Marketplace All-in-One

The road less traveled (by bike)

8 min
Apr 8, 202611 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This episode covers geopolitical market impacts from a US-Iran ceasefire, including oil price drops and equity market rallies, while also featuring a profile of Bike Oven, a Los Angeles nonprofit bike shop that teaches community members to repair their own bicycles rather than providing repair services.

Insights
  • Market relief rallies following geopolitical developments may be premature given underlying uncertainties remain unresolved
  • Proposed tariffs on weapons suppliers to Iran would primarily target China due to existing trade limitations with Russia and North Korea
  • Community-driven nonprofit business models can achieve financial sustainability while prioritizing social impact and member empowerment over traditional service delivery
  • Volunteer-based organizations succeed by establishing clear decision-making processes and community engagement structures, not just operational efficiency
Trends
Geopolitical tensions driving commodity price volatility and equity market uncertaintyTrump administration using tariffs as primary foreign policy enforcement mechanismSupreme Court rulings constraining executive tariff authority requiring formal investigationsGrowth of cooperative and nonprofit models in local service industriesCommunity-based skill-sharing and mutual aid organizations gaining nonprofit statusBike culture diversification and community organizing around urban transportation safety
Companies
AJ Bell
UK-based markets analysis firm providing commentary on oil and equity market reactions to geopolitical events
Vada Partners
Trade policy analysis firm providing expert commentary on tariff implications and weapons supplier relationships
Bike Oven
Los Angeles-based nonprofit cooperative bike shop teaching community members bike repair skills rather than providing...
Metro
Transit authority partnering with Bike Oven to refurbish abandoned bikes for distribution to children
People
David Brancaccio
Podcast host reporting from Los Angeles on market developments and profiling Bike Oven
Dan Coatsworth
Provided expert analysis on oil market pullback and equity market relief rally following ceasefire
Henrietta Trays
Trade policy expert analyzing tariff implications and Supreme Court ruling constraints on Trump administration
Nancy Marshall-Genzer
Reported on Trump's 50% tariff announcement targeting weapons suppliers to Iran
Melody Scallion
Bike Oven volunteer discussing the cooperative's mission to teach community members bike repair skills
Armando Ruiz
Bike Oven volunteer managing the Metro abandoned bike refurbishment and distribution program
Reverend Joe
Bike Oven community member emphasizing the importance of unifying diverse cycling groups for safety
Quotes
"It's pulled back, but it's pulled back nowhere near as low as it was at the end of February. So it's still got quite a long way to fall again."
Dan CoatsworthEarly in episode
"We turn them away if they do that. We are all volunteers. It wouldn't make sense. We don't want to store their stuff either. What we want is for people to be empowered to be their own mechanics."
Melody ScallionBike Oven segment
"How we make decisions is almost as important as fixing people's bikes."
Armando RuizBike Oven segment
"The thing about the bicycling community is so diverse. You've got the roadies, you've got the Fixie kids, you've got so many different types of groups but I think what's important to me is bringing the whole community together to remove those divisions."
Reverend JoeBike Oven segment
Full Transcript
The price of oil plunges with this US Iran ceasefire and is now only 40% higher than it was before the US air strikes began. I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. Crude oil traded in New York is at $94 a barrel at the moment, down 17% in these early hours of a US and Iran ceasefire. Dan Coatsworth is head of markets at AJ Bell in the UK. It's pulled back, but it's pulled back nowhere near as low as it was at the end of February. So it's still got quite a long way to fall again. And that's sort of suggesting that markets are happy. But just because we've got a two week ceasefire doesn't mean to say this situation has been resolved. I'll tell you what though, over out of the oil markets and into the equity markets, there is some kind of relief rally forming here. And wonders if that early reaction is a bit overdone given the fact that so much uncertainty still swirls. I think that markets still are slightly nervous. But as we've seen time and time again, the market will need something new to latch onto to give them the confidence to say, let's plow ahead. So there's a really big question mark over what happens next in the coming days on the financial markets. And that's what I think is really important. President Trump said today he wants 50% taxes on goods from countries that might be sending weapons to Iran. Marketplaces Nancy Marshall-Genzer is following this development. In a social media post this morning, President Trump said any country supplying weapons to Iran will face a 50% tariff on quote any and all goods sold to the US. And there would be no exclusions or exemptions. Henrietta Trays, co-founder of Vada Partners, says Russia, North Korea and China have all sent weapons to Iran, but the tariffs are aimed at Beijing. Trade with Russia is already quite limited in trade with North Korea's in the same boat. So if you're going to tariff anything with an impact, it's going to be China. But Trays says because of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on tariffs, the Trump administration would probably need to conduct an investigation before imposing these new duties, even though the president says they would take effect immediately. I'm Nancy Marshall-Genzer for Marketplace. Again, the Dow is up more than 1,200 points, 2.8% now, with the VIX index of stock market volatility, the market's so-called fear or anxiety gauge is down 22%. If you're a business leader, Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is an essential tool that