Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Ecuador hosts a big banana summit. Latin American producers, including Colombia and Costa Rica, will join forces to fight a push by discount supermarket chain Aldi to drive down prices at an international industry meeting in Guayaquil.
Microsoft’s first-quarter earnings. Analysts expect another strong report (paywall) from the tech bellwether, thanks to its focus on cloud computing and subscriptions, which could help tech stocks bruised in trading this month.
Tesla presents results from a dramatic third quarter. The electric carmaker is expect to post record quarterly revenue based on deliveries of over 83,000 vehicles. Investors will also be keen to know how the search for a new chairman is going. Tesla shares rose by as much as 12% yesterday after Citron Research’s outspoken short-seller Andrew Left suddenly announced a change of heart.
While you were sleeping
Tim Cook berated Silicon Valley in Brussels. The Apple CEO, in town for the European Data Protection Conference, spoke out (paywall) against tech companies’ poor privacy practices. He accused social media platforms of allowing governments to “deepen divisions, incite violence, and even undermine our shared sense of what is true and what is false.”
Donald Trump stepped up attacks on the Fed chairman. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (paywall), the president said Jerome Powell was endangering the US economy by raising rates and that he “maybe” regretted nominating him. The central bank has raised the benchmark interest rate three times this year, and is expected to raise it again in December.
Hurricane Willa made landfall in Mexico. Downgraded from a Category 5 to Category 3 storm, Willa lashed the country’s western Sinaloa coast, bringing 120 mph winds. It’s expected to cross into the US later on Wednesday.
Deutsche Bank predicted a return to profit. While posting its lowest third-quarter revenue since 2010, the troubled German bank said it was tracking to swing to a profit this year for the first time since 2014. Deutsche has had a rough year so far, undergoing a management overhaul and a Standard & Poor’s downgrade.
Ford announced a new CEO for China. Former Ford executive Anning Chen will take on the challenging task of trying to turn around Ford’s plunging sales in the world’s largest car market—they dropped 30% in the first nine months of 2018 from a year before.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Anne Quito on the business value of good design: “IBM president Thomas Watson Jr., who fell in love with modern design in an Olivetti typewriter showroom, is remembered as the most ardent corporate champion for visual arts of his time. During his tenure, IBM leaned on a roster of architects and designers—Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Paul Rand, Isamu Noguchi—and established itself as a design-forward company.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The business community is filling a moral void left by governments. By turning their backs on Saudi Arabia over Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, CEOs are shaping the political agenda.
The best defense against skepticism is emotion. Convincing people of the facts requires first understanding their feelings.
Trump is not an isolationist. His foreign policy, which includes an updated international development agency, is ambitious and global (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
Titanic II will complete its namesake’s journey. The replica will depart in 2022 with 2,400 passengers—and an adequate number of lifeboats.
There are microplastics in our poop. Eight subjects from Europe and Japan had an average of 20 particles per quarter pound of excrement.
The Catholic church has its own Pokémon Go game. It hopes that finding saints in augmented reality will engage younger members of the faith.
An ancient shipwreck was found perfectly preserved. The 2,400-year-old Greek trading vessel was found a mile deep in the Black Sea.
Montreal doctors can now prescribe art. Like exercise and relaxation, a free trip to a museum is thought to help depression and diabetes.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, shipwrecks, and museum passes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jill Petzinger and edited by Jackie Bischof.