Good morning

 

• Intelligence information confirms that many shipping companies close to the Israeli enemy are selling their assets and transferring their ships to other companies or new owners in order to circumvent the sanctions imposed by Yemen. The Yemeni forces will not honor changes of ownership or flag of these vessels and warn all parties involved that they will be punished and denied passage through their zone of operation. The blockade against Israel and its ships will remain in place until the attacks on Gaza and Lebanon end.
  
• Chinese solar companies are increasingly relocating their production to Indonesia and Laos to avoid US punitive tariffs, which have been extended to exports from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. In Vietnam, factories such as Longi and Trina Solar are reducing production and laying off workers. However, new factories in Indonesia and Laos are reaching capacities that could meet about half of US demand for solar panels. The US has been trying for years to curb the dominance of Chinese solar companies through tariffs, but they are flexibly relocating their production to new countries and at the same time building production facilities in the US in order to benefit from incentives.
  
  
• Moldova's pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu has won the presidential election against Alexandr Stoianoglo, supported by the pro-Russian socialist camp, with 98% of the votes counted and Sandu leading with 54.35%. The election was accompanied by accusations of Russian influence, which Moscow rejected. While Sandu was narrowly defeated in the country, she achieved a clear majority thanks to the high turnout of the diaspora. Sandu's victory strengthens Moldova's rapprochement with the EU, but domestic political resistance remains strong. Stoianoglo spoke out in favor of a balance between EU integration and relations with Russia, while Sandu portrayed him as a possible agent of influence for the Kremlin.
  
• At the COP16 summit in Colombia, negotiations on 200 billion dollars a year for global nature conservation by 2030 stalled. Wealthy countries were reluctant to provide more public funding and now want to rely more on private financing. A new plan to tax companies for the use of genetic resources could raise around one billion dollars a year, but the target remains a long way off. Additional investment could be generated through green bonds and “debt-for-nature” exchange programs.
  
• Israel has officially ended its cooperation with UNRWA, the most important UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees. An Israeli law passed last month bans UNRWA activities in Israel and rules out any cooperation. Israel accuses UNRWA of anti-Israeli bias and maintaining the Palestinians' refugee status, which would prolong the conflict. Israel also claims that the organization has been infiltrated by Hamas. The new law does not directly affect UNRWA operations in the West Bank and Gaza, but will severely impact UNRWA's work there. Israel plans to expand cooperation with other international organizations and promote alternatives to UNRWA.
  
• Israeli authorities are investigating an advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu for a possible betrayal of secrets regarding Gaza documents. The suspicion: leaked information could have compromised Israel's security situation and efforts to release hostages. Netanyahu denies having any knowledge of the leak.
  
• In New Delhi, the authorities have penalized almost 60,000 vehicles and over 7,500 construction sites for violating environmental regulations. The air quality index is “very poor”, exacerbated by winter weather and smoke from field fires. According to IQAir, New Delhi is the most polluted city in the world.
  
• EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell visits South Korea to discuss security and defense cooperation. This comes amid growing concerns over the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia to assist in the Ukraine conflict. Borrell visited the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea and expressed the need to invest in peace. South Korea is considering all options, including possible arms deliveries to Ukraine, to respond to North Korea's support for Russia.
  
• The traffic light coalition in Germany is facing a crisis. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Economics Minister Robert Habeck want to find a solution through talks this week. A coalition committee is planned for Wednesday to tackle a budget deficit running into the billions. Lindner has presented a policy paper with demands such as tax cuts, which has met with resistance from the coalition partners. The SPD rejects proposals that have already been rejected before. Pressure on the coalition is growing, while the CDU/CSU is talking of an impending split.
  
  
• Thousands of volunteers are supporting the areas affected by floods in Spain. In Valencia, helpers arrive with shovels and brooms after traveling to the devastated regions. Despite the great solidarity, there are concerns about the sustainability of this commitment. Conflicts arise between volunteers and official relief workers, as the latter sometimes find access to the deployment sites blocked. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has deployed 10,000 police officers and soldiers to search for missing persons and prevent looting. A visit by King Felipe VI to an affected town led to protests in which the population expressed their displeasure at the crisis management.
  
• According to a report, Iran is planning a massive and complex attack on Israel. This is despite recent warnings from the USA. The attack is to take place after the US elections, but before the inauguration of the new president.
  
