'Suburban Women'
What You Need To Know
Today’s posts that caught my eye:
White Suburban Women Swing Toward Backing Republicans for Congress: New WSJ poll shows key group of midterm voters favors the GOP by 15 percentage points.
Airbnb forecasts slowing growth after record sales.
Weight-loss drug had dramatic effect in adolescents with obesity, study finds.
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The World
The Federal Reserve lifted interest rates by another 0.75 percentage point to combat inflation and signaled plans to keep raising them, possibly in smaller increments but to higher levels than previously anticipated. The increase approved Wednesday, the Fed’s fourth consecutive 0.75-point rate rise, lifts the central bank’s benchmark federal-funds to a range between 3.75% and 4%. After the decision, Chairman Jerome Powell said officials would contemplate a smaller hike at their next meeting in December. But he cautioned that they might raise borrowing costs next year more than they have projected. Mr. Powell also warned that reducing the size of rate increases didn’t mean the Fed thought it was close to pivoting away from raising rates. “It is very premature to be thinking about pausing,” said Mr. Powell. “We think we have a ways to go.” (Wall Street Journal)
Tough-Talking Powell Wipes Out $59 Billion From Biggest Fortunes: In the hour-and-a-half after the Fed chair began speaking, the wealth of billionaires from Elon Musk to Steve Ballmer tumbled. (Bloomberg)
Signs of strain in the nation’s democratic system mounted with less than a week left before the midterm elections, as President Biden warned that candidates who refuse to accept Tuesday’s results could set the nation on a “path to chaos.” Biden’s grim assessment came as the FBI and other agencies have forecast that threats of violence from domestic extremists are likely to be on the rise after the election. In Arizona, voters have complained of intimidation by self-appointed drop-box monitors — some of them armed — prompting a federal judge to set strict new limits. And the GOP has stepped up litigation in multiple states in an effort to toss out some ballots and to expand access for partisan poll watchers. Speaking at Washington’s Union Station — steps from the U.S. Capitol, which was attacked by a pro-Trump mob in the wake of the nation’s last major election — Biden warned of an ongoing assault on American democracy. The president spoke as a growing number of major Republican candidates have said they may follow in former president Donald Trump’s footsteps and refuse to concede should they lose. (Washington Post)
Grain shipments from Ukraine will resume after Russia agreed to rejoin a UN-backed initiative to allow exports via the Black Sea, ending a stand-off that threatened to reignite a global food crisis. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, had phoned his Turkish counterpart to say Moscow was back on board. Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russia would continue to supply “the volume of grain that was supplied from Ukraine to the poorest countries” even if the latest agreement collapsed. The next shipments of grain would head to Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, Erdoğan said. (Financial Times)
North Korea fires possible ICBM; residents in Japan told to shelter: North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Thursday, including one that triggered an alert for residents in parts of central and northern Japan to seek shelter, the latest in a record year of missile testing by the nuclear-armed North. Despite an initial government warning that a missile had overflown Japan, Tokyo later said that was incorrect. The launches came a day after North Korea fired at least 23 missiles, the most in a single day, including one that landed off South Korea's coast for the first time. (Reuters, Nikkei Asia Review)
Japan weighs hypersonic missile deployment by 2030 to boost deterrence: Chinese and North Korean threat spurs push for stronger counterstrike capability. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for the first time asked protesters blocking roads nationwide to lift blockades as demonstrations are restricting people's right to come and go and bringing losses to the economy. (Reuters)
North Korea is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells through indirect routes that include shipments through third countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the Biden administration said Wednesday. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that while the U.S. has had indications for some time that Russia had requested artillery shells from North Korea, the administration now has information that shipments have begun. (Wall Street Journal)
