Pics du jour

🏛️ Republicans appear favored to win the House, though the race is still tight. The GOP has blocked some of Democrats’ pathways to victory in the House, though dozens of races remained too close to call as of 4:30 am ET. In the Senate, Republicans have already guaranteed themselves a majority with four races left to call, earning 52 seats vs. 44 for Democrats thus far.

🛒 Walmart is testing new tech that allows workers and/or shoppers’ phones to open security locks. The technology, which is live in a few hundred Walmart stores, is aimed at protecting against theft without hindering sales, per Bloomberg. While the retail giant is initially rolling out the phone-unlocking feature to employees only, it has reportedly discussed extending mobile unlocking to Walmart+ loyalty members as well.

🏢 Vacant apartments are starting to fill up across America. Since 2022, 1.2 million new apartments have been constructed across the US, representing the biggest such boom in four decades. But those places are now starting to fill up. The share of apartments that are vacant stopped rising last quarter for the first time in three years, as demand rose to its highest levels since 2021, per CoStar. If that demand is sustained, if the economy remains strong, and if housing prices remain near record highs, landlords likely will have more pricing power starting sometime next year, the Wall Street Journal reports.