Good morning, and Happy Halloween. On today’s docket:

• 🤔 Is big data driving up rents?
• 📝 President Biden issues America’s first AI executive order
• 🎃 A look at this year’s most-popular Halloween costumes

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.85-minute read.

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

"The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook."

–William James (1842-1910)

“Algorithms” and “big data” may be frequently heard buzzwords – but they can have a real impact on the US economy.

To gauge that impact, look no further than rent prices. Many landlords now outsource their pricing decisions to software that, based on the analysis of giant troves of rental market data, tells its users how much to increase rent for each renewal and what to ask for newly vacated apartments.

However – not to get all boomer “back in my day” on you, but things didn’t always work this way. Many building owners would make deep cuts to rents when the market was headed south, and once believed keeping apartment buildings as full as possible was the best way to maximize profits.

Enter: algorithms and big data, especially driven by two property management software companies – RealPage and Yardi Systems. These companies showed many landlords that higher rents + lower occupancy rates = higher profits.

• Case in point: A large apartment-management company began raising its rents through RealPage’s pricing system a few years ago. Occupancy levels at its buildings dropped from 98% to 95%, but the company was more profitable than it had been previously, the WSJ reports.

📸 Big picture: The national median monthly asking rent has increased 43% over the past ten years, from $1,286 in 2013 to $1,837 in Q1 2023.

👀 Looking ahead… Two ongoing lawsuits, one against RealPage and one against Yardi, allege algorithmic pricing systems illegally enable an exchange of confidential info to set rents across buildings and markets. The DOJ’s antitrust division has also been investigating RealPage’s practices and is considering potential enforcement action, per the WSJ.

💥 Israel-Hamas war update: Israel expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip yesterday as part of the country’s deepest push into Palestinian territory since the war began on October 7. Analysts frame Israel’s recent moves as an attempt to surround and isolate Gaza City, the area’s biggest population center, where Hamas reportedly operates from a series of underground tunnels. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine and the West for inspiring an antisemitic mob that stormed a Russian airport on Sunday in anticipation of a flight arriving from Israel.

🇨🇴 Dengue rates in Colombia fell dramatically after the release of modified mosquitoes. The altered mosquitoes carry a bacteria that prevents them from transmitting dengue, a potentially life-threatening virus that’s widespread in many tropical parts of the world. After scientists released the modified mosquitoes in three densely populated Colombian cities, all three areas saw a 94-97% drop in dengue cases over the following months. Researchers hope the modified population will eventually outnumber regular mosquitoes in Colombia, since the altered insects pass the dengue-resistant bacteria to their offspring.

🇺🇸🇯🇵 The US has started buying Japanese seafood in bulk to counter China’s recent ban. Japan initially started releasing treated radioactive wastewater from its defunct Fukushima nuclear plant in August after receiving approval from the UN’s nuclear watchdog. China, which historically has been Japan’s largest buyer of seafood, enacted a ban on such imports in response to the wastewater release, citing food safety concerns. The Japanese seafood bought by the US military will be sold in shops and restaurants on military bases, officials said.

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President Biden signed a new executive order yesterday that represents the US government’s first action specifically targeting artificial intelligence.

The move, which builds on voluntary commitments the White House previously secured from leading AI companies, focuses on three main areas:

1. Safety and security: The order requires large AI firms to share safety test results with the US government, directs the Commerce Department to create guidance for authenticating and watermarking AI-generated content, and orders US agencies to evaluate potentially harmful AI-related health-care practices.
2. Innovation and competition: The order calls for changes in America’s visa process to encourage immigrants with expertise in AI to remain in the US. It also allocates funding and other resources for small US developers and entrepreneurs to commercialize AI, and encourages the FTC to promote competition in the industry.
3. Equity and civil rights: Landlords, federal benefits program managers, and federal contractors were given guidance “to keep AI algorithms from being used to exacerbate discrimination.” The order also calls for the DOJ and other agencies to be trained on best practices for investigating and prosecuting AI civil rights violations, as well as the use of AI in courtroom proceedings.

👀 Looking ahead… White House officials said the components of Biden’s new executive order will be implemented over the next 90 to 365 days, with the safety and security items facing the earliest deadlines.

As anyone who’s watched Caddyshack can tell you – upscale country clubs aren’t very accessible, with some boasting waiting lists of five- to- seven- years and an initiation fee in the six figures.

This has created a so-called “gap in golf,” according to Michael Williamson, co-founder of the Intown Golf Club – which is attempting to bridge the divide between these upscale country clubs and entertainment venues like Topgolf.

The Intown Golf Club seeks to be just like a traditional country club, only indoors. The club – which has locations in Atlanta and Charlotte and plans to open locations in Philly and Columbus (Ohio) next year – charges membership fees and mimics its traditional counterparts with features like a head pro, a pro shop with Intown-branded merchandise, a caddie program, and even a steam room.

But, unlike a traditional country club, there’s no golf course. Instead, each location features several simulator bays that can hold 15 people, as well as an upscale restaurant and bar.

📸 Big picture: Intown isn’t the only brand going after this emerging market, which is being driven by new golfers and high demand for indoor simulators.

