The former president said DeSantis would be making a mistake by running as a candidate in the Republican primary for 2024. "I think the base would not like it at all," he said. I'm just beginning the fight," DeSantis warned.

U.S. stocks opened lower today, as the expected red wave has not happened in the mid-terms. The Republican party is on its way to win the House of Representatives, but in the Senate, the battle remains very close.

It could perhaps take months to know the outcome since several electoral fraud cases have appeared, which could mean that we'll have to wait for court decisions. The critical state of Georgia could be heading to a Dec. 6 runoff, so the results would not be known for weeks.

A divided Congress would make it harder for the passage of drastic policy changes, but markets usually like this configuration, since it limits excesses.

Investors are also bracing for tomorrow's U.S. inflation data, which will give them more clues about when the Fed will pivot to a less hawkish policy.

The stock markets have been nicely positioned over the past few days on a positive outcome from the "combo" US midterm elections / October US inflation numbers. By "positive", no one really knows what is meant, but I imagine that it could take the form of an easing of overheating prices coupled with a relatively clear political landscape in the US.

The financial news is dominated by the collapse of the cryptocurrency platform FTX, whose assets outside the United States are being bought by its rival Binance. FTX valued not long ago $32 billion. I admit that I don't know the ins and outs of the deal, but it proves once again that when the story is too good to be true, it is not true. There was also a big disappointment yesterday from Walt Disney, whose stock fell by 7% after customer gains on the Disney+ streaming segment, which is deepening its losses in parallel: user acquisition has a cost.

In China, the recent big run on tech stocks after their 15+ year lows is fading. Rumors of an easing of the zero-covid policy are clashing with new economic zone closures after cases accelerated at a pace not seen since spring. This situation is keeping the economy under pressure and explains why inflation was still very low in October: only 2.1%. The sluggishness of consumption in the country due to health restrictions and the state of the real estate market is helping to limit price increases.

 

Economic highlights of the day:

Two U.S. statistics today: wholesale inventories and oil inventories. All the macro agenda is here. In China, inflation is again lower than expected in October, as well as producer prices.

The dollar is up 0.4% against the euro to EUR 0.9963 and rose 1.1% against the pound to GBP 0.8758. The gold ounce is regaining some color around 1711 dollars. Oil retreats, with North Sea Brent at USD 94.22 per barrel and U.S. light crude WTI at USD 87.85. The yield on 10-year US debt eases to 4.13%. Bitcoin relapses to around USD 17470.

 

In corporate news:

* Meta Platforms announced plans to reduce its workforce by 13%, cutting more than 11,000 jobs in a major layoff that management said was due to soaring costs and a deteriorating advertising market.

* Walt Disney reported a lower-than-expected profit as the American entertainment giant recorded losses of $1.5 billion related to the development of its streaming platform Disney+. The stock was losing 8% in after-hours trading.

* Tesla - Elon Musk sold $3.95 billion worth of the automaker's stock, according to regulatory filings, days after closing the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. Tesla shares were up 1.9% in pre-market trading.

* Occidental Petroleum saw its third-quarter profit quadruple from a year ago but decline from the April-June period.

* Citigroup announced Tuesday that it will buy Deutsche Bank's license in Mexico to continue its investment and corporate banking business there after the planned sale of its retail bank in the country.

* Capri, owner of the Michael Kors and Versace brands, lowered its sales and earnings forecast for the final three months of the year because of a slow recovery in demand in China and uncertainty about the global economy.

* D.R. Horton - The construction group reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales due to a decline in housing demand as home loan rates rose.

* News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins publishing company, reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings Tuesday despite higher advertising and subscription revenues.

* AMC Entertainment - The movie theater chain widened its third-quarter losses due to lower attendance.

* Canopy Growth - The cannabis producer reported a narrower second-quarter operating loss thanks to sales growth and cost-saving measures.

* Carlyle agreed to pay $3.34 million in severance to its former CEO Kewsong Lee as part of a deal that officially ends his tenure at the head of the private equity firm.

 

Analyst recommendations:

Coca-Cola HBC: Jefferies remains Buy with a price target raised from GBp 2500 to GBp 2600.

International Flavors: J.P. Morgan downgrades to neutral from overweight. PT up 5% to $96.

Lyft: Northcoast Research downgrades to neutral from buy.

Garmin: Barclays reinstated coverage with a recommendation of equal-weight. PT set to $97.

Gray Television: Wells Fargo Securities downgrades to underweight from overweight. PT down 32% to $7.

Qiagen: Invest Securities upgrades to buy from neutral. PT up 14% to $50.34.

Marks and Spencer: Peel Hunt downgrades to add from buy. PT up 6.3% to 120 pence.

Radian: Compass Point Research & Trading downgrades to neutral from buy. PT up 9.3% to $22.50.

The Beauty Health Co: J.P. Morgan downgrades to neutral from overweight. PT up 2.8% to $11.