completely integrates payroll, time tracking, HR, and your financials in a powerful all-in-one command center. No more juggling platforms or switching between vendors. All your data synced into one platform offering clarity and confidence to make smarter decisions and focus on what matters. This summer, QuickBooks Payroll evolves to support the entire team lifecycle. HR, time, benefits, and payroll all working together in one connected system that fully integrates with your books. You'll be able to onboard employees in one seamless flow that feeds directly into payroll, configure automated HR workflows for things like promotions or off-boarding, and track performance, time off, and benefits alongside payroll. Upgrade your workflow with QuickBooks Payroll today and get ready for the brand new tools coming soon. More at quickbooks.com slash workforce. That's quickbooks.com slash workforce. You can do this as a 15-year-old, a 75-year-old, or any year-old in between, scouting for jobs that are a perfect fit for your skills and interests. I've been collecting mine for our business envy series this week, but you should too. We've heard from the company at Austin that electrifies vintage cars, the non-toxic space rocket company in Maine, the coffee roaster that doesn't sell coffee in San Francisco. But today, the bike shop in Los Angeles where they use the teach a person to fish principle where Melody Scallion is a volunteer. Bike oven is a cooperatively run bike shop. What we do is instead of people dropping their bikes off to get fixed, we teach them how to do it. We charge a sliding scale donation-based fee. We sell people bikes for cheap. We recently got our tax exemption non-profit status. Congratulations. Thank you. It's not your hope that someone comes in and says, please fix this. I'll be back in a day. That's not the concept. We turn them away if they do that. We are all volunteers. It wouldn't make sense. We don't want to store their stuff either. What we want is for people to be empowered to be their own mechanics. How do you know about bikes? I got into bikes through some vegan bike punks where I grew up in Westchester, Pennsylvania, learned how to work on bikes there. Then I moved out here in 2015. I've been working on bikes at the bike oven for about three years. I knew enough to build a bike. That's what allowed me to start volunteering. Now I've learned a lot more over the past three years. Feels like a business. Feels like a community to me, having been here only for a couple minutes. Fair enough? Absolutely, fair enough. Luckily we do the business side well enough to keep the doors open. But absolutely what we want more than anything is to bring people together. People come in. They just got a bike off eBay and they want us to check it out with them. And also people come here as a hub for group rides and for community organizing, for events. Armando, what are you working on here? So I'm working on adopt the bikes. We have this program through Metro where essentially bikes get abandoned on the station. They give them to us and we refurbish them and we give them away to kids for free. Alright so listen, I know a bit about bikes, restored bikes. If I were to come over and volunteer a little bit, what would you want to know about me? You know how to change a tire, David? I can change a tire. I can change a tire. Do you know what ABC stands for? Always be what? I have no idea what ABC is. That means air brakes, chain. Those are the first three things that we check. Okay so I blew one already. I give myself a B minus or a B plus in truing a bent rim. Would that be a skill that would be useful to teach someone who came in? That would be a great skill and a nice one because it's time consuming and really easy to really mess up if you go in a little too confident. So if you could stand and hang out with that person while they do that with your B minus ability, that would be very helpful. If I wanted to volunteer, would I do? Is there like a list? We recommend that people shop around a bit, see who they like working with, what night works for them the best and that's how you get into volunteering. Just as well, we have general meetings the first Monday of every month where we discuss the happenings of the month, announcements, plan events, hang out, we serve food and that's another great way to get to know everybody and get involved and get to know how we run because how we make decisions is almost as important as fixing people's bikes. And your name? You're Reverend. Reverend Joe. The thing about the bicycling community is so diverse. You've got the roadies, you've got the Fixie kids, you've got so many different types of groups but I think what's important to me is bringing the whole community together to remove those divisions to realize that we all are trying to ride our bikes safely in Los Angeles and to do that we just need to stick together. You got to stick together in LA on bikes. Those cars are trying to take us down. That was Melody Scallion and Armando Ruiz at Bike Oven in Los Angeles. Ever heard of a job so good you'd live for Monday mornings? Email us using MorningReport at marketplace.org. In Los Angeles, I'm David Brancaccio. From APM American Public Media. Hey, David Brancaccio here. I hope you're well and that your passport is up to date because I am hosting a trip to Italy this fall and you, you are invited. Stay at a world-class Tuscan villa and step into the world of the Medici, the formidable family whose influence and power help give rise to the Renaissance and the art we still celebrate today and not to mention the banking system. We're going to visit the world's oldest bank, swim in the thermal spa waters in Montecatini and take in the art of the Euphizzi. All of this and then we'll try to put it all into context with great conversation over even better meals and wine tasting. Please join me and know this. Buying into this trip will provide essential support for public media. Discover more about this fall's Tuscan-y adventure at marketplace.org slash travel to reserve your spot today. 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