Good morning. On today’s docket:

• 💰 What you should know about the current US economy
• 😬 Why real estate agents are getting a little apprehensive
• 💞 How to find love in Washington D.C.

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.87-minute read.

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"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow."

–Ronald E. Osborn (1917-1998)

Third-quarter earnings season is fully underway this week, with more than 50 S&P 500 companies reporting results. And while overall S&P 500 profits have fallen year-over-year in each of the previous three quarters, early results from Q3 indicate corporate America could see an end to that streak.

Other things you should know about the current state of the US economy:

✈️⛽ Travel and transportation: Delta, United, and American Airlines each reported earnings over the past week that showed strong US travel demand in Q3. However, all three companies also warned of weaker profits and higher prices in Q4 due to the rising cost of jet fuel following OPEC+ oil production cuts over the summer (gas prices nationwide rose to a 10-month high of $3.85 per gallon in mid-August following OPEC+’s announcement). But over the past two months, prices have declined like a debit card with no funds to the current national average of $3.55 per gallon.

🛍️ Retail and the US consumer: Retail sales rose 0.7% in September from the previous month, more than double Wall Street economists’ initial estimates. The unexpected surge in growth comes despite mounting headwinds facing US consumers, including record-high interest rates for credit cards, the resumption of student-loan payments, and an overall decline in savings.

🚚📦 Freight and shipping: This week, rail and trucking giants Union Pacific and JB Hunt both reported declines in freight volume and revenue last quarter due to a decrease in business demand. FedEx downgraded its full-year revenue forecast for similar reasons in its earnings report late last month.

🏦 Interest rates and inflation: In public comments yesterday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said US inflation (3.7% in September) is still too high for the central bank’s liking, but didn’t indicate whether it will implement additional interest-rate hikes in the coming months. Futures market traders currently predict a near-zero chance of a Fed rate hike in November, and a 30% chance rates will be raised in December.

📊 Flash poll: To all working professionals: would you consider the growth outlook in your industry/sector of the economy to be positive or negative over the next 12 months?

• Positive
• Negative

💥 Israel-Hamas war update: On the US side, President Biden announced a deal with Egypt and Israel to send $100 million worth of humanitarian aid into Gaza, while a US warship shot down several drones and missiles that may have been launched towards Israel by a pro-Iranian militant group in Yemen. In the Gaza Strip, roughly half of the region’s 2+ million residents have been displaced over the past two weeks, while the official Palestinian death toll stands at more than 3,785. Israel’s death toll has remained at ~1,400 since health officials earlier this week updated numbers from Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7.

🇪🇺 The EU is tightening security over “golden passports.” A new EU report found five Caribbean countries have converted golden passports into actual gold, selling them at $100,000 per head to 88,000 individuals from areas including China, Russia, and Iran since the late 2000s, with such sales accounting for up to half of some Caribbean nations’ annual budgets. In response, the EU is seeking to suspend visa exemptions for countries selling citizenship to buyers without a “genuine link” to said nation, voicing concerns over organized crime, money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption.

🇳🇮🇻🇦 Nicaragua released 12 Catholic priests accused of supporting a coup. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government has aggressively pursued Catholic residents – who make up nearly half of the country’s 6.3 million people – since mass anti-government protests in 2018, which Ortega maintains was a coup attempt backed by the Catholic Church. Pope Francis and Nicaraguan clergy have denounced Ortega’s campaign as totalitarian and unfair persecution of their religion, while the US added Nicaragua to its list of countries violating religious freedom in 2022.

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If the real-estate commission structure was a fable, it’d be the Three Little Pigs – because the proverbial big bad wolf is coming to potentially huff and puff and blow the house (heh) down.

The wolf in question? The Justice Department, which is considering legal intervention to change the lucrative real estate commission-sharing system, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

💰🏡 Background: When you sell your house, you’re most likely paying between 5%-6% in broker fees, split between the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent. For example: if a home sells for $412,502 (the current median sale price), its total commission payout would equate to roughly $20,000. The National Association of Realtors, which represents 1.5+ million agents and has even trademarked the word “Realtor,” requires sellers to publish the proposed buyer’s agent commission in order to list the home on virtually any listing service.

• Critics say this arrangement keeps costs high in violation of US antitrust law. Research shows homes with lower buyer agent commissions take longer to sell and are less likely to sell at all.
• NAR argues the current real-estate commission structure benefits buyers, making it easier for first-timers in minority and lower-income groups to purchase a house.

👀 Looking ahead… Two class-action suits challenging the commission structure are currently making their way through the courts, but only the DOJ can make any major changes. And if they do, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman told Bloomberg that “[h]alf the real estate agents in this country would be unemployed.”

💬 Quoted… “I told him maybe we should start using it as a recruitment tool.”

• Looking for love? Forget trying to appear on The Bachelorette or Love is Blind – and go work for Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) instead. Twenty couples (so far) have met while working for the 90-year-old longtime senator and eventually got married, the latest being Jennifer Heins Davis, Grassley’s chief of staff, and Nick Davis, a former Grassley legislative aide who now works for Iowa’s attorney general.

