| Good morning. There's a lot of darkness in the world, so let's start off with a message from a school superintendent that was making the rounds on Twitter: "We have decided that few childhood acts remain unchanged due to COVID-19 and we will maintain the hope of children by calling actual snow days due to inclement weather. Snow days are chances for on-site learners and virtual learners to just be kids by playing in the snow, baking cookies, reading books, and watching a good movie." | | | |  | NASDAQ | 11,431.35 | + 0.64% | |  | S&P | 3,390.68 | - 0.30% | | | | DJIA | 27,463.19 | - 0.80% | | | | GOLD | 1,909.90 | + 0.22% | | | | 10-YR | 0.777% | - 2.80 bps | | | | OIL | 39.43 | + 2.26% | | | *As of market close | - Economy: This month, consumer confidence dropped sharply in three swing states crucial to the election next week: Pennsylvania, Florida, and Michigan. It edged up in New York and California, though.
- Markets: Stocks continued to fall as Covid-19 cases spread across the country at the fastest pace since the pandemic began.
| |  Francis Scialabba | Hey, you. Looks like you're making some cool, spiky shots in there. How's it going? AstraZeneca: Better than it was. We had suspended our late-stage vaccine trial after a participant developed neurological symptoms. But this week we restarted it when independent monitoring committees and international regulators agreed that it was safe to resume. Johnson & Johnson: Same here; we're back up and running after a reported stroke incident in a volunteer. Outside experts and the FDA sniffed around and said we're good to go. - FYI, our vaccine is the only one being tested that involves a single dose.
Pfizer: Optimistic. The current trial with BioNTech could reveal our vaccine's effectiveness by late November, which would be the first from any vaccine candidate. We could potentially get emergency authorization by the end of the year. - Still, we just barely beat Q3 earnings estimates yesterday. Our costs were down, but sales fell 4% thanks to people's continued reluctance to go to the doctor—i.e. fewer prescriptions for our drugs. It's not just us; they're having the same problem over at Eli Lilly.
Herd immunity: Stock is down. Doctors don't know yet if antibodies = immunity, but it may not matter. A study published Monday showed the number of people with antibodies dropped significantly (27%) in a three-month period, indicating that any immunity could be temporary. - The study hasn't been peer reviewed yet.
Big picture: The U.S.' vaccine game is high-stakes. Any slip-ups in the program—such as only four out of six candidates proving effective, or not enough people getting vaccinated—could mean we'll be dealing with the virus well into 2023. But if everything goes smoothly, we could turn the tide by July of next year. + FYI: On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Yahoo Finance that the "primary endpoint" of a vaccine is "to prevent clinically recognizable disease," aka stamping out symptoms, rather than eliminating the virus entirely. | | | When you read every news story published, some numbers stand out. Here's a roundup from yesterday: 1.4 billion: That's how many face masks 3M has sold so far this year, per its earnings report. The manufacturer is aiming to make 2.4 billion N95 masks annually by the end of the year, which would more than triple its capacity before the pandemic. 95%: the year-over-year drop in the number of finishers of timed races between mid-March and mid-October 2020, according to racing platform Athlinks. With major running events canceled all over the world due to the pandemic, the industry is facing its greatest crisis in history, the WSJ writes. New York City's (canceled) marathon was supposed to take place this weekend. 1: There was only one chain in the Restaurant Brands International portfolio (Burger King, Tim Hortons, etc.) to report positive same-store sales growth last quarter...can you guess which one? Popeyes, whose iconic fried chicken sandwich is still causing traffic jams in the drive-thru lane. Comparable sales at Popeyes grew 17.4% in Q3. | | ![A meme of Karen from Mean Girls on the phone saying]() Mean Girls | In case Halloween candy sales in July didn't get the point across, humans are bad at sticking to schedules. Which is why a handful of governments are shortening quarantines in hopes that more people will actually start complying, the WSJ reports. - 14-day quarantines were reduced to seven days in France, while Belgium, Spain, and Germany are cutting them to 10.
- Canada, Thailand, and the U.S. are also considering chopping quarantines for international visitors.
