Lula wins fourth term, Brazil stocks dive

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🇧🇷 Brazil's Lula wins fourth term as markets dive LINK

• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term as Brazil's president, overtaking Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff, as the main US-listed fund tracking Brazilian stocks fell nearly 20%.
• The 80-year-old leftist, who had trailed in the first round, took 51.8% of valid votes to Bolsonaro's 48.2%, a result that splits the country almost evenly and blocks a rightward shift in Latin America backed by Donald Trump.
• Lula will govern from 2027 to 2030 facing a Congress where Bolsonaro's Liberal Party holds its largest bench in decades, and under pressure to stabilize Brazil's public debt.

The Information reveals Instacart's sale talks with Uber, DoorDash LINK

• Instacart is exploring a sale that could value the grocery-delivery company at as much as $17 billion, with Uber and DoorDash identified as potential buyers in preliminary talks, according to a report from The Information.
• Instacart, currently worth about $12 billion, could fetch up to $17 billion assuming a typical acquisition premium, an estimate rather than a confirmed offer, as the company works with an investment bank to weigh its options.
• The report sent Instacart shares up roughly 9% on Friday, while both Uber and DoorDash fell; a tie-up faces regulatory scrutiny since both suitors already compete in grocery delivery, a concern that helped sink earlier DoorDash-Instacart talks in 2021.

🇲🇾 SoftBank plans $50B tech push in Malaysia LINK

• SoftBank plans to invest $50 billion in Malaysia focused on artificial intelligence, new technologies and data centers, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, in what would be one of the country's largest-ever technology commitments.
• Masayoshi Son has identified sites in Kuching, Sarawak, and peninsular Malaysia for the spending, Anwar said yesterday after a video call between the two earlier in the week, though SoftBank has not publicly commented.
• The pledge builds on the country's push to become an "AI nation" by 2030 and follows smaller commitments from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google, part of $94 billion in data-center investment since 2021.

SpaceX closes $40B debt deal for AI chips LINK

• SpaceX has closed $40 billion in debt financing to buy Nvidia GPUs for its AI operations, Elon Musk said yesterday, a sign of the scale of spending in the race to build AI computing capacity.
• Musk said the mostly callable debt was secured on SpaceX's investment-grade status and non-AI revenue from Starlink and rocket launches, with the chips due in the first half of 2027; third-quarter revenue rose 161% from a year earlier to $14.58 billion.
• Musk warned that debt markets have "almost entirely shut off" for firms without revenue outside AI data centers, predicting death and consolidation among the 200-plus "neoclouds" that rent out AI computing power.

SK Hynix weighs $12B special dividend LINK

• SK Hynix will unveil shareholder-return plans on Wednesday alongside its third-quarter results, after a report that the chipmaker is weighing a special dividend of about $12 billion (16 trillion won).
• The payout would be funded by gains from selling its stake in Japanese memory maker Kioxia, a holding SK Hynix built through a roughly 4 trillion won investment in 2018 that analysts estimate delivered substantial profits.
• The move responds to investor pressure for bigger payouts from AI-memory profits, building on an August plan to cancel 40 trillion won of shares; SK Hynix rose 0.5% on Monday, outperforming the broader Korean market.

Macro News

• Fed is expected to pause rates before resuming hikes in December. LINK
• BOJ may declare victory on inflation while keeping December rate hikes possible. LINK
• Oil prices eased after reaching near six-month highs last week. LINK
• European gas prices reached their highest level since 2022 as winter approaches. LINK
• US will exempt nine categories of Canadian imports from tariffs. LINK
• US added helium to its critical materials list, citing semiconductor demand. LINK
• DeepSeek and MiniMax registered under China's draft AI export rules. LINK
• Canada proposed stablecoin rules guaranteeing redemption at face value, with capped fees. LINK
• UK regulator proposed extra checks for crypto transfers involving unhosted wallets. LINK
• Hong Kong approved secondary trading of tokenized public funds for the first time. LINK

Corporate News

• Audi defended its $4 billion Georgia plant as protection against tariffs. LINK
• Shein will pay $100 million to settle an FTC probe into customer complaints. LINK
• Volvo shares plunged 27% as China's downturn drove a quarterly operating loss. LINK
• JetBlue creditors hired advisers to scrutinize $2 billion in debt amid concerns. LINK
• American Express will cut 3,850 jobs as it shifts processes toward AI. LINK
• LSEG agreed to acquire credit-data provider Octus for $3.535 billion. LINK
• Infosys cut its revenue outlook, citing tougher competition and softer demand. LINK
• Sezzle applied for a national bank charter to offer insured deposits. LINK
• CoinDCX confirmed a $16 million crypto loss from retired wallets. LINK

Stocks

▲ Biggest winners

Genmab A/S rose 9% after its Rina-S drug met Phase 3 trial endpoints for ovarian cancer. LINK

Crown Castle rose 9% after Bloomberg reported SpaceX is negotiating leases for at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites with Crown Castle among the tower companies involved. LINK

▼ Biggest losers

Bloom Energy fell 11% after missing Q3 revenue estimates and cutting full-year guidance. LINK

Globe Life fell 8% after short seller Muddy Waters revealed a new short position. LINK

T-Mobile US fell 8% after a Bloomberg report that SpaceX is negotiating to access at least 80,000 U.S. cell tower sites to build a fourth nationwide wireless carrier. LINK

Research & Reports

• Apollo economist says generative AI has delivered no financial gains outside tech. LINK
• Bank of America forecasts data-center spending will reach $2.1 trillion by 2028. LINK
• More euro-area firms reported higher bank loan rates in the third quarter. LINK
• Goldman cut its Kospi target 25% to 9,000 after the market selloff. LINK
• Companies plan AI-compute platform changes despite most graphics chips sitting idle. LINK
• Investors are more selective in private credit, not broadly retreating from it. LINK