• T-Squared Social, a Tiger Woods-backed restaurant and bar that opened in Midtown Manhattan in September, also has an indoor golf emphasis but not a golf focus.
• Golfzon, which has more than 6,200 simulator locations in 62 countries, is also expanding its North American footprint with a similar concept.

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💬 Quoted… "So I didn't even make it back and it's already renamed to Sfera."

• In a recent interview, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that in 2018, the country’s space agency immediately renamed its new $200+ million satellite project after Putin mistakenly used the wrong name when announcing its creation to the public.

🎃 Stat of the Day: Pop culture had a Roman Empire-sized impact on Halloween costume choices this year. According to new Google Trends data, three of the top-six most popular US costumes are derived from movies or TV shows that came out in 2023. The full list (in order): Barbie, princess, Spider-Man, witch, fairy, and Wednesday Addams.

🤔 Did You Know?... People in the US and Canada ate the fewest number of home-cooked meals out of any region in the world last year, averaging 8.4 meals/week.

📰 Worth a Read: The case for pumpkins as a superfood → (BBC Future)

• ☝️ Atlas Obscura published the winners of its annual “Spooky Snaps” photo competition, which features some of the creepiest settings from around the world.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Meowtel

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +1.2%; Dow: +1.6%; Nasdaq: +1.2%); the Dow saw its biggest one-day gain since early June. | 🏦 The Treasury Department cut its net borrowing estimate for the October-through-December quarter to $776 billion, vs. the $852 billion predicted in late July.
• 🚗🤝 GM and the UAW reached a tentative labor agreement; the headline economics were patterned off the union’s deals with Ford and Stellantis (background); the tentative deals with the Big Three will now be subject to approval from UAW members.
• ⚖️ Sam Bankman-Fried underwent cross-examination on the witness stand yesterday; the cross-examination will conclude later this morning.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏆🏉 South Africa defeated New Zealand 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday, becoming the first country to win four World Cups.
• 🍿 Five Nights at Freddy’s earned $78 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend; that’s the second-highest total for a video game adaptation.
• 🏈 The University of Michigan rescinded a contract extension offer to head football coach Jim Harbaugh following allegations of sign-stealing, according to the WSJ, though Harbaugh says the report is not accurate.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with EnerHealth

• 🦱 Human hair follicles have the ability to sense touch by triggering signals from adjacent sensory nerves, per a new study from Imperial College London.
• 🛰️🥚 Mouse embryos were successfully cultivated and grown in space for the first time as part of a new ISS experiment aimed at learning whether humans can reproduce in space.
• 🦠🍍 The average human immune system is made up of ~1.8 trillion cells and collectively weighs about as much as a pineapple, per a new study published in PNAS.

*From our partners: 🍄🏆 Voted one of the top five mushroom-coffee brands… EnerHealth’s Freeze-Dried Chaga Instant Coffee is rich with antioxidants, which support a healthy immune system, lower blood pressure, and enhance cognitive ability. Save 25% on EnerHealth with code DONUT25.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 👁️ The FDA is warning US consumers to immediately stop using and avoid purchasing 27 over-the-counter eye drop products due to the “potential risk of eye infections that could result in partial vision loss or blindness."
• 🎓 Cornell University is investigating antisemitic “threats of violence” that were posted online over the weekend and prompted a police presence at the school’s Jewish center.
• 🚫💰 The Education Department is withholding funding for the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, a major student-loan processor, because it failed to send timely billing notices to ~2.5 million US borrowers, resulting in 800,000 of them being placed in forbearance; payments will resume once the issues are resolved.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔👽 What's the best evidence we've found for alien life?

Yesterday, we covered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and opened the floor up to subscriber comments.

❓ Our question to you: What are your thoughts on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas?

• “This appears to be a tale of abuse and trauma that we as people cannot help but perpetuate from generation to generation. There is no true good and bad here. Both sides see their cause as good and the other side as evil. At the end of the day, healing and self development is the long term cure. “
• “I'm actually shocked and saddened by the way our country is responding to our Jewish neighbors who are frightened and saddened by the attack by Hamas. Though I don't support war, what Hamas did in Israel is unforgivable. The fact that Israel is being persecuted by certain groups around the world for fighting back is surprising.”
• “Just what does Hamas expect to accomplish when they are outgunned and outmanned? Their attacks were ill planned and just plain stupid. Nothing is settled with war. They should go to a settlement table.”

Click here to read additional nuanced responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 239 longform responses.

Disney fan Nathan Firesheets set out on a mission to visit all twelve Disney parks in twelve days. 

He started his journey in Disneyland Paris on March 8, 2023. Just under two weeks later, Nathan had visited (prepare yourself) Walt Disney Studios, Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios (😅). He finished his adventure in Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

Nathan also managed to experience 216 rides along the way. "It was pretty awesome and kind of surreal," he told KTLA. "I still can't quite believe I did it."

❓ Trivia: Where did Halloween first originate?

😱 True or False?... There’s a statue of Jason Vorhees at the bottom of a lake in Minnesota.

🤔 Riddle Me This: I have a body, arms, legs, and a head, but I’m heartless and have no guts. What am I?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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❓ Trivia: Ancient Ireland/Britain (s/o to the Celts)

😱 T/F: True 

🤔 Riddle: A skeleton