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Getty Images to restructure via bankruptcy; no Seattle layoffs planned
Seattle-based Getty Images is filing for bankruptcy and going private through a restructuring deal with financial backing from the Getty and Koch families.
Five Things presented by Compass Minerals: Sporting visiting runaway leaders Nashville
Sporting Kansas City hits the road this week to take on table-toppers Nashville SC at GEODIS Park on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream on Apple TV, while the game will also be broadcast locally on the radio via Sports Radio
Applications being taken for Batavia business incubator program
The Batavia MainStreet group is now accepting applications for the 2027 season of the Boardwalk Shops, a small business incubator program in downtown Batavia.
Joe Burrow’s model girlfriend Olivia Ponton reveals personal health battle
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s model girlfriend, Olivia Ponton, recently opened up about a personal health battle. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model admitted she struggles with the ea...
Why brain-healthy thinking can prevent AI burn-out
Neuroscience offers a practical way to understand the cognitive demands on our brains imposed by working with AI – and how to alleviate them.
The Law of Conservation of Information
There are a lot of details here, and the result is nontrivial though the conservation of information inequality looks utterly elementary and straightforward.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction launches February 4, 2027
Side-scrolling beat’ em up game He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Ste…
Arsenal loanee keeps 1st clean sheet for new club
Arsenal loanee Tommy Setford kept his first clean sheet for Stevenage over the weekend, as he continues to earn frequent starts for the League One side.Photo via Stevenage FC on InstagramTommy Setford...
Can In-House Option Upgrade Washington Nationals' 2027 Rotation?
With all eyes on how to fix the pitching staff, is a returning starter a viable option to step back into the Washington Nationals rotation in 2027?
Galaxy S24 stable One UI 9.0 update reaches the US
Samsung has started rolling out the stable version of One UI 9.0 (Android 17) to the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra in the US via new OTA softwar
Europe's Top Performers: key statistics from the weekend
Along with all of the results from UEFA's 'Top 5' leagues, Playmaker is here to provide you with a rundown of the top performers.From the slickest passers enroute to the most tenacious tacklers via th...
Ella Rumpf Joins Andrea Štaka’s ‘Ibicaba: O Paraíso Prometido’
'Raw' star Ella Rumpf, Júlio Andrade, Ana Flávia Cavalcanti to lead ‘Ibicaba: O Paraíso Prometido’ by Golden Leopard winner Andrea Štaka
BHS grad to be inducted into Rochester Business Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER — A Batavia High School graduate will be posthumously inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame of Oct. 19.
Business study story: From steering aircraft carriers to addiction centres
Alta DeRoo on her route from the navy to medicine and leadership via an executive MBA
Scientists win chemistry Nobel for discoveries about mirrored molecules that led to many drugs
Portraits of Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai are shown on the screen as they are awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct. 7, 2026. Photo: (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN, KOSTYA MANENKOV and STEFANIE DAZIO STOCKHOLM (AP) — Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai...
Behind the factory walls: accountability failures in the global textile industry - Business and Human Rights Centre
Check out this page via the Business and Human Rights Centre
‘Demon Hunters’ India-Taiwan Action-Comedy Sets Netherlands Theatrical Release (EXCLUSIVE)
“Demon Hunters,” Mei-Juin Chen’s India-Taiwan action-comedy, will open in cinemas across the Netherlands on Oct. 29 via LAX Entertainment, extending a run that began theatrically in Taiwan and continu...
TENNESSEE LADY VOLS VOLLEYBALL: Sweep of LSU caps weekend
For the 11th time this season, the No. 10 Tennessee volleyball team won via the sweep, defeating LSU (25-21, 25-23, 25-13) on Sunday afternoon at Food City Center.
😱 Blimey! Scandinavian clash goes bonkers and breaks record
What the hell was going on in Sweden on Saturday afternoon? AIK Solna and IF Brommapojkarna served up a pretty wild shootout in the Allsvenskan.It had all started quite calmly, though – typically Sc...
Can the midterm campaign trail point to 2028 presidential viability for Democrats?
After Clinton and Harris's losses, cautious voters might worry that for Democratic female presidential candidates the third time may not be a charm.
Project Amistad hosts health and wellness fair in El Paso
EL Paso, Texas (KVIA) - Project Amistad partnered with the YMCA of El Paso on Saturday morning to host a health and wellness fair focused on connecting community members with health-related resources. The event provided information and resources on health care access, mental health and physical fitness. Flu vaccinations were also offered to people who
PD Editorial: Texts about Sonoma County business belong to the public, not the trash folder
Supervisors wave away concerns, insisting the texts are mostly trivial. They should aspire to be better.