📈 Stat of the Day: 58% = the percentage of US households who owned stocks in 2022, a figure that’s ~5% higher than any other year in history, per the Fed's newly-published Survey of Consumer Finances. It appears the mysterious shareholders that push corporate America forward may actually be the family next door.

🤔 Did You Know?... If you think 5% unemployment is high, try turning into an ant. An estimated 40% of worker ants are “unemployed” and specialize in being inactive, per a peer-reviewed study published in 2017. They do appear to have their reasons, however – when scientists studying this phenomenon took away the portion of worker ants who were most active, the “unemployed” ants took up the mantle and effectively performed the colony’s open jobs.

📰 Worth a Read: Shein, the fast fashion darling mulling a US IPO, opens up about forced labor, data privacy → (CNBC)

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• ☝️ NASA recently published this satellite image showing the impact of last week’s Ring of Fire solar eclipse, which temporarily eliminated roughly 28,300 gigawatts of solar energy in the US (enough to power 1 in 9 American homes).

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with moomoo

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -0.9%; Dow: -0.8%; Nasdaq: -1.0%).
• 🏦 Excluding JPMorgan, the next five largest US banks have cut a combined 20,000 jobs so far this year, per company filings. | 🏥📈 The average employer-sponsored health insurance premium for US families rose 7% to almost $24,000 this year; that’s compared with a 1% increase last year.
• 🌐 The FCC is reviving "net neutrality." | 🕶️ The agency also agreed to open a band of spectrum for some forms of AR/VR wearable devices yesterday; Apple, Broadcom, Meta, and Google have all advocated for the move.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Upway

• 🏀🏆 The Las Vegas Aces won their second consecutive WNBA Championship on Wednesday night; the Aces are the third WNBA team to win back-to-back titles, and the first since 2002.
• 📺 The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV has been canceled after two seasons; the move reportedly came after Apple executives voiced concerns over Jon Stewart covering topics like China and AI.
• ⚾ MLB Playoffs (best of seven): In the NL, the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies 2-1, throwing Philly’s hopes of celebrating in Arizona’s swimming pool into limbo (though the Phillies still lead the series 2-1); in the AL, the Astros beat the Rangers 10-3 last night to even the series at two games apiece. | 🎓🏈 The NCAA is investigating No. 2-ranked Michigan football over alleged rule violations related to sign stealing.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with RYSE

• 🥩 Eating red meat more than once per week is associated with a 50% higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, per a peer-reviewed study published yesterday.
• 🌌🔭 Australian astronomers recently detected a burst of radio waves that traveled through space for an estimated 8 billion years, making it the oldest such burst ever recorded.
• 🪐 A record-breaking “Marsquake” that shook the red planet last year originated from tectonic forces within Mars’s crust, and not from a meteorite as scientists previously believed; that’s per a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters.

From our partners: 📈⌛ Through distribution deals with Best Buy… Ring changed doorbells and Nest changed thermostats. Early investors earned massive returns, and RYSE may be the next household name with their SmartShades technology. Invest before they launch in +100 Best Buys.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚫🤧 CVS is no longer selling some of the most common decongestant brands in America, after advisers to US health regulators recently determined their active ingredient doesn’t have an effect. | 💉 Sanofi is offering its most widely-prescribed insulin product for $35 to all Americans with a valid prescription, regardless of their insurance status.
• 🏛️ Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is planning to call for a third election later this morning to determine a new House Speaker. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 📊 Former President Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, leads President Biden 47% to 43% among voters in seven key swing states, per a new poll from Bloomberg/Morning Consult. (The poll | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right) | ⚖️ Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to reduced charges over efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia; her deal also includes an agreement to testify in future trials. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• ⏰😴 Why hitting the snooze button may be beneficial.

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"Honey, can you turn the TV up? I can't hear it over the cat purring." 

Such was the case for Nicole Spink and her late husband, owners of 14-year-old Bella, who is now officially the cat with the loudest purr in the world.

🏆 Going for the gold... Bella's purr rang in at 54.59 decibels, more than twice the average level of the average housecat (25 decibels). For context, a quiet conversation clocks in at ~50 decibels.

• "She purrs all day long!" Nicole shared. "If there’s food around, or cuddles, she always purrs... some vets have made comments about how she is the only cat they’ve ever had purr in there.”

Now that's quite the happy kitty😍.

It’s time to find out – our weekly news quiz is live.

• Test your mettle against the team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Flour
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Tartar
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Cornstarch
• Butter
• Dark brown sugar
• Sugar
• Egg yolk
• Pumpkin purée
• Vanilla extract
• Cream cheese

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Prawns
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Halibut
• Garlic
• Onion
• Jalapeno
• Roma tomato
• Whipping cream
• Thyme
• Salt & Pepper
• Chipotle in adobo
• Tomatillo
• Cilantro
• Sour cream
• Tortillas

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Bacon
• Cream cheese
• Feta
• Green peppers
• Cranberries
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Flour tortillas

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Pumpkin cheesecake cookies

✌️ Recipe #2: Pescadillas

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Cranberry feta pinwheels