“This new flash deal is for two days.” “$11.99!” “Other deals down in the cart.” “You get the bra, the top and the leggings, all for $16.” This is Solaris. She’s 21, and she sells products on TikTok LIVE for a living. “Listen, if my body isn’t representative of yours, there’s someone in those reviews who is. I’m going in for about four hours – 3 to 4 hours – and take an hourlong break, and then I get back on for the remainder of the day. I can pick something up and immediately, just like, Look at this little guy, why don’t you — He’s cute. Don’t you love him?” TikTok launched its in-app shopping feature in the U.S. last year, hoping to replicate the success of its Chinese sister app, Douyin. To do that, it has partnered with third-party agencies like this one, run by Chinese Americans with experience in e-commerce. TikTok offers the agency sample products and negotiates with brands on their behalf. The goal is to train creators to sell products live to a social audience and make the platform a mainstream shopping destination in America. “3, 2, 1. All right, Skye, you claim the orange. I got you, my love.” Streamers go live for several hours each day from this tiny studio in Manhattan, New York City, hawking everything from snacks and clothes to toys and press-on nails. “Please make sure that these are at least in your cart right now, OK? If they’re not in your cart right now, you’re going to have missed out on your chance to get this. It’s hard to explain my job to my friends. Everyone, you know, like, is on TikTok, but my friends don’t know about TikTok LIVE. Until they actually watch me on it, they’re like, But what are you doing?” “Let me show you real quick how you place an order with us, all right?” “There’s only a few single digits left, items for small and medium for this color too. So get it while you can.” These operators have a whole playbook of tactics to drive sales, like celebrating each purchase with a ringing bell — “Right here. That’s another sale. Thank you for purchasing, guys.” and offering limited-time flash deals exclusively for viewers. “Comment the word ‘me’ if you do want us to do another flash sale deal for these. Because I just came in here, I want to be able to give you guys some deals too, OK?” On her biggest day, Maria sold $10,000 worth of jumpsuits after eight marathon hours of livestreaming. But on some days, the haul is just a few hundred dollars. It all depends on who sees the livestream and how often. “Because of that, I’ve learned to really rely on my hourly pay and not rely on my commission too much.” “I get paid $25 an hour plus 2 percent commission. This is definitely like the best-paying job for my set of creative skills that I could get at the moment.” “We have some giveaway starting right now, guys. If you’re just joining, welcome.” TikTok Shop has grown rapidly. The company has reportedly set a goal to reach as much as $17.5 billion in sales by the end of this year. But even that is still peanuts compared to its sister app, Douyin, which has become an e-commerce juggernaut in its own right. It sold over $200 billion worth of goods in China last year. That’s about a fourth of what was sold on Amazon globally in 2023. But TikTok’s major e-commerce push in the U.S. comes at a precarious time. The government passed a law that would force TikTok to be sold or face a ban. “It’s a little scary because it’s, like, I work on TikTok. That’s my job. That’s how I make my full- time money to pay my bills, pay my rent, pay my credit card off. It kind of definitely makes me very uncertain as to, you know, where am I going to go after this.” Though many believe the phenomenon of social e-commerce will still take off here, even if TikTok isn’t around long enough to see it through.

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Nickel prices jumped to the highest level in almost nine months after political violence in New Caledonia disrupted production in the French overseas territory that holds some of the world’s biggest deposits of the mineral.

Futures contracts for nickel, which is a crucial element in electric vehicle batteries and steelmaking, jumped almost 7 per cent on the London Metal Exchange to $21,150 a tonne, before falling back slightly to trade 5 per cent higher.

The price surge on Friday coincided with the release of a report by the International Energy Agency, a watchdog for the world’s wealthiest countries, that predicted robust demand for nickel and other minerals critical for the transition to cleaner energy.

Prices rose after pro-independence protests in New Caledonia, a group of islands between Fiji and Australia, left at least four people dead. French President Emmanuel Macron has declared a state of emergency in the territory, which produces about 6 per cent of global nickel output.

“We have seen these riots . . . If New Caledonia has an ongoing problem, then it is going to make a difference,” said Dan Smith, an analyst at Amalgamated Metal Trading, a brokerage. He added that traders had been generally “downbeat” on nickel, which meant there was “scope for people to get caught out” by sudden price increases.

Nickel prices have dropped about 32 per cent from about $31,000 at the start of 2023 as Indonesia, the biggest producer, increased supply and demand weakened due to weaker than expected sales of electric vehicles.

The “overwhelming consensus” among traders was that the market for nickel was “badly oversupplied”, implying that the current rally would not last, said Smith. “Demand is good for nickel [at the moment] but supply is even stronger.”

Meanwhile, the IEA on Friday warned that sharp declines in the prices of critical minerals in 2023 had created a “headwind” for investment and that “today’s well supplied market may not be a good guide for the future”. Nickel was among minerals facing “substantial geopolitical risks”, it said.

“The world’s appetite for technologies such as solar panels, electric cars and batteries is growing fast . . . but we cannot satisfy it without reliable and expanding supplies of critical minerals,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

Traders have been more bullish on the outlook for copper. Concerns over a potential shortage for the commodity, which is required if the world is going to meet its carbon emission reduction targets, were a major motivation for BHP’s bid for Anglo American.

Aluminium and copper prices both increased more than 1 per cent on Friday.

BRENTWOOD, Calif. (KABC) — A chase suspect was taken into custody Friday morning after driving into oncoming traffic and crashing into several cars on the 405 Freeway in the Brentwood area.

Police were in pursuit of a white van around 5 a.m. after the driver reportedly rammed into police cars in the Venice area. At least two LAPD officers received minor injuries.

AIR7 HD got over the chase on the 405 Freeway as officers tried to perform multiple PIT maneuvers at high speeds without success.

At one point, the driver turned around and started driving the wrong-way on northbound lanes of the freeway with several patrol vehicles close behind.

The suspect drove erratically as they swerved past oncoming traffic. The chase ended when the driver of the white van violently collided head-on into a group of cars that had been stopped by police at Wilshire Boulevard.

The driver crashed into at least three cars and a semi-truck before climbing out of the van and on top of the semi-truck’s hood. Police closed in on foot and took the suspect into custody.

It appears the innocent drivers who were hit only sustained minor injuries.

Most northbound lanes were shut down in the aftermath of the chase.

DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.