Axios

The rural-urban divide is the defining split in American elections, and that often disadvantages cities, even though they have more voters.

Why it matters: With Democrats clustered in cities and Republicans spread out among exurbs, suburbs are now critical battlegrounds. For example, Democrats swept Virginia's elections Tuesday night thanks in part to suburban voters.

The U.S. amassed $7 billion in import tariffs in September, a 9% jump from figures in August and a 59% year-over-year increase due to new taxes on consumer goods, figures compiled by the Commerce Department show, per the Wall Street Journal.

Why it matters: President Trump has falsely said China is paying for the tariffs. Business executives and economists generally recognize the revenue as a growing burden on American importers and U.S. customers.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is bashing Twitter's upcoming ban on political advertising — and climate change is part of her thinking.

The big picture: This isn't the first time that the White House hopeful has raised the issue of political ads on social media platforms.

The S&P 500 has enjoyed a strong year and equities around the globe have delivered solid returns, but every one of the world's major stock markets has underperformed 2019's grand champ: Greek government debt.

Why it matters: Long-dated Greek sovereign bonds have been one of the best-performing assets in the world in 2019, having delivered returns more than double the S&P 500 through Tuesday.

McClatchy announced Tuesday the launch of a new subscription product called Impact2020, which will give users access to all of the political reporting from its 30+ local papers.

Why it matters: It will be one of the few truly combined local and national election news subscriptions launching ahead of 2020.

U.S. consumers are getting more responsible with credit cards, data shows. Though Americans increased spending in the second quarter, they are opening fewer new accounts and fewer people with bad credit are getting credit cards.

The big picture: The American Bankers Association's November report also found that the number of credit card holders who pay off their balance in full rose to 31.1% in Q2, the highest level since ABA began keeping track in 2008.

Investors have cheered largely better-than-expected company earnings in the third quarter, but those beats are masking an ugly truth, UBS investment bank equity strategists wrote in a note to clients Tuesday.

The big picture: "There is NO debate on S&P 500 forward earnings: a contraction appears imminent."

Shares of Uber closed down almost 10% on Tuesday even though the company beat analysts' expectations on earnings and revenue.

Why it matters: It was the latest dollop of bad news for this year's crop of tech unicorns, which have largely fallen flat since going public, despite their mammoth private valuations.

The U.S. services sector roared back in October, with the ISM's non-manufacturing report jumping to 54.7, up from 52.6 the month before, and beating expectations.

Why it matters: The services sector makes up almost 70% of the U.S. economy and has been consistently trending lower, following the manufacturing sector for most of this year.

Peloton on Tuesday disclosed that it paid nearly $50 million to purchase Tonic Fitness, one of its two bike manufacturing partners in Taiwan.

Why it matters: The deal is officially about helping Peloton better control its supply chain, but CEO John Foley tells Axios it also could help the company protect itself in case of future trade tensions.

Xerox agreed to sell its 25% stake in a joint venture with Fujifilm to its Japanese partner for $2.3 billion.

Why it matters: This ends a 57-year partnership between the two companies, and comes after the pair's proposed merger was scuttled by activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason.

While it has struggled in the past to convert its success online into a presence in physical retail stores, PayPal is planning another go at it. During an "Axios on HBO" interview, CEO Dan Schulman said that the company will make new efforts starting next year under both the PayPal and Venmo brands.

Why it matters: The offline and online payments worlds are increasingly converging. Apple, for example, has introduced the Apple Card to go along with Apple Pay.

The 2020 presidential election is being fought online at a level we've never seen before, eclipsing television's traditional dominance.

Why it matters: Television is still one of the most important vehicles for candidates to message during a presidential election, especially during the general election, but its dominance is quickly being eaten by digital, and that's including digital alternatives of television, like commercials on Hulu.

Legendary Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorcese is clearing up controversial comments he made last month that Disney's Marvel movies are "not cinema" and instead are akin to theme park rides.

Why it matters: Scorcese's comments reflect a greater sentiment of old-guard Hollywood pushing back against the franchising of action films and the greater digitization of movies in today's cinema landscape.

Municipal bonds are on pace to see the highest inflows on record, data provider Lipper notes, surpassing the previous high set in 2009.

What's happening: Not only has the asset class almost surpassed the previous record already, but by mid-year, 2019's inflows were also "more than 10 times the amount of new investor money gathered over the whole of 2018," notes Mark Marinella, a portfolio manager at Capital Group.

Marijuana companies may be in serious trouble, as their declining stock prices are putting the cash-reliant businesses in a bind.

Why it matters: "Dealmaking is already slowing, while debt is becoming scarce and more expensive," writes the Wall Street Journal.

Despite a stronger-than-expected jobs report on Friday, the Conference Board's Employment Trends Index, which follows every U.S. payrolls report, decreased in October, with negative contributions from seven of its eight components.

Why it matters: “The index suggests that job growth may slow down a little in the coming months,” said Gad Levanon, head of The Conference Board Labor Market Institute.

The Dow joined the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq in touching an all-time high on Monday, as U.S. equities continued to roar higher. All three indexes set record highs.

By the numbers: The U.S. has been outperforming other global markets for much of the year, but international bourses are starting to pick up the pace.

Gradients, or rainbow designs, are the hottest new trend to hit tech and media.

The big picture: According to design experts, the trend seems to be a rebuke to the simplistic design trend that captured the early 2000's, when web logo simplicity was more functional.

Investors have been basking in the glow of the "phase one" trade deal between the U.S. and China, but farmers, who are supposed to be the main beneficiaries of the agreement, have reason to be wary, experts say.

What's happening: U.S. farmers have been suffering this year. Chapter 12 bankruptcies have risen 24% over the previous year, and farm debt is projected to hit a record high $416 billion.

Retired service members are overall having better luck finding jobs, but they are still likely to be underemployed in several of the cities with the largest veteran populations, LinkedIn data shows.

The big picture: Sarah Roberts, head of military and veteran programs at LinkedIn, says underemployment is "when a person is engaged in work that does not make full use of their skills and abilities." Corporate responsibility programs and hiring incentives have largely driven down veteran unemployment rates, but underemployment remains rampant.

The Army is targeting young people "with a new multimillion-dollar advertising campaign designed to help recruit more than 130,000 people over the next year with promises of jobs everywhere from bio labs to cyber and culinary arts," reports Bloomberg Government.

Why it matters: Generation Z largely views of the military as a fighting force doing most of its work abroad, given that many in its ranks came of age after the September 11 attacks.

Despite possible progress toward a trade deal with China, American companies are frustrated by the opaque process for gaining an exemption to President Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods.

Why it matters: Exclusions are the only way for companies to seek relief from the pain of the trade war that’s upending the global economy.