Portland Mayor Tear Gassed | Tesla’s Next Gigafactory | The $1.95 Billion Vaccine Deal

Plus: How The Stock Market Performed Under Every President Since Truman—The Surprising Results

Know Now

• Police Declare Portland Protest A Riot, Mayor Ted Wheeler Tear Gassed By Federal Agents

• California Surpasses New York As State With Most Coronavirus Cases

• Pfizer Gets $1.95 Billion U.S. Deal For 100 Million Doses Of Planned Covid-19 Vaccine

• China Follows U.S. In Space Race To Mars

• Extension Of $600 Weekly Enhanced Unemployment Boost Unlikely: WH Chief Of Staff

Top Take-Aways

The mayors of Chicago and Seattle lashed back at Trump’s announcement that “hundreds” of federal officers will be sent to U.S. cities facing rising crime, arguing the federal government could offer more effective aid by tackling gun control.

As Facebook reportedly takes steps to restrict the influence of QAnon content on its platform—following Twitter’s move earlier in the week— political candidates touting the fringe conspiracy theory continue to run ads across the platform.

Tesla’s next gigafactory—manufacturing its Cybertruck, semi-truck and Model 3 and Y vehicles—will be in Austin, Texas. Musk says it will be an “ecological paradise” open to the public with a boardwalk and trails for hiking and biking.

Rare Beauty, the mission-driven beauty brand founded by Selena Gomez, is launching a fund to raise $100 million over the next 10 years to help address the gaps in mental health services—particularly for underserved communities.

From the verge of one of the worst deals in franchise history to possibly the best. Mookie Betts and the LA Dodgers agreed on a massive 12-year, $365 million contract extension, the culmination of negotiations that started in March and were halted by MLB’s shutdown.

Fabien Cousteau, grandson of undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, is raising $135 million to build an underwater ‘international space station’ of the deep sea. The underwater habitat and research station off the coast of Curaçao—60 feet below the surface of the ocean—will be one of the largest ever built.

Today's Must-Read

Conventional wisdom says that Dems are generally bad for the economy and the stock market because of their big government tendencies, while fiscally conservative Republicans are good. This widely accepted belief is actually fake news if you look at data going back to the end of World War II.

“Stock markets do perform better under Democrats than under Republicans. That’s a well-known fact, but it does not imply cause and effect,” says Jeremy Siegel, author of the investment classic, Stocks For The Long Run. From 1952 through June 2020, annualized real stock market returns under Democrats have been 10.6% compared with 4.8% for Republicans.

In an effort to more closely examine the relationship between the actions of a president and the direction of stocks, deputy editor Halah Touryalai and reporter Sergei Klebnikov have analyzed their stock market performances dating back to Harry Truman. We’ve also noted for each president the number of expansions and recessions that began during their tenures.

The winner among presidents for the best cumulative stock market return is Bill Clinton, with nearly 210%. The worst: George W. Bush, with -40%. Uncertainty has been the biggest disrupter of markets by far.

Some speculate that the future of the republic hinges on the outcome of the next election. But for smart investors it doesn't really matter who wins.

Across Forbes

Forbes Advisor: As universities and colleges finalize their fall semester plans, many are wondering how they'll pay for school this year under unprecedented circumstances. For advice from experts like Washington Post's Michelle Singletary and HerMoney.com's Jean Chatzky, register for “Paying for College During a Pandemic,” a webinar hosted by Forbes Advisor and Savingforcollege.com, on Friday, July 31, at 2 p.m. EST.