Here Comes Amy .. No, that's not another Tropical Storm (although one of those is coming, too). The Senate vote for Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett is set for later today. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said that she will vote against Barrett, "to be fair and consistent". But, it still appears Barrett has enough votes to be confirmed. .. and..
Tropical Storm, "Zeta" is headed toward the "Panhandle" and is expected to reach category 1 hurricane status. This is the 27th "named storm" of the hurricane season tying 2005 for the most ever. The National Weather services has issued snow and ice storm advisories throughout the Rockies. Snow this weekend helped slow to wildfires in Colorado but fires still rage California with high winds causing more spreading. PG&E is shutting power to a million customers to guard against NEW fires started by their equipment. .. Yeah.. I know you don't read the RANT to talk about the weather.. but. Pretty extreme stuff going on.... and...
As if the fires aren't enough for our fellow Americans living in California, their Governor is cancelling Thanksgiving. Think I am kidding? Listen to this..
You can have a "small gathering" but it has to be outside. No more than "three households" including hosts and guests. It cannot last more than 2 hours. "Attendees can go inside to use the bathrooms if they are frequently sanitized" (I hope that means the bathrooms and not the people).. You have to wear masks and can "briefly remove them to eat if you remain 6 feet from everyone but must put them back on as soon as you are done. No "singing, chanting, or shouting" because that "significantly increases transmission". If you are going to participate in those activities "so do quietly (at or below a normal speaking voice".. and here is a GREAT one coming from the Governor of California, "All food and drink should be served in disposable containers". AHHAHAH.. So, saving the world from evil plastic will have to wait until next year...
COVID Update: We are SAVED !!! Venezuelan Dictator Maduro has declared that scientists there have developed a medicine that "cancels 100% of COVID-19 without ANY side effects". HAHAH.. sure!!!.. any of you want to try the, "medicine"? I think it's medical name is "starva todeatha". That gets rid of ALL the Covid..
Around the rest of the globe shutdowns continue. France now estimates they are seeing 100,000 new cases a day. Spain declared a "state of emergency" which allows the government to impose curfews. Italian PM Conte says, "we will do whatever possible to avoid a second lockdown." Cinemas, theaters, casinos, gyms, spa, beauty salons, and swimming pools will be shut down again and bars & restaurants must close by 6pm. ..
In Australia, a new report claims their lockdown measures, "saved 400 lives" .. AHAHHAAH.. These "experts" and their predictions are laughable.. Remember when 10 million were gonna die? .. There is NO WAY to accurately say "who might have died' and who wouldn't. There are too many strains with different degrees of seriousness. .. and the Data is all garbage... So.. lets make up our own study..
We're gonna say that "Hand Sanitizer saved 11 million lives worldwide since February" .. I GUARANTEE if you tell people that they'd believe it.. Actually.. lets make it "11.3 Million" .. throw in that "point three" and make it sound more "scientific and official" ...
In Da Swamp: "..and drive all night.. to make do a show in Chiccaaaggoo.. or Detroit .. I don't know.. we do so many shows in a row" ... Kamala Harris had a Jackson Browne moment this weekend. Before taking the stage at a rally she was caught on a hot mic asking an aide .. "Where are we? (Cleveland) .. Cleveland? .. Ok" .. then jumps on stage, "HELLO CLEVELAND !!!!" HAHAHA.. at least she didn't say she was running for Senate.. or.. that 200 million have died from COVID in the USA...
One week from Election Day .. The campaigns are criss-crossing the Country .. Trump is holding his rallies.. Biden is calling his opponent, "George Bush" .. Normally, in a tight race the last minute scramble by campaigns is important. I'm not sure it matters this time.... There have been SOOO many mail-in votes already sent in.. SIXTY MILLION votes so far. That's almost HALF of the TOTAL votes in the 2016 Presidential election (about 129 million total votes). The last minute campaigning cannot change THOSE votes. .. It will be interesting to see how many of the mail in votes are thrown out because they were filled out improperly or not signed...
