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The World
U.S. household spending rose 1.4% in September, as pandemic-related aid helped boost personal incomes by 0.9%. Meanwhile, global equities are on track for their worst week since the ructions in March. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Reuters)
Russian-speaking cybercriminals launched a coordinated attack targeting U.S. hospitals with ransomware that analysts worry could lead to fatalities. The malware that hit more than 250 Universal Health Services hospitals last month is poised for another onslaught. In the space of 24 hours beginning Monday, six hospitals from California to New York have been hit by the Ryuk ransomware, which encrypts data on computer systems, forcing the hospitals in some cases to disrupt patient care and cancel noncritical surgeries. New evidence also emerges that Russian hackers targeted California, Indiana Democratic parties. (Washington Post, CybersecurityDive, Reuters)
Moderna is prepping for the global launch of its potential coronavirus vaccine, already taking in $1.1 billion in deposits from governments awaiting the drug. Meanwhile, U.S. states say they lack federal funds to distribute coronavirus vaccine as CDC tells them to be ready by Nov. 15. The U.S. surpassed 9 million cases, with 91,000 daily cases, 1,000 daily deaths, and rapid increases in more than 20 states that Wisconsin governor calls an “urgent crisis.”Moscow residents may get Russian vaccine next month, while Slovakia to test all citizens over age of 10. (CNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, The Guardian)
American troops in Japan are ready to land on the disputed Senkaku Islands to fight off a Chinese invasion, a senior general has said, in the most explicit U.S. commitment so far to defending the territory. Meanwhile, Chinese and American defense officials agreed to hasten talks this week in a move described by analysts as crucial to preventing all-out conflict between the world’s largest militaries amid rumours that the Trump administration might launch an attack against Chinese-claimed islands in the South China Sea. (The Times, South China Morning Post)
New Zealand voted against legalizing cannabis and for euthanasia in referenda. Hundreds of people protested at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount against French President Emmanuel Macron’s vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad. (New Zealand Herald, New Zealand Herald-2, Times of Israel)
For Wall Street, the Senate matters almost as much as the Presidential election, as any key policy shifts should Biden win — such as greater economic stimulus or health-care policies — hang on who controls the Senate. Investors have seemed to embrace the prospect of a Democratic sweep, seeing it as their best chance at getting a multitrillion-dollar aid package and increased infrastructure spending. Bets on a so-called blue wave have driven recent gains in shares of smaller companies, renewable energy firms and long-term bond yields. Meanwhile, Biden has pledged to give the country a leading role in global efforts to curb climate change. Experts are wondering how ambitious his plans would be on slashing emissions this decade. Another key area: Transportation. Three major policy issues — infrastructure, vehicle emissions and self-driving car technology — will influence the industry's direction, making the candidates' positions on each critically important. (Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Axios)
Walmart pulled guns and ammunition from its 4,700 U.S. stores ahead of the election, as the retailer looks to head off any potential theft of firearms if stores are broken into amid any civil unrest caused by the presidential election. Meanwhile, Americans have bought nearly 17 million guns so far in 2020, more than in any other single year, according to estimates from a firearms analytics company. Large Wall Street banks have been running “war game” drills in their trading businesses and preparing clients for unexpected scenarios around the U.S. election next week, hoping to avoid liquidity crunches or technical errors as markets react to news of who will be running the White House and Congress. (USA Today, Axios, The Guardian, Reuters)
More than 80 million Americans have cast ballots in the presidential election, more than 58% of total 2016 turnout and setting the stage for the highest participation rate in over a century — with 69% of registered voters saying they are "more enthusiastic than usual," significantly higher than the 50% in 2016. In Texas, more than 9 million ballots have been cast, surpassing the state's 2016 total votes. A federal court sided with a GOP challenge to Minnesota's extended deadline for receiving absentee ballots after Election Day, imperiling a state rule that would count mail-in ballots received up to a week after Tuesday's election. (Reuters, Texas Tribune, Star Tribune, Gallup)
Economy
Smaller American cities see big interest from urban flight amid work/school from anywhere trends. Santa Barbara’s net inflow increased by 124% in the third quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. Louisville saw a 113% increase, and Buffalo a 107% gain. Other gainers include El Paso, TX, Burlington, VT and Tulsa, OK. (CNBC)
More than two-thirds of gig workers have seen their incomes drop during the pandemic, with almost a third cutting back on food as they struggle to cover expenses. While one in five gig economy workers made less than $1000 a month in March, by summer that number rose to three in five. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Co. plans to lay off 28,000 people across its theme parks, products and experience divisions, with about 10,000 of those layoffs hitting the Disneyland Resort parks, hotels and stores in Anaheim; notifications are expected to reach workers via email by Sunday. Separately, though the 3Q20 economy grew at a record pace, credit and debit-card transactions show that spending was down 5.2% from a year earlier in the week through Oct. 25. (Axios, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal)
