Capitalizing on the area's success in luring Amazon's second headquarters, 10 counties and cities from Northern Virginia are joining forces to strengthen their collective regional brand.
Why it matters: Getting separate jurisdictions to work together on economic development efforts is a familiar challenge for large metro areas that encompass multiple cities, counties or even states that often end up competing against each other.
NBC's "Saturday Night Live" says comedian Shane Gillis won't be joining the show after resurfaced clips showed him using racial slurs and homophobic language, Variety reports.
Why it matters: Gillis' removal from the show's incoming cast serves as yet another example of public figures facing increased accountability for past comments in the age of the internet.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told the FBI last year about a sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh that was at the heart of a New York Times piece published over the weekend, reports the Washington Post.
Why it matters: Coons' letter to FBI director Christopher Wray described an account from Kavanaugh's Yale classmate Max Stier and was dated Oct. 2, 2018 — days before Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 6. The FBI, despite conducting a supplemental background investigation into Kavanaugh after multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, did not investigate the allegation in Coons' letter.
Treasury yields jolted higher last week as investors bailed out of safe-haven U.S. government debt, pushing yields up by the most in one week since June 2013. The selloff that began Sept. 4 sent yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note from 1.45% to 1.90% in less than 2 weeks.
Why it matters: While some have credited the spike in Treasury yields to renewed faith in the U.S. economy, the market is likely more worried about a return of inflation — a far greater ill for fixed income investors as it corrodes the value of already issued bonds.
The strong U.S. labor market continues to add jobs, but the retail sector has been moving in the opposite direction.
Why it matters: Brick and mortar retail is likely to keep shedding jobs for the foreseeable future because of an "efficiency gap" between traditional stores and e-commerce, according to economists at the Institute of International Finance.
Railroad traffic and freight volume shipments are dropping below levels seen around this same time in 2016, 2017 and 2018, data from the Association of American Railroads shows.
Why it matters: An efficiency strategy called precision scheduled railroading (PSR) could be North American railroads' "last hope for continued profit growth," Barron's magazine reports — amid concerns of global economic slowdowns, a trade war and recession across the U.S., particularly in Michigan, Hawaii, Montana, Maryland and Louisiana.