SPORTS:
GOLF: Patrick Cantlay wins the ZOZO as Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm lose steam on the back nine. In other news, there are three weeks to go until the Masters.. and Tiger shot 74 Sunday and Phil shot 78. Not in "Top Form" at the moment...
MLB: The Rays took game 4 in a classic ending. Little known Brett Phillips hits a single off the Dodgers star closer .. Ray Arozarena was attempting to score on an error.. he TRIPS and falls halfway between home and third. Turns back the third. Catcher drops ball, Arozarena turns back to home and dives on the plate. Rays win 8-7. ..then..
Last night Kershaw struck out six and the Dodgers hit 2 HR's to win 4-2 and take a 3-2 Series lead .. Game Six tomorrow night...
NFL: Bears/Rams tonight at 8:15 .. and this weekend had some crazy finishes. I
n the battle of the unbeatens, Pittsburgh led 24-7 at halftime. The Titans came back and needed a last second Field Goal to force overtime... MISSED.. Steelers win 27-24 .. and..
Atlanta loses on "Todd Gurley Accidental Touchdown". Falcons could have run out the clock and the Lions would not have gotten the ball back. But, instead of falling on the 1 yard line Gurley "Accidentally scored a TD". Detroit got the ball back and scored to take the lead. ..and..
I don't "Feel Sorry" for him (because he makes a bagillion dollars) but.. Joe Burrow and Cincinnati are now 1-5-1. Burrow threw for 406 yards, 3 TD's and had a QB Rating 112.5 and LOST AGAIN. After he marched the Bengals down the field and scored Baker Mayfield torched the Bengals Defense. 5 plays 75 yards in 55 seconds... Chin up Joe Burrow. Peyton Manning was 3-13 in his first year..
CELEBRIDIOTS:
Rapper "Offset" had some "Police Problems" this weekend in LA. His car was driving through a "Trump Rally" and a guy in his car waved a gun at the people in the parade. Police stopped the car and Offset "Instagram Lived" the incident. The police politely asked him to get out of the car and eventually arrested the passenger. The live video was helpful for the police because it showed they did their job correctly. The Loser media won't tell you that .. The Rant Will...and..
Hanna Brown get OUT of the Raj tub .. You're supposed to shower BEFORE you go in !!! Don't lie .. HERE ... I watched you walk STRAIGHT out of bed and into the Raj Tub .. BAD FORM.. well.. maybe I'll cut you a break this ONCE .. and..
The CMT Awards happened.. and. .. the WINNER was Kelsea Ballerini .. HERE .. and No.. NO.. I CAN'T name a single one of her songs.. but.. she wins ANYWAY..
From SeekingAlpha.com
Bayer (OTCPK:BAYRY) is paying as much as $4B for U.S. biotech firm Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, bolstering its pharmaceuticals division as it continues to reel from its acquisition of crops giant Monsanto (and cancer-related Roundup lawsuits). The latest deal, which includes upfront consideration of $2B and potential milestone payments of up to $2B, is a bet on cutting-edge gene therapy, which offers the potential to cure a wide range of often-rare diseases by editing errors in the body's instruction manual. Drugmakers including Novartis (NYSE:NVS), Roche Holding (OTCQX:RHHBY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) have also made big bets on the industry, snapping up gene therapy makers.
Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins chains owner Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ:DNKN) confirmed preliminary talks to be acquired by Inspire Brands after the NYT reported on the negotiations. Inspire would take Dunkin' private at $106.5 per share, valuing the company at $8.8B, or a 20% premium over DNKN's closing price of $88.79 on Friday. While Dunkin' said "there is no certainty that any agreement will be reached," if successful, Inspire would add the new assets to the Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby's Sonic, and Jimmy John's chains that it already owns. DNKN +19% premarket. More M&A: Blackstone to buy Simply Self Storage for about $1.2B.
Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) has agreed to buy Husky Energy (OTCPK:HUSKF) in a C$3.8B ($2.9B) all-stock deal that will combine two of the largest players in Canada's struggling oil-sands industry. The combined company will have about 750K boe/d production, making it the third-largest Canadian oil and natural gas producer. it would also be the second-largest Canadian-based refiner and upgrader with total North American upgrading and refining capacity of ~660K boe/d.