What Killed Europe’s Ancient Wild Cattle? Scientists Find a Disturbing Answer
The fate of Scandinavia’s aurochs warns conservationists worldwide that curbing hunting alone may not save species facing depleted genetic diversity and fragmented habitats. The cattle on today’s farms descend from aurochs, wild animals that once roamed much of Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. They disappeared from Scandinavia thousands of years before the species became extinct
Amazon Small Business Event: Empowering the Next Generation and Scaling Service-Based Entrepreneurs
Join Hera Hub and Amazon for a hands-on workshop designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs and established service-based business owners bring new products to life. Amazon experts and small business owners will provide practical guidance, useful tools, and actionable next steps to launch a product and build a business with Amazon. This event is free but space is limited to 60 participants and will fill up. The event includes a light breakfast and lunch. Participants will choose from two specialized tracks based on their goals and stage of business. TRACK 1: NEXT GENERATION From Product Idea to Online Store Designed for aspiring young entrepreneurs, from junior high students through college and beyond, who have a product idea or want to explore the world of e-commerce. Amazon small business owners and Amazon experts will review topics such as: • How to develop and refine a product idea • How to set up and sell products on Amazon • What to consider when pricing, marketing, and fulfilling orders • Practical next steps for moving from idea to launch Whether participants already have a product in mind or are simply curious about entrepreneurship, this track will help them see what is possible and give them a roadmap to get started. TRACK 2: SERVICE EXPANSION Turn Your Expertise Into a Product Designed for consultants, coaches, speakers, creatives, and other service-based entrepreneurs who want to expand beyond trading time for money. Participants will explore how to transform their knowledge and expertise into tangible products such as: • Books and workbooks • Journals and planners • Card decks • Educational tools and resources Amazon small business owners will share how they identified viable product opportunities and created a product that can generate revenue beyond their one-on-one services. An Amazon expert will also review self-publishing and other ways to build a business with Amazon. By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with greater clarity, practical guidance, and a tangible next step toward launching or expanding their product-based business. The event includes a light breakfast and lunch. This event is free but space is limited to 60 participants and will fill up.
'Wicker' review: Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård weave a raunchy fairy tale
Yes, the basket-woven erection sounds are hilarious. But there's a lesson here, too.
Mobile Trivia Launch Could Matter For AMC Stock And AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC)
AMC Entertainment Holdings recently introduced AMC Movie Trivia Game Show, a free mobile app created with Hoyt Games and puzzle designer David L. Hoyt, offering daily movie-themed puzzles and thousands of trivia challenges across major app stores. The game links directly to AMC Stubs, turning loyalty membership into in-app bonuses that could deepen engagement with frequent moviegoers and digital audiences. We will now look at how AMC Entertainment Holdings' investment narrative interacts...
A photoinduced, FeX3-catalyzed, stereo- and regio-selective halofunctionalization of olefins with MXn via a radical-polar crossover reaction
Communications Chemistry - The classical reaction for the halofunctionalization of olefins involves hazardous and highly toxic molecular halogens. Here, the authors report the FeX3-catalyzed...
Elon Musk’s Ex-Wife Claims He Cut Daughter’s Health Insurance
Elon Musk’s estrangement from daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson is getting another deeply personal airing, this time from her mother. In […]
Live Nation Entertainment prices $730M and €600M senior notes due 2032, nets blended 5.89% via swaps
Live Nation Entertainment priced $730,000,000 of 7.125% senior notes and €600,000,000 of 6.125% senior notes due 2032.Key Highlights:Original SEC Filing: Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. [ LYV ] - 8-K - Oct. 09, 2026This is an AI-powered summary. It may contain inaccuracies. Consider verifying impor…
Ducks test positive for bird flu in St. Louis County, Health Dept. urges caution
Residents in St. Louis County are being encouraged to avoid birds following two ducks testing positive for avian influenza, also known as bird flu, on Friday.
VIA goes green for World Mental Health Day
VIA Metropolitan Transit will light up Crossroads Park & Ride in green on Saturday, Oct. 10, in recognition of World Mental Health Day.
EDITORIAL: Could your next business partner be a farmer?
Associate Editor Jennifer Antonik explores how Delaware businesses can make local farmers their next business partners via corporate purchases.
Gears of War: E-Day sells 230K copies
Gears of War: E-Day has sold 230K copies since its advance-access launch on October 1 and full release on October 6. Steam accounts for 168K of those, with Xbox (console and PC) selling 62K. But there’s more to this story, as Xbox makes up the bulk of revenue. E-Day is the best-reviewed Gears game in nearly two decades (and the best one ever made, in my opinion). The Coalition has made a banger here (it’s currently in my top 10 of the year). Despite E-Day’s undeniable quality, this is a soft result. And it’s down to the business model, really. E-Day has made $37M so far, thanks to the Premium upgrade On Xbox, Game Pass is cannibalising much of the premium revenue. Our estimates show that 1.7M folks accessed E-Day via their subscription rather than a copy. But Xbox is having it both ways – or having it halfway, at least – via its Premium Edition Game Pass upgrade. Game Pass subscribers could pay $30 (or their local equivalent) for up to five days of early access starting October 1. Our estimates show that of the 1.7M who accessed E-Day through Game Pass, 722K paid for the upgrade. Between the review embargo lifting on October 1 and the full release, E-Day managed to shift another 250K early-access upgrades – no doubt helped by the campaign’s rave reviews. So despite selling far fewer copies on Steam, Xbox accounts for almost three-quarters of the revenue (roughly $26M of the $37M, versus about $11M on Steam). So “230K copies” undersells the paying audience. Including the 722K upgrades, nearly 950K people actually paid something for E-Day. The $30 upgrade is a halfstep from cannibalisation, but will Xbox go all the way? While E-Day is a