Netanyahu is the projected winner, but it was Ben Gvir crowned on election night: The once unthinkably fringe politician is likely headed into the government, where his stances and those of others in the far-right may play a large role in shaping Israel’s future. As final votes were counted on Wednesday night, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly looking to put together a coalition quickly after his right-religious bloc appeared to have won a resounding victory in Tuesday’s election. (Times of Israel)
White Suburban Women Swing Toward Backing Republicans for Congress: New WSJ poll shows key group of midterm voters favors the GOP by 15 percentage points. The new survey shows that white women living in suburban areas, who make up 20% of the electorate, now favor Republicans for Congress by 15 percentage points, moving 27 percentage points away from Democrats since the Journal’s August poll. It also suggests that the topic of abortion rights has faded in importance after Democrats saw energy on that issue this summer in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. “We’re talking about a collapse, if you will, in that group on the perceptions of the economy,” said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio who conducted the poll with Democratic pollster John Anzalone. The poll showed that 54% of white suburban women think the U.S. is already in a recession and 74% think the economy is headed in the wrong direction. (Wall Street Journal)
Voters remain gloomy despite recent economic gains: The U.S. economy is growing. Gas prices are lower and wages are rising. Voters, however, are still in a sour mood. Two-thirds of voters believe the economy is in a recession, despite new data released last week showing that the economy grew in the third quarter by a healthy annualized rate of 2.6 percent, according to the latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. It was the 16th consecutive week in the poll that more than 60 percent of voters said they believe the U.S. economy is already in a recession. (Politico)
New RSV vaccines are coming. This is very, very good news: All over the country, pediatric hospitals are packed to the gills. Although soaring rates of several cold viruses are to blame, one baddie in particular is responsible for much of the mayhem: respiratory syncytial virus, otherwise known as RSV. RSV generally causes cold symptoms but can also lead to severe lung inflammation or infection in very young and very old people. After decades of failed efforts to produce an RSV vaccine, several highly effective ones are finally on the verge of approval. On Tuesday, Pfizer announced that in a trial, its vaccine — which is given to pregnant people so infants are protected at birth (more on that later) — prevented 69 percent of severe RSV cases among infants 6 months and younger. Also on the horizon are vaccines for older adults, and new monoclonal antibodies (i.e., human-made proteins that function like antibodies in our immune systems) to help prevent infections. All told, experts say these products are effective enough to prevent more than three-quarters of severe disease in both age groups. (Vox)
Weight-loss drug had dramatic effect in adolescents with obesity, study finds. (STAT News)
Brookline, MA's unique tobacco law: Town officials announced Tuesday that their "Tobacco-Free Generation" bylaw banning anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000 from ever buying tobacco products in Brookline has withstood a court challenge and will remain in effect. (WBUR)
Calls to suicide lifeline have jumped in Mass. since number switched to 988: The three-digit number, meant to be easy to remember when in distress, took effect in July. Massachusetts has seen a 30% increase in calls to the lifeline with some call centers seeing even bigger spikes. (WBUR)
Economy
China-US tensions force Taiwanese tech firms to consider a ‘plan B’ – India or Vietnam. Taiwanese firms are moving an ever larger share of their capital to cheap, well-connected places, including Vietnam and once-unthought-of India Many are retaining basic exposure to mainland China, while shipping hi-tech components to the US from friendly countries to keep costs down. (South China Morning Post)
Investors who fund venture-capital firms continue to plow money into the sector, eager for access to hot technology startups even as the industry lurches into a bear market. Venture-capital funds raised $151 billion in the first three quarters of this year, exceeding any prior full-year fundraising. The surge has added up to a record of nearly $300 billion in so-called dry powder, or money that is available to spend. (Wall Street Journal)