  
  
• Tomorrow is the day: the US elections are coming up and the stock markets could be on a rollercoaster again. Wall Street is eagerly awaiting the new composition of Congress, which is crucial for debt limits and tax policy. With narrow majorities, things could get dicey; in the current legislative period, there have already been months of deadlock in Congress, which is fueling uncertainty on the markets. If Trump emerges as the winner early on, this could further increase the tension. The vote count will take hours and investors will be watching closely. It remains to be seen whether Trump will test the patience of his supporters or disrupt the process.
  
• Halloween already brought a spooky show for tech stocks: the Nasdaq fell 2.8% and lost all its gains from October. Microsoft and Meta were particularly hard hit, while Amazon shone with better-than-expected figures and sales of USD 158.9bn, led by 19% growth in its cloud division AWS.
  
  
  OSI: Defines (finally) “Open Source AI” The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has published the first official definition of “Open Source AI” to promote transparency and openness in AI development. The definition requires the disclosure of the underlying code, the model parameters and the training data used (or at least their description). (TC)
• Axel Springer overweight in ChatGPT Search?
  ChatGPT now offers an improved web search with quick answers and links to relevant sources, combining a natural language interface with up-to-date information such as sports scores and news. However, the high density of Axel Springer media in the search results and links is striking and may be favored by the OpenAI partnership. (O-AI)
• Universal and Klay: aim to develop “ethical AI” for the music industry Universal Music Group has announced a partnership with AI developer Klay to create an “ethical” AI model for music. The aim is to develop an AI-powered creative music platform that ensures fair licensing terms for artists. (TV)
• EY study: Almost every second industrial company wants to expand abroad According to EY, almost every second German industrial company wants to expand abroad. 45% want to set up new sites outside Germany, according to the survey published on Friday. Top managers from 115 industrial companies were interviewed by telephone. (EY)
• Nvidia: Needs EU approval for Run:ai takeover The planned takeover of AI start-up Run:ai by chip giant Nvidia is being reviewed by EU competition regulators. The intervention shows that regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have recently been taking a closer look at takeovers of start-ups by tech giants. (RT)
  
• New policy paper: Finance Minister Lindner calls for a reorientation of economic policy - traffic light on the brink? (SPG) 
• EY study: Almost every second industrial company wants to expand abroad (EY) 
• Trade union survey: Tesla employees at Grünheide plant overworked (FAZ) 
• Funeral industry: More trainees than ever before (TGS) 
• Fielmann: Disappoints investors despite growth - share loses (MM)
• OPEC+: Oil oligopoly will not increase production after all (FT) 
• Dow Jones: Nvidia ousts Intel from leading index (CNBC) 
• Tokyo Stock Exchange: Trading day extended by 30 minutes (BBG) 
• NY Times: US Election Day strike looms (WSJ) 
• Bitcoin: Drops - because latest polls see Trump trailing in US election? (FIN)
• Berkshire Hathaway: builds up cash reserves - and sells 100 million Apple shares
• Super Micro Computer has lost over 78% of its value since March and has shrunk to a market capitalization of 15 billion euros. 
• AbbVie buys the biotech company Aliada Therapeutics, which specializes in neuroscience, for USD 1.4 billion in cash.
• Stericycle fulfills all conditions for the takeover by Waste Management at a price of USD 62 per share. 
• Blackstone secures a minority stake in Rogers Communications' wireless infrastructure for USD 7 billion. 
• Siemens acquires Altair Engineering for USD 113 per share, which corresponds to a total valuation of USD 10.6 billion. 
• Exxon and Chevron report third-quarter earnings declines due to falling commodity prices and refining margins, despite dividends and share buybacks of over USD 155 billion since 2022. 
• Comcast closes slightly in the red after eight days of profits and hints at a possible spin-off of its cable business.
• Microsoft and a16z: Together against AI regulation
• China: Uses Meta's Llama model for military AI
• Blackstone: Close to acquiring a minority stake worth $5bn in parts of Rogers Communications' (BBG) mobile infrastructure 
• Global Switch: Data center operator looking to sell a majority stake in its UK business at a valuation of ~$2bn (BBG) 
• Lionheart Capital & Orienta Capital Partners: Acquire yacht builder Sunseeker International from Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda for $206m (SYT)
• Pluspetrol: Agrees to buy most of ExxonMobil's assets in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale play (RT)