Happy Halloween hangover. Wall Street got the real scare this week. Alphabet dropped more than 12% after earnings, Intel fell nearly 30%, and the Nasdaq kept sliding Friday. By Friday, Reuters had the Nasdaq on track to lose about $2 trillion in October, on fears Big Tech is spending way too much on AI. Check your 401(k) with the lights on.

Meanwhile, the adults in charge. At a Fox News town hall, a young conservative woman told JD Vance her side keeps telling her to marry and have kids, then asked how she's supposed to afford a home when the average one costs more than $415,000. Vance opened with a joke about Ohio Sen. Jon Husted's backside, a bit Trump has been running at rallies for a month. To be fair, nobody on either side has acted their age this campaign. Recess ends Tuesday.

Clocks fell back an hour overnight, so you've got time. Coffee's hot. Let's go.

THE SUNDAY SCORECARD

* Numbers not real time.

IN A HURRY?

01 · WASHINGTON

Let's start at the pump. Trump says America is "making an absolute fortune" from the Iran war, and promises gas prices will come down soon. Right now regular is $4.18 a gallon, per AAA, versus $3.04 a year ago, and diesel is $6.32. Critics point out that his own oil and gas holdings have climbed sharply during the war, per a report from Democrats on Congress's Joint Economic Committee. Somebody's making a fortune. Check your gas receipt to see if it's you.

Some folks would rather just leave. In Illinois, 33 counties have already voted to explore splitting from Cook County, home of Chicago, to form a new state, and every one of those referendums passed. Eleven more counties vote on the same question Tuesday. The votes are non-binding, and a new state needs a yes from both Springfield and Congress, so don't print the flag yet. Still, that's a lot of people asking for separate checks.

Remember last week's Paris riots? Citadel CEO Ken Griffin says France is a warning to young Americans who like the sound of socialism. "The country spends 60% of its GDP at the government level. And yet their streets are awash in turmoil," he said. Fans of the European model would point out the French are rioting over the cost of living, which Americans are just as mad about with a much smaller government. Everybody's angry about prices. They just disagree on who gets the bill.

02 · YOUR WALLET

Rough timing for a party, but Anthropic filed to go public on Monday. The AI company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker "ANT," with no share price set yet. Tech investors are currently hiding under the covers, so good luck with the guest list.

Meanwhile, the billionaires are packing. Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick moved to Texas on Dec. 18, 2025, about two weeks before California's proposed billionaire tax would have counted him. Californians vote Tuesday on Prop 40, a one-time 5% tax on billionaires who lived in the state on Jan. 1, 2026, which could have cost him about $180 million, per Fortune. "Let's just say it's prior to January," he said. Texas thanks him for his business.

The rest of us aren't going anywhere. Just 49% of Gen X savers say they're on track for retirement, down from 58% a year ago, per Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2026 survey. That makes Gen X the only generation under half. Gen Z sits at 66%, millennials at 61% and boomers at 60%. The latchkey kids raised themselves. Now they get to retire themselves too.

And in crypto, Binance got hit by what's being called the biggest crypto hack ever: about $6.3 billion in digital assets, per the exchange. Roughly half has been frozen, and Binance says user funds are safe and it will cover all losses. "Not your keys, not your coins" just got a $6 billion asterisk.

03 · MAIN STREET

The big money is still flowing, just not toward your house. SpaceX lined up about $40 billion to lease AI chips, the largest GPU financing ever, led by Apollo and Goldman Sachs. And at a Georgia rally, Trump announced Audi will spend $4.2 billion on its first U.S. plant, near Macon, built to make up to 200,000 cars a year with about 4,500 jobs, per state officials. Credit where it's due: 4,500 jobs is 4,500 jobs.

Not everyone is hiring. Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, roughly 27% of its 223,000-person workforce, per CNBC, as AI drives an efficiency push. It's not a layoff. It's a strongly worded suggestion with a severance check.

On the shopping front, some iPhone Duo buyers are returning Apple's new foldable, which starts near $2,000, after reports of inner screens cracking along the hinge, sometimes within hours. The internet is calling it "Crackgate." It folds. Apparently so does the screen.

And somebody really wants a Frosty. Nelson Peltz's Trian offered $1.4 billion to take Wendy's private at $7.35 a share, and the stock jumped about 15%. One share of Wendy's still costs less than most of its combo meals.

04 · RESULTS

Whose Fault Are Gas Prices?

63% of you said Not Trump. Biden hit $5 with no war to blame. 37% said Trump. His war, his gas prices. The pump doesn't care who you voted for.

05 · WINNERS & LOSERS

Winners:

Florida. The Sunshine State is now the world's 14th-largest economy, per the Florida Chamber Foundation: $1.8 trillion after 6.3% growth in a year, ahead of Australia and Mexico. About 2% more and it passes South Korea. Canada's No. 10 spot is 21% away. Somewhere in Ontario, a snowbird is doing the math.

T-Mobile Customers (New York Only). T-Mobile promised Price Guarantee customers it would "never change the price you pay," then raised it about $5 a line in 2024. New York's attorney general secured up to $38 million in value for about 253,000 affected plans, as refunds or a price freeze. Everywhere else, "never" apparently meant "until 2024."

