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The World
OPEC oil producers are discussing an output increase, the group’s delegates said, a move that could help heal a rift between Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration and keep energy flowing amid new attempts to blunt Russia’s oil industry over the Ukraine war. A production increase of up to 500,000 barrels a day is now under discussion for OPEC+’s Dec. 4 meeting, delegates said. The move would come a day before the European Union is set to impose an embargo on Russian oil and the Group of Seven wealthy nations’ plans to launch a price cap on Russian crude sales, potentially taking Moscow’s petroleum supplies off the market. (Wall Street Journal)
Indonesian rescue workers were racing to reach people still trapped in rubble after an earthquake devastated a West Java town a day earlier, killing at least 162 people and injuring hundreds, as officials warned the death toll may rise. (Nikkei Asia Review)
China is turning to an old friend in corporate America to bolster communications with the U.S., as President Xi Jinping tries to stabilize the bilateral relationship while gearing up for greater competition between the two powers. A few days before Mr. Xi’s summit last week with President Biden, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Beijing dispatched a delegation of senior policy advisers and business executives to New York to meet with a U.S. counterpart group set up by insurance executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, one of the most successful American businessmen in China. Wall Street executives have long held a special place in Beijing’s corridors of power. Beijing has viewed Mr. Greenberg, 97 years old, as what Chinese leaders call an “old friend of China.” Mr. Greenberg, a decorated World War II veteran and a major Republican donor, is the chief executive of insurance and investment firm C.V. Starr & Co. and former CEO of insurance giant American International Group Inc. (Wall Street Journal)
The world’s baby shortfall is so bad that the labor shortage will last for years, major employment firms predict. Using World Bank projections and analyzing employment trends across several countries, economists found the number of people of working age (15 to 65) is set to decline in the coming years. That means hiring will be more difficult and workers will have more leverage over employers. The decline in people of working age will partly stem from an aging population, the number of deaths exceeding births, and reduced immigration. For example, the U.S. and U.K.’s population growth will be driven solely by net migration. And in the U.K., deaths are projected to exceed births by 2025. (Fortune)
As Americans head into the holiday season, a rapidly intensifying flu season is straining hospitals already overburdened with patients sick from other respiratory infections. More than half the states have high or very high levels of flu, unusually high for this early in the season, the government reported Friday. Those 27 states are mostly in the South and Southwest but include a growing number in the Northeast, Midwest and West. This is happening when children’s hospitals already are dealing with a surge of illnesses from RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, a common cause of coldlike symptoms that can be serious for infants and the elderly. And COVID-19 is still contributing to more than 3,000 hospital admissions each day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Portland Press Herald)
UC Berkeley and Stanford joined top law schools boycotting the U.S. News & World Report rankings. It was another blow to the influential ratings service after Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Georgetown also withdrew from participation. (Los Angeles Times)
The two largest freight rail unions split their votes on agreeing to a contract, a mixed signal in a monthslong, high-stakes negotiation that could lead to a shutdown of the nation’s freight rail network starting next month. (Politico)
Airlines enter new, stretched-out Thanksgiving travel window: The holiday stands as a test of airlines’ recovery and their ability to get travelers to their destinations on time after a chaotic summer. (Washington Post)
AAA says 55 million people across the country are planning to travel over 50 miles for the holiday, making it the third-busiest Thanksgiving since they started tracking data in 2000. (WBUR)
Economy
Fed’s Mester wants more progress on inflation before ending interest rate hikes. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said Monday that recent data has been encouraging, but that the progress is only a start. However, Mester said she’s on board with smaller interest rate increases than the Fed has been implementing lately. (CNBC)
