What to watch for
EU and African leaders begin a two-day summit. Observers are worried that Europe may coerce some northern African countries into repatriating economic migrants. Also on the agenda at the Malta meeting is a reduction in the cost of sending home remittances.
AB Inbev needs to make a move on SABMiller. The world’s largest brewer has until 5pm GMT (paywall) to make a formal takeover offer, expected to be valued at over $100 billion.
Putin talks sports. The Russian president will meet officials from the national track and field federation—the body at the center of an alleged doping scandal—to discuss the 2016 Olympics. The meeting was scheduled before allegations came to light (paywall).
Macy’s reports earnings. Third-quarter numbers for the US retailer are expected to underwhelm, due in part to lower demand for winter apparel because of warmer temperatures. Popeye’s and Shell also release quarterly results.
The US bond market is closed for Veterans Day. The stock market will remain open.
While you were sleeping
Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in Myanmar’s parliament. The leader of the National League for Democracy is barred from the presidency, but her party is expected to win a landslide nonetheless. The NLD has so far won 107 of 121 seats declared, but hundreds more are yet to be confirmed.
Alibaba’s Singles’ Day created billions in sales. The Chinese internet conglomerate reported it had processed 41.7 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) in sales in the first eight hours of the annual shopping day. Alibaba, which could really use the boost, got a little help from Frank Underwood.
The US charged hackers over the largest-ever consumer data theft. Three Israeli men were charged with nearly two dozen crimes, including wire fraud and identity theft, after attacks on financial institutions; another is still on the run. The group is accused of stealing data on 83 million JPMorgan Chase customers and of launching attacks on Dow Jones and Fidelity.
Jeff Bezos became the world’s fourth-richest man. The Amazon CEO surpassed Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, after the value of Amazon stock rose yesterday. Bezos now has a net worth of $58.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
US Republican candidates battled over the economy. Front-runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson argued that a minimum wage hike would cause unemployment. Jeb Bush, who is struggling, won a standing ovation at the Fox Business News-sponsored debate for attacking president Barack Obama’s record.
South Korean unemployment hit a 2015 low. The jobless rate dipped to 3.4% in October (paywall), from 3.5% in September, suggesting the economy is recovering from the MERS crisis that hurt tourism over the summer. But youth unemployment remains a problem.
Markets haiku
A great cheapening
A bruised Apple falls slightly
Quartz obsession interlude
Alice Truong on Snapchat’s falling valuation. “Snapchat, like many of its privately held peers in the tech industry, remains unprofitable… But Snapchat’s markdown more broadly reflects looming concerns on the part of investors over whether tech startups can justify their lofty valuations.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
There’s nothing Christian about fretting over Starbucks cups. Jesus wouldn’t care if a coffee cup had Christmas decorations.
Apple is destroying design. It used to make intuitive technology, but not anymore.
A future technological dystopia won’t be cold and lifeless. Robots will speak to us with smarmy intimacy.
Surprising discoveries
Your smartphone could cure cancer. An app can solve genetic sequencing puzzles while you sleep.
Nepal has a five-day festival thanking dogs for being our friends. The pooches are crowned with flower wreaths.
$1.5 billion of wine is buried in the English countryside. A former bomb shelter is now a vault for auction houses and billionaires.
Sony only just put Betamax out of its misery. It’s finally discontinuing the video format after 40 years.
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