• Markets: Nothing takes over a conversation like politics, which is probably good for tech stocks, sine they’d rather you focus on tomorrow’s US midterm elections than their red October.
• Stock spotlight: Bleach-maker Clorox reports earnings today, after announcing last Thursday that Unilever exec Fabian Garcia will take over as CEO in January.

‘tis the season

healthcare.gov

The open enrollment period for 2027 health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) opened yesterday in most states and runs through December 15. Many enrollees face higher premiums and fewer options, according to the nonprofit KFF, which conducts national health policy research.

Medical metallurgy: As in prior years, the ACA is grouping plans into four “metal” tiers—platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. The higher the tier, the higher the monthly premium—but out-of-pocket costs for care are lower. The inverse is true of the baser metal plans. And this year, even the “cheap” plans are pricier.

• Rayna Wallace, a policy analyst at KFF, provided this example: For a 40-year-old nonsmoker who enrolls in a bronze plan for 2027, the monthly premium will be $511 compared to $385 in 2025. That represents a 34% increase.

What’s behind the price hikes? As with private sector health insurance, the marketplace’s price hikes are attributed to labor shortages, inflation, and underlying medical care costs getting more expensive. Costs have also mounted since Covid-era premium subsidies expired at the end of 2025.

Members and insurers feel the pinch

Premium increases vary widely by state. On the low end of the spectrum is Vermont, where the average increase is expected to be 3%. Arizona is at the high end, with an average increase of 28%.

The negative loop caused by higher prices impacts insurers and members, and vice versa:

• KFF’s research found that the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits affected the potential market size for insurers and the risk pool, as healthier members may be more likely to leave to save money.
• When fewer people participate, profitability goes down, and insurers may reconsider doing business with the marketplace.
• Additionally, people who drop plans can’t be sure of how much health insurance they will need in the future, potentially jeopardizing their health and their savings.

Big picture: As of last week, 11 health insurers said they would wholly or partially exit ACA marketplaces next year. Cigna announced it would leave all 11 states where it has provided plans to over 350,000 ACA enrollees.—HVL

      

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World

Tour de headlines

An early voting location in Anchorage, AK. Christian Moorman/Getty Images

🗳️ Federal judge dismissed Trump’s attempt to preemptively block AK vote certification. Last week, following a New York Times investigation that found the Senate campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola recruited Dan J. Sullivan, who has the same name as the Republican incumbent Peltola is challenging, to run as an independent, the Trump administration preemptively filed a lawsuit to block certification of the vote if the incumbent Sullivan lost. The White House also wanted to separate and preserve ballots cast for Dan J. Sullivan, arguing they may have been cast in error. US District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the suit yesterday, saying that it violates Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot. Shortly after the ruling, the Department of Justice appealed.

🇮🇱 Israeli election officials say results will stand despite Netanyahu’s claims of interference. Yesterday, government officials said that Israel’s election results would stand, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party alleging that the nation’s elections were “stolen” by Arab-majority parties that launched “an attack on democracy aimed at leading to a foreign takeover of the Knesset.” Israel’s Arab-majority parties had their highest turnout ever in last week’s election, and won 19 of 120 seats in the Knesset (parliament). The victories are why Likud lost its majority and why it can’t now form a government. The head of Israel’s elections committee said, “Our position is that even if the suspicions are substantiated, this would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process or the election results as a whole.”

🏀 The Golden State Valkyries won the WNBA title. It’s the team’s first championship victory and comes just two seasons into its existence. A sold-out crowd of over 18,000 fans watched the WNBA’s first-ever Finals Game 7 on Halloween and saw Gabby Williams close out the W for California, racking up 30 points for a final score of 68–63 over the Atlanta Dream. Williams, who was named Finals MVP, said in a post-game interview, “All we heard last year, ‘We don’t have no stars, we don’t have no talent.’ Yeah, right…We have people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game…We just build a beautiful culture here.”—HVL

EXTRA SPREAD

Mario Tama/Getty Images

In-N-Out may be putting a little extra mustard on its expansion plans. The California-based burger chain is considering putting down palm tree roots in three new states—Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma—potentially expanding the pool of people who insist on explaining “Animal Style” to you.

The burger wars’ eastern theater: In-N-Out, which got its start just outside of Los Angeles in 1948, may be as synonymous with the West Coast as surfboards and clean IPAs, but:

• It has 445 restaurants in 10 states (including 289 in CA).
• It went farther east than ever last year, moving into Tennessee.
• It plans to open a New Mexico location next year.

