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Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are tied in Texas, which hasn’t backed a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976. A get-out-the-vote ad from Levi’s is warning about voter suppression. And Republican lawmakers are criticizing Biden for chartering an Amtrak train. The final debate is scheduled for tomorrow, with mute buttons. Here is the latest on the campaign.—David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is mapping the pandemic globally and across America. For the latest news, sign up for our Covid-19 podcast and daily newsletter.

Here are today’s top stories

Stocks slid on Wednesday, with energy producers among the worst performers as oil fell toward $40 a barrel in New York. After-market earnings resulted in indigestion for Chipotle, but Tesla is doing just fine.

The S&P 500, for the most part, doesn’t actually exist. The physical assets owned by all the companies in it—the cars, buildings, factories and merchandise—barely touch 20% of the index’s $28 trillion value. This is what makes up the other 80%.

One of China’s hottest tech unicorns, backed by the likes of Goldman Sachs and Tencent Holdings, was once valued at as much as $1.4 billion. Now it may sell for about $1,000.

China’s bigger tech companies, including Huawei Technologies, have expressed strong concerns to local regulators about a proposed acquisition by Nvidia, potentially jeopardizing a $40 billion deal.

Bitcoin surged to almost $13,000 for the first time since July 2019 after PayPal Holdings announced it will allow customers to use cryptocurrencies.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro

Photographer: Andres Borges/Bloomberg

U.S. hospitalizations for Covid-19 hit their highest point since Aug. 22, with New York doubling its count from early September and recording more daily infections than at anytime since May. At least 10 other states reported hospitalization records. More darkly, new studies predict a massive daily increase of hospitalizations over the next four weeks. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy quarantined himself after a staff member tested positive for the virus. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro blasted a Chinese vaccine being tested in his country one day after his health minister said it would be distributed nationwide. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

Quibi, the short-video upstart founded by movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg and backed by $1.8 billion raised from Walt Disney, AT&T, WarnerMedia and others, won’t have a Hollywood ending.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

What you’ll want to read tonight

Thanksgiving Will Come With Ham This Year

There are many ways in which the pandemic will upend the quintessential American holiday this year, including supermarkets offering a wider range of food items (ham or lobster anyone?). Most of the Covid-19 induced modifications to the traditional feast, however, don’t bode well for businesses who count on it.

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What new technologies will bring together the consumer, “prosumer” and the intelligent grid? Join us on Oct. 22 for the final briefing in our Smart Cities series, Innovation and Disruption at the Grid Edge. Hear from the CEOs of Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Octopus Energy and Highview Power on how decentralization and digitization of power generation and the grid are becoming the new reality. Register here.

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