Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Wells Fargo’s awkward earnings call… In the wake of a massive scandal over its sales practices, the bank is expected to report weaker third-quarter earnings than last year. New CEO Tim Sloan will likely lead the call, after John Stumpf’s exit earlier this week.
…and more big bank reports. Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase will also disclose third-quarter results today, and analysts believe that the only good news will be an absence of any really dreadful news. JPMorgan Chase is expected to have seen growth in its retail and investment divisions. Citi could report a slight revenue decline.
US retail sales data. September is expected to show a healthy turnaround from August (paywall)—and any result to the contrary would spark concerns about the health of the US economy.
While you were sleeping
Thailand began a year of mourning for King Bhumibol. Thousands took to the streets in Bangkok to mourn the death of 88-year-old monarch, who ruled for 70 years. Newspapers and websites have gone black and white, and visitors have been asked to behave respectfully. The Thai stock exchange, which plunged on Wednesday, performed best (paywall) in Asia today.
Colombia’s president extended the ceasefire agreement with FARC. President Manuel Santos is trying to salvage the peace agreement with the terrorist group, which voters narrowly rejected in a national referendum. Santos has bought a few more months to meet with those who oppose the deal and discuss new proposal with FARC leaders in Havana.
Chinese sales helped Volkswagen limp back to growth. The embattled German carmaker posted its first (0.6%) sales gain (paywall) for its core VW brand since the emissions scandal last September. Its year-to-date sales were down in Europe, South America, and the US, but up by 23% in China—accounting for half of its global car sales.
The Maldives got angry and quit the Commonwealth. The Indian Ocean archipelago is upset about criticism (paywall) from the 53-nation body over human rights abuses, corruption and authoritarianism. The Commonwealth threatened to suspend the Maldives in September—but the 26-island nation beat them to it.
China’s giant state-owned chemical companies plan to merge. Beijing wants Sinochem and ChemChina to become one, to reduce the number of state-owned companies and make both firms more globally competitive. It would create a chemicals-and-oil giant with $100 billion in annual revenue.
Quartz obsession interlude
Oliver Staley on the fraud that brought down Wells Fargo’s CEO. “Unlike previous banking scandals, Wells Fargo’s crimes were easily understood—and the targets of the malfeasance were ordinary banking customers. This scandal didn’t involve exotic financial instruments like synthetic credit default swaps, and the victims weren’t faceless institutional investors, but our neighbors.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Reading novels teaches us humanity. Literary fiction improves our ability to comprehend that our beliefs and desires might not be the same as those of others.
Silicon Valley isn’t visionary. Today’s tech entrepreneurs are too busy trying to fix things that aren’t broken.
Bob Dylan’s greatest work of fiction is Bob Dylan. The Nobel Prize winner reinvented himself too often to be the “voice of a generation.”
Surprising discoveries
Hillary Clinton can’t remember anything. She replied a variation of ”does not recall” to 21 of 25 sworn responses in a lawsuit over her private email server.
There’s a new $100 billion tech investment fund. It’s being started by Japan’s Softbank and Saudi Arabia (paywall).
Hip-hop loves Grey Poupon mustard. It’s most commonly rhymed with “coupon,” “futon,” and “crouton.”
A state in Australia will teach kids about “male privilege.” Those behind the $16 million program hope it will tackle the root causes of domestic violence.
There’s a Twitter bot that tracks dictators’ flights to Geneva. The bot aims to bring some transparency to the comings and goings of leaders of repressive regimes.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Clinton’s lost emails, and Grey Poupon rhymes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our iPhone app.