The trading desk team was just embarking on another banner year when senior executives started jumping ship, headed to the likes of Bank of America, Citigroup and Millennium Management. By this fall, many of the team’s heaviest hitters were gone. The setting wasn’t some struggling investment bank, however—it was the equity derivatives desk at Wall Street giant JPMorgan. It’s part of a broader trend of job-hopping that’s sweeping the U.S. financial industry, and the cash is definitely flowing. One recruiter said he’s never seen so many eight-figure hiring packages. —David E. Rovella
Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts. The U.S. is raising the alarm that Russia, which invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014, may be weighing a new assault on its neighbor. Similar tensions erupted in the spring when the U.S. said Russia was massing troops, tanks and warplanes near the border. That time, President Vladimir Putin retreated after President Joe Biden offered a meeting. This week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed that the American commitment to Kyiv remained “ironclad.” Meanwhile, Russia ally Belarus is being accused of fomenting a migrant crisis on its European Union border (Polish officials claim Putin is behind that as well.) But as winter approaches, Russia and Belarus have much of Europe over a barrel when it comes to natural gas, a likely factor in what the EU does next with regard to these two crises. The USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, sails into the Black Sea on Nov. 4. Russia has complained about U.S. naval activities in the region. Photographer: Anadolu Agency New stocks fresh off their IPOs are beating earnings estimates at a higher rate than the S&P 500 this quarter, potentially adding fuel for a breakout in small-cap companies. Here’s your markets wrap. The longest running bull market in history has claimed one of its most high-profile victims. Russell Clark, who has wagered against stocks for much of the last decade, told clients he is shutting down his hedge fund after a run of losses. The RC Global Fund lost 2.6% through October this year and was down to about $200 million in assets from about $1.7 billion in 2015. Carefully laid career paths that suddenly become dead ends, college degrees that no longer open doors, coveted overseas jobs gone in an instant. Whenever the acute phase of the pandemic eventually fades, the crisis will be far from over for young workers in emerging economies. All over the world, this is where youth unemployment is surging. Google wants to save the planet with satellite images. The company’s little-known Earth Engine seeks to help nonprofits and researchers manage deforestation, floods and droughts. A map of flooding in the Republic of Congo, powered by Google data. Source: Cloud to Street Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk just unloaded $5 billion in company stock. He’s been on the back foot this week, what with the electric carmaker tanking after he asked social media followers whether he should sell part of his stake. But there’s a new twist to Musk’s proposition: It turns out some of the transactions were arranged weeks before his poll. India added 11,466 confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, pushing its overall tally to 34.4 million, while confirmed Covid-related deaths rose by 460 in a day to 461,849 (though India’s actual infection and death counts are likely much higher). In the U.S., where more than triple that number are dying each day, hospitals in some states are already witnessing yet another infection wave. Intensive-care unit beds occupied by Covid-19 patients are climbing in 12 states from two weeks earlier, with most of them in a contiguous strip running from Arizona and New Mexico, through the Great Plains and into Minnesota. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. DJ Khaled has begun one of the largest restaurant launches in history. The Emmy award-winning producer, record executive and Snapchat evangelist has partnered with ghost kitchen operator Reef Technology to create an instant global chain called “Another Wing.” The delivery-only model has more than 150 kitchens in five countries: the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France and the United Arab Emirates. In North America, it will operate in cities from Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles to Toronto and Vancouver. In Miami, delivery will be by jet ski. DJ Khaled has become the king of wings. Photographer: Ivan Berrios Like getting the Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters. Watch the Bloomberg New Economy Forum live from Singapore Nov. 17-19. At a moment of unprecedented crisis, world leaders are convening to define the challenges that face the global economy and to draft solutions together. Learn more about this year’s agenda and speakers. Follow the money. Be one of the first to sign up for The Dose, a new weekly newsletter that explores how once-illegal drugs like marijuana and psychedelics are becoming big business. |