(Reuters) - Radiation levels downwind of U.S. hydraulic fracturing drilling sites tend to be significantly higher than background levels, posing a potential health risk to nearby residents, according to a study by Harvard researchers released on Tuesday.

Bloomberg: High-end Real Estate sales jumped 42% in the third quarter from a year earlier, while sales of mid-priced homes climbed just 3% and  affordable purchases declined 4%.

• In September, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis; rising 1.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in September (SA); up 1.7 percent over the year

 

• Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.1 percent from August to September

Nasdaq had its best day since April, U.K. gets more virus controls and a Johnson & Johnson vaccine study was halted. Get ready for Tuesday.

• FT: UK public borrowing is set to reach £350bn this year, or 17% of gross domestic product, the highest peacetime level in more than 300 years 
• Nearly half of British firms are financially vulnerable and unprepared for the future, according to Microsoft's boss Nadella.

 Quick Overview is up to date

Facebook (AKA the plague  on humanity) announced it will now ban content that “denies or distorts the Holocaust,” reversing its earlier policy. 

Bloomberg: If Democrats do sweep the November elections and increase capital gains taxes, it would be unlikely to cause more than a temporary slide in the U.S. stock market, according to JPMorgan 

Most daily stuff is up to date (I think) 

• And low rates are  moving housing right along. 

• Sox Semiconductor Index sipping right along.

 

• S&P 500 Vix Ratio rate of change back to red. 

Bloomberg: On the same day the World Food Programme was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its fight against hunger, fresh numbers from the U.S. government showed that tighter crop supplies could worsen the food-inequality crisis that’s sweeping the globe.

 Quick Overview is up to date

•  And here is todays USDA report via Karen Braun

• A look at Dec. Gold 

• A look at Jan. Soybeans 

• CFTC Commitments of Traders for Grains.

 

•  Today’s USDA report could  turn out to be interesting. Steve’s comments over here.

Ok, new plan.  Mnuchin tells House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Trump now wants a comprehensive stimulus package -- in a reversal from his position on Tuesday when Trump snappishly ended negotiations.  

Oh, wait! There’s McConnell “Deal unlikely in the next three weeks”

 And now:  The real lessons from Sweden’s approach to covid-19 

Sweden is held up as a champion of liberty. In fact it is the home of pragmatism

•  Brexit strategy risks UK 'dictatorship', says ex-president of supreme court

• The bullion holdings in gold ETF's are hitting records. 

• Facebook (AKA plague on humanity) is a social network monopoly that buys, copies or kills competitors, the House Antitrust Subcommittee determined.

•  AT&T Inc's WarnerMedia is preparing a restructuring that aims to cut costs by as much as 20% and would result in layoffs. 
• And HBO Max is still not on Roku - remarkable. The stock is down 27% for the year. Ok, so the dividend is 7%, but that’s still a 20% loss.

• (do these guys know what they are doing? Seriously, do they?)

•  Current active cases in NZ: 37 

• Current active cases In the White House: 34

 International Business Machines Corp IBM is splitting itself into two public companies. (Monthly Chart)

 Quick Overview is up to date

•  Who made this beautiful art? for the fly with 75,000 followers. 
• https://twitter.com/MikePenceFly___

 And in the Dow Theory department,  Dow Transports are leading to a  new all time high.

• The BDI Baltic Dry Index is making a 1year high. (something positive)

 

 Stock are back up as Trump is once more changing course. 

Britain bans the sale of cryptocurrency derivatives, saying they have no value for investors.

The U.S. trade deficit expanded to $67.1 billion and is now at its widest since 2006.

• Facebook (AKA  the plague on humanity) says it will ban Qanon, full stop - lets see ..

 

(Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he agreed with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the plug on negotiations on a new coronavirus relief bill.

• Whereas, in one of his strongest appeals to date, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of a weak U.S. recovery without sufficient government aid and said providing too much stimulus wouldn’t be a problem.

 

FT 'If you don’t get out in front of the crisis and put forth a plan right away, then you are going to spend the rest of your time responding' - US aviation union president on protecting members as pandemic tears through the industry.

• States are cutting jobs, revenue declines - prospect for fiscal aid fades.

 

 Trump is rejecting Pelosi's 2.4 T  dollars

• US media coverage of climate change - gradually  waking up. ( I remember a "scary" early 1970 Economist article - ahead of its time)

Loos like TD Ameritrade and Schwab are now one. 

To have accounts at separate firms is getting to be a full time job.

•  US Ag. Exports to China

•  U.S. private sector financial assets (without real estate) as % of GDP at the highest in 70 years (via DailyShot & BoA)

 

FT Exclusive: South Korea’s Samsung is under fire after its insurance units financed $14bn of ‘deplorable’ coal projects and investments over the past decade, according to data provided to the FT

•  Someone appears to want the  stuff.

So far in 2020, we've had apocalyptic fires in Australia, California, Siberia, Ukraine, South America’s Pantanal; The warmest Arctic in 3 million years; Hottest Antarctica temperature on record; An insect apocalypse; Deforestation galore and a global pandemic. It's 6 Oct.. Assaad Razzouk @AssaadRazzouk 

•   But then, after centuries of searching, we have found the fountain of youth…

 Wearing a mask appears to make  a positive difference in a number of ways, see US and Japan.

Real Estate (Zillow): The percentage of rental listings featuring concessions rose from 16.2% in February to 30.4% in July.

As U.S. coronavirus death toll hits 214,789, Trump tweets: "Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.  Feeling better than 20 years ago".

The IRS is reportedly investigating longtime National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre for possible criminal tax fraud related to his personal taxes.

A so-called blue wave this November led by Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, would lead to a surge in economic growth, according to Goldman Sachs' chief economist, Jan Hatzius.

• One in four voting-age Americans visited a fake news source in the run up to the 2016 election. 
• So, how many are visiting this year?  How reality itself became an election issue.

 Someone is counting the # of Trump Tweets recently  - Interesting

•  Germanies Welt has a very bleak outlook for Spain. They see the threat of a possible banking crisis.