Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Israel’s endgame

In past wars against Hamas, Israel moved quickly to invade Gaza, seeking to degrade the militant group’s ability to fire rockets into the country. Now Tel Aviv’s stated aim is Hamas’s destruction. In the three weeks since the group killed 1,400 people in Israel, it has staged several limited ground incursions into Gaza, the latest on Friday night. The stakes are high for Israel, from the lives of some 200 hostages to worries about triggering a regional war. While US President Joe Biden has expressed strong support for Israel’s professed goals, he’s advised delay of any full-scale invasion as he seeks to win release of the hostages and insure the flow of much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. The Pentagon is also scrambling to put defensive measures in place for US assets that may come under attack (Iran has warned of such escalation, and skirmishes between the two are increasing). At the same time, global outrage has been rising at the massive number of Palestinian casualties inflicted by Israel, with more than 7,000 dead—including thousands of children. As the Israel Defense Forces lay waste to large swathes of the Gaza Strip, Biden has urged Israel to consider America’s mistakes after the 9/11 attacks–and to have a clear plan for the aftermath. “Anything that could lower risks and collateral damage, while still attaining the goal of crippling Hamas, is worth consideration.” Marc Champion writes in Bloomberg Opinion. But Israel hasn’t expressed interest in following the advice of world leaders that it revive the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

The US economy is a bit of a phenom. Even in the face of more than a year of aggressive interest-rate hikes to stem inflation, the labor market continues to chug along, with GDP growing at an eye-popping 4.9% last quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two years. While Bloomberg Economics and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen say that growth rate is unsustainable, investors remain amazed that something hasn’t broken yet. The last time US government bond yields climbed so far, so fast, the nation plunged into back-to-back recessions. But everyone who has predicted a downturn since early last year has been dead wrong. For now, the Federal Reserve will continue to feel the pressure to keep rates high to battle price surges. Matthew Yglesias writes in Bloomberg Opinion about how despite the sunny numbers, Biden has yet to get credit for his role in achieving them.  

The controversial chip in Huawei’s new phone was produced on equipment from Dutch firm ASML, suggesting that export restrictions on Europe’s most valuable tech company may have come too late to stem China’s advances in chipmaking. Huawei, written off as a top smartphone player after the US cut it off from overseas suppliers in 2019, also posted profit that more than doubled during the quarter. Japan, for its part, is aiming to secure an additional 1.49 trillion yen ($10 billion) in subsidies for two key semiconductor projects. Intel, meanwhile, predicted a return to sales growth in the fourth quarter as the US firm seeks to regain leadership of the chip industry. 

Argentina is headed to a runoff election. Voters in the economically troubled country are weighing runaway inflation under the current Peronist government, versus radical plans by far-right outsider Javier Milei that include making the country’s currency the US dollar. Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who leads Milei going into the runoff, is likely to keep the center-left status quo for now, even as Argentina, a commodities powerhouse, battles a steepcurrency devaluation.

Exchange rates displayed at a Sur Cambio currency exchange store in Buenos Aires on Oct. 23. Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg

After a third bitter try, the US House finally has a Speaker, ultra-conservative Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana. The 51-year-old lawyer is often described as “little known” but his election is a victory for the GOP’s ascendant far right, which is fully aligned with Donald Trump (who approved of the choice). Johnson, who vehemently opposes reproductive rights and same-sex marriage, was also a key figure in pushing to overturn the 2020 election of Biden—and his new job could give him even more power to try it again in 2024. But unlike some of his colleagues, Johnson says he wants to avoid a government shutdown next month—his first big test as Speaker. There are also new calls for an assault weapon ban by Congress in the aftermath of the latest mass killing in America, this time in Maine. On Friday, the alleged shooter—Robert Card—was found dead.

Taylor Swift has done things differently, and as such she’s built a colossal fortune with innovative takes on everything from record deals to touring, streaming negotiations and even her property portfolio. Bloomberg did the math to come up with the most definitive account of her fortune. We found that the pop star’s “Eras Tour” and its accompanying film have vaulted her into the rarified category of music billionaire. Here’s how she did it.

Watch: Just How Rich Is Taylor Swift? We Did the Math Photographer: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP

• The Fed, Bank of England and Bank of Japan hold policy meetings.
• Germany, France, Italy and the Euro area’s third-quarter GDP.
• China’s Xi leads a rare closed door financial policy gathering. 
• South Africa hosts summit of US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.
• October US jobs report after last month blew past estimates. 

Last year, cryptocurrency was still the future of finance. But the spectacular collapse of FTX made some question whether the crypto boom died alongside Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange. As the past few days have shown, Bitcoin and other big tokens still have runs when prices fly sharply—and enticingly—upward. All the digital coins in the world, once valued by the market at more than $3 trillion, are still priced at more than $1 trillion. A new documentary by Bloomberg Originals, RUIN: The Sam Bankman-Fried Story, captures the head-spinning frenzy around crypto as SBF takes the stand in a sprawling fraud trial that could land him in prison for decades.

Watch: RUIN—​​​​​​Money, Ego and Deception at FTX

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