Wall Street Rebuffs Soft-Landing Dream as 92% Bet on Stagflation: BofA investor survey shows a pervasive belief in stagflation. Recent inflation data is promising as investors stay defensive. (Bloomberg)
‘We like anything with the Harrods name on it’: luxury brands report booming sales. One after another, luxury goods companies have reported bumper sales and profits, as the world’s wealthy enjoy a “roaring 20s” age of decadence similar to the boom in the postwar period a century ago. The company behind Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Dom Pérignon this week said it was “running out of stock on our best champagnes” as it struggles to meet “pent-up demand” for the finest fizz as parties take off following the full easing of coronavirus restrictions. (The Guardian)
Stores offer steep holiday sales as inventory piles up. The supply-chain woes that thwarted holiday shoppers last year are mostly resolved. Instead, Walmart, Target and Kohl's are among major chains that have reported surging inventory levels as people stopped shopping for stay-at-home products like pajamas and electronics. (Axios)
Are the Federal Reserve’s Rate Increases Working? The Federal Reserve this year has raised interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s, making it increasingly expensive to borrow money as it seeks to slow consumer and business demand and drive inflation lower. So far, those moves are making more of a splash than a wave. The Fed has lifted interest rates to nearly 4 percent this month from just above zero in March, and those moves are clearly rippling through financial markets. The housing market has slowed as mortgage rates have surged, and some specific industries — most notably technology — are feeling the pinch. But other parts of the economy, including consumer spending and the labor market, have proved surprisingly resilient to the central bank’s interest rates changes. (New York Times)
Joe Biden’s antitrust adviser has warned of a “profusion of junk fees” in the US economy, as he pushes to expand the war on hidden costs to include those affecting investors in the securities market. In an interview with the Financial Times, Tim Wu, the Biden administration’s adviser on competition policy, said there was a “sense there has been a profusion of junk fees across the economy, things that confuse people, coercive fees, deceptive practices”. (Financial Times)
Technology
Amazon makes a new push into health care: As big tech companies face a brutal slow-down the hunt is on for new areas of expansion. Amazon, which is now America’s second-biggest business by revenue, is a case in point. In the final quarter of 2022 its sales are expected to expand by just 6.7% year on year. On November 17th Andy Jassy, Amazon’s chief executive, confirmed that the firm had begun laying off employees and would fire more next year. Mr Jassy said it was the most difficult decision he had made since becoming boss. But he also noted that “big opportunities” lay ahead. One that he highlighted is the largest, most lucrative and hellishly difficult businesses in America: health care. (Economist)
Tech Layoffs Send H-1B Visa Holders Scrambling for New Jobs: Hundreds of people in the US on temporary work visas may need to leave the country if they can’t find new sponsors. (Bloomberg)
Zoom shares drop on light forecast as company faces ‘heightened deal scrutiny’. Zoom made a slight downward revision to its revenue guidance, and investors responded by pushing the stock lower. Earnings topped estimates in the quarter, while revenue met expectations. (CNBC)
Senior Walt Disney executives led a rebellion against chief executive Bob Chapek in recent weeks, which resulted in his ousting and replacement with predecessor Bob Iger, according to people familiar with the matter. The covert campaign to overthrow Chapek, which began in the summer, came after the outgoing chief executive lost the confidence of some members of his top team during a tumultuous 33 months at the helm of the media empire. “A lot of people were approaching the board, Iger loyalists who felt marginalised,” said one person with knowledge of the talks. (Financial Times)
Iger to Receive $27 Million Yearly for Return as Disney CEO. (Bloomberg)
Iger announces first big moves in new tenure as Disney CEO: Restructuring and departure of Chapek right hand Kareem Daniel. (CNBC)
Smart Links
Tom Brady, Steph Curry FTX Endorsements Probed by Texas Regulator. (Bloomberg)
England’s stock of office space falls at fastest rate for 20 years. (Financial Times)
Is South Korea set to compete with US for sales as its military exports surge? (South China Morning Post)
Penguin Random House’s $2.2bn deal for Simon & Schuster collapses. (Financial Times)
Just 60% of NYC job listings include salary ranges—who’s complying and who’s not. (CNBC)
Sierra Leone passed a law requiring that a third of all its MPs are women. (BBC)