Goldman Sachs released software that allows clients to embed banking services into their own products as part of a push to break into the $32 billion a year industry managing cash for big corporations. Decades late to the global cash management industry ruled by Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, Goldman hopes to leapfrog rivals by offering a fresh approach to corporate bank accounts and cross-border payments. After building a new cloud-based system for accounts and payments, Goldman is publicly releasing software known as APIs to allow clients’ programmers to build on top of the bank’s platform. (CNBC)
From mid-March to mid-September, Americans spent 60 million fewer hours commuting to and from work each day. But instead of pouring the reclaimed time into hobbies or happy hour, most funneled it into work and chores. Primary jobs absorbed the largest chunk of the extra time—about 35.3%, or more than 22 million hours each workday; another 15.5% (more than nine million hours) was spent on home improvements and chores; 11.1% (nearly seven million hours) was devoted to child care; and 8.4% (more than five million hours) went to second jobs. Altogether, the additional labor soaked up 70.3% of the time, or more than 43 million hours each workday. The remaining 30% (around 18 million hours) was consumed by leisure activities such as exercise or watching TV. (Wall Street Journal)
Survey: How Covid hit CEO pay in 2020-21. (Chief Executive)
Some 37% of U.S. private companies reduced their CEO’s base salary in 2020 in response to the crisis—the majority of which report cuts of 10%-30%.
Median 2020 CEO cash compensation is expected to decrease 15%: a 5% cut to base salary and 60% to bonus awards.
Of those companies cutting their CEOs’ base salary in 2020, the majority were doing so for at least three months
Some 45% say the reductions will either remain in place until the end of the year or until such time when the company is profitable again.
Nearly 70% of companies in the restaurant industry slashed CEO pay. But media CEOs were hit even more often—and advertising/marketing and entertainment industry chiefs were cut almost as often.
Financial services, biotech, pharma and construction leaders were the least impacted.
Technology
Big Tech keeps printing money: Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet reported more than $228 billion in revenue between them, and more than $38 billion in profit. One headline: The digital ad market rebounded surprisingly strongly in 3Q20. Earnings results confirm indications that marketers regained confidence after slashing spending when the pandemic began. Google: 14% revenue growth, driven by YouTube, where ad revenue rose 32%. Twitter: 15% growth. Facebook: 22% growth. Amazon: 51% growth in the revenue category that it says is mostly advertising—the total is more than YouTube makes in advertising, and more than Twitter, Snap and Pinterest combined. Meanwhile, Apple reported its best September quarter ever, even though it got no revenue from its new iPhone lineup. While iPhone sales were down from a year ago, revenues from iPads, Macs, wearables and services were all up. Facebook is losing users in the US and Canada. (Source Code, The Information, Axios, Engadget)
Netflix introduced price hikes for U.S. subscribers, increasing its standard plan to $14 a month and its premium tier to $18 a month. The new pricing for the standard plan is a $1 price increase (from $13 a month), while the new premium tier cost is a $2 increase (from $16 a month). Industry insiders have long anticipated another round of price hikes at Netflix, which last increased U.S. subscription fees in January 2019. (The Verge)
Facebook and dating apps collect the most personal information about users. A study by London-based cybersecurity firm Clario found that Facebook collects more than 70% of all the information it can legally collect. Second on the list is Facebook's Instagram app, which collects more than 58% of all available data — including info like hobbies, height, weight and sexual orientation. The next most grabby services were dating apps Tinder and Grindr, with Tinder collecting 56% of such info, including whether you own a pet. Retail sites, even Amazon, explicitly collected less info than many other apps, though they collect data from customers’ browsing and buying, from which they infer other data. (Axios)
These companies are redesigning 'Zoom University': Two startups run by ed tech experts are tailoring videoconferencing software for use in virtual college classrooms, but their approaches differ. (EducationDive)
Smart Links
Positive outlook predicts less memory decline. (Association for Psychological Science)
Why the time change is trickier when working from home. (Wall Street Journal)
Watches worn by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen in Le Mans to go up for auction. (WSJ Magazine)
Excellent explainer: The Armenia and Azerbaijan war in the Caucasus nears a bloody tipping point. (Washington Post)
Apple One is now available, bundling Apple’s services into a single subscription. (The Verge)
Inside Operation Warp Speed’s $18 billion sprint for a vaccine. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Tesla raises price of Full Self-Driving mode to $10,000 now that it's in beta. (Engadget)
How to make restaurants safer: Outdoor eating + mask-wearing + ventilation. (MIT Technology Review)
Salt Lake City to lose its two daily print newspapers. (New York Times, Deseret News)
Can lab-grown brains become conscious? (Nature)