Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 💰 Uncle Sam's bills keep piling up
• 🐍 Cartwheeling snakes
• 🚢 World’s oldest shipwreck discovered

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.50-minute read (931 words).

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“Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act on building the life you desire.”

–Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)

The US government spent nearly $2 trillion more than it collected in 2026, marking the largest annual federal deficit outside the pandemic years of 2020-21, according to new Treasury data.

By the numbers: The federal deficit reached $1.992 trillion in the fiscal year ending September 30, up 12% from last year and equivalent to ~6% of US GDP.

• The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) originally forecast a $1.85 trillion deficit earlier this year, but an extra ~$145 billion in Supreme Court-ordered refunds for President Trump’s tariff policy helped push the final figure higher.
• Meanwhile, net interest on America’s national debt reached $1.05 trillion, making it the US government's third largest expense behind Social Security ($1.67 trillion) and Medicare ($1.07 trillion).

Why it’s a big deal: When the government consistently spends more than it brings in, it has to borrow money to cover the difference and adds to the national debt, which stood at roughly $40.3 trillion in mid-October (~125% of US GDP).

Higher interest rates have also pushed up the cost of servicing the debt, with net interest payments reaching a record-high 3.3% of GDP this year, per the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).

How high is the alarm level?

Fiscal watchdogs say the trend is becoming increasingly dangerous, as interest eats up more of the federal budget following a decade-plus stretch of lower rates that ended post-Covid.

But the Trump admin argues some policies adding to today’s deficits will generate future economic growth and tax revenue, including recent business-related tax cuts they say will spur investment that pays off down the road.

Looking ahead…Economists and analysts widely expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by another quarter-point in December, following a similar hike last month, as US inflation remains above target.

The expected move would increase America’s interest payments on the national debt, which rise by ~$95 billion for every percentage-point rate hike by the Fed, per a CBO analysis this month.

📊 Flash poll: How concerned are you about the growing US federal deficit?

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• Somewhat concerned
• Neutral
• Not very concerned
• Not at all concerned

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🏘️📉 Pending home sales in September fell 7.3% from August and were 11.3% lower year-over-year, per the National Association of Realtors; it came as other data shows mortgage rates rose from 6.8% to 7.6% over the course of September, while homebuilder sentiment hit a 14-year low.
• 📦 Amazon is hiring 300,000+ US workers for the upcoming holiday season, its first such increase in recruitment in three years.
• 🚜 President Trump announces $8 billion in federal payment to farmers this harvest season to offset rising diesel costs and other increased expenses.

SPORTS, MEDIA, & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎬 You Can See Everything, new A24 documentary from Nathan Fielder about Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, currently holds a 97 rating on Metacritic, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 9.4 on IMDb, the latter of which would surpass The Shawshank Redemption for the highest-rated film of all time.
• 🏈 Ohio St. QB Julian Sayin is out “indefinitely” due to a shoulder injury on his throwing arm, with the team not expecting him back at all this season (including playoffs).
• 🏥 Christina Applegate reveals she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, and doctors are now investigating what condition she may have instead.

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SCIENCE, SPACE, & EMERGING TECH

• 🫀 University of Minnesota researchers effectively kept pig kidneys in cold storage for months, then successfully thawed, tested, and transplanted the organs into test pig recipients, per new preprint study; findings could help revolutionize organ transplants, as organs typically only remain viable for a number of hours before surgery.
• 💉 Novo (formerly Novo Nordisk) says its next-generation obesity injection, CagriSema, is associated with 25% average weight loss at 68 weeks, per analysis of ~2,300 overweight or obese women; results improve on the weight loss associated with Novo’s blockbuster GLP-1 obesity drug Wegovy.
• 🐍⟳ Dwarf reed snakes, a tiny species in southeast Asia, roll away like a speeding wheel when threatened, in rare and strangely acrobatic behavior, per new study; watch the cartwheeling snakes in action.

US, WORLD, & POLITICS

• 🌐 Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, per new WSJ report citing US officials and “people familiar with the matter;” one WSJ source claims Musk discussed the matter with President Trump prior to his decision; it comes as Musk and Trump have expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries and blamed the strikes for raising global prices.
• 🗳️ Justice Department charges 28 people in California as part of a voter fraud probe; defendants are non-US citizens but lawful residents who are accused of making false statements on naturalization applications and submitting fraudulent voter registrations.
• 🇨🇦 Alberta voters overwhelmingly back remaining in Canada, voting 75.5%-24.5% to reject a referendum that would have begun a process toward secession (with 86% of votes counted).

☝️ Archaeologists believe they've discovered the world's oldest shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, dating back 4,400-4,700 years to around the time the Great Pyramid of Giza was built. While the ship's wooden structure has long since disappeared, several ceramic storage pots it was carrying remain scattered across the seafloor, some still containing traces of their original contents.

🤔 Did you know? People are walking ~15% faster than they did in 1980, according to a study of pedestrians in three major US cities. Researchers aren't entirely sure why we've picked up the pace, though theories include rising wages, increasingly crowded streets, and our always-connected lifestyles.

📰 Worth a read: Worlds more habitable than Earth? They’re out there.

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

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