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TOGETHER WITH
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Good morning. With
the presidential race still too close to call, yesterday was a banner
day for the world’s leading nervous tics: fingernail biting, hair
twirling, room pacing, teeth grinding, seltzer drinking, candy snacking,
block walking, pizza ordering, mom calling, online shopping, and ex
texting.
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NASDAQ
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11,611.81
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+ 4.04%
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S&P
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3,461.98
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+ 2.75%
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DJIA
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28,049.23
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+ 2.07%
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GOLD
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1,898.70
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- 0.61%
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10-YR
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0.771%
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- 12.60 bps
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OIL
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39.07
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+ 3.74%
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*As of market close
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Election update: Joe Biden was projected to win Michigan and Wisconsin,
two crucial states President Trump had carried in 2016. With ballots
still being counted, several states remain too close to call, so we
don’t know the results of the election just yet.
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More election: In a tweet
at odds with the democratic process, President Trump said his campaign
“claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes” a few of the most contested
battleground states, including North Carolina and Michigan. Twitter
labeled the tweet as misleading, as it has done with several Trump
tweets in recent days.
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Francis Scialabba
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While Joe
Biden has a much easier path than President Trump to 270 electoral
votes, Republicans are expected to retain control of the Senate, setting
up potential legislative gridlock between the executive branch and Congress that makes LA rush hour seem tame.
- In fact, the specific
combo of a Democratic president, Democratic House of Representatives,
and Republican Senate hasn’t happened since 1900.
Stocks still went wild
Many
investors had speculated a “blue wave” of Democratic candidates would
sweep across America on election night. Such an outcome would have
significantly boosted the chances of a coronavirus stimulus deal
passing, but the prospect of more regulation and antitrust
investigations under Democratic lawmakers gave Big Tech the
heebie-jeebies.
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Reality check: The “blue wave” ended up being more of a ripple, and Big Tech went gangbusters yesterday, powering the tech-heavy Nasdaq up nearly 4%.
- According to Josh Brown of Ritholtz Wealth Management, U.S. stocks had their best post-election day rally ever.
The biz implications
A gridlocked Congress wouldn’t just help Zuck, Bezos, and Co. escape greater regulatory scrutiny. Healthcare stocks also jumped
on the reduced likelihood of any significant drug pricing reforms
passing. Uber (+15%) and Lyft (+11%) rounded out the market’s jolly mood
with a policy win of their own: Prop 22 passed in California,
protecting their gig-economy business model from an existential crisis.
- But buyer beware. The last time Congress looked similar to the one we could
end up with (in a Biden win scenario) was from 2001–2003, when
Republican president George Bush was dealt a Republican House, a
Democratic Senate, and a national emergency. Over those two years, the Dow tanked 20% and the Nasdaq lost half its value.
Bottom line:
Without the support of the Senate, a Biden presidency could face an
uphill battle to enact major policy changes or pass a sweeping stimulus
deal. The knee-jerk reaction from investors? "Fine by us."
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Yesterday, the U.S. officially withdrew
from the Paris Climate Agreement, the 2015 international accord struck
by nearly 200 countries committing to sharply reducing emissions.
How we got here: Leaving
the agreement was a key plank in President Trump’s 2016 campaign. He
notified the United Nations of his intention to bail exactly a year and
one day ago.
Big picture:
In the biz world, the Paris Agreement has been an influential North
Star for pollution reduction targets. Fossil fuel companies such as BP
have shuffled their operations to help meet its goals. Major banks such
as JPMorgan and Barclays, after outcry from activists, have used their power as investors to persuade clients to minimize their carbon footprints.
Looking ahead...Joe
Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Agreement if he’s elected. Under a
Biden administration, the U.S. could be back on the list in
mid-February. But if President Trump holds on to the presidency, we’re
likely out for good.
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Screenshot of @Gap on Twitter
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Yesterday, Gap offered
marketing folks a single-tweet course in what not to do. While users
were drowning in electoral anxiety and uncertainty, it posted the above
hoodie photo, quickly going viral and generating heaps of criticism.
What lessons does the since-deleted tweet offer? In
the words of many critics, “read the room.” The online firestorm will
probably discourage other brands from weighing in on the election, the
NYT writes.
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Not gonna
lie, when Daylight Savings ended four days ago, we celebrated like it
was our birthday. There may have even been confetti involved when the
clock jumped back an hour.
And with the help of WHOOP, you can actually see what an extra hour of sleep is doing for your bod.
WHOOP is the no-nonsense wearable that helps you know the inside of you—whether you’re accumulating sleep debt or ready to crush a virtual 5k with its 24/7 personalized metrics.
