Inflation Stays Cools Right Before Election

Good Friday morning. Welcome to November. Don't forget that daylight saving time ends on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

In Today’s Brief

• Chicago: Schools chaos

• Senegal: Political attack

• Trump: Obamacare pushback

• Peloton: New CEO

• Comcast: Cable spinoff

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Economic numbers

Inflation hit a three-year low less than a week before Election Day.

• Almost there: The personal consumption expenditures index was up 2.1% YoY in September, barely above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal. It is also close to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation was down 0.2% MoM from August.

• Other stats: There are some lingering signs of inflation, though. The price of non-volatile goods was up 2.7% YoY for the third straight month and rose 0.1% MoM. And today's September jobs report is expected to show the slowest pace ofgrowth since the pandemic and a big drop from August.

• Big picture: The inflation number cannot hurt Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, but it may not help much either with so many votes already cast. The Fed will likely cut interest rates further at next week's meeting, but the central bank won't offer guidance until after Election Day.

2) Saber rattling

North Korea is playing the hits.

• The news: Pyongyang launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in almost a year, firing toward the Sea of Japan. The missile logged the longest-ever flight time for a North Korean test (86 minutes) and is believed to be a new type of weapon. It would be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland if launched on a normal trajectory.

• Key context: A statement attributed to Kim Jong Un said the ICBM test was a message to his regime's "rivals" for escalating regional tensions. North Korea formally acknowledged the test quicker than its usual protocol. Pyongyang is notorious for taking provocative actions during U.S. elections to create leverage for negotiations with incoming presidential administrations.

• Big picture: The U.S, Japan and South Korea condemned the test. It comes as North Korean troops appear to be on the verge of entering combat on the Russian side in Ukraine. This test could spark concerns the Kremlin is assisting North Korea with technology.

3) Legal maneuvering

Elon Musk took the first round against Philadelphia's top prosecutor.

• What happened: The city's lawsuit against the Tesla CEO's super PAC's $1M giveaways to battleground state voters is on hold for now. Musk's legal team has motioned to have the matter elevated to federal court, rather than the state court where Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner filed it. Musk was supposed to attend a hearing in state court but did not appear; the presiding judge said he should have appeared but did not sanction him.

• Catch up: Musk, a top campaign surrogate for former President Donald Trump, pledged to give $1M daily until Election Day to a random swing state voter that signed an America PAC petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. Many critics alleged he was violating federal election laws regarding compensation for voting; Krasner then claimed Musk was operating an illegal lottery under Pennsylvania law.

• Big picture: The case cannot progress until a federal judge reviews it. So Musk is free to keep giving money away in the meantime. Krasner accused him and his attorneys of trying to "run out the clock" before Election Day and filed an emergency federal motion to have the case sent back to the state court. Musk's legal team will also argue only the super PAC should be a party to the suit regardless of venue.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

• Chicago's Board of Education president resigned after just seven days. Rev. Mitchell Johnson made antisemitic and misogynist social media comments and expressed Sept. 11 conspiracy theories (More)

• House Republicans issued a criminal referral for ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. They allege he lied about his knowledge of the state's pandemic-era nursing home policies while testifying to a panel of lawmakers (More)

• Montana police arrested a suspect in a grisly campsite murder initially reported as a bear attack. A sleeping passenger was seemingly attacked at random on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Washington D.C. earlier this week, suffering non-life-threatening injuries (More | More)

World News

• Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko was unharmed after an alleged campaign trail attack. The Pastef Party said people threw rocks at Sonko's convoy and injured a party official; Senegal will have a snap election on Nov. 17 (More)

• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they busted the "largest and most sophisticated" drug lab in the country's history. The British Columbia-based facility allegedly had the capability to produce 95M potentially lethal doses of fentanyl; significant amounts of cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine were also seized (More)

• Eight of Mexico's 11 Supreme Court justices said they will resign. They are stepping down in protest of the country's controversial judicial overhaul, which will require an election for every judicial position nationwide (More)

Campaign News

• Former President Trump's campaign indicated he does not plan a major Affordable Care Act overhaul if re-elected. The comments came after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson pledged a "massive reform" to Obamacare (More)

• Pro-Palestinian messages were reportedly found on the Oregon and Washington state ballot box bombs. Law enforcement is still investigating the incidents and motive; cops believe the suspect is an experienced metalworker and may be planning more attacks (More)

• GOP officials again asked Pennsylvania's Supreme Court to rule misdated or undated mail ballots should not be counted. The motion claims a lower court ruling regarding votes in a special state election could be improperly interpreted by county election boards; the high court has already rejected a previous GOP bid on the matter (More)

Business & Markets

• Major indexes closed lower yesterday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 stumbled with their worst sessions in weeks as tech stocks fell (Dow -0.90%, Nasdaq -2.76%, S&P 500 -1.86%).

• Peter Stern will be Peloton's new CEO and president. The current Ford executive and Apple Fitness+ co-founder will take over the exercise equipment and media company effective Jan. 1 as it regroups following financial woes and significant cost-cutting (More)

• JP Morgan Chase reached a $100M settlement with the SEC regarding allegations it misled customers who invested in conduit products. The bank also accepted a censure, but did not admit or deny wrongdoing as part of the agreement (More)

Entertainment & Sports

• Comcast is considering spinning off its cable networks into a standalone company. The NBCUniversal parent company's portfolio includes Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and USA Network; it is also open to partnerships with Peacock, its streaming service (More)

• Athletics owner John Fisher and his family pledged $1B toward the team's proposed Las Vegas ballpark. Construction is expected to begin next spring; the Major League club plans to play three seasons in Sacramento before arriving in Sin City in 2028 after leaving Oakland (More)

• There is more Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune legal drama. Sony, which produces the game shows, accused distributor CBS of self-dealing and failing to maximize syndication revenues in a lawsuit; Sony was recently hit with federal discrimination complaints by former show employees (More | More)

Quick Hitters

• Feel Good: A Missouri elementary school building was renamed to honor a beloved longtime custodian who has served students, teachers and the school district for over three decades.

• Take Note: If the aliens ever arrive, do your best to get to Virginia. A new "study" concluded that the state is best equipped to survive an extraterrestrial invasion, followed by Alabama and Minnesota.

• Go Deep: Notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is making a curious last-ditch effort to fight his life sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado. He has become his own attorney.

• Cooking Tip: All varieties of mushrooms can help make delicious meals. But ensure you clean and store them properly before it is time to cook.

• Life Hack: There are still two months left in the year, but it is never too late to start thinking about how you will deploy your vacation days in 2025. Here is a brilliant rundown that will help you maximize your time off.

Watch This

American cities are never down for the count.

Links

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• Why parrots are so colorful 🦜

• Patrick Mahomes wants to bring the WNBA to Kansas City 🏀

• 'Joe Exotic' has gotten engaged yet again 🐯

• Sly Stallone got dropped from the Cliffhanger reboot 🧗‍♂️

• We have an arrest in the colossal British cheese heist 🧀

• Some Dodgers fans conflated celebration with crime 🚨

• These states love their four-legged friends 🐶

Looking Ahead …

Starbucks' new boss wants the coffee chain to go old-school as it aims to revive sagging sales. CEO Brian Niccol said baristas will start writing names on cups with a Sharpie pen again; cream and sugar self-serve stations will also return.

Question of the Day

Yesterday’s results:

Trivia: How many seeds are in the average pumpkin?

It’s 500.