Is this a good idea? The short answer is, scientists don't have enough data to know. But people aren't following quarantines, and health officials want to try something. The standard 14-day quarantine isn't perfect science, either. The WHO says the average coronavirus incubation period (time from exposure to feeling sick) is 5–6 days, but for some cases it can take as long as two weeks. Looking ahead...with turkey season around the corner, quarantines are more important than ever. Yesterday, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio asked New Yorkers to avoid holiday travel. And many colleges are sending students home from campus after Thanksgiving, extending winter break, and scrapping spring break to reduce travel during flu season. | |  | The world's leading social trading platform has somethin' to say. And—as usual—it involves some digital $$$ opportunities for you, reader. If you invest $5,000 in crypto with eToro, they'll give you a $500 bonus. Allow us to repeat this crypto bombshell—this time, in caps. IF YOU INVEST $5,000 IN CRYPTO WITH eToro, THEY'LL GIVE YOU A $500 BONUS. If we somehow don't have your attention yet, here's some more about how great eToro is. Where to begin? For starters, eToro lets you invest in over a dozen of the world's leading cryptocurrencies. Plus, they have two unbeatable tools to sharpen your skillz: Virtual Portfolio, which lets you play around with $100k in fake funds, and CopyTraderTM, a unique feature that lets you mimic the moves of top eToro traders. We'll stop listing great things about eToro if you click here and get your $500 bonus. | |  Giphy | This article is part of our weeklong series exploring state-level issues in the upcoming election. If you had a sneaking suspicion that everyone cool you know is moving to Austin, TX, you're kinda right: Austin and other Texas metropolitan areas—Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio—have collectively grown by 19% from 2010 to 2018. - Why? Texas's cities are good for businesses. The WSJ ranked Austin the hottest job market in the U.S. for the second straight year in 2019. And tech companies like Apple and Tesla are building new offices and factories in the city like it's their own personal Minecraft server.
What it means for Election Day Data compiled by the University of Houston shows that Texas's major metropolitan areas now account for 69% of the statewide vote, up from 52% in 1968. With cities filling fast with young tech workers who broadly lean left, the onetime Republican stronghold has gradually drifted into swing state territory. Bottom line: It would still take a historic upswell of Democratic support to flip the state in this election. But as new job seekers continue to reshape its economic landscape, Texas and its meaty 38 electoral college votes might be up for grabs when 2024 rolls around. | |  Kazakh Tourism | This week, Kazakhstan's tourism board released a new advertising campaign, "Very nice," to capitalize on the buzz around the new Borat sequel. The backstory: Borat, a fictional Kazakh journalist played by Sacha Baron Cohen, has the kind of backward ideas you don't want people associating with your country. So when the original Borat film came out in 2006, the government banned the movie and tried to explain Kazakhstan is actually not a cluster of medieval hamlets, as the film would have you believe. The nowstory: Kazakh Tourism released a series of 12-second video spots that use Borat's famous catchphrase (well, the only G-rated one) to describe the central Asian country's attractions. - "Kazakhstan's nature is very nice, its food is very nice, and its people, despite Borat's jokes to the contrary, are some of the nicest in the world," Kairat Sadvakassov, deputy chairman of Kazakh Tourism, said in a statement.
This story reminds us of some other controversial tourism slogans. Rhode Island broadcasted itself as "Cooler and Warmer" in 2016; two years later, Nebraska announced, "Honestly, it's not for everyone." | | - The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win the World Series. We...(didn't) told ya so. Congrats to LA on two recent championships.
- The CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, and Alphabet will defend Section 230, part of a law that shields social media platforms from legal liability, before a U.S. Senate panel today.
- Microsoft, meanwhile, beat earnings as its cloud business grew 48% last quarter.
- AMD is buying fellow Silicon Valley chipmaker Xilinx for $35 billion as the industry rapidly consolidates.
- Jon Stewart is coming back to TV with a current affairs series for Apple.
- Callaway is closing in on buying the rest of Topgolf, the high-tech driving range/bar that could be valued at $2+ billion, according to the WSJ. Callaway already owns ~14%.
| |  | For once we're happy to talk about mortgages. Right now, mortgage rates are at historic lows. So refinancing with this lender could mean savings of over $50,000 over a 30 year period. That's savings of over $145 a month. This refi free-for-all will not last, however. So if you've been on the backyard fence, now's the time to refinance. | |  Morning Brew | Yes, this is the second time you are looking at this Markets graphic today. So why are we showing it to you...again? Because we want to make sure it provides you the most useful information to help you start your day. However, because we can't incept into your brain like Leo or guzzle data like Facebook, we need your input. You can take this really short survey about the Brew's Markets section to help us improve it. Thanks! | | | Which one is Kazakhstan?  Wikipedia | | | When you share the Brew with your network, you earn free swag like our classic Morning Brew t-shirt. Are you one of those people who is always going places? Then you probably need a shirt. Might as well be this bad boy with the Morning Brew logo plastered across the chest. 
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