sublime game, these are soft numbers for a flagship when Xbox badly needs revenue wins. E-Day sold 62K copies on Xbox against 722K Premium upgrades, so for every one copy sold on Xbox, nearly 12 Game Pass upgrades were sold. The $70 premium SKU is – functionally – dead on Xbox. Normally you can’t see what a Game Pass player would have paid, because the game’s just there in the subscription. But the $30 early-access upgrade estimate shows that 722K people demonstrated they’ll spend real money on this game. In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70. They paid $30 for five days early access to something they don’t own. Xbox is, in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least, based on a hangover from a tried-and-exhausted strategy from a previous administration. Those 722K willing-to-pay players generated about $21.7M via the upgrade. If three quarters of this group – mostly US and European audiences – bought E-Day outright, that’s nearly $40M. Of course, Game Pass does bring in meaningful recurring revenue, and E-Day is adding value for hundreds of thousands of subscribers. However, Game Pass is no longer growing, so Xbox is at a crossroads. Xbox is reportedly looking to do a Netflix and bolt on an ad-supported tier to pad it further. But that will just set a new floor, and leadership keeps telling us the priority now is revenue growth, which is subscriber-speak for ARPU. Xbox has already pulled Call of Duty from day-one Game Pass after day-one inclusion hammered its sales, with new CoD titles now arriving on the service around a year late. We know that some Microsoft executives believe the service devalues games outright, and rumours (which Microsoft has dismissed so far, to be fair) suggest that day-one releases could be taken off Game Pass. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe When a game this well-reviewed does this softly on its home platform, the model – not the game – gets brought into question. What else E-Day’s early adopters have played (including this month so far) Looking at E-Day‘s players on Xbox, most have played the franchise before (86% have played Gears 5, 76% Gears 4), and every game on the crossover list is either a shooter or a title from an Xbox-owned studio (though Game Pass is inflating those numbers, of course, more on that later): As for what else Xbox’s E-Day players have played this month, the top three are Fortnite (16%), Roblox (7%), and Call of Duty (6%). Another 5% played Minecraft Dungeons II, which is also on Game Pass and launched a couple of days before Gears‘ advance-access date. Many Game Pass players are happy to check out most big new additions. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Over on Steam, the top crossover games are also mostly shooters (slightly more PC-coded ones), including Space Marine 2, which was itself heavily inspired by Gears: Looking at what E-Day‘s Steam players are into this month shows who they are – as subscriptions don’t skew the data. The top three are Wardogs (13%), Deadlock (12%), and CS2 (10%), so you’ve got the restless shooter crowd checking out the new hotness. A little further down are Helldivers 2 and Space Marine 2, your co-op PVE shooter players who’ll feel right at home in Horde mode. Game Pass is skewing the playtime distribution on Xbox Looking at the playtime distribution in our platform, E-Day players on Steam are – relatively speaking – playing for longer: 54% of E-Day players on Xbox have played for five hours or less (versus 32% on Steam) 19% of Xbox players played for over 15 hours (versus 33% on Steam) 14% of Xbox players played for over 20 hours (22% on Steam) The absolute number of people playing for over 15, 20, and 50 hours is, of course, bigger on Xbox, thanks to the sheer volume of folks who came in through Game Pass (upgraders included). None of that is cause for alarm. Game Pass is the reason Xbox playtime skews lower, as when a game is free to try, people try it and bounce without putting in even an hour (17% under an hour on Xbox versus 6% on Steam). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe The subscription brings in tourists alongside the committed, dragging down the average even when the game is excellent (but also perhaps winning over the uninitiated). It’s standard across every subscription-included title, on PS Plus too. Forza Horizon 6, for instance, had 11% of its Xbox players bounce under an hour, versus just 2% on Steam. So, Xbox’s crossroads So there we have it. Gears of War: E-Day is an incredible game whose revenues have been stifled by subscription inclusion and exclusivity. It’s the best-reviewed entry in the series in fifteen-odd years, but it still turned into one of the year’s softer flagship launches, not because players didn’t want it, but because Xbox’s own storefront gave its most willing buyers a reason not to pay. Which leaves Xbox at a crossroads. Will it keep making Gears games when the financial returns are this thin and the margins this low? And if it does, does the next one arrive off Game Pass at day one – the way CoD now does, or even on PlayStation? I think it should. Alright, back to E-Day for me! The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Iron Mountain adds ViaTeK Solutions to ITAD business
Iron Mountain has added ViaTeK Solutions, a Florida-based IT asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling company, to its asset lifecycle
Watford defender Garrad joins Real Bedford on loan
Watford defender Grace Garrad has joined FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division club Real Bedford on loan.The Pirates announced the news via a post on their official club website this ...
Anthropic's Claude Science creates the first complete ultraviolet map of the sky
Astrophysicist Brice Ménard of Johns Hopkins University used Anthropic's Claude Science to map the entire sky in ultraviolet light for the first time. AI agents downloaded data from multiple space missions, calibrated it, and filled in gaps using inpainting. Predictions averaged about ten percent deviation from actual measurements. Ménard sees the project as an example of research that simply wouldn't have gotten done without AI.
The Real Alexis Lafrenière Is Standing Up
We likely never will know what manner of offers Chris Drury fielded when trade talk involved Alexis Lafrenière. For all we know, Laffy could have wound up anywhere – including Lower Slobbovia.
Texas Launches Expedited Online Business Filing System via SOSPortal
Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of online Texas Express services, allowing businesses to utilize same-day and next-day filings through the Texas Secretary of State.
New Legislation Would Close Loopholes in No Surprises Act, Alleviate Pressure on Health Premiums
This solution is urgently needed for payers and for the public that rank health care costs as their top concern.
