What to watch for
The US government continues to dodder. As the government shutdown barrels along, the official jobs report won’t show, and both parties seem resigned to finger-pointing.
The Bank of Japan cheers on a tax hike. BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda is expected to announce his support for a sales tax increase on the heels of this week’s policy board meeting.
Mercedes touts its biggest month ever. The luxury carmaker is believed to have sold over 142,000 cars in September. Mercedes releases the official number on Friday.
While you were sleeping
Twitter filed for an IPO. The company intends to list its shares under the symbol TWTR. Here are the important details.
Shots were fired on Capitol Hill. Police briefly put the US Capitol on lock-down after gunshots were fired at the building.
Citigroup was found guilty of playing favorites. The bank was hit with a $30 million fine for selectively releasing its research to big clients.
Tesla crashed and burned. Tesla Motors’s stock continued to plunge, dropping more than 4% on Thursday, after a video of a crashed Model S going up in flames went viral.
The US job market sent mixed messages. New jobless claims remained at a six-year low, but the Institute for Supply Management’s service index had its biggest drop since 2008, suggesting that employers are still slow to hire.
The developing world dispatched boatloads of cash abroad. The World Bank announced that global remittances for developing countries will reach $414 billion this year. Indians living abroad will send $71 billion home by year’s end, the most of any country.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on how Europe’s financial crisis is slowing Detroit’s bankruptcy. Detroit’s bankruptcy comes after years of shrinking population and unsustainable borrowing, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was a deal made by Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in 2005 to borrow money to fund the city’s pensions, while at the same time entering into an interest rate swap with UBS and Bank of America. Detroit wound up on the wrong end of the swap, owing $770 million after interest rates plunged. Read more here.
Matters of debate
Lego will struggle to build its business in China. The more popular Legos become, the more knockoffs will follow.
There are four possible outcomes for earth. One scenario involves triumph in human ingenuity; another entails a dangerously crowded and carbon-addicted planet.
Don’t let robots manage your money. The average robot-controlled fund is down 3.5%.
The US shutdown is bad for science. It’s stalling long-term biomedical research projects and setting back ongoing experiments by months.
Surprising discoveries
Google’s Android operating system is remarkably safe. It’s almost impenetrable to malware.
Reading fiction makes you a better person. A new study found that people who read fiction are better-equipped to handle complex social relationships.
Facebook wants its employees to live at work. The company is building a $120 million, 394-unit housing community right next to its offices.
Koalas can’t handle your carbon emissions. Hotter temperatures are stripping them of their food and shelter.
You can now track the historical use of specific words in rap songs. Twerk is on the rise, and crunk is on its way out.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, queries, or literary fiction recommendations to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates during the day.