☕️ Still counting

We still don't know the next president of the U.S... November 04, 2020 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( [Daily Brew]( TOGETHER WITH [Skillshare]( Good morning. Did you know? Nov. 3, 2020, became the first day to last more than 73 hours. As of this morning, the presidential race has yet to be decided. Full coverage below. MARKETS NASDAQ 11,145.72 + 1.72% S&P 3,365.59 + 1.67% DJIA 27,450.27 + 1.95% GOLD 1,908.10 + 0.82% 10-YR 0.879% + 2.20 bps OIL 37.73 + 2.50% *As of market close - Markets: Investors don’t seem too worried that the presidential election hasn’t been called yet. Stocks [soared yesterday](...then futures gained some more as the results poured in. The Nasdaq, and tech shares more broadly, popped off. ELECTION [What Really Matters Is That Everyone Had Fun]( [Map of electoral college] NPR Like your next haircut, house party, or pretty much anything else in 2020, the presidential election is TBD. Where things stand As of this newsletter’s send time, President Trump had 213 electoral college votes and Joe Biden had 238, per the Associated Press. A candidate needs 270 to win.  - Biden [swept]( northeastern states while Trump notched wins in typically Republican parts of the South and Midwest. Trump won battlegrounds Florida, Ohio, and Iowa. - The Associated Press called Arizona for Biden, the first state to be flipped from its 2016 outcome. Big picture: This election saw record turnout, including a crush of mail-in ballots that will [take time to count]( in swing states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan—those states don’t allow election officials to get much or any counting done before Election Day. North Carolina, Georgia, and Maine were also too close to call at the Brew’s send time. The reaction: President Trump [falsely claimed]( victory and said he would bring the fight to the Supreme Court, though it’s not clear what that means. Biden advised patience in an address to his supporters. The market reaction Investors are left scratching their heads over calculations around the balance of power between the president and Congress and the likelihood of another round of economic stimulus. - Although many polls favored Biden, the race isn’t playing out decisively in his favor, forcing investors to price in other outcomes on the fly. - At one point last night, betting markets that had long favored Biden swung to favor Trump. Looking ahead...we could be waiting on ballot counts for days or even weeks, and legal challenges may prolong the process even further. �  �  �  mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew!&body=2020%20Presidential%20Race:%20A%20Big%20Fat%20TBD:%200A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%E2%80%94Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley,%20daily.%20 ELECTION [The Chambers of Secrets]( [A photo of the Capitol building under a blue sky.] Getty Images All 435 seats in the House and 35 in the Senate put their fates in voters’ hands yesterday. Don’t worry, we won’t talk about them all. The backstory: Republicans went into Election Day with a 53-seat Senate majority. Will Mitch McConnell, who handily won his reelection, return as majority leader? Republicans [secured 47 seats]( as of 6am, and six races are still awaiting final calls (all have GOP incumbents). Other highlights: - Seats in Colorado and Alabama were the first flips, switching to Democrat and Republican, respectively. - NASA astronaut Mark Kelly pulled off a high-profile W for Dems in Arizona, flipping the state. - At least one of Georgia’s Senate races is [heading to a Jan. 5 runoff](, so we may not know the chamber’s final balance of power until then. The House? Democrats [retained]( their majority and may add a few seats. As of 6am, there are 67 races awaiting final results. Big picture: The “blue wave” of Democrats some investors were expecting to sweep both chambers [hasn’t materialized]( (at least not yet). �  �  �  mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew!&body=Majority%20Control%20U.S.%20Senate%20Still%20Undecided:%200A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%E2%80%94Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley,%20daily.%20 ELECTION [Watch People Exercise]( Their right to vote. Some of the amazing scenes from yesterday... The Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wisconsin  Andy Manis/Getty Images The Staples Center in Los Angeles  David McNew/Getty Images  Bluegrass in Phoenix, AZ  OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty Images  Watch party in New Orleans  EMILY KASK/AFP via Getty Images �  �  �  mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew!&body=Photos%20of%20Americans%20Voting%20on%20Election%20Day:%200A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%E2%80%94Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley,%20daily.%20 SPONSORED BY SKILLSHARE [The Skills That Pay The Bills Fulfill Us and Nurture Our Minds](#) [Skillshare]( While it was exciting to learn that we could recite the alphabet from the inside out, we’ve recently turned our attention to cultivating some more intriguing and creative skills. So instead of googling “make us interesting,” we turned to [Skillshare](—the online learning community featuring thousands of inspiring classes. Want to become a baby photographer? [Skillshare](. Looking to become a freelance cartoonist? [Skillshare](. Want to do something other than stare at a wall and eat chips from 4–6 everyday? [Skillshare](. Basically, Skillshare is built to let you explore. Your membership is a veritable gateway into discovering new talents, reconnecting with long-lost ones, or meeting fellow creatives. So if you’re looking for a more meaningful way to spend your time—[Skillshare](. The first 1,000 Brew readers to sign up can [snag a free trial of Skillshare Premium](. ELECTION [Some Thanksgiving-Ruining Conversation Starters]( [Sesame street growing weed] Giphy Or, as state election ballots called them yesterday, propositions. Here are the results from this year’s biggest biz-related ballot measures... Legal weed: New Jersey and Arizona [legalized]( recreational marijuana use, while South Dakota and Mississippi approved medical marijuana. Now, one in