Quartz Daily Brief—Bears on Wall Street, nuclear fusion, Google’s new goods, Bono’s apology
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Putin, Merkel, and Poroshenko break bread. The leaders are meeting in Milan to discuss whether Russia will resume deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine as winter nears. Ukraine—thanks to its use of surveillance drones—is also accusing Russia of helping separatist forces build up their ranks.
The US counts its barrels. With the price of oil near four-year lows and falling, people are wondering if there’s a floor. Data on US petroleum inventory and natural gas stores are expected to show America pumping more liquid gold out of the ground than it ever has before.
Europe’s awkward limp continues. Data from the European Central Bank will likely show consumer prices rose just 0.3% year-on-year last month, meaning it’ll be the 20th month of the ECB failing to reach its self-imposed 2% inflation target.
Ebola’s impact on aviation. Delta is reporting earnings, the first US airline to do so since Ebola reached America’s shores. Yesterday, another US airline, Frontier, grounded one of its planes because the second health worker who was diagnosed with the disease had flown in it.
Apple unveils already-unveiled gadgets. The company is holding an event in California where it’s expected to show off new iPads, a new high-resolution iMac computer, and the next version of its desktop operating system. Shots and specs for the new iPads accidentally appeared on Apple’s site a day early.
While you were sleeping
Markets freaked out. The Dow was off by over 400 points at one point, its worst one-day dip since 2011. The S&P 500 erased all its gains for 2014. European stocks crashed too, and bond yields worldwide showed a rush to safety. The cause? It seems fears of a global slowdown are finally hitting home.
The US tightened its belt. America’s budget deficit hit a six-year low—the lowest since president Obama took office—though the Congressional Budget Office says economists and investors shouldn’t celebrate since it’ll likely start growing again towards the tail end of next year.
Lockheed Martin claimed a nuclear fusion breakthrough. The aerospace company said that in 10 years it’ll be able to build a 100-megawatt reactor that can fit onto the back of a truck—an order of magnitude smaller than an equivalent reactor today. It hopes to release a prototype within five years.
Google unveiled its latest hardware and software. The latest mobile operating system, Android 5.0 “Lollipop”, comes with a totally new design. It’ll ship on the $649 Nexus 6 smartphone and the $399 Nexus 9 tablet in November. There’s also a new device for televisions called Nexus Player.
HBO cut its own cord. Time Warner will let US consumers who don’t have cable TV subscribe to cable channel HBO online, much like Netflix. HBO already kind-of does this in several other countries—this latest move is to target the 80 million US homes that have broadband but not HBO.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jason Karaian on why low unemployment isn’t necessarily a good thing. “Over the past six years, the average worker’s earnings have grown faster than inflation on only three occasions, according to the monthly data. Earlier this week, midwives, ambulance drivers, and other National Health Service workers staged a strike over pay for the first time in 30 years.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Water is too cheap. Hasn’t capitalism taught us that prices are the best way to allocate resources (paywall)?
GDP growth is over-rated. Germany is doing just fine, and Russia’s central control ensures it’ll survive its slowing economy.
Stop worrying about Ebola and start worrying about the flu. Get your damn shot already—the disease kills 500,000 people a year.
The MH 370 disaster was a deliberate act. The CEO of Emirates is convinced the Malaysia Airlines plane was under the pilot’s control when it disappeared.
You’re not eating enough fat. The heart-disease link simply isn’t there.
Surprising discoveries
Intel broke a milestone. For the first time in its history, the company shipped over 100 million processors in a quarter.
Oktoberfest to the rescue. Beer tents that would have otherwise sat unused in storage will likely be deployed as temporary housing in Germany for Syrian refugees.
Stem-cell therapy for eyesight problems is safe. People who’ve had the treatment for macular degeneration are showing no ill-effects three years on.
“Inherent Resolve”. The Pentagon now has a (frankly terrible) name for the fight against ISIL in Syria and Iraq.
Bono found himself. The frontman of U2 admits to having “a touch of megalomania” after forcing his new album on iTunes users.
Click here for more surprising discoveries on Quartz.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, unpaid water bills, and HBO Go passwords to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.