Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Catastrophic impact

Hurricane Ian barreled ashore in southwest Florida with a massive and deadly surge of water and catastrophic winds that are poised to make it one of the costliest storms in US history. The Category 4 hurricane made landfall west of Fort Myers near Cayo Costa shortly after 3 p.m. local time. Nearly all of Florida, home to 21 million people, braced for widespread blackouts and floods.

More than 2 million people have been ordered or urged to flee the path of the storm, which is expected to cause more than $67 billion in damages and losses. A storm of this magnitude is a severe test for Florida’s infrastructure due to low-lying and densely populated coastal areas which are prone to flooding. It comes as the climate crisis has fueled extreme weather worldwide this year, including a European heat wave that killed more than 2,000 people and relentless drought across the American west. After Ian crosses Florida, it’s expected to impact Georgia and the Carolinas. —David E. Rovella

With the fallout from brand new Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax cuts still ripping through UK asset prices, the Bank of England was said to have been warned that collateral calls on Wednesday afternoon could force investors to dump government bonds. So it staged a dramatic intervention.

Perhaps thanks to the BOE move, US stocks and Treasuries rallied, with the S&P 500 snapping the six-day rout that followed the Fed’s predicted boost in interest rates. The index jumped more than 2% late in the session, bolstered by gains in Amazon’s shares after the company revealed it was pushing further into wellness, security and the auto industry. Here’s your markets wrap.

Though it remains uncertain who or what was responsible for damage to Baltic Sea gas pipelines—and whether what’s been alleged to be sabotage is tied to Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and his effort to bend Europe to his will—European nations are taking no chances. Finland has said only a “state actor” could accomplish such a feat while other governments and companies are moving to bolster security around their energy assets. The German Navy was even deployed to investigate. European nations and LNG carriers heading for the region must be on high alert, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said.  The situation in the Baltic Sea between Russia and NATO remains “tense,” said Danish Defense Minister Morten Bodskov, who expects Moscow’s forces in the region to continue their “saber-rattling.”

Ukrainian forces gather on Wednesday near Russian armored vehicles left behind after Kremlin forces retreated from Izium. Photographer: Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Suspicions in Kyiv, Washington and other capitals across the globe that Putin will illegally declare portions of Ukraine to be Russian territory increased as Moscow-backed rebels claimed landslide victories in globally condemned sham referendums. The credibility of Kremlin threats to use nuclear weapons to maintain its occupation of those territories is now top of mind for US President Joe Biden and his NATO allies. Still, more arms are flowing to Ukraine, more sanctions are being imposed on Moscow, and more Russians are fleeing Putin’s draft.

A third-party candidate is the first choice to become the next president of Africa’s most populous country, according to a new opinion poll. A clear majority of respondents said they intend to vote for Peter Obi, a former state governor, in elections scheduled for February. Three-quarters of respondents said that their country is heading in the “wrong direction.” A combined 88% listed the economy and jobs, corruption, and security as the most important issues facing their communities.

Merck struck a deal with state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm to import and market its antiviral molnupiravir in China, in a tentative sign Beijing is considering more Covid-19 medicines from overseas pharmaceutical developers.

The new US Covid-19 booster campaign should clarify its goals and limitations, Faye Flam writes in Bloomberg Opinion. The latest booster, retooled to protect against the dominant BA.5 omicron subvariant, is likely to most benefit the oldest and most vulnerable among us. Public health officials should aim to protect them through a targeted messaging campaign, she writes, while younger people should only be encouraged to get it if they’re more than six months out from their last shot. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in the US continue to decline, averaging around 3,700 per day. Confirmed Covid-related deaths worldwide are continuing to decline from their most recent peak in August, averaging about 1,100 each day. Close to one third of those are in the US. More than 6.5 million people have been confirmed to have died from the novel coronavirus, though the actual number is thought to be much higher.

Covid-19: Bloomberg is tracking the continuing coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts with daily updates.

• Moody’s has a $1.9 trillion biodiversity warning for these industries.
• Alzheimer’s progression is slowed by drug, according to a major trial.
• University of Idaho warns speech promoting abortion could mean prison.
• Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island—but a wall is coming.
• Bloomberg Data: Remember NFTs? Their trading volume has cratered.
• Rolex watches in the UK lure US visitors as the pound slumps.
• Apple ditches iPhone production increase after demand falters.

It’s true that Apple has been having a less-than-pleasant time of late. But while everyone has been yawning over the last few new phones, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has quietly created what is arguably the tech industry’s biggest success story of the past decade: AirPods. The latest version, a $249 model slated to hit shelves on Sept. 23, made only a brief appearance at the most recent iPhone unveiling. But Bloomberg Businessweek reports how, more than anything else Apple sells, they illustrate why the company has prospered under Cook, and why it’s unlikely to see real challengers anytime soon.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has quietly created what is arguably the tech industry’s biggest success story of the past decade. Photo Illustration by 731

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