Because the Tennessee In-N-Outs get supplies shipped from Texas, it could make sense to also open locations in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, since they’re already in the path of the distribution network, Lynsi Snyder, the chain’s owner and president, told actor Terry Crews in a dream we had an interview recently posted to the company’s website.

The chain also plans to expand in California.

Appetite for regional burger chains: In-N-Out saw domestic sales grow about 10% last year compared to 2024, trailing only New York-based Shake Shack among US burger chains, the Wall Street Journal reported in June, citing Technomic.—BC

      

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The week ahead

Mario Tama/Getty Images

In poll position: Brace yourself for the sudden drop-off in political text messages, because the US midterm elections are tomorrow. Both the House and Senate are up for grabs, which could have major policy implications in the coming years. With inflation at 3.7% in September, per the BLS, voters say the economy is one of their main concerns, along with healthcare, the Iran war, and gas prices, according to a Gallup survey conducted in October. AI data center construction is also top of mind for Americans, with more than half of registered voters saying it’s a very or extremely important issue, per Gallup.

October jobs report: The job market has been stuck in low-hire, low-fire mode for the past few years, and analysts aren’t expecting the lid to blow off when October data is released on Friday. But expectations are that it will be a better month than September, when the US economy added only 29,000 jobs, falling short of expectations.

Tern-ing to earnings: Apple—which once again became the world’s most valuable company on Friday (take that, Nvidia)—reports earnings today, marking the first time that John Ternus will lead an earnings call as CEO. Tech company Palantir is also set to deliver results after today’s closing bell. Then, AMD, Shopify, Pfizer, and Yum! Brands will report tomorrow, followed by Arm, Toyota, Qualcomm, McDonald’s, Novo Nordisk, and Uber on Wednesday. We’ll hear from ConocoPhillips, Sony, and Airbnb on Thursday. Then, Moderna, Humana, and Honda are scheduled to report on Friday.

But wait, there’s more:

• Preliminary results from the University of Michigan’s November consumer survey will be released on Friday.
• Godzilla Minus Zero and The Cat in the Hat animated feature will be in theaters on Friday.

Brendan’s Got Good News

New York’s marathon state of mind

Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images

Mondays are bad enough, so the Brew’s own Brendan Cosgrove scoured the internet for a positive news story to help you start the week off right.

Unless road closures made you late for work or you sprained an ankle dodging runners, there was plenty of good news to go around yesterday at the New York City Marathon, which marked the 50th anniversary of its iconic five-borough course. Among the best storylines:

• Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the men’s race. It was his first marathon ever.
• Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race for the second time, while the US’ Jess McClain finished as runner-up, becoming the first American woman on the podium in eight years.
• Dave Obelkevich participated in his 50th straight New York marathon (he’s the only person to do the five-borough race every single year it’s existed).
• Morning Brew’s own Neal Freyman finished the race in less than five hours. His thoughts: “I don’t think I’m going to do that ever again!”

A 26.2-mile economic engine: On race day, small restaurants and bars along the marathon route can see a 22% boost in spending, compared to an average day, according to data from last year’s race compiled by the Mastercard Economics Institute. Plus, the New York Road Runners, the nonprofit that puts on the marathon, said it surpassed its charity fundraising goal of $100 million this year.—BC

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News

What else is brewing

• A Learjet with nine people crashed yesterday afternoon in Palm Beach County, FL, killing everyone on board.
• Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a Democrat from Michigan, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for senator. Rogers is the rival of Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who bested Stevens in the Democratic primary.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States did not facilitate Flávio Bolsonaro’s flight to Miami last week.
• Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, was hospitalized on Saturday after having a stroke, according to his office.
• OpenAI wants people to call data centers “compute campuses.”
• Mercedes Formula 1 driver Kimi Antonelli became the youngest world champion in F1 history at age 20. Maybe Kim Kardashian’s towel was good luck?

recs

• Check out the latest status symbols floating around.
• Speed up your sluggish computer with solutions it already has on it.
• The states with the most and least animal collisions.
• Secret Santa gifts your coworkers will actually like.**

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Play

Turntable: Your center letter is V, surrounded by I, T, E, K, L, and A. Can you make 28 words from those? Take a spin and play Turntable here.

Movie tie-in trivia

Mexico City held its Day of the Dead parade on Saturday, featuring giant skeletons, floats, and performers.

You might be surprised to know this extravagant parade wasn’t actually a thing until the release of a 2015 movie. Which one? (Hint: It’s part of a large, well-known franchise.)

Answer

The James Bond film Spectre. It’s a fascinating story.

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: metallurgy, meaning “the study of metals.” Thanks to Luke from Indiana for the scintillating suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.