Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Inflation goes wild

China and the U.S. vowed to work together to slow global warming, issuing a surprise joint statement on Wednesday. The new accord marks a rare moment of cooperation between rival superpowers who have been at odds for most of the two-week COP26 talks in Glasgow. That said, it was an agreement between the U.S. and China that paved the way for the Paris Agreement in 2015, which itself has arguably been less than effective. And China has already signaled that it’s unlikely to join a pledge to cut methane emissions, saying it’s doing enough to reduce greenhouse gases. —David E. Rovella 

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

U.S. consumer prices rose last month at the fastest annual pace since 1990, cementing high inflation as a hallmark of the pandemic recovery and eroding spending power even as wages surge. The consumer price index (CPI) increased 6.2% from October 2020, according to the Biden administration. The CPI rose 0.9% from September, the largest gain in four months. Both advances exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Higher prices for energy, shelter, food and vehicles fueled the supercharged reading and indicated inflation is broadening out beyond categories associated with reopening. Residents of the Atlanta area are experiencing the worst inflation among major U.S. cities, with October prices up 7.9% from a year ago—more than double that of San Francisco. And the future looks even worse.

Bitcoin hit another record high, flirting with $69,000 for the first time as inflation data bolstered the argument that the cryptocurrency is a hedge against rising cost pressures.

While Tesla stock seems to have put out the fire investors set this week, Cathie Wood—whose flagship exchange-traded fund is heavily invested in the electric carmaker—said the recent selloff was just a speed bump on the way to $3,000.

The world’s third-biggest polluter named its price in high-stakes climate talks. India said that if rich countries want it to cut planet-warming emissions, they need to come up with $1 trillion of public cash by the end of the decade. The heavily fossil fuel-dependent country, which is currently looking to source more coal from Australia, pledged at the outset of COP26 that it would be net-zero by 2070. 

Rivian Automotive rose as much as 53% in its trading debut, putting the electric truck maker’s market value in the ballpark of General Motors. Shares of Rivian opened trading Wednesday at $106.75 each after selling for $78 in its initial public offering, which exceeded the Irvine, California-based company’s goals to raise almost $12 billion. The stock closed at $100.73 a share.

A Rivian R1T electric pickup truck on Broadway in Times Square during the company’s initial public offering on Nov. 10. Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg

Uber was sued by the Biden administration for charging a “wait-time” fee to passengers with disabilities and allegedly refusing their refund requests.

A top Chinese virologist warned the country risks economic collapse if local officials continue to try to wipe out all traces of Covid-19, marking the most vocal criticism of China’s so-called Covid Zero approach by one of its own experts. The Biden administration reached a deal to rush doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine into conflict zones and other humanitarian settings around the world through the Covax distribution program. The European Commission approved a contract to buy as many as 60 million doses of Valneva’s experimental vaccine, which elicited better immunity than those of AstraZeneca in a clinical trial. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

• Bloomberg Opinion: Europe suffers from two separate pandemics.
• China is outwitting U.S. spies and the White House is worried.
• China Evergrande looks like it may dodge another bullet.
• Here are the top trades for next year from Goldman Sachs.
• Democrats’ 2022 outlook is more nuanced than previously thought.
• Another record high? Not today: Here’s your markets wrap.
• So sorry Wall Street—no time off for you this New Year’s.

Europe’s relations with Russia are near their lowest point in decades. Yet President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to open the spigot on Russia’s copious natural gas—or not—may be what determines how cold many Europeans get this winter. That’s despite the European Union’s vow a decade ago to reduce its dependence on Russian energy. Bloomberg QuickTake explains how this all came about.

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