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The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) on Monday closed up +0.44%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) closed up +0.36%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) closed up +0.61%.  June E-mini S&P futures (ESM26) rose +0.64%, and June E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQM26) rose +0.88%.Stock indexes settled higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 posting 1.5-week highs.  Hopes for a potential ceasefire in the war in Iran boosted stock prices on Monday.  Axios reported that the US, Iran, and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end…

The challenge to solving the quantum threat to Bitcoin could be more social than technical, according to Grayscale’s head of research, especially if the community fails to come to an agreement on certain contentious issues.Google released a paper that shook the crypto industry on March 30, suggesting that a quantum computer could potentially crack the cryptography protecting Bitcoin (BTC) using far fewer resources than previously thought.Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl, however, suggested the problem for Bitcoin doesn’t come from its technical solution, as “bitcoin has lower risk than other cryptocurrencies” because it uses a UTXO model and proof-of-work consensus,…

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has revealed that during experiments, one of its Claude chatbot models could be pressured to deceive, cheat and resort to blackmail, behaviors it appears to have absorbed during training.Chatbots are typically trained on large data sets of textbooks, websites and articles and are later refined by human trainers who rate responses and guide the model. Anthropic’s interpretability team said in a report published Thursday that it examined the internal mechanisms of Claude Sonnet 4.5 and found the model had developed “human-like characteristics” in how it would react to certain situations. Concerns about the reliability of AI chatbots, their…

Lean hog futures were 20 to 77 cents higher on Thursday, as April slipped 42 cents this week. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $90.35 on Thursday afternoon, up 18 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was down another 4 cents on March 31 at $90.41. The market is closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday. USDA’s Export Sales report indicated 53,049 MT of pork sold in the week of 3/26, the largest for the calendar year. Mexico was the buyer of 39,100 MT, with 3,300 MT sold to Japan. Shipments were 39,758 MT in…

Social media bearishness around Bitcoin has reached its highest level since the end of February, according to crypto sentiment platform Santiment.“FUD has crept back in with the community showing a key lack of optimism,” Santiment said in an X post on Saturday, adding that it is “usually a common ingredient for prices rebounding.” The data comes from a large sample of crypto-focused social media accounts and tracks the ratio of bullish to bearish Bitcoin (BTC) comments across X, Reddit, and other social media platforms.Markets move in “opposite direction,” says SantimentOn Saturday, the ratio of bullish to bearish Bitcoin comments stood at…

Soybeans saw losses of 1 to 5 ¼ cents in most contracts on Thursday, as May saw a 4 ¼ cent gain this week. The cmdtyView national average Cash Bean price was down 5 1/2 cents at $10.94. Soymeal futures were down $3.00 to $4.20, as May was down 10 cents on the short week. Soy Oil futures were 100 to 183 points higher, was May was 153 points in the green. Crude Oil was up $11.94 at $112.06, after President Trump’s address the nation on Wednesday night that indicated 2-3 weeks more of strikes and an uncertain fate to the Strait of Hormuz.…

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could surpass gold ETFs in total assets under management (AUM) as investor demand expands beyond the traditional “digital gold” narrative, according to ETF analyst James Seyffart.“There are just more use cases of why somebody would put a Bitcoin ETF in a portfolio,” Seyffart said on the Coin Stories podcast published to YouTube on Friday. He pointed to Bitcoin’s (BTC) role as digital gold, a store of value, a portfolio diversifier, and a form of digital capital and property, adding that the market also views Bitcoin as a “growth risk asset.”Seyffart explained that Bitcoin has “all…

May NY world sugar #11 (SBK26) today is down -0.23 (-1.50%), and May London ICE white sugar #5 (SWK26) is down -3.70 (-0.84%).Sugar prices are falling today, with NY sugar posting a 2-week low.  Ramped up sugar production in India is undercutting prices today after India’s National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. reported that India’s 2025-26 sugar output from Oct 1-Mar 31 was up +9% y/y to 27.12 MMT.  Today’s +11% surge in WTI crude oil prices (CLK26) is limiting losses in sugar. Don’t Miss a Day: From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart’s best-in-class commodity…

U.S. nonfarm payrolls rebounded in March, rising by 178,000 versus expectations for a 51,000 gain. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.3% from 4.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Revisions painted a more nuanced picture. January’s increase was revised up by 34,000 jobs to 160,000, while February’s decline was revised deeper, to a loss of 133,000 positions. On net, employers added 7,000 fewer jobs than initially reported, underscoring that momentum has cooled even with the March beat.  Hiring remained concentrated in a handful of sectors. Health care added 76,000 jobs, while construction and transportation and warehousing contributed 26,000 and 21,000…

Stablecoin transaction volume surpassed the US Automated Clearing House network for the first time in February, a significant milestone for an asset class that has existed for less than 12 years.According to data from blockchain analytics platform Artemis, the total 30-day adjusted rolling stablecoin volume hit $7.2 trillion in February, beating the Automated Clearing House network at $6.8 trillion.”Stablecoins are quietly becoming the foundational infrastructure for global payments: no banks, no weekends, no borders,” said analyst Alex Obchakevich in an X post on Friday.Surpassing the ACH is significant, given that the network functions as the backbone of the US payments…