Skimm'd while cooking with Ina Garten

"000000" - Kanye's iPhone password. It needs to be (harder, better, faster) stronger.

STOCKS TO STOCK

The Story

The stock market is getting a lot of attention this week.

Yes, WTF is going on?

Earlier this week, the Dow Jones – which averages the stock prices from 30 major US companies – fell more than 800 points, the third-biggest drop in its history. Yesterday it fell another 500. And the CBOE Volatility Index – which measures how scared investors should be about the market – is basically at code red. Tech stocks are especially struggling.

Comforting. Why is this happening?

Depends who you ask: some people think investors are spooked by the US-China trade war and pulling their money out of the market. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin thinks this is all pretty standard. President Trump blames the Fed for raising interest rates.

Tell me about that.

The Federal Reserve takes the US's economic temperature and prescribes interest rates. The goal? Keep the economy growing nice and steady – not too fast, not too slow. ICYMI the economy has been sh*tting rainbows this year. So the Fed's been upping interest rates for the past few years. But investors don't like that. Neither does Trump, who wants the Fed to back off so he can keep humblebragging about the stock market.

So this is bad...?

Not necessarily. Even with this dip, the market is pretty much back where it was earlier this summer. And it's definitely not as bad as China's been feeling it.

Give it to me straight. Should I take all my retirement money out of stocks?

Stocks typically have high payoff in the long-term, even if they're volatile in the short-term. So most economists are telling people to chill.

theSkimm

The US economy has been riding high for a while now. TBD if this is just a minor hiccup or if the stock market is having more of a down trend.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What people are thinking about…

Hurricane Michael. Earlier this week, it made landfall as the strongest hurricane to hit the continental US since 1992. It's since been downgraded to a tropical storm but has killed at least six people. It has left over 1 million without power in six states and multiple neighborhoods destroyed. But it should leave the coast and move into the ocean soon. Meanwhile, Indonesia is still reeling from the 7.5-magnitude quake and tsunami with waves as high as 20 feet that hit the island of Sulawesi last month. Tens of thousands were left homeless, thousands of buildings damaged. The ground liquefied and swallowed up buildings and people. The official death toll is 2,073. But the number of people missing could be as high as 5,000. And search and rescue efforts are set to end today.

What to say when you're feeling like Olivia Benson...

News for you. Yesterday, Washington's Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not welcome in the state. It's technically been on pause since 2014. But there are currently eight people on death row. And one of them appealed saying the system is rigged against minorities. Yesterday, the WA Supreme Court agreed. This makes Washington the 20th state to get rid of capital punishment.

What to say when your friend asks 'do we need men?'...

Maybe not. Thanks to gene editing, lady mice are making perfectly healthy babies with other lady mice. No males needed.

What to say when you catch your co-worker in a lie…

Dishonesty won't get you far. Right, Billy McFarland?

SKIMM READS

"Fruit of the Drunken Tree" by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Pablo Escobar. Female friendship. A secret. Check, check, check. This book – set in Colombia in the late '80s and '90s – follows two girls who form an unlikely friendship during the rising violence brought on by drug lord Pablo Escobar. Think: "Narcos" meets "Little Women." Get it here.

PS: Check out all of our Skimm Reads here.

SKIMM PICKS

For when you want to treat yourself…

'Tis the season. Treat Yo Self Day is tomorrow. It may have been made up by Parks & Rec, but it's a national holiday in our book. Celebrate the right way.

For when you work hard for the money…

Make it work even harder for you. Women face unique challenges when it come to investing (hi, gender pay gap). Vanguard's Women & Investing Webcast can help clear things up. Sign up here to get expert info from female finance whisperers. Cha-ching.*

SKIMM SHARE

Baby you were born...to vote. Today's the last day to win things, just for making the commitment to vote on November 6th.

Join the movement that's committed to show up this year. And you could win a new Apple Watch to check if it's finally time to make your voice heard. Congrats to yesterday's winner Amanda Adamcheck (New York, NY) – you'll arrive to the polls extra caffeinated.

PS: Share this link with your friends and get extra entries for every person you get to commit to vote with you. Questions? Answers.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

* indicates Skimm'bassador.Go shawty, it's your birthday.

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