WHOOP also has a Sleep Coach
feature that tells you the optimal sleep and wake times and tracks your
4 sleep stages (we thought there was only one: snoring until our
partner rolls us over), so that you can create a better routine.
Combine all that with critical
health-monitoring features like daily recovery and respiratory rate
monitoring, and you can know yourself, your sleep cycle, and your
body—better.
Try WHOOP today.
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Getty Images
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Yesterday, Saudi Arabia removed longstanding labor restrictions that could affect 10 million migrant workers.
The backstory: The
kingdom’s oil-dependent economy has attracted workers from all over the
world hoping to piggyback on the energy boom. It’s been such a popular
work destination that foreigners now account for about a third of Saudi
Arabia’s total population.
However,
under the Saudi “kafala” labor system, these workers are subject to
severe restrictions, such as not being able to leave the country or
switch jobs without their employers’ permission. Human rights groups say
the system is easily exploited to abuse workers.
Big picture: Saudi
Arabia isn’t lifting kafala measures because it feels particularly
regretful. The move is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 that seeks to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and give it a broader makeover to attract international investments.
It’s also
not the first Gulf state to ditch the kafala system. Qatar, which is
hosting the 2022 World Cup, announced similar labor reforms in August.
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Giphy
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It’s all
Meowth money showers right now over at Niantic, the company behind the
2016 breakout augmented reality app, Pokémon Go. Turns out it wasn’t the
summer fad we all thought it was.
So far this year, players have spent about $1 billion in the app, according to Sensor Tower, a 20% increase over the year it debuted.
- FYI: The U.S. accounts for the biggest share of the app’s lifetime revenue and downloads.
Pokémon Go → Pokémon Stay
Niantic rolled out a suite of features to help users play while hanging on the couch during Covid-19, including:
- More Pokémon spawning near residences
- Virtual battles
- Discounted “incense,” the gaming item equivalent of putting a pie on the windowsill
Zoom out: Mobile gaming as a whole is having a record year. Newzoo estimates
the industry will rake in $77.2 billion in player revenue in 2020, a
13% increase over 2019. Widen the lens even further, and
all-things-gaming are posting gains amid the pandemic.
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Don’t forget: the Fed will make its interest rate announcement this afternoon, followed by a press conference with chair Jerome Powell.
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Britain,
starting today, is joining other large European economies in ordering
non-essential businesses to close to curb the coronavirus.
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Biogen shares gained 44% after the FDA endorsed its Alzheimer’s drug, aducanumab.
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Wendy’s said its new breakfast menu was performing well, and hinted at adding drive-thru-only locations in its Q3 earnings call.
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The U.S. gambling industry was handed major victories by voters on Tuesday.
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Francis Scialabba
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Every other Thursday, Brew’s Bookshelf
brings you a few of our favorite, business-related reads. Today, here
are some thought-provoking books that are most definitely not about the electoral college.
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The Optimist’s Telescope
by Bina Venkataraman offers a useful framework for moving past our
shortsightedness to plan ahead—both as individuals and as a society.
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The Price of Peace by Zachary D. Carter is a fascinating portrait of economist John Maynard Keynes.
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Invisible Women
by Caroline Criado Perez, which won the 2019 FT-McKinsey book prize,
examines the long legacy of women being overlooked in data science and
the very real (and sometimes dangerous) implications.
Check out the rest of our Bookshelf recommendations here.
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 Scheduling alert As
longtime readers know, we typically do our headline quiz on Saturdays.
But as we mentioned earlier this week, we’re shuffling some dates around
in the Games section of the newsletter to make it a better experience
for everyone.
- To recap those changes: The Brew Crossword is heading to Saturdays and the headline quiz is moving to Thursdays.
Now to the quiz. Three of the following election-related headlines are true, and one is made up. Can you spot the fake?
- “Bitcoin bull Cynthia Lummis wins U.S. Senate seat”
- “Raccoon makes off with absentee ballot but gets tracked down by ‘hero’ 86-year old Nebraskan farmer”
- “Kanye West announces 'Kanye 2024' as he fails to make election impact”
- “Vote counting stops in key U.S. state as machine runs out of ink"
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If you guessed the raccoon story was made up...kudos, you're right.
| FOX |
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| NEWS |
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| Choose your own adventure **Want FOX
News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.** CHOOSE
YOUR OWN ADVENTURE With seven states worth 87 electoral ... |
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| WEB |
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| Fox Defends Arizona Call for Biden Fox
was taking flak early Wednesday, including from the White House, for
its call of Arizona for Joe Biden in an election that was proving to be
far ... |
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November 05
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| FEATURED BIOGRAPHY
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| Eugene V. Debs
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| FEATURED EVENT
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| 1605
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| Gunpowder Plot
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