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The World
Xi Jinping’s men: Why China’s new politburo has spooked markets. For decades the Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful political body in China, has been a check on the leader’s power through a convention that ensured it was made up of politicians of different ages from all factions of the party. Now, for the first time since former leader Deng Xiaoping’s exit from key party roles in 1989, the elite seven-member group has been stacked with the leader’s own people. Xi’s consolidation of power has also prompted warnings that the world’s most populous country is increasingly fitting the definition of autocracy. “This is complete, total dominance,” Taisu Zhang, a China expert and professor at Yale University, said on Twitter. “Please don’t ever tell me again that Chinese politics is a meritocracy.” (Financial Times)
Italy’s new leader Giorgia Meloni has sought to reassure EU partners by vowing to respect the bloc’s rules and supporting Ukraine against “blackmail” from Russian president Vladimir Putin. Addressing parliament for the first time after being sworn in as prime minister on Saturday, the far-right politician said her ruling rightwing coalition would not stand against EU integration, would work with other member states in a “pragmatic and non-ideologic” way and would protect “freedom and democracy”. (Financial Times)
People who caught mild Covid had increased risk of blood clots, British study finds. Patients with mild Covid, defined as those not hospitalized, were 2.7 times more likely to develop blood clots, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal on Monday. Patients hospitalized with Covid were 27 times more likely to develop blood clots, 21 times more likely to suffer heart failure and 17 times more likely to have a stroke, according to the study. The risk of cardiovascular disease for mild and severe cases was highest in the first 30 days after infection. (CNBC)
Natural gas prices on European exchanges have slipped below $100 per megawatt hour for the first time since Russia cut supplies in the summer — a drop of around 70% from their peak. The dip has been caused by nearly full storage capacity across the continent and unusually warm weather leading to a supply glut, and European leaders are now faced with the challenge of finding places to store the gas they know they will need in a few weeks. (Financial Times)
Investor Vinod Khosla says focusing on 2030 climate targets is the wrong approach: Vinod Khosla, the founder of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures, says 2040 is the more important goal post in combating climate change than 2030. Khosla, who cofounded computer hardware firm Sun Microsystems in 1982 and spent 18 years at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, is interested in big bets like commercializing fusion and deep geothermal technology. “People who think we have the technology is wishful thinking. We can deploy the current technologies. I am not saying slow down, but we need the breakthroughs,” Khosla said. (CNBC)
Deadliest summer for heat-related deaths in Arizona’s biggest county: Maricopa county’s 359 heat-associated fatalities this year outpace 339 deaths confirmed in 2021, figures show. (Associated Press)
Economy
Surging Rents Push More Americans to Live With Roommates or Parents: After a long stretch of record-high rents, Americans are renting fewer apartments as demand in the third quarter fell to its lowest level in 13 years. Some renters are choosing to take on roommates, while others are boarding with family or friends. More people are opting to stay longer in their parents’ homes or moving back in, rather than pay steep rent increases, according to a recent UBS survey. Apartment demand in the quarter, measured by the one-year change in the occupancy of units, was the lowest since 2009, when the U.S. was feeling the effects of the subprime crisis, according to rental software company RealPage. Measured quarterly, the drop in demand was the worst of any third quarter—normally prime leasing season—in the more than 30 years RealPage has compiled the data. (Wall Street Journal)
Home Prices Fell in August in Biggest Monthly Decrease Since 2011. Economists expect price growth to continue to decelerate this year. (Wall Street Journal)
Americans now say they will need $1.25 million to retire comfortably, survey finds. The average expected retirement age has also increased to 64, up from 62.6 last year. (CNBC)
Gilt yields fall in vote of confidence for Rishi Sunak: UK government bond yields have fallen to the levels they were before last month’s tax-cutting mini-budget in a boost for Rishi Sunak. The yield on the 10-year gilt, regarded as a proxy for the cost of government borrowing, fell to 3.68 per cent. Before the fiscal statement, or mini-budget, on September 23, which set out Liz Truss’s unfunded growth plans, the yield was around 3.8 per cent. (The Times)
A study analyzing over a decade of data at about 58,000 startups in Portugal found that workers put in almost 7% less overtime, and 1% fewer regular hours, for female bosses. (Bloomberg)
Online banks are once again racing for savers’ cash. Over the course of the Federal Reserve’s seven-month campaign of rate hikes, a common complaint from lawmakers and consumers alike is that rates are going up for borrowing — mortgages, credit cards, personal loans — but not savings accounts. That has changed quickly. Online banks led the charge in the second half of this year. (Protocol)
EY Israel rejects break-up plan pushed by global bosses: Local partners of Big Four firm join China in deciding not to split consulting and audit businesses. (Financial Times)
Technology
YouTube’s shrinking ad business is an ominous sign for the battered online ad market: YouTube revenue declined for the first time since Google started reporting YouTube earnings separately. Alphabet’s overall revenue growth drastically declined year-over-year from 41% to 6% in its latest quarter. The growth rate of Microsoft’s search and news advertising business has been shrinking each quarter of the past year, coinciding with the general downward trajectory of entire online advertising marketing. (CNBC)
Alphabet reports Google ad sales of $54.5B in Q3, up from $53.1B YoY, missing estimates of $56.6B, and Google Search revenue of $39.5B, up from $37.9B YoY. (MarketWatch)
Spotify shares dip after third-quarter earnings report: Spotify shares fell 7% in extended trading Tuesday after reporting third-quarter earnings that narrowly beat analyst expectations on revenue. Spotify reported 456 million monthly active users for the quarter, up 20% from the year-earlier period. The company posted 195 million paid subscribers, up 13% year over year. (CNBC)
Spotify says Apple's behavior is “choking competition” after Apple rejected its proposed audiobook purchasing process three times for breaking App Store rules. (The Verge)
Tougher than expected PC market hits Microsoft Windows; cloud growth slows. (Reuters)
Satya Nadella says more than 20M people have streamed games using Xbox Cloud Gaming, double the 10M figure that Microsoft shared in April 2022 (The Verge)
Elon Musk has confirmed on a video call with his advisers that he intends to close his $44bn acquisition of Twitter on Friday, potentially bringing an end to the turbulent acquisition process, according to people briefed about the matter. In another sign that the deal will close by the end of the week, Musk’s lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom sent paperwork to equity investors in the deal, according to two investors and a person close to the Tesla boss. (Financial Times)
Exclusive: Twitter is losing its most active users, internal documents show. Twitter is struggling to keep its most active users - who are vital to the business - engaged, underscoring a challenge faced by the Tesla chief executive as he approaches a deadline to close his $44 billion deal to buy the company. These "heavy tweeters" account for less than 10% of monthly overall users but generate 90% of all tweets and half of global revenue. Heavy tweeters have been in "absolute decline" since the pandemic began, a Twitter researcher wrote in an internal document titled “Where did the Tweeters Go?” (Reuters)
Smart Links
Gender pay gap: Female barristers earn £30k less than their male counterparts. (The Times)
Machine learning could vastly speed up the search for new metals. (MIT Technology Review)
Timeshare Comes to the Office: Companies Save Money on Space by Alternating Days. (Wall Street Journal)
Last chance to secure 9.62% annual interest for Series I bonds is Oct. 28. (CNBC)
Chipotle says price hikes lift revenue as customer visits slip. (CNBC)
Shutterstock partners with OpenAI to let users generate stock images using DALL-E 2 “in the coming months” and launches a Contributor Fund to reimburse creators. (The Verge)