About one-third of large corporations in Australia paid no income tax in 2020-21, a new report shows. The Australian Taxation Office released its corporate tax transparency report on Thursday, which showed the percentage of entities paying no income tax was 32%, down from a high of 36% in 2015-16. (The Guardian)
When to call it a day as CEO: In August, Jason Gardner announced he would step down as CEO of fintech platform Marqeta. Gardner founded the company by himself in 2010, helming it through its IPO in 2021. Why did Gardner decide to step back? A private company CEO is very different from a public company CEO: “I felt that, heading into my 13th year, I needed to find that late-stage co-founder." And what did Gardner learn from his 12 years running Marqeta? “Companies don't die from starvation,” Gardner said. “They die from overeating.” (Protocol)
US Banks paid out over $1 billion to ransomware thieves last year — more than double what they handed over in 2020. (Bloomberg)
Technology
Ripple Effects of Tech Layoffs Will Sink In Soon: Today alone, The Information reported that online banking startup Chime was cutting 12% of its workforce and Bloomberg reported that Opendoor slashed 18% of its headcount. Those cuts follow other layoffs in recent days instituted by recruiting software provider Gem, Zillow and Oracle. Crypto finance firm Galaxy Digital is reportedly considering big cuts. And any day now Elon Musk’s ax is expected to fall at Twitter. Meanwhile, those big tech firms still hiring in the third quarter, most obviously Meta Platforms and Alphabet, are pulling back noticeably. Fortune reported today that LinkedIn research out of Britain showed the number of jobs advertised as remote had fallen to 12% in September from 16% in January. (The Information)
Microsoft's Chinese AI conundrum: Microsoft has been instrumental in making China an AI powerhouse. But as tensions rise between the U.S. and China, Microsoft could be forced to make tough decisions surrounding the thriving AI ecosystem it helped create in the country. Microsoft Research Asia is one of the most influential hubs of AI research in the world. Research conducted at MSR China has been used to build Microsoft’s advertising, chatbots, Bing search, Windows, Xbox, Azure Cloud, and other products. “You can argue that Microsoft Research Asia was the sort of seed capital from which a lot of Chinese AI companies and researchers and the sector really developed,” Paul Triolo, senior VP focused on China at Albright Stonebridge Group, said. (Protocol)
Qualcomm expects to provide modem chips for the “vast majority” of iPhones in 2023, retaining its current foothold after previously planning to supply ~20%. (Bloomberg)
Airbnb Forecasts Slowing Growth After Record Sales: “Despite a lot of consumers pulling back on spending, the one area that I haven’t seen them pull back on as much is travel,” said CEO Brian Chesky on the call. Even with macroeconomic headwinds, total nights booked increased 25% year over year, and the company also saw a significant rise in cross border bookings. The San Francisco company forecast sales growth slowing to between 17% and 23% in the current quarter compared to 4Q21. (The Information)
Elon Musk plans to eliminate about 3,700 jobs at Twitter, or half of the social media company’s workforce, in a bid to drive down costs following his $44 billion acquisition, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Twitter’s new owner aims to inform affected staffers Friday. Musk also intends to reverse the company’s existing work-from-anywhere policy, asking remaining employees to report to offices -- though some exceptions could be made. (Bloomberg)
Women athletes now have their own sports network. (CNBC)
Smart Links
L’Oréal suspends advertising spending on Twitter. (Financial Times)
Amazon Takes Aim at Spotify With Music Pricing Overhaul. (The Information)
Penguin Seeks Simon & Schuster’s Support to Fight for Imperiled Book Merger. (Wall Street Journal)
Google, IBM, Wells Fargo Join Growing List of Companies Posting Pay for All US Jobs. (Bloomberg)
If Your Quiet Quitting Is Going Well, You Might Be Getting ‘Quiet Fired’. (Wall Street Journal)
Italy’s ancient markets enjoy a Renaissance as visitors pour in. (The Times)
Houston Astros pitch second no-hitter in World Series history. (Houston Chronicle)
Americans Feel Like Crime is Worsening. (Statista)
Good News
She put a stranger on her shoulders at a Phillies rally. Now fans want them to marry. She hoisted him above the sea of revelers until he found his friends. People far and wide are hoping for a fairy tale ending. (Washington Post)
Photos of students in Philippines wearing ‘anti-cheating’ hats go viral: “Seeing the hats made by my classmates was hilarious,” said student Marc Louise Pelaez. (NBC News)
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