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Glonghui, April 21 — On a podcast last Friday, Ford CEO Jim Farley explained why he chose to drive a Xiaomi SU7 rather than a car made by an American company like Tesla. “I’m not targeting Tesla. They’ve always done well, but you know, they really don’t have completely new generation models,” he said. Farley believes that if Ford wants to be the best in the world, it must pay attention to overseas competitors. He described BYD as “the industry’s best” in cost, supply chain, manufacturing, and intellectual property, and hopes Ford can emulate BYD by leveraging America’s strengths: “using innovation to compete with world-class companies.” Farley said Ford should learn from BYD and build cars that can meet the needs of the next generation of American car buyers. “If we are smart enough, we should draw on BYD’s cost advantages and then use BYD’s platform to compete in the market segments where we understand customers’ needs best,” he said.

BlockBeats News, April 21st. Last night and this morning, Trump reiterated multiple times that the ceasefire agreement is set to expire on Wednesday night Washington time and is "highly unlikely" to be extended. At the same time, Trump stated that Vance will go to Pakistan later on Monday and that "the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened until the agreement is signed." On the other hand, Iran remained firm during U.S. market hours, stating "the decision not to participate in the negotiations has not changed." However, media reports that "the Iranian delegation will arrive on Tuesday morning, timing it close to the arrival of the U.S. delegation." Influenced by Iran's tough stance, according to Bitget market data, on Monday, the S&P Index fell by 0.24%, the Nasdaq fell by 0.26%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained flat. Crude oil prices saw a slight increase, with Brent crude rising by 2.51%, now trading at $90.39. Bitcoin, on the other hand, showed relative strength, possibly boosted by a significant increase in holdings by Strategy. According to an exchange market data, Bitcoin once again broke through $76,000 this morning, now trading at $75,853.42, with a 24-hour increase of 0.19%. Currently, investors are highly focused on whether the U.S.-Iran situation will escalate again. In the next day or two, the timely arrival of the Iranian delegation in Islamabad and the resumption of the talks are the market's main focus.

Spot gold remains basically unchanged, quoted at $4,823.43 per ounce. The United States and Iran plan to hold peace talks in Islamabad this week. Media reports, citing a White House official, indicate that U.S. President Trump is not inclined to extend the ceasefire deadline that expires Wednesday evening. Konstantinos Chrysikos, Kudotrade's Head of Customer Relationship Management, said in an email: "Gold's trajectory will continue to be closely tied to developments in the Middle East and their impact on the energy market and inflation expectations."