Marketplace All-in-One

When the world gets scary, investors are usually very hungry for bonds because they're safer bets than the stock market. But with the war in Iran, bond yields are going up, yet investors aren't as hungry for them. The reason? Inflation. And later in the program, the Environmental Protection Agency scrapped its “endangerment finding.” We'll discuss what that means for the auto industry and emissions standards.

The war with Iran continues to disrupt oil production and shipping channels in the Middle East. Today, we're unpacking the ripple effects of the conflict, including concerns about inflation, airline disruptions, and increased prices at the pump. Then, the owner of a Virginia tea shop reflects on the impact of Trump's new blanket tariff, and the tariff on imported goods under $800 is still in effect following the recent Supreme Court ruling.

As tech companies rush to build data centers to power their AI models, they're eating up power, money, and memory. Specifically, memory chips. The research firm IDC says demand from data centers has driven up prices for these chips and that we are dealing with an unprecedented memory chip shortage. That has knock-on effects for other devices that need these chips, including smartphones, PCs, and external hard drives.

Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Linda Tadic, a digital archivist and founder of Digital Bedrock, about how the memory shortage is affecting her work right now.

It’s too early to know how long the U.S. and Israel war against Iran will last. One certainty? All-out war comes at a cost. Already, Qatar has cut natural gas production, bond yields and gas prices are up, and shipping firms are rerouting cargo. The extent of the economic impact, however, remains to be seen. In this episode, we break down how the conflict is already shaping the economy and what to expect if it continues.

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Oil prices are jumping around this morning, but you can bet they're up — around 6-7%. Gold, a safehaven for investors, is up about 2%. "We're in a world where markets and investors are increasingly uncertain about where their money is safe," said Julia Coronado of MarcoPolicy Perspectives in a discussion of today’s market movements. Also: why we pay such close attention to the monthly jobs report and how sites like Moltbook can disrupt the AI industry.