three Americans live in a state where adults can legally buy pot. And Oregon decided to [decriminalize]( the use of all drugs (including heroin and cocaine). Gig economy: Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash’s hugely expensive Prop 22 [passed]( in California. The ballot measure directly challenged a recent state law that required these companies to classify their drivers as employees, not independent contractors. Uber and Lyft had warned earlier this year they could suspend their services in CA over the law. Real estate: Let’s go back to California for this one. Prop 15, which would lift longtime tax protections for commercial property owners, is [trailing]( as of early this morning. The current system puts a tight cap on property tax increases even if the value of the property rises disproportionately. Work: Floridians voted to [raise]( the minimum wage to $15 by 2026 and Colorado will [establish]( a progressive family and medical leave program. �  �  �  mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew!&body=Election%20Results%20From%20Business-Related%20State%20Ballot%20Measures:%200A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%E2%80%94Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley,%20daily.%20 IPOS [All the Little Ants Stop Listing]( [An ant killer spray bottle that reads "IPO repellant" ] Francis Scialabba Yesterday, the Shanghai Stock Exchange [called off]( Ant Group’s extremely un-antish IPO slated for Thursday.  - The public debut was expected to be the largest ever, raising at least $34 billion at a valuation north of $310 billion. - Ant had planned to list in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, but it nixed Hong Kong after Shanghai pulled out. What’s Ant Group again? An affiliate of sprawling Chinese conglomerate Alibaba, Ant is a fintech company...in the same way that Serena Williams is a ping-pong player. But Ant has ruffled some dangerous feathers: the Chinese government’s. In a recent speech, Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma [made critical comments]( about the country’s financial regulatory system. Then on Monday, four regulators summoned Ma and Ant Group’s top execs for a chat. We don’t know what was said, but it probably wasn’t “keep criticizing us.” - Ant Group and the government are frenemies; the Chinese Communist Party [wants to cultivate]( the country’s capital markets...but not to the point where it’ll tolerate dissent. Looking ahead...Ant may still IPO, but it’ll have to pull off some major reorganizing to get right with regulators.   �  �  �  mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew!&body=Ant%20Group%20IPO%20Scrapped:%200A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%E2%80%94Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley,%20daily.%20 WHAT ELSE IS BREWING - [The U.S.]( will formally leave the Paris Agreement today. - [Cruise operators](, including Carnival and Norwegian, agreed to suspend U.S. operations until 2021. - [Nike]( plans on cutting 700 jobs from its Oregon headquarters by early January as it continues to restructure around e-commerce. - [Wayfair]( sales rose 67% last quarter, demonstrating customers haven’t tired of home improvement yet. - [Saudi Aramco](, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant, said profits fell nearly 45% last quarter. - [The FBI]( is investigating a campaign of an estimated 10 million spam calls that told voters to stay home on Election Day. BREW'S BETS Attention holiday shoppers: You won’t find a cash back card better than this one. You can avoid interest charges into 2022 and there’s no annual fee—that means up to $1,148 in value in your pocket. [Don’t go on a holiday shopping spree without this card](.* Don’t have beef with us if you miss out. If you want to invest in [Flippy](, the robot who is revolutionizing the QSR industry, time is not on your side. The campaign to invest in this potential cash cow ends this month. [Invest today](.* R&R grab bag: 25 feel-good [movies](, comforting [recipes](, coloring book [apps](, and [7 tips]( on handling post-election hangovers. (For more recommendations like these, sign up for the Brew’s [Essentials]( newsletter). Sizing up: [This map]( lets you compare the size of countries by superimposing one on top of another. It has nothing to do with the election. Dimensions.com: It’s [exactly what you think it is](...but probably even cooler. *This is sponsored advertising content GAMES [Real Estate Appraiser](#) [WASHINGTON - MAY 31: The exterior view of the south side of the White H...] Alex Wong/Getty Images In this game, we’ll show you a property listed on Zillow, and you have to determine the estimated market value. Introducing [1600 Pennsylvania Ave]( in Washington, D.C. This 16-bed, 35-bath neoclassical masterpiece is located in a busy neighborhood in the heart of our nation’s capital, with access to schools, Smithsonian museums, and major subway stations. Other amenities include... - A spacious dining room perfect for hosting high-profile guests, like the Prime Minister of Uganda. - A home theater, bowling alley, putting green, and snipers on the roof. - A resolute desk and secluded wings, making it ideal for parents working from home. So what’s the house worth, according to Zillow? Find out the answer below. SHARE THE BREW When you [share the Brew]( with your network, you earn free swag like our classic Morning Brew t-shirt. Are you one of those people who is always going places? Then you probably need a shirt. Might as well be this bad boy with the Morning Brew logo plastered across the chest. [Click here to get free swag.]( Hit the button below to learn more and access your rewards hub. [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a905682a]( ANSWER $414,696,349             Written by [Neal Freyman](, [Eliza Carter](, [Alex Hickey](, and [Jamie Wilde]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. WANT MORE BREW?  Retail newsletter → [Retail Brew](  Tech newsletter → [Emerging Tech Brew](  Marketing newsletter → [Marketing Brew](  Quarantine newsletter → [The Essentials](  Business podcast → [Business Casual]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. 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