Real Estate NYC ordered to scrap Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax rollout A Staten Island judge ordered NYC to scrap the rollout of Mayor Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes, invalidating 17,000 notices and forcing the city to redo its property roll.
Politics Trump Approval Hits 37% in WSJ Poll, Lowest Pre-Midterm Since 1990 Trump’s approval rating dropped to 37% in a new WSJ poll, the lowest for any president heading into a midterm election in the paper’s surveys dating back to 1990.
Politics Pentagon breach exposes data on nearly 3 million military personnel A Pentagon DMDC breach exposed Social Security numbers and job details on nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, with unauthorized access stretching from October 2025 to July 2026.
energy Trump Says White House Still Weighing Diesel Export Ban Trump says the White House is still ‘very seriously’ weighing a diesel export ban as US diesel tops $6.50/gal ahead of the November midterms, keeping an overhang on refiners.
AI Florida AG Seeks Emergency Injunction to Halt ChatGPT Development Florida AG James Uthmeier has filed for a temporary injunction to halt OpenAI from developing new ChatGPT models without independent safeguards, and to bar minors in the state from the app.
Politics Trump Rule Cuts Federal Student Loans for Low-Earning Degrees The Trump administration finalized a rule cutting federal student loans for degree programs whose graduates don’t out-earn high school or bachelor’s holders. Social work, art, music, and for-profit programs are most exposed.
Geopolitics Trump open to Iran sanctions relief, frozen fund release for nuclear progress Trump is open to Iran sanctions relief and releasing frozen funds if Tehran shows concrete nuclear progress, per CNN. Talks continue through mediators, with crude and defense names in focus.
Politics Over a Third of Americans Can't Name All 3 Branches of Government A 2026 Annenberg civics survey found 35% of U.S. adults can't name all three branches of government, and only 9% can name all five First Amendment rights.
Markets Massachusetts probes DraftKings AI that targeted losing bettors Massachusetts Gaming Commission is investigating how DraftKings and other sportsbooks used AI to target losing bettors with promos, following a NYT report on an internal “elasticity” scoring model.
Politics Obama: Global Living Standards Would Improve if Women Ran Every Government for Two Years Barack Obama said global living standards and outcomes would improve if women ran every government for two years, reviving a 2019 argument during a Salem State University discussion.
Macro Trump touts ‘best poverty numbers ever’ as SNAP cuts loom in 2026 Trump claimed the U.S. has the ‘best poverty numbers ever.’ Census data supports 2025, but SNAP cuts and safety-net changes could reverse the trend in 2026, with implications for consumer names.
Geopolitics Trump asked Xi if China wanted to buy US weapons, envoy says US Ambassador David Perdue says Trump asked Xi Jinping if China wanted to buy American weapons, framing pending Taiwan arms sales as routine global business.
Politics White House Rescinds $810M via Pocket Rescission, Setting Up Legal Fight The White House is clawing back $810M in congressionally appropriated funds via a pocket rescission, hitting HHS, Education, HUD and DOJ programs. Sen. Collins calls the move unlawful.
Politics Hegseth Reports $1M+ in Bank Account Previously Listed Under $50K Pete Hegseth's new financial disclosure shows a bank account worth more than $1 million that was previously listed at $15,001 to $50,000, with the filings offering no explanation for the change.
energy Louisiana Declares Emergency as Diesel Hits Record $6.03/Gallon Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency as diesel hit a record $6.03/gallon, letting farmers and loggers use dyed off-road fuel through October 22 amid a national distillate squeeze.
AI OpenAI Agents Meddled With 3 US Government Sites Without Its Knowledge OpenAI confirmed its autonomous AI agents interacted with sites for the SEC, Commerce Department and Education Department this summer without the company’s knowledge, per an NYT report.
Geopolitics Netanyahu Was Secretly Warned by UAE President Before Oct. 7 Attack UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed reportedly gave Netanyahu a personal warning about a major Hamas attack days before Oct. 7, 2023. Netanyahu denies it, but the NYT and former PM Naftali Bennett back the account.
Geopolitics US Military Lays Groundwork for Potential Action Around Cuba: CBS CBS reports the US Army Reserve is reviewing whether it can supply Southern Command with police, medical and support units within 90-120 days as part of continued military planning aimed at Cuba.
Politics Supreme Court Clears Trump SAVE Voter ID Tool Ahead of Midterms The Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration’s revamped SAVE voter ID tool in a 6-3 ruling, letting states screen rolls for ineligible voters ahead of the midterms.
AI Bill Gates Warns AI Is Powerful Enough to Cause ‘a Billion Deaths’ Bill Gates told NBC’s Meet the Press that AI is powerful enough to cause a billion deaths and said self-regulation is not enough, calling for government-led safeguards.
Politics Obama: ‘Old Men Clinging to Power’ a Global Challenge Barack Obama says ‘old men clinging to power’ are behind most of the world’s problems, calling for younger leaders as the 2026 midterms approach.
Politics Obama: Federal Government Is Less Corrupt Than Ever Before Former President Obama says the federal government is less corrupt than at virtually any point in U.S. history, even as 89% of Americans now say corruption is widespread.
Politics Peter Thiel Doubts JD Vance or Marco Rubio Can Win the 2028 Race Peter Thiel says he worries it will be hard for either JD Vance or Marco Rubio to win in 2028, and warns Democrats could nominate a democratic socialist.
AI Google, OpenAI, Anthropic Push Self-Run AI Safety Standards Body Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing forward with a self-run AI safety standards body, tentatively called SAFA, targeting a launch by late 2026 or early 2027 without government oversight.
Politics Trump Allies Push for ‘Martial Law’ in November Midterms: Atlantic The Atlantic reports some Trump allies are urging him to declare martial law or a national security emergency around the November 3 midterms. Here is what traders should watch.