Losers:

Luxury Condo Buyers. The Mandarin Oriental Residences in Boca Raton promised a $1 billion slice of hotel-brand luxury. Years behind schedule, it's still unfinished, and at least 20 buyers want their deposits back. One investor agreed to pay $5.5 million in 2022 and put down $1.65 million. He won an arbitration ruling and still hasn't been paid. Ocean views sold separately.

Anyone Hoping for Cheaper Flights. American Airlines CFO Devon May said "if fuel comes down, I think airfares probably stay largely where they're at right now." So fuel goes up, fares go up. Fuel goes down, fares stay up. Must be nice.

06 · WORTH YOUR WATCH

A Texas Roadhouse regular says he ordered a filet and got a sirloin. Three times. Kenneth Card says it happened on three straight visits to the Forsyth, Illinois location, where an 8-ounce sirloin runs about $10 less than the filet, per USA Today. Texas Roadhouse says it investigated, acknowledged the error, and calls repeated mix-ups "nearly impossible." Honest mistake or shrinkflation with a steak knife? Watch, then hit reply.

Join the Common Sense Club: $4/month or $36/year (3 months free). No ads, every Vault guide included, exclusive podcast episodes, the member community, and 15% off the ‘all new’ shop.

$4/mo or $36/yr

07 · WEEKLY COMMON SENSE

Owning a Home Now Costs $1,380 a Month Before the Mortgage

On top of the mortgage, the typical homeowner now spends about $16,566 a year on upkeep, insurance and property taxes, per Zillow and Thumbtack. That's roughly $1,380 a month, up 32% in five years. Insurance led the climb, up 54%, with Dallas (75%), Tampa (71%) and Denver (70%) hit hardest. The good news: maintenance costs rose just 1% this year.

Translation: The house price is the cover charge. The drinks are extra, every month, forever.

Gen X Earns the Most. It Also Swipes the Most.

Americans aged 45 to 54 earn a median of nearly $109,000, the highest of any age group ever recorded, per the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances. They also now carry the biggest credit card balances: about $5,100, up from $3,300 in 2022 after inflation. Their median net worth slipped from about $270,000 to $255,000, while Americans 75 and older jumped to nearly $505,000.

Translation: Record paychecks, record balances. The money comes in and goes straight out on the plastic.

Amazon Paid $427 Million for Land It Can't Use

Amazon paid about $427 million for 122 acres in Ashburn, Virginia, roughly four times the assessed value, planning to build data centers. Neighbors and county supervisors fought back, and Amazon has dropped the plan. The land will be rezoned mostly for housing, and Amazon will donate 25 acres for an arts center and sports facility. In a March poll, 71% of Americans opposed an AI data center in their area.

Translation: The most powerful force in tech turns out to be a county board meeting full of angry neighbors.

Thieves Are Treating AI Hardware Like Gold Bars

Gangs have stolen more than $150 million in AI equipment this year, per an industry report, with over $100 million in data center gear taken off trucks since June, per NBC News. One July job in Reno grabbed $38 million in cables and cartridges using drivers with fake licenses. Crews use hacked freight accounts, GPS spoofing and even staged crashes. "It's so much easier to steal this than to rob a bank," one expert said.

Translation: The AI boom has a new business model: take it straight off the truck.

The FTC Wants to Know Why Your Price Is Different

The FTC is demanding data from Walmart, Target, Uber and six others, including DoorDash, Instacart, Delta and United, on whether they use your location, browsing history or income to set individual prices, wages or job offers. The agency says it can't ban personalized pricing outright, but Chairman Andrew Ferguson has warned companies to expect enforcement. JetBlue says it doesn't do it. Delta says it has "zero tolerance" for predatory pricing.

Translation: Last week's Rant just got a federal study. Same item, same store, same price. Is that so hard?

08 · LATEST PODCAST

Episode 24 · 11 minutes

Amazon cut 16,000 corporate jobs. Meanwhile, a Texas electrician lost his best guys to a data center paying double. Cole and Savannah sort out who should actually worry about AI, who's getting rich off it, and what to do about it. Pairs nicely with Microsoft's 60,000 buyout offers above. Listen, then you decide.

09 · TABLE WARS

The ads stop Tuesday. The arguing at Thanksgiving dinner doesn't. Table Wars puts your relative in a classic laser-backdrop portrait with the politician they can't stand: Trump, Vance, Patel, Biden, AOC or Mamdani. "Thankful For My Best Friend." Wear it to dinner. Film the reaction.

10 · WHY SO SERIOUS?

Man Tries to Inherit a $5.4 Million Mansion That Isn't His. Repeatedly.

Oklahoma deputies say a 29-year-old man claimed he'd inherited a $5.4 million Oklahoma City mansion from dead relatives, tried to get into the gated neighborhood three times, got the electricity switched into his name and tried to record the deed at the county clerk's office three times. Someone also tried to take out a loan against the house. He faces forgery and fraud charges and is presumed innocent.

