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The World
The U.S. added 638k jobs in October, while the unemployment rate fell from 7.9% to 6.9%. The biggest drag continues to be state and local governments, which have been forced to shed staff (and cut wages) because of slashed tax revenue. Meanwhile, if Biden clinches the presidency and Senate Republicans maintain their grip, the contest can add another winner: Jerome Powell. The Fed chairman's odds of keeping his post improve markedly with power-sharing in Washington. Powell said the pace of the economic recovery has moderated over the past few months and cautioned that the recent rise in coronavirus cases is “particularly concerning.” The Fed maintained its low-rate pledges. (Axios, Finance 202, Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street signals that gridlock is good: The stock market’s ‘fear gauge’ is on pace for its second-biggest election week fall in history, as an abrupt shift in expected election outcomes isn't weighing down the market. The Dow Jones & S&P 500 rose 2%, while the Nasdaq jumped 2.6% and has gained 6.5% in the past two sessions and are mixed today. All three markets are headed for their best weekly performances since April. Meanwhile, the election-induced drop in Treasury yields rippled overseas, dragging down borrowing costs in Europe as investors wrote off hopes that a big U.S. spending package could give the global economy a jolt. Japan’s Nikkei 225 vaulted to its highest level since 1991. (Washington Post, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
AstraZeneca hopes to show its Covid-19 vaccine is effective by the end of this year and is ramping up manufacturing so it can supply hundreds of millions of doses starting in January — as China’s vaccine is finding few volunteers in its Pakistani trial. Meanwhile, the discovery of shape of the SARS-CoV-2 genome after infection could inform new treatments, while new mathematical analysis finds that “super-spreading” events play an outsized role in overall disease transmission — and preventing large gatherings could significantly reduce infection rates. 43% of voters know someone who has been laid off from work due to Covid-19. (Associated Press, Nikkei Asian Review, University of Cambridge, MIT News, Economist/YouGov)
Japan, the U.S., India and Australia wrapped up their first four-way joint military exercise in more than a decade, reinforcing the security partnership among the grouping known as the "Quad" amid shared alarm over China's growing influence in the region. In Scotland, a majority of adults said that they would vote Yes in a referendum on independence for the 12 consecutive poll. (Nikkei Asian Review, The Times)
In China, state media and the commentariat followed the unprecedented scenes from the U.S. not with anxiety but schadenfreude: "Hopeless America," a columnist at China's official Xinhua News Agency thundered. “U.S. democracy now a joke,” the Beijing-backed Ta Kung Pao broadsheet pronounced. “A bit like a developing country,” the Global Times sniffed as it contemplated the possibility of post-election violence erupting in the world’s most powerful democracy. There also was another hint of schadenfreude as the EU watched democracy at work in America: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he’s hopeful the West can play as a team again once the US election is over, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that regardless of who becomes president, the U.S. will not lecture others on elections. (Washington Post, South China Morning Post)
More than 150,000 ballots were caught in U.S. Postal Service processing facilities and not delivered by Election Day. Republicans grew less confident in the economy in the wake of the election, while confidence among Democrats remained unchanged. (Washington Post, Morning Consult)
Economy
The pandemic hasn’t kept pensions from hiring private equity managers: Pension funds committed $20 billion to private equity in 3Q20, more than the $17.8 billion invested in the same period last year. 2Q20 had been even busier, with commitments totaling nearly $25 billion. In total, 455 private equity commitments were made by public pensions from April through September, following the transition to all-remote work in March. This compares to 413 private equity commitments recorded in the same six months a year earlier. (Institutional Investor)
The U.S. Justice Department sued to block Visa's proposed $5.3 billion purchase of Plaid, which was first announced in January. DOJ alleges the deal would "eliminate a nascent competitive threat" within the online debit services market. The sale process for Plaid was highly competitive because Plaid doesn't really have any scaled rivals. This means no "Plan B" for Visa, so expect it to fight hard. (Axios, Crunchbase)
San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved several tax measures targeting property owners and big businesses with CEOs paid far higher than their average workers. Under the new law, any company whose top executive earns 100 times more than their average worker will pay an extra 0.1% surcharge on its annual business tax payment. If a CEO makes 200 times more than the average employee, the surcharge increases to 0.2%; 300 times gets a 0.3% surcharge and so on. (Associated Press)
Learn to be a better leader: Occupying a leadership position is not the same thing as leading. To improve, use the following steps to design a learning practice for any developmental challenge: 1) Start with a problem you’d like to solve or a future result you’d like to achieve; 2) Articulate why it’s important to you now; 3) Seek quality information to base your approach on; 4) Identify measures of success; 5) Ground yourself with an intention; 6) Choose behaviors to implement; 7) Seek feedback & review and celebrate progress. (Harvard Business Review)
More on the “Shecession,” based on the latest jobs report. (Washington Post)
Technology
The Walt Disney Co. faces a moment of truth next week, the first anniversary of its launch of Disney+. It’s also when Verizon customers who signed up for the service through a one-year free promotion have to start paying or cancel. Verizon subscribers account for about 15% of Disney+’s total 60 million subscribers — yet the Verizon group watches the service less than other subscribers. (The Information)
TikTok is testing a Learn tab to showcase education and how-to videos — perhaps the fastest-growing streaming video area. TikTok describes Learn as a place to discover how-to and informative videos posted by users that take viewers through making food, producing art, how scientific processes work and more. (TechCrunch)
Google launched the Document AI (DocAI) platform, a console for document processing hosted in Google Cloud, in preview. The company says it’s aimed at automating and validating documents by extracting data from documents and making them available to business apps and users. (Venture Beat)
Volkswagen’s CEO believes a Biden election win would benefit the automaker because of the push to electric vehicles, while Toyota’s chief confident of beating Tesla in era of clean energy cars. (Cnet, Financial Times)
The great e-scooter debate: Shared e-scooters are coming in March to the four boroughs other than Manhattan. This has his set off a frenzy among dockless vehicle operators, who all see an opportunity to serve what has, until now, been the largest untapped market in the U.S. Bird, Lime, Spin and Voi are mentioned as contenders. (Axios, SmartCitiesDive)
Smart Links
Facebook, Twitter and VC firms consider life outside Silicon Valley as they shift to remote work. (CNBC)
Blue States lead in venture capital funding. (Crunchbase)
6 must-read books for startup leaders navigating the pandemic. (Fast Company)
Japan to help cover IVF costs in attempt to avert demographic crisis. (The Guardian)
Power demand drop raises concerns for utility company revenue. (Houston Chronicle)
UAE ramps up Arab world’s first Moon mission. (Nature)
Supersonic winds, rain with rocks not water, and a lava ocean — scientists explain life on exoplanet K2-141b. (McGill University)
Without bar and restaurant sales, wine industry revenue won’t recover until a full reopening. (Wall Street Journal)