What to watch for today
Xi Jinping arrives in the UK. The Chinese president’s first state visit to the UK will last four nights, with the main meetings starting tomorrow, including UK prime minister David Cameron, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Queen Elizabeth II to discuss the potential for economic partnerships. Here’s what China really sees in the UK.
Canada’s election is finally here. Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party is challenging prime minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party. Trudeau is the son of prior PM Pierre Trudeau; Harper is running for his fourth term. The contentious 78-day federal election ends today.
Earnings season continues. Among those companies reporting results in the US are Halliburton, Hasbro, Morgan Stanley, IBM, and Six Flags.
A US real estate update. The National Association of Homebuilders publishes its September housing market index, a measure of sellers’ sentiment. Analysts expect positive data, following disappointment in August.
Over the weekend
China’s GDP growth was the slowest since 2009. The economy grew by 6.9% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, marginally higher than analysts expected, despite being the slowest quarterly expansion in six years. That suggests stimulus measures are effective enough for China to reach its annual growth target (paywall) of around 7%.
Voting began in Egypt’s elections. Polling stations opened on Saturday morning for the first round of ballots in a parliamentary election widely expected to strengthen president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s control. Around 5,000 candidates are vying for around 500 positions, but most support the sitting president.
Hungary closed its border to migrants… Prime minister Viktor Orban had a razor wire fence erected on Hungary’s border with Croatia, after sealing its border with Serbia in September. That only added pressure on other Balkan states; Slovenia said it had reached capacity, while thousands more migrants are waiting in Croatia.
…As France’s Calais migrant population doubled. The number of migrants in the northern French town reached 6,000, according to a regional official, rising from around 3,500 a few weeks earlier. French authorities are now convincing some migrants to settle in the country, rather than attempt a dangerous journey to the UK.
Volkswagen’s chief quit again. Martin Winterkorn announced his departure as head of the holding company that owns Porsche and Volkswagen, just weeks after resigning his CEO position at Volkswagen itself. Former CFO Hans Dieter Poetsch will succeed Winterkorn, who stepped down amid a major emissions scandal.
Quartz obsession interlude
Gwynn Guilford on the hack of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: “If the perpetrator is indeed from the People’s Republic, it marks the latest in a series of high-profile hacks that US officials say has resulted in theft of US commercial secrets, potentially sensitive government information, and military data. With the US threatening sanctions, Chinese president Xi Jinping recently vowed not to commit commercial cyber-espionage—a pledge US officials are watching closely for signs of follow-through.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
“Plantation” and other words associated with slavery are too kind. “Labor camp” is more accurate, and “slave-owners” were really “enslavers.”
Donald Trump could have prevented 9/11. The presidential candidate believes his tough stance on illegal immigration would have kept the US safe.
US school shootings are like a slow-motion riot… As more of them occur, it requires less to inspire the next shooter, says Malcolm Gladwell.
…Actually, that’s not the best analogy. The US’s culture of loneliness, not inspiration from other shooters, is the biggest threat.
Surprising discoveries
Larry David does a great Bernie Sanders. No one else could so closely match that distinctive New York accent, exuberant hand gestures, and plaintive whine.
An algorithm can predict human behavior better than humans. A Data Science Machine can judge which students are about to drop out of school.
Apple Music is for the (relatively) old. A survey of 500 iPhone users found most users under 35 had cancelled their subscription.
Poker could soon have a professional league of its own. A poker-industry impresario says he’s raised $5 million to get it going.
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