Solera Health Launches Cancer Care Network to Connect Members to Digital Cancer Screening, Supportive Care and Treatment Navigation
Network pairs Iris by OncoHealth® and Fuze Health to support members across their journey, from early detection through care navigationPHOENIX, Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solera Health, the premier digital health delivery company creating flexible solutions to seamlessly connect people to on-benefit care via health plans and employers, today announced the launch of its Cancer Care Network, which connects health plan members and employees to Iris by OncoHealth for supportive care and treat
This Week in Sports Trivia: Oct. 8, 2026
How closely were you following the sports news this week? Find out and test your knowledge by taking The Athletic's weekly quiz.
How Machines and Magnets Taught Science a New Way to Explain the World
A new historical analysis argues that cognitive science and statistical physics independently converged on a shared simulative methodology, the synthetic method, as the only viable path to understanding complex systems.
Predicting the Detroit Tigers Outfield for Next Season
The story of the Detroit Tigers outfield in 2026 was much akin to Jekyll and Hyde. While the team benefited from a stellar but abbreviated rookie season from Max Clark, as well as another All-Star campaign from Riley Greene, injuries and inconsistency plagued the outfield spots. Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez missed large parts of …
IQVIA Launches IQVIA Life Science Models to Help Life Sciences Companies Predict Clinical Trial Outcomes
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IQVIA (NYSE:IQV), a leading global provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries, today at TechIQ 2026 introduced IQVIA Life Science ModelsTM to help predict clinica
Financially troubled Redeemer Health failed to make a bond payment on Sept. 1
The Montgomery County nonprofit that owns Holy Redeemer Medical Center in Abington Township said it is working on "a reorganization of our hospital system to ensure its continued viability."
IQVIA Launches IQVIA Life Science Models to Help Life Sciences Companies Predict Clinical Trial Outcomes
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 7, 2026--
IQVIA Launches IQVIA Life Science Models to Help Life Sciences Companies Predict Clinical Trial Outcomes
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 7, 2026--
IQVIA Launches IQVIA Life Science Models to Help Life Sciences Companies Predict Clinical Trial Outcomes
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., October 07, 2026--IQVIA (NYSE:IQV), a leading global provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries, today at TechIQ 2026 introduced IQVIA Life Science ModelsTM to help predict clinical trial outcomes.
Citrus wants to get more business off the ground
County commissioners Tuesday will consider creating an Aviation Economic Development Board aimed at finding ways to increase airport traffic, attract business and make greater use of the county’s two public
Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe are related, because of course they are
The blonde actresses are ninth cousins, once removed, via a shared relative in the 1600s.
UC Health, HealthSource of Ohio opening Batavia facility
The building will help expand primary and specialized health services to Clermont County, eastern Greater Cincinnati and other communities.
Why expansion to Houston makes too much sense for the NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is considering a new team, and Houston's viability is concrete.
Galveston's Ball High School holds an incredible Texas sports record
Bar trivia warriors, take note of the purple and gold.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County and Henderson Behavioral Health Win Community Catalyst Award - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
Ty Richardson, Interim President & CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce; Vivian Demille, COO of Henderson Behavioral Health; Shari Thomas, Director of Youth & Family at Henderson […]
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Mixed courtroom results for Joby Aviation; digging into summer tourism numbers
In her weekly look at Santa Cruz County business, Jessica M. Pasko relays how Joby Aviation has fared in the courtroom lately, crunches local summer tourism data and spotlights more names, numbers and dates to know.
Footage From Canceled Perfect Dark Reboot Surfaces, Showing Off Fruit Physics and Parkour
New footage of Xbox’s canceled Perfect Dark reboot has appeared online, via a report from gaming website MP1ST.
Former Rams Cornerback Signs Deal With Recent Super Bowl Team
The Los Angeles Rams no longer have the option to turn to Al’zillion Hamilton.The New England Patriots announced in a post on X and via their official team website that they signed the rookie cornerback to their practice squad. Patriots release LB Jose Ramirez; Sign CB Al'Zillion Hamilton to the practice squad; Release OL Da'Metrius […] The post Former Rams Cornerback Signs Deal With Recent Super Bowl Team appeared first on HEAVY.
New crocodile species found in rocks of Egypt's Great Sphinx
A skull from the now extinct ‘Herugavialis cairensis’ was discovered in the 1920s—and is also missing part of its nose.
Case of avian influenza identified in Racine County poultry flock
DATCP said the birds in the backyard poultry flock have been depopulated and won’t enter the food system.
Case of avian influenza identified in Racine County poultry flock
DATCP said the birds in the backyard poultry flock have been depopulated and won’t enter the food system.
Arkansas Advocate on Ozarks at Large: Maternal health, Kentucky's governor and political debates
Arkansas Advocate Editor-in-Chief Andrew DeMillo joined Ozarks at Large Senior Producer Matthew Moore on KUAF this week to discuss recent grants for maternal health, Kentucky's governor rallying Democrats and the history of political debates.
Arkansas Advocate on Ozarks at Large: Maternal health, Kentucky's governor and political debates
Arkansas Advocate Editor-in-Chief Andrew DeMillo joined Ozarks at Large Senior Producer Matthew Moore on KUAF this week to discuss recent grants for maternal health, Kentucky's governor rallying Democrats and the history of political debates.
Wizards Deliver Bad News For Anthony Davis Future
The Washington Wizards could soon bid goodbye to Anthony Davis, their newest star center, whom they got via trade with the Dallas Mavericks last season. According to The Athletic’s David Aldridge and Josh Robbins, the Wizards are not keen on offering Davis a four-year, $275 million maximum contract extension. That means Davis’ long-term future in […] The post Wizards Deliver Bad News For Anthony Davis Future appeared first on HEAVY.
