Quartz Daily Brief—More Texas Ebola, AbbVie backs down, Airbus mega order, football disruption drones
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Emmanuel Macron’s budget proposal. The French economic minister unveils details of a plan that the European Union hopes will bring France’s stubbornly high deficit in line with the EU-mandated maximum 3% of GDP. Parliament won’t vote on the plan until January, so it may be just a stab at setting expectations.
John Kerry talks nukes with Iran. The US secretary of state will meet the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna to discuss Iran’s nuclear ambitions as a deal deadline looms. Iran says it doesn’t want to make weapons, but the rest of the world is unconvinced.
America’s shrinking budget deficit. US Treasury data is likely to show the deficit has decreased for the fifth straight year. But a six-year streak looks unlikely due to rising entitlement spending and the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates next year.
US retail sales could trigger some gloom. Some analysts are predicting the first monthly downturn in retail sales since January. If that happens the mood in the US could turn quite pessimistic, given the awful recent economic data from Europe and slowing growth in China.
Earnings, earnings, earnings. American Express, Bank of America, BlackRock, eBay, and Netflix are among the big US companies scheduled to report their quarterly results.
While you were sleeping
A second health care worker in Texas has Ebola. The Dallas hospital that treated the late Thomas Duncan said an employee tested positive after reporting a high fever. Nurses at the hospital say they received flimsy protective gear and were not properly trained to handle the highly contagious virus.
AbbVie reconsidered its bid for Shire. The US drugmaker said it needs to weigh the “fundamental financial benefits” of a £32 billion ($51 billion) takeover of its UK rival, in light of new rules aimed at preventing American companies from headquartering abroad in order to avoid taxes. Shire’s share price fell 27% on AbbVie’s rethink.
Germany failed to boost its inflation rate. The consumer price index for the euro zone’s largest economy rose just 0.8% year-on-year (paywall) for the third consecutive month.
Hong Kong police roughed up protestors. After three weeks of mostly tolerating pro-democracy protests, police arrested 45 demonstrators and used pepper spray against those who refused to vacate a busy road in the early hours of Wednesday morning. One handcuffed opposition party member was beaten by police for four minutes—the attack was caught on camera, prompting an official investigation.
Qualcomm bought into Bluetooth for $2.5 billion. The US chip maker agreed to buy Cambridge Silicon Radio, a UK company that specializes in Bluetooth chips for wearable and automobile technology, including Beats headphones. The offer, which represents a 56.5% premium, trumps a rival bid from Microchip Technology.
Airbus received its largest-ever order. Low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo placed an order for 250 short- to medium-haul A320s—the biggest order by number of planes in Airbus’s history. The total value of the deal, which would be worth $25.7 billion at list price, was not disclosed.
China’s factory prices fell yet again. The producer price index dropped 1.8% in September, marking the 31st consecutive monthly decline—the longest protracted fall since the Asian financial crisis. Consumer prices rose 1.6% in the month, following a 2% rise in August.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jenni Avins on tech companies paying women to freeze their eggs. “By helping to give women the choice of putting their biological clocks on the back burner, these companies would seem to be on the forefront of female empowerment. But perhaps equally empowering, if not more so, would be a the creation of career tracks that are more amenable to parenthood (and motherhood in particular), along with more generous policies regarding parental leave and childcare.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Arming rebel groups doesn’t work. So says the CIA—and it should know.
Water is not expensive enough. US farmers and consumers pay virtually nothing even though scarcity is looming.
Americans are addicted to extreme fitness. Because they are painfully bored at work.
Atheists are wrong about Islam. Morals are a product of culture, not religion.
Hong Kong’s protestors need to go home. Without any long-term goals and a strategy, all they’re doing is taking up space.
Surprising discoveries
No one wants to rent Hitler’s house. The Austrian government is having trouble finding a tenant, for some reason.
Your smartphone can detect cosmic rays. Crowdsourcing software harnesses the vast computing power in our pockets.
Innovations in rubber band design. A cubic update from Japan improves upon the classic band that dates back to the 1600s.
Knowing two languages improves your ability to focus. Bilingual students are better at tuning out noisy distractions.
A drone attack ended a Serbia-Albania soccer match. The drone carried a controversial flag and sparked an on-pitch skirmish.
Click here for more surprising discoveries on Quartz.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, innovative office supplies, and cosmic ray detection apps to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.