U.S. stock index futures are starting the week on the backfoot, falling nearly 1% overnight, as the nation reported a record of more than 83,000 new COVID infections on both Friday and Saturday. "We're not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN's State of the Union program. Meadows and Nancy Pelosi also accused each other of "moving the goalposts" on stimulus legislation in back-to-back interviews, dimming chances a deal could be reached before Election Day.
The COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) produces a robust antibody and T-cell immune response in elderly people, the group at highest risk, FT reports. While details of the finding are expected to be published shortly in a clinical journal, sources cautioned that positive immunogenicity tests do not guarantee that the vaccine will ultimately prove safe and effective in older people. AstraZeneca resumed the U.S. trial of its experimental vaccine on Friday after a pause due to safety concerns, while Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) also restarted trials, saying the first batches of its shot could be available in January.
"China has purchased approximately 71% of its farm purchases target for 2020," according to an interim report on agricultural trade from the U.S. Trade Representative. "They have purchased $23.6B in agricultural products so far this year, substantially more than the base year of 2017, and should end up being our best year ever in sales to China. It is worth noting that the Phase One Agreement did not go into effect until February 14, 2020, and March is the first full month of its effect... We already are on pace to have all-time high sales to China in beef, pork, corn, and soybeans." Go Deeper: Some are questioning the figures and the timeline.
PG&E (NYSE:PCG) is pre-emptively cutting power again in northern California, affecting 386,000 homes and businesses in 38 counties, or nearly 1M people. It's the fourth times this year the state’s largest utility had to shut off electricity due to high winds and extreme wildfire danger, which could spark blazes if live wires topple into dry brush. Utilities in Southern California, like Southern California Edison (NYSE:EIX), are also warning of potential blackouts.
As the threat of election-related unrest escalates in the U.S., Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) said it would implement emergency measures reserved for "at-risk" countries to bring down the online temperature. The social media giant plans to limit the "spread of viral content" and lower the bar for "suppressing potentially inflammatory posts" using internal tools previously deployed in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, WSJ reports. The tools would only be used in the event of election-related violence or other serious circumstances, though some employees are concerned it could slow down viral content and unintentionally hide legitimate political discussions. Go Deeper: Facebook will ban U.S. political ads indefinitely after November 3.
A chapter has closed for the Samsung conglomerate following the death of Lee Kun-hee, who transformed the South Korean appliance maker into the world's biggest producer of smartphones, TVs and memory chips. He had been incapacitated for years following a 2014 stroke, leaving day-to-day operations to his son, Lee Jae-yong, who goes by Jay Y. in the West. While Lee spends about 95% of his time focused on Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF), the conglomerate's most valuable arm, he formally takes the reins with Samsung on the defensive and struggling to evolve within the tech industry.
What else is happening...
SAP (NYSE:SAP) tumbles 18% premarket after slashing revenue forecast. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) steps away from bottling in Australia. Chinese policymakers discuss new five-year development plan. Airbnb (AIRB) approves private share split ahead of IPO. American (NASDAQ:AAL) plans PR events before 737 MAX (NYSE:BA) takes to the skies. AT&T (NYSE:T) job cuts at historical levels; CNN's Zucker may be on the block.
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan -0.1%. Hong Kong +0.5%. China -0.8%. India -1.3%. In Europe, at midday, London -0.2%. Paris -0.6%. Frankfurt -2.1%. Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.9%. S&P -0.9%. Nasdaq -0.9%. Crude -2.5% to $38.85. Gold -0.2% at $1902.40. Ten-year Treasury Yield -3 bps to 0.81%
Today's Economic Calendar
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing rajsearing@gmail.com "Raj Searing™”, "Read this First™", "@rajsearing™", "TheRantRoom™" and “TheRantroom.com™” are Trademarks of RRRAJ, LLC. All Rights Reserved-2003.
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