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Good afternoon and welcome to the Sunday edition of Notes on the News, your guide to the week ahead and the best of our weekend reads. Here's what we're watching: coronavirus-relief negotiations, the final presidential debate, and a Senate panel's vote on Amy Coney Barrett. Let us know what you think by replying to this email. |
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| PHOTO: CAROLINE BREHMAN/CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY/ZUMA PRESS |
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1. Deadline looms for coronavirus relief. After speaking with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the White House to move within 48 hours to resolve the remaining disputes over an aid package. She didn't say what would happen if an agreement wasn't in place by then. |
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2. Candidates scheduled for in-person final debate. Thursday's presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn., has taken on added importance following a tumultuous first clash between President Trump and Joe Biden, the president's coronavirus hospitalization and the rivals' dueling town halls. |
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3. Amy Coney Barrett faces first Supreme Court confirmation vote. The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to back President Trump's nominee on Thursday, which would advance the matter to the full chamber. |
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4. Earnings spotlight turns to Netflix, Coca-Cola. After big U.S. banks posted recession-defying results in the past week, investors will be watching for numbers due from the streaming giant on Tuesday and the soda maker on Thursday. Other highlights this week include IBM, Tesla and telecom rivals Verizon and AT&T. |
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5. China’s growth figures to show pace of recovery. The world's second-largest economy will report its third-quarter gross domestic product on Monday, offering insight into how quickly the country is bouncing back from the effects of the pandemic. China is expected to be the only major economy to grow this year. |
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6. Bolivian election shapes up as battle over ousted Evo Morales. Eleven months after the increasingly authoritarian president resigned amid violent protests and fled the country, his party has regrouped and his handpicked candidate is the front-runner in today's vote. Morales has pledged to return if his ally wins. |
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7. World Series begins. The winner of tonight's matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves will progress to Game 1 on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, whose ruthless efficiency has left them within striking distance of the franchise's first championship. |
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711 — The average FICO credit score in July, up from 708 in April and 706 a year earlier, according to Fair Isaac Corp. Early estimates suggest this average has held steady through mid-October, which is the highest since FICO began keeping track in 2005. The increase is largely thanks to the financial assistance the government and lenders rolled out to consumers after the pandemic took hold in the U.S. 40% — The percentage of day-care centers in the U.S. that are closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to estimates. Many of those that are open have half the number of children they did in February, or fewer. The industry is teetering, and parents who struggled to find a day-care slot before the pandemic may have to compete for even fewer spaces when it is over. $2,495 — The price of Peloton's new stationary bike, the swankier Bike+. The original can now be had for $1,895. For those who can afford them, Peloton's exercise machines that pipe live-streamed classes into our living rooms are a godsend during lockdown. Columnist John Stoll tests out the revamped, more expensive model. |
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Tech’s influence over markets exceeds the dot-com peak. Technology companies are set to end the year with their greatest share of the stock market ever. They now account for nearly 40% of the S&P 500, on pace to eclipse a record of 37% from 1999, according to a Dow Jones Market Data analysis. Yet the concentration of gains in a narrow group of companies concerns many investors, who worry that stocks are too dependent on the sector and that a significant pullback in a few names could bring down markets. |
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| What Everyone Wants to Know |
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| PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DOUG CHAYKA; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (7) |
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How Facebook’s CEO learned politics. For more than a decade as he built Facebook into a global force, Mark Zuckerberg made it clear he didn’t care for politics. No longer. He is now an active political operator. He has dined with President Trump, talks regularly with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, and has pressed lawmakers to scrutinize rivals including TikTok and Apple, people involved in the discussions say. Zuckerberg's moves are part of an effort to protect his company from pressures that range from antitrust scrutiny to criticism of its privacy practices and of its role in disseminating misinformation and conspiracy theories. |
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Long lines and mail-in ballots suggest massive voter turnout. Long lines at early voting sites, huge increases in mail-in ballots due to the pandemic and polls showing enthusiasm for voting are all pointing to record turnout in the 2020 presidential election. Through Friday, at least 10 states had already exceeded the number of early votes they received during the entire 2016 election. That includes the competitive states of Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Hampshire. The South’s economy outperforms the rest of the U.S. The summer wave of coronavirus cases in the South left the region's economy largely unscathed, with the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and relatively strong job openings. As a whole, the South owes its stronger economic trajectory since the initial shutdown to its relatively aggressive reopening of business and a greater willingness by consumers to venture out despite risks. Public-health experts say the early reopening came at a price: higher rates of infections and deaths. |
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Go watch: "The Trial of the Chicago 7," Aaron Sorkin's Netflix docudrama about the trial of demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic convention. The Journal's film critic says it resonates with our current moment but takes a few liberties along the way. |
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