BlendJet recalls 4.9M blenders
BlendJet is recalling 4.9 million of its portable blenders after broken metal blades and spontaneous fires injured dozens of users.
At least 329 incidents of blades breaking and 17 instances of fires with the BlendJet 2 devices have been reported, according to a notice posted Thursday on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website.
Reported injuries include 49 burns and one laceration with the devices, which were sold in the United States and Canada at Costco, Walmart, Target and through BlendJet’s online store.
The China-manufactured blenders were sold between October 2020 and November 2023, retailing for $50 to $70, according to the commission.
BlendJet is based in Benicia, California.
In a statement to The Washington Post, the company blamed many of the incidents on customers’ use of “low-quality” chargers and attempts to crush ice without first adding liquid.
But BlendJet also said it has updated the blenders’ design with a new base that has “thicker blades and an improved electrical configuration.”
Customers can contact the company for a free replacement, according to BlendJet’s website.
Owners of the blenders can enter their devices’ serial numbers on the company’s site to see whether they’re part of the recall.
“You should immediately stop using your BlendJet 2 until you verify if your product is recalled,” the company said.
A report by Consumer Reports raised safety concerns about the blender in August, though it wasn’t recalled until Thursday.
In one complaint filed to the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Aug. 18, a BlendJet customer reported that “the blade in the portable mini blender broke off and almost became part of the morning breakfast.”
BlendJet 2 blenders that are currently for sale are not subject to the recall, the company said.
Bond yields circle back
After a year of massive swings and numerous head fakes, the U.S. 10-year yield is poised to end 2023 almost exactly where it began.
It’s an almost farcical conclusion to 12 months of trading that saw rates on the benchmark – a global anchor for markets and U.S. mortgage rates – tumble to as low as 3.25% in the wake of March’s banking crisis, only to surpass 5% for the first time in 16 years just a few months later.
The moves reflect a broader volatility after markets entered the year pricing for a recession, only for a resilient economy underlined by a tight jobs sector to keep the Fed raising interest rates through to their July meeting.
That wrongfooted a bunch of Wall Street strategists, yet many are again convinced that 2024 will bring about that long-anticipated slowdown and Fed cuts – even if there are some swings along the way.
From wire reports“For the long end of the U.S. Treasury curve, you earned the coupon but – stress adjusted – it felt like you lost money on bonds in 2023,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. “2024 will be another volatile year.”
The 10-year yield traded at around 3.86% as of 11:26 a.m. in New York on the final trading day of the year, a touch under its 2022 close of 3.875%.
That year-end yield is the culmination of a stunning rebound for Treasuries that, as recently as October, saw the 10-year rate as high as 5.019% and the bond market on course for a historic third consecutive year of losses.
But a subsequent market rally on weakening data has spared money managers, with the late-year boon for bonds only intensifying in mid-December when the Federal Reserve surprised investors by signaling more potential for interest-rate cuts in 2024.
The market is now pricing in more than 150 basis points of cuts for 2024, with traders increasingly betting that the first easing will arrive by March.
And despite the minuscule move in the 10-year yield year-on-year, the great bond comeback leaves the Bloomberg Treasury index up about 4% for the year.