đ Walgreens' boosted alliance
Good morning, Quartz readers!
Hereâs what you need to know
Walgreens has spent nearly $9 billion to expand its healthcare arm. Summit Health-CityMD is the latest acquisition in a multi-billion dollar shopping spree.
Two crypto titans are feuding. FTX crypto exchange billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried was stung by Binance crypto exchange billionaire Changpeng Zhaoâs decision to sell off its FTXâs tokens.
Appleâs iPhone supplier became the biggest investor in a US electric vehicle startup. Fresh from a deal to produce EVs in Saudi Arabia, Foxconn is buying an 18% stake in Lordstown Motors.
Gap is selling its Great China business to a Chinese e-commerce firm. Baozun agreed to an all-cash transaction, and the deal should close in early 2023, pending regulatory approval.
The CFO of Tyson Foods was charged with public intoxication and criminal trespassing. John R. Tyson, a great-grandson of the founder of the food processing company, allegedly entered a home uninvited and then fell asleep.
Carvana stock reached an all-time low on Monday. The online dealer that surged during the pandemic was hit by falling prices for used cars and rising interest rates dampening demand.
The UN chief warned that humanity is on âa highway to climate hell.â Secretary-general AntĂłnio Guterres stated thereâs only one choice: âcooperate or perish.â
Keep up with the latest news about humanityâs future by signing up for our limited email series, Need to Know: COP27.
What to watch for
The US midterm elections held today (Nov. 8) will decide which party controls Congress, impacting president Joe Bidenâs legislative course of action for his next two years in office. Thirty-six states and three territories will also vote on a governor, and various state ballots will feature referendums on issues ranging from rent control to forced labor.
With so much at stake, the midterms attract vast amounts of money. US billionaires, who saw their wealth balloon during the pandemic, have set a new record of $881 million in political donations. A majority of that sum went to support Republicans.
Republican candidates may also benefit from high inflation figures and weakened purchasing power, which have increased Americansâ economic pessimism. Though Republicans have not produced detailed plans to tackle economic problems, as disgruntled voters seek to hold someone accountable, the Democratic party has become an obvious scapegoat.
Chinaâs multi-billion-dollar market rally is based on aâŠscreenshot
Whatâs moving Chinese markets these daysâto the tune of hundreds of billions of dollarsâisnât stellar GDP figures (when they arenât delayed) or central bank interest rate moves, but something decidedly more nebulous: rumors and intrigue.
Last week, a mysterious four-paragraph screenshot of unknown origin and uncertain authenticity sparked a massive rally of some $450 billion in Chinese equities. The unverified post claimed that senior government officials held a meeting to âspeed up a conditional opening planâ from the current zero-covid policy. Beijing denied the rumors, but the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hang Seng indices kept on keeping on.
The massive about-face comes less than two weeks after a steep sell-off following the Chinese Communist Partyâs quinquennial congress, in which president Xi Jinping secured a third term as party chief, and stacked the elite 24-member Politburo with loyalists.
And much of modern capitalism is based on a misunderstood phrase
Pop quiz: How many times did Adam Smith, often dubbed the father of modern economics, use the phrase âinvisible handâ in published works?
B. 10 times
C. 68 times
D. He never used it, but he did use the phrase âinvisible footâ
The answerâs largely irrelevant. The 18th century philosopher and author of The Wealth of Nations may not actually have been using âinvisible handâ the way weâve interpreted itâas an implied trust in the benevolent guiding force of a free market. And many scholars say Smith would absolutely never encourage that kind of thinking, anyway.
⊠OK fine, weâll tell you the answer and a whole lot more in our next Weekly Obsession. If you feel like being an invisible hand that helps us keep emails like the Obsessionâand this one, too!âfree for all, grab a Quartz membership for 50% off.
Quartzâs most popular
đ§ How to think about Powerballâs record â$1.9 billionâ jackpot like an economist
â The antitrust pressure on the Kroger-Albertsons merger is building
đ Twitter rival Mastodon is trending on Twitter
đ» A hacking group stole $11 million from 12 African countries
đ€ Mineral-rich countries want to form an OPEC for battery minerals
đłïž Nigeriaâs first real-time elections tracker is switched on for the 2023 pollsÂ
Surprising discoveries
In more âhighway to climate hellâ news⊠Pumpkins dumped in landfills become big greenhouse gas polluters.
âŠAnd the ocean has a whale of a micro problem. Blue whales could be swallowing as much as 10 million bits of microplastic daily.
SpaceXâs Hyperloop got the âBig Yellow Taxiâ treatment. The mile-long test tunnel in California got scrapped to build a parking lot.
Kissing that toad really could show you Prince Charming. That is, if it happens to secrete hallucinogensâthe US National Park Service has said âplease refrain from licking,â just to be safe.
Art in the office is more important than you think. A study shows a Caravaggio in the kitchen or a Whistler by the water cooler could boost employee well-being.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, office art conversation starters, and pumpkin recycling projects to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to allâbecome a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Mary Hui, Sofia Lotto Persio, Julia Malleck, and Susan Howson.