Amazon Prime’s 10 ‘free’ games for October include Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit and Doom 2016
Amazon Prime subscribers can claim the games to keep via its Luna service…
Jackson Health Foundation Celebrates Historic $15 Million Gift From Double-Lung Transplant Survivor Carlos Peralta - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
Carlos Migoya, Silvia Rios Fortun, Flavia Llizo, Carlos Peralta and his wife Mariana, Dr. Mauricio Pipkin, and David Zambrana Transformational donation expands lung ICU and names the Carlos Peralta and […]
HealthSource, UC Health team up on new medical facility in Batavia
HealthSource of Ohio and UC Health are partnering on a project that will bring both organizations' services together under one roof in Batavia.
Brazil: Lessons from a Disaster
By Antonio Martins (Outras Palavras) Defeats become deeper and more prolonged when we misunderstand what caused them, avoid correcting course, and embrace “solutions” that only compound our mistakes. Lula’s government and the Brazilian left suffered a disaster in Sunday’s election. Contrary to every poll, the president finished the first round 2.2 million votes behind Flávio Bolsonaro—and, more significantly, 3.4 million votes below his total four years ago, when the machinery of the state was working against him and in favor of his opponent. His vote share declined in 98 percent of Brazil’s municipalities. The PL, the main party of the far right, elected 121 deputies and 28 senators, becoming the largest caucus in both houses of Congress. The parties aligned with the Centrão—Brazil’s bloc of transactional center-right parties—were somewhat diminished, but will still hold roughly 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 in the Senate. That will make it easier to assemble the majorities needed to amend the Constitution or impeach Supreme Federal Court justices. If elected, Flávio Bolsonaro could appoint four members of the Court, substantially altering its internal balance of power. What produced these results? How can the far right be prevented from consolidating them into a prolonged political hegemony? And what is the essential change of direction the left now needs? Explaining the Disaster Across the commercial media and the exuberant chaos of digital platforms, interpretations are multiplying. Some focus on specific episodes: Lula’s absence from the Globo debate, his very close relationship with Alexandre de Moraes, or his emphasis on issues supposedly remote from most people’s everyday concerns, such as rare earth minerals. Among the more systemic interpretations, three seem especially questionable. One argues that the principal defeat was not the left’s, since its congressional representation declined only slightly. The decisive movement captured at the ballot box, according to this view, was a shift within the right itself—from the more moderate and transactional forces of the Centrão toward the more ideological and radicalized forces of the PL and Novo. A second interpretation holds that the nature of electoral and political processes has changed. The material interests and aspirations of society, it argues, no longer play the central role they once did; they have given way to forms of subjective self-identification that the left has yet to understand. And a third concludes that, because of these two developments, we should expect a political winter: a prolonged period in which the far right and the broader right dominate Brazilian political life. There are important elements in all three interpretations. The problem lies in what they deny or leave out: Lula’s third government was a small-bore government. It offered the majorities that elected it neither a clearly better life nor reasons to believe again in politics and its power to transform society. These failures flowed from two fatal accommodations, which I will examine below. As a result, the government suffered a slow but steady erosion of support. And, as has happened in so many Western countries, it gave the far right the opportunity to present itself as anti-system and to benefit from popular frustration and distress. The interpretation that emphasizes the migration of votes from the center-right and traditional right toward the far right has been advanced, among others, by the courageous journalist Leonardo Sakamoto. In his UOL column on Monday, October 5, he highlights the miserable behavior of the traditional conservative parties. Over the past four years, they repeatedly joined forces with the “neo”-fascists, helping to “normalize” them—a criticism that could equally be directed at almost the entire corporate media. Believing they could use the far right as a stepping stone, they instead ended up partly devoured by it. This was especially true in the Senate, where the PL’s gain of 13 senators and Novo’s gain of two came at the expense of the PSD, which lost nine; the MDB, which lost two; the PSDB, which lost two; and the PP, which lost one. Sakamoto’s observation is accurate and necessary, but it leaves uncomfortable questions unanswered. Why did the erosion of the Centrão benefit the far right rather than, for example, producing growth for the left—as has happened so many times before, both in Brazil and elsewhere? The answer is not difficult. Throughout its four years in office, Lula’s third government was almost invariably associated with the Centrão. Here lies its first accommodation: accepting the limits imposed by conservative institutions; avoiding, as much as possible, any attempt to strain those limits through popular pressure; and believing only in the modest changes that could be squeezed through openings in Congress. The failure of the campaign to end the six-day workweek is emblematic. Lula could have electrified the presidential race by pairing it with a popular campaign for passage of the measure. Instead, he chose to place his hopes in the hands of Senate president Rodrigo Alcolumbre. He generated no mass mobilization, did not force his opponents onto an uncomfortable defensive, and won no victory. In September 2025, the government squandered the greatest of its many opportunities to shake up conservative power in Congress. Popular opposition to the so-called Shielding Amendment—which, if approved, would have restricted criminal proceedings against members of Congress—brought crowds into the streets, mobilized primarily by artists and social movements. This opened the possibility for a broader political education: a campaign that could begin exposing the limits and dysfunctions of Brazil’s political system while putting Bolsonaro’s movement on the defensive for its predictable support of political privilege. The amendment was defeated. But the executive branch then backed away from the fight. It remained associated with an institutional world widely seen as corrupt, elitist, and indifferent to ordinary people’s struggles. In doing so, it forfeited its credibility as a vehicle for the protest vote. On Sunday, it reaped the bitter fruits. Are We Doomed? Taking a different approach from Sakamoto, the philosopher Moysés Pinto Neto and other writers have drawn attention, in their first analyses of October 4, to the fragmentation of the public sphere produced by Big Tech platforms. Through their algorithms, these platforms present each person with a different view of