Plus: Itâs high tide for oil and gas companies Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here]( [Quartz]( October 28, 2022 [View in browser]( Good morning, Quartz readers! Hereâs what you need to know US mortgage rates reached a 20-year high. The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage [has topped 7.08%]( this week. Amazon shares tumbled after reporting sluggish earnings and holiday sales outlook. Slower growth in parts of the tech giantâs business like Amazon Web Services, [however, presents a silver lining](. Twitterâs top executives were reportedly fired. No official statement was made about the dealâs completion or [a new leadership structure](, other than a tweet from Musk reading: âthe bird has been freedâ (more below). The US economy expanded in the third quarter. But the factors underlying [the 2.6% GDP growth]( arenât robust enough [to dispel recession concerns](. US business groups called for government intervention to avoid a rail strike. More than 300 trade associations [wrote to president Joe Biden]( after a second rail union rejected a deal [brokered last month](. Same-sex marriage is now legal across Mexico. A [state-based legalization wave]( that started in 2009 in Mexico City is now complete. Global tuberculosis cases increased in 2021. The WHO said itâs the first time drug-resistant TB infections have seen a rise in almost two decades, [climbing 3%]( year on year. What to watch for Itâs high tide for oil and gas company profits. Yesterday, Shell reported third-quarter earnings of [$9.45 billion]( while [French major TotalEnergies]( posted [$9.9 billion](, both bringing in over twice as much as the same period last year. Exxon and Chevron are expected to report record profits today. But these halcyon days may soon pass. For the first time, the International Energy Agency said fossil fuel demand [should peak within the next decade or so](. Itâs a remarkably negative outlook for natural gas, the long-lived cash cow of energy firms, which is feeling the effects of Russiaâs war in Ukraine and pro-renewable policies like the USâs Inflation Reduction Act. The IEAâs findings will no doubt come up at the UN climate summit in Egypt next month. Get updates from the event sent directly to your inbox with our Need to Know: COP27 pop up newsletter. [Sign up today](. No âfree-for-all hellscapeâ for you Elon Musk has a disdain for content moderation and advertising, but on the cusp of becoming the owner of Twitter, heâs starting to realize heâll actually need both. Musk has promised to [restore âfree speechâ]( to Twitter, paring down its current approach to content moderation. But while the specifics of his policies havenât been hammered out, heâs promising it wonât be a âfree-for-all hellscape.â Itâs the closest approximation to a real content moderation stance Musk has taken since first flirting with the idea of buying Twitter. But more so, itâs a realization that he needs [some degree of supervision]( on the platform to keep advertisers happy. No one wants their ads next to unsavory content, and he needs advertisers to make money. And even if he didnât buy Twitter to âmake money,â thereâs a limit to how much even Musk can lose. What would you do with a four day work week? If Musk had an extra day off of work each week, would he find another social media company to make his pet project, or fill it with pottery classes heâs been meaning to take? Itâs anyoneâs guess. But for those who arenât billionaire CEOs of several companies, the idea of a four day work week could mean running those errands a day early so you can make dinner plans with your friends, or just simply relaxing and recharging. Supporters of cutting back on traditional working hours know the upsides of this setup, but what are the downsides? ð§ Find out in this weekâs episode of Work Reconsidered: [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google]( | [Stitcher]( ⦠And while youâre at it, [sign up for a Quartz membership]( (itâs 60% off!), which helps support our projects like [The Memo, our weekly newsletter]( on the future of work. Quartzâs most popular ð§ [The guy who inspired the âquiet quittingâ movement now works 50 hours a week]( ð [Ford and Volkswagen hit reverse on self-driving cars]( ð [The USâs third-quarter GDP obscures a slowdown in the economy]( ð§ [MTN is holding Africaâs first metaverse music concert]( ð [Peak fossil fuel use just came into sight]( ð
[Rents in the US are finally set to decline]( Surprising discoveries Bees count from left to right. Itâs a [trait they share]( with many humans, and possibly all other animals. The worldâs best nose-picker is a lemur. The long-fingered aye-aye, a native of Madagascar, also [eats its boogers]( (a big no-no). Thereâs a certain number of burgers you can eat without harming the planet. The World Resource Institute recommends a weekly [two-patty limit](, but only if you eat no other meat. Some reptiles form lifelong monogamous bonds. One [lizard couple]( has even hit 27 years and counting. NASA officially convened a UFO panel. Theyâll spend nine months discussing how to analyze recorded instances of â[what the heck is that](?â Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, lizard love, and UFO sightings to hi@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to allâ[become a member](. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Tim McDonnell, Scott Nover, Sofia Lotto Persio, Julia Malleck, and Morgan Haefner. [ð View or share this email online.]( [ð¬ Check out our emails]( [ð Read Quartzâs latest stories]( [ð See what stories are trending]( 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
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