last month.

Why should I care?

For you personally: Lunch won’t come cheap.

Don’t stop watching the pennies yet, though. Prices might stop bloating at their current rate, but they won’t come down to where they were a few years ago. Think of it like this: a kilo of steak might “only” cost $19 instead of $18 a couple of months back, but that’s still hard to stomach when you’d pay $14 only two years ago – especially when your income hasn’t risen to match it.

For markets: Joy will cost you.

Those festive shoppers didn’t go completely merry, though. Holiday shopping is expensive at the best of times, so Brits went bargain hunting: almost a third of that December spending was on marked-down items. They sought out cheaper stores, too, with discount retailers Lidl and Aldi winning their biggest-ever market shares over the period. And because it’ll take a while for folk to rebuild their financial confidence, the discount duo could keep stealing business from pricier brands for some time.