social reality. As a consequence, it becomes much harder to identify common material problems and demands—for example, the fight for labor rights or for a properly funded public health system. Voters no longer embrace such demands, these authors argue, because they no longer see themselves as part of a collective. Instead, they tend to value the identities assigned to them by neoliberal subjectivity—the role of the entrepreneur, for example. On this interpretation, the left’s possible error lies in clinging to outdated illusions. Moysés’s warning is highly relevant and resonates with arguments such as Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor’s “Apocalyptic Fascism and the Billionaires’ Bet.” Unlike a century ago, the far right no longer promises a radiant future. It concentrates instead on resentment—especially that of young men. “They belong to a generation that fears it may never own a home, but compensates with the pleasure it gets from constantly provoking progressives online. Convinced their future has been stolen, they share memes romanticizing historical authoritarian regimes,” the authors write. But Moysés seems to confuse this danger with inevitability. He fails to see that the left’s answer cannot be adaptation. On the contrary, it must strengthen the possibility of politics as collective action. Nor does he recognize that precisely such a reversal is already becoming possible in some of the most promising mobilizations of the twenty-first century: the election, at the end of 2025, of the young Muslim Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York, on a platform centered on the intensely material fight for an affordable city; the Left Party’s victory in Berlin two weeks ago, built around the demand to expropriate private real-estate corporations; and the very recent wave of demonstrations in Spain—including an occupation of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol—in which tens of thousands of young people mobilized by the Tenants’ Union have demanded limits on rents. By putting itself in the straitjacket of the “fiscal framework” in the first months of 2022, Lula’s third government adopted the second fatal accommodation of its term. Faced with conservative institutions and a country devastated by four years of Bolsonaro, increased public investment was the government’s remaining weapon for offering a more dignified life to the majority and forging an anti-conservative pact with them. The same state that disburses 1 trillion reais a year to enrich a small class of rentiers could instead spend money to extend the Family Health Strategy to every Brazilian, at a cost of 30 billion reais; provide full-day public schooling and childcare to all adolescents and children—and, especially, relief to their mothers; achieve universal sanitation while cleaning up polluted urban rivers; multiply metro systems; begin transforming the urban peripheries; and undertake many other urgently needed projects. In April 2023, an article in Outras Palavras warned that the fiscal framework could “shrink the Lula government and preserve the forces that condemn the country to inequality and regression.” A year later, another article showed that restraints on public spending were strangling policies vital to ordinary people and undermining the president’s popularity. In November 2024 came a reality check, in the form of the government’s humiliating defeat in the municipal elections. Even then, the fiscal lock was neither removed nor loosened. On the contrary: throughout the government’s four years, fiscal restraint remained central to its political narrative. The administration proudly proclaimed that it had “put the state’s accounts in order,” without grasping either how misleading that phrase was—given the payment of 1 trillion reais in interest—or how badly the message was hurting it politically. Lula finally woke up in September 2026. The increase in Bolsa Família benefits, after four years of being frozen; the announcement that anti-obesity drugs would be offered through Brazil’s public health system; and the ban on online betting showed that the state has the power to act decisively on behalf of the majority when those in government are willing to confront obstacles. The huge marches that closed the campaign in Fortaleza, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo on the eve of October 4 showed how such initiatives can mobilize activists and the broader public. But it was too late—and too little to change the outcome of the first round. History has not ended The possibility of a turnaround in the three weeks leading up to November 25 cannot be ruled out. It will not be simple or easy. Lula must not only make up a deficit of 2.2 million votes; he must also offset the movement of voters who backed other right-wing candidates in the first round, most of whom are likely to move toward Flávio Bolsonaro. Pulling that off will require a broad, grassroots effort to win over voters, potentially reinforced by new initiatives from Lula. The coming hours and days will be decisive. If Bolsonaro’s movement also wins the presidency, the result will create a high-risk situation for Brazilian sovereignty and democracy. The enormous challenges posed by such an outcome would require the left to reexamine, in depth and with a genuine willingness to engage in self-criticism, its political projects—or its lack of them—and its practices. But would that mean we are condemned to the long winter of far-right hegemony that some analyses are beginning to forecast? It is far too early to say, suggests a recent text by Álvaro García Linera, the thinker who served as vice president of Bolivia under Evo Morales. His central hypothesis is that this political current will prove short-lived. At a moment when the entire world is once again talking about sovereignty and protecting national economies, the far right offers a stale, recolonizing neoliberalism. Its submission to the United States is as blatant and pathetic as Flávio and Eduardo Bolsonaro’s overtures to Donald Trump. Its project amounts to something like every man for himself: greater inequality, capitalism without limits, devastation, and supremacism. Will it work? In the United States, just two years into his second term, Trump himself is reaching record levels of unpopularity and may be on the verge of losing Republican control of both the House and Senate in November. Every new beginning is difficult. Whatever the outcome of the second round, the defeats of October 4 show how profoundly the Brazilian left will have to rethink and rebuild. But just as it would be foolish to underestimate the seriousness of its mistakes, it would be equally foolish to conclude that rebuilding a political project is no longer possible. History has not ended. The times are moving faster than ever. Originally published in Portuguese by Outras Palavras. English translation by Eric Blanc; I’ve added the subtitles. More We can’t stop the far right at home or abroad without a revitalized labor movement, which is yet another reason why you should become a sustaining supporter of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) — one of US labor’s pivotal bright spots. Relatedly, Jacobin published a short piece of mine reflecting on a decade of Bernie Sanders inspiring a whole new generation of young worker organizers.
