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Here is what today's version looked like:
Here is what today's version looked like:
December 6, 2019
“I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they’re still too common...They will all be right.” —Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, after Uber published its first Safety Report
ECONOMY
1. The US economy added 266k jobs in November, significantly surpassing economist estimates of 187k – and bolstered in part by the end of a 40-day nationwide General Motors strike (responsible for adding ~41k workers back into the labor force). Meanwhile, wages grew 3.1% compared to last year and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% (matching a 50-year low).
Extra: Major stock indexes opened up ~1% higher following the report.
BUSINESS
2. Uber released its first US safety report yesterday, calling it the “first comprehensive publication of its kind” amid efforts by the ride-hailing company to increase public transparency. The report documents 3,045 instances of sexual assaults across 1.3B rides in 2018, noting that drivers and riders reported assaults at roughly the same rate.
Extra: Here’s the report from Uber.
WORLD
3. The FBI indicted the alleged leader behind “Evil Corp,” a Russian cybercrime organization accused of using malware (known as “Bugat”) to steal at least $100M across 40 countries. A $5M bounty has been offered for information leading to the hacker’s arrest and prosecution, the largest for a cybercriminal to-date. Meanwhile, the Russian government described alleged links to the hacking group as “groundless.”
BUSINESS
4. Saudi Aramco priced its long-anticipated IPO yesterday, raising $26B in the largest IPO in history (surpassing Alibaba’s IPO in 2014). The state-owned oil giant is the world’s most profitable company (by far) and produces ~10% of global oil supply. Shares are expected to start trading on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange starting December 11.
More context: The IPO comes amid (and is expected to help fund) a broader push by Saudi leadership to diversify its economy away from oil.
DATA
5. The OECD released its annual tax revenue report yesterday, examining the tax burden in each of its 36 member states (i.e., developed economies). Key highlights include:
A roughly flat OECD average tax burden of ~34% (tax-to-GDP ratio) compared to 2017 – ending a trend of annual increases since the 2009 financial crisis.
A significant drop in the US tax burden to ~24% (down 2.5 percentage points) following Trump administration tax cuts and shifting the US to the fourth-lowest tax burden (only behind Mexico, Chile, and Ireland) in the economic group.
Extra: Here’s the executive summary.
QUICK BITS
Mass strikes in France continued today, disrupting public transit (among other key services) in day two of demonstrations against pension reforms proposed by French President Macron; at least 800k people participated yesterday.
A shooter at a Florida Navy base killed three people today in the second US naval base shooting this week; several others were injured. The Naval Air Station Pensacola employs over 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, and said he plans to join Biden on the campaign trail this Friday. Kerry was the Democratic nominee defeated by President Bush in 2004.
“I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they’re still too common...They will all be right.” —Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, after Uber published its first Safety Report
ECONOMY
1. The US economy added 266k jobs in November, significantly surpassing economist estimates of 187k – and bolstered in part by the end of a 40-day nationwide General Motors strike (responsible for adding ~41k workers back into the labor force). Meanwhile, wages grew 3.1% compared to last year and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% (matching a 50-year low).
Extra: Major stock indexes opened up ~1% higher following the report.
BUSINESS
2. Uber released its first US safety report yesterday, calling it the “first comprehensive publication of its kind” amid efforts by the ride-hailing company to increase public transparency. The report documents 3,045 instances of sexual assaults across 1.3B rides in 2018, noting that drivers and riders reported assaults at roughly the same rate.
Extra: Here’s the report from Uber.
WORLD
3. The FBI indicted the alleged leader behind “Evil Corp,” a Russian cybercrime organization accused of using malware (known as “Bugat”) to steal at least $100M across 40 countries. A $5M bounty has been offered for information leading to the hacker’s arrest and prosecution, the largest for a cybercriminal to-date. Meanwhile, the Russian government described alleged links to the hacking group as “groundless.”
BUSINESS
4. Saudi Aramco priced its long-anticipated IPO yesterday, raising $26B in the largest IPO in history (surpassing Alibaba’s IPO in 2014). The state-owned oil giant is the world’s most profitable company (by far) and produces ~10% of global oil supply. Shares are expected to start trading on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange starting December 11.
More context: The IPO comes amid (and is expected to help fund) a broader push by Saudi leadership to diversify its economy away from oil.
DATA
5. The OECD released its annual tax revenue report yesterday, examining the tax burden in each of its 36 member states (i.e., developed economies). Key highlights include:
A roughly flat OECD average tax burden of ~34% (tax-to-GDP ratio) compared to 2017 – ending a trend of annual increases since the 2009 financial crisis.
A significant drop in the US tax burden to ~24% (down 2.5 percentage points) following Trump administration tax cuts and shifting the US to the fourth-lowest tax burden (only behind Mexico, Chile, and Ireland) in the economic group.
Extra: Here’s the executive summary.
QUICK BITS
Mass strikes in France continued today, disrupting public transit (among other key services) in day two of demonstrations against pension reforms proposed by French President Macron; at least 800k people participated yesterday.
A shooter at a Florida Navy base killed three people today in the second US naval base shooting this week; several others were injured. The Naval Air Station Pensacola employs over 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, and said he plans to join Biden on the campaign trail this Friday. Kerry was the Democratic nominee defeated by President Bush in 2004.
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