Translation: Persistence is a virtue. Forgery is a felony.

Postal Worker Allegedly Delivers Himself Some iPhones

Police say a Florida USPS employee was caught on a hidden camera in his mail truck opening packages and taking three iPhones and a $2,549 ring, more than $6,500 in merchandise. He was arrested on grand theft charges. The catch for the rest of us: most Priority Mail comes with just $100 of insurance. Extra coverage goes up to $5,000, for a fee.

Translation: Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night. Ethics is another story. Insure the gifts.

Mandatory Tip? Now Add an 'Admin Fee'

A rooftop restaurant in Los Angeles went viral on Reddit for adding a 5% "admin fee" ($8.25) on top of a mandatory 20% tip ($33). The menu at Üca Terraza says the surcharge isn't a tip and goes to the restaurant for "increased wages and benefits." Bottled water was $8. One commenter: "Admin fee like if you're filing paperwork to buy a car."

Translation: Just put the real price on the menu. We can do the math. We just don't want to.

Runners Finish a Half Marathon. Their Cars Don't.

Dozens of runners in the San Diego-Tijuana Binational Half Marathon crossed the finish line in Mexico, came back across the border and found their cars towed. Some say race staff told them where to park. Organizers say the lot near a Popeyes was never an approved spot and deny anyone was directing traffic. Nobody has offered to cover the towing fees.

Translation: 13.1 miles and an international border, and the hardest part was the tow yard.

DoorDash Is Buying Instacart for $17 Billion

DoorDash is buying Instacart in a $17 billion deal, paying $65 a share, a 26% premium. The pitch to shoppers: two memberships for the price of one and access to 50,000 more stores. The real target: Walmart, which holds about 31% of online grocery, and Amazon at about 24%, per Wedbush. DoorDash stock popped more than 5%.

Translation: Two apps become one. Watch the service fee to find out who that's really for.

11 · EVENTS TO KNOW ABOUT

Election Day

Date: Tuesday, November 3

Control of Congress is on the ballot, plus governors and local measures like California's Prop 40 billionaire tax and 11 Illinois counties voting on splitting from Cook County.

Why you should care: Taxes, spending and gridlock for the next two years. Also, the ads finally stop.

October Jobs Report

Date: Friday, November 6, 8:30 a.m. ET

The monthly count of hiring and unemployment, landing three days after the election.

Why you should care: A weak number raises the odds of a Fed rate cut. A hot one keeps mortgage rates where they are.

12 · THE RED STATE RANT

You sit down to watch the game. Commercial break: a grainy black-and-white photo of a candidate you've never heard of, an ominous cello, and a narrator who sounds like he's reading your obituary. Next ad: the other candidate. Same cello. Your phone buzzes. It's "Brenda," asking if you can chip in $5 before midnight. You've never met Brenda. You go fill up the truck, and the pump screen starts yelling at you too.

Welcome to the most expensive election in American history. Political ad spending for the 2025-26 cycle hit a record $11.21 billion, per AdImpact. That's more than the entire 2024 presidential race. For a midterm. With nobody running for president.

And somehow the country's broke. No money for roads, no money for Social Security, your grocery bill is a horror movie. But $11 billion to tell you the other guy is a monster? Found it in the couch cushions.

The texts

They cost as little as a penny each, according to one Texas strategist, which is why you get eleven a day. Reply STOP and you're off that one campaign's list. Not the voter file every other campaign and PAC keeps buying. Block one number and Brenda comes back as "Team Mike."

The calls

The Do Not Call list? Doesn't cover political calls. And earlier this month, a petition at the FCC asked to let political groups robocall your cellphone with artificial or prerecorded voices, no consent needed. Because what this election needed was more robots.

The gas pump

Back in March, the DCCC started running ads geotargeted to people's phones near gas stations in swing districts, blaming Republicans for gas prices. Both parties are happy to meet you anywhere you're already miserable. Next up: political ads at the DMV.

Does anyone in either party realize this makes some of us want to vote against them out of pure spite?

The case for a ban

Other democracies manage. The U.K. bans paid political ads on TV and radio, and it still holds elections. Less ad money means less fundraising, which means less time politicians spend dialing donors instead of, you know, doing the job.

The case against

The First Amendment. The Supreme Court treats political spending as protected speech, so a ban isn't happening without a constitutional amendment. Ads also help unknown challengers compete with incumbents, who would love nothing more than a nice quiet election. And guess who'd write the rules on what counts as a "political" ad? The politicians.

The verdict

A full ban? Not happening, and letting politicians decide who gets to talk about politicians isn't great either. But some common sense would help. Put political calls and texts under the same Do Not Call rules as everybody else. Make STOP mean stop, everywhere. And leave the gas pump for gas.

Until then, here's a tip from the strategists themselves: the fastest way to stop the texts is to vote. Campaigns pull people who've already voted off their lists within a day or two. Vote early, if only for the silence.

What's the most ridiculous political ad, text or call you got this year? Hit reply. We read every one.

See you next Sunday.

The Red State Finance team