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How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy
Hey all, Jason here. Money20/20 is still two weeks away, but I’ve already started packing (not procrastinating for once!). My calendar is already filling up with various sessions I want to catch, meetings, and of course happy hours, dinners, and other side events. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to catch up, let me know by replying to this email, and we can try to find a time amidst the chaos of the Venetian. A big if not totally unexpected piece of news dropped on Friday: the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group that represents smaller U.S. banks, filed a lawsuit against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, arguing that the regulator’s move to grant trust bank charters to firms seeking to use them to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authorities granted to the OCC by Congress. I haven’t had time to fully digest the legal filing or speak to folks in my network about it, but you can expect to see coverage and analysis on it in next week’s newsletter. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading The NerdCon agenda just dropped. It’s stacked. Partner content: Nubank built an AI-first bank. Chime built its own banking core. Figure and Valon are rebuilding the mortgage stack. At NerdCon, you’ll hear from the people behind those bets: what they chose, what they learned, and what they’re still figuring out. The agenda is live, with leaders from Nubank, Chime, OpenAI, Remitly, Mercury, Figure, Valon and more. Follow the mainstage conversations, bring the problem your team is wrestling with to a hands-on workshop, or pull up a chair at a roundtable. Pick your quests. Meet us in San Diego, November 18–20. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% with code FBW20. Explore the Agenda Things To Know & Other Good Reads Federal Reserve Board finalizes changes to enhance the transparency and public accountability of its stress test and reduce volatility in its stress test-related capital requirements (Federal Reserve Board of Governors) FDIC Announces Conclusion of Independent Monitorship (FDIC) Modernizing Financial Regulation: Initial Observations from eSLR (Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman) The Data Version of Godzilla versus Kong: FRED Takes on AI (Fed Governor Christopher Waller) Financing the AI buildout (Brookings) Q3’26: Rules for Banks but Not for Crypto (Fintech Takes Banking) The Inevitability of Local Stablecoins (Lombard Notes) Delusions of AI Governance: The Human-in-the-Loop Comfort Blanket (Fintech Snark Tank) Stripe agrees to acquire Parafin to expand revenue opportunities for platforms and help small businesses grow (Stripe) Listen: Fighting Fraud in the Age of AI, with SEON’s Tamas Kadar (Fintech Business Weekly) How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy If there is one overarching theme across the economy and politics in the U.S. at the moment, it’s “affordability.” The term is vague enough to encompass a panoply of factors shaping Americans’ day-to-day lives: rising costs for the hallmarks of being “middle class,” including healthcare, housing, childcare, and education, inflation and rising interest rates, and a job market with the specter of AI hovering over it. At the same time, policy shifts under the Trump administration have resulted in reduced subsidies to those who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and new restrictions on qualifying for Medicaid and SNAP, the impacts of which have yet to be fully felt. These factors are contributing to declining consumer confidence and general dissatisfaction with the economy, despite continuing GDP growth and stock market records. This divergence is encapsulated in the idea of the “K-shaped” economy, in which a small proportion of Americans have seen their wealth balloon, while the majority of American households struggle to preserve the lifestyle they have. Perhaps the greatest determinant of which branch of the “K” a household is on is whether their wealth and income are primarily derived from employment vs. from assets. Nearly two decades of low interest rates and, more recently, elevated rates of inflation have benefited asset owners, while those whose income is primarily or solely derived from labor have largely seen real purchasing power stagnate or decline. This is reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor share of U.S. GDP — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — dropped to just 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In 1947, approximately 2/3rds of economic output accrued to workers; even as recently as 2001, labor’s share of GDP was 64.1%. Against this backdrop, we’ve seen the rise of more credit and credit-like products: cash advance apps, “no-fee” overdraft, earned wage access, and buy now pay later, which are often used as small-dollar short-term borrowing mechanisms to meet immediate consumption needs or pay other bills (eg utilities, cell phone, other debt payments). With the markers of a middle class existence and, increasingly, basic financial stability seemingly out of reach for many, it should be no surprise there’s been an increase in “financial nihilism,” something industry peers like Alex Johnson and Frank Rotman have discussed and analyzed the roots of. The explosion of gambling and gambling-adjacent products and services — often marketed under the guise of being an “investment” — is inextricably intertwined with the rise of financial nihilism. Crypto, sports betting, and, more recently, prediction markets offer an escape or even hope of sorts, like a contemporary, digital version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, while leaving the overwhelming number of people who use such products worse off. Share of Households That Are Financially “Vulnerable” Ticks Up The Financial Health Network’s 2026 Financial Health Pulse® report adds context on how American households are faring. (I linked to this report in last week’s newsletter, but wanted to take time to further unpack the data in the report this week.) The Financial Health Network publishes the report annually, providing insight into how Americans’ financial circumstances are changing over time. The 2026 report is derived from a survey fielded in April and May 2026. The report leverages survey responses to assess indicators of financial health across spending, saving, borrowing, and planning/protecting and to determine a zero to 100 “FinHealth” score. Those with scores between 0 and 39 are considered “Financially Vulnerable,” consumers with scores ranging between 40 and 79 are defined as “Financially Coping,” and those with scores of 80 to 100 are “Financially Healthy.” The report found that moderate improvements in 2025 were reversed, with the share of respondents considered financially “vulnerable” rebounding to 17%. The longitudinal data reflect the impact of pandemic-era programs, like expanded unemployment, cash stimulus payments, and pauses of federal student loan payments. The positive impacts of those programs, as reflected in the Financial Health Pulse reports, had largely disappeared by 2023. While pandemic-era inflation — to be fair, in part caused by the various support and stimulus measures — had come down from as high as 9% in 2022, it has rebounded since the start of Trump’s second term, with tariffs and energy market disruptions owing to the war in Iran pushing prices back up. Specific indicators in the survey that deteriorated from 2025 to 2026 include the share of respondents spending less than their income over the past 12 months, the share paying all bills on time over the past 12 months, the share that have a manageable amount or no debt, the share that are “moderately” or “very” confident their insurance is adequate to cover them in an emergency, and the share that “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that their household plans ahead financially. Unsurprisingly, lower- and moderate-income households are more likely to struggle to pay their bills on time and have any funds leftover to save. The share of low-income households whose income exceeded their spending dropped from 35% in 2025 to 31% in 2026, while the share of upper-income households whose income exceeded expenses remained unchanged at 63%. Households with student loans or revolving credit card debt reported having “a bit more” or “far more” debt than was manageable at rates far higher than those not carrying these types of debts. The share of those with student loan debt indicating their debt load was too high to manage increased from 50% in 2025 to 55% in 2026, while the share of those with revolving credit card debt saying the same ticked up from 51% in 2025 to 54% in 2026. Households that had student loans were markedly more likely to be financially “coping” or “vulnerable” vs. those without student loans. In 2026, 27% of households with student loans were considered financially vulnerable, a jump of 6% points vs. 2025. Households without student loans saw just a 1% point increase (not statistically significant) in those considered financially vulnerable. Households’ perception of the affordability of categories of goods and services paints a stark picture, with less than one-fourth considering higher education affordable, about a third deeming childcare affordable, and less than half viewing healthcare as affordable. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Democratic Senate Report Highlights How Iran Uses Tether to Evade U.S. Sanctions Iran uses stablecoins, specifically Tether, to evade sanctions, fund regional proxies, and to purchase military drones, a report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says. The report was authored by committee ranking member Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and the minority staff. Crypto and stablecoin proponents will often push back on criticism that criminals make use of these assets by arguing that, on an absolute dollar basis, far more illicit funds flow through traditional banking systems and payment rails than via crypto and stablecoins. And while that is likely true, it elides the reality presented in news story after news story: whether state actors — Russia, Iran, North Korea — or criminal groups, those looking to engage in illicit transactions increasingly favor stablecoins and, specifically, Tether (USDT). The report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last week adds context to how Iran uses Tether has a lynchpin in its shadow banking system. The report analyzed 846 wallets that have been sanctioned or targeted for seizure, finding that 84% of them transacted exclusively or primarily in Tether. The ability to create near limitless, anonymous wallets and to move funds effectively instantaneously and irreversibly have made crypto a favored financial mechanism for bad actors. Stablecoins solved key drawbacks of bitcoin, namely, the original cryptocurrency’s highly volatile value in dollars. And while Tether (the company) has the technical ability to “freeze” or destroy funds, the company is often limited and reactive in its approach to doing so, the Senate report argues. Tether, which is nominally based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, “has stated that its compliance with OFAC sanctions is ‘voluntary’ and that it follows ‘OFAC guidelines,’” the Senate report says. Owing to these favorable attributes, Tether “became a primary cryptocurrency for Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis beginning in 2023 and has expanded in scale since,” according to the report. Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking system, the report says, is enhanced by crypto exchanges like Bybit, Kyrrex, OKX, Gate, and Binance, and through “over the counter” exchanges and hawala networks. The consequences of these financial flows aren’t hypothetical. The Senate report links Tether as a funds transfer mechanism to Iranian proxies in the region, including Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Tether has also been used to make payments to secure components necessary to manufacture drones, the report says. The report concludes by arguing that “[s]tablecoin issuers with a significant nexus to the United States, particularly those that offer dollar-denominated stablecoins, should be subject to American sanctions law rather than being allowed to hide behind foreign jurisdictions.” Stablecoin issuers like Tether must be held accountable for repeated failures to prevent illicit finance and sanctions violations by law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and OFAC, the report argues. [Paying Subscriber Exclusive] OUSD Goes Live, Make Your Own Neobank, U.S. Sanctions Russia’s A7 Network As “Transnational Criminal Organization” OpenUSD, the stablecoin issued by the Open Standard consortium that includes Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, core providers, crypto firms, and numerous banks, went live last week. Social commerce platform Whop raised eyebrows in fintech by offering creators on its platform the ability to launch their own neobanks, which the company describes as “great businesses that are easy to run,” in just 15 minutes. And OFAC and FinCEN target Russia’s “shadow banking” A7 Network — more on these stories after the paywall.
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