Axios

We here at Closer have conflicting feelings about candy corn.

The intrigue: As it turns out, candy corn maker Brach's has tried various ways to get people interested in the Halloween treat, including "Turkey Dinner packs" and a candy-corn-themed song, CNN reports.

• 51% of Americans say the right way to eat it is to consume the whole piece at once, according to the National Confectioners Association.
• 31% start with the narrow white end.
• And 18% start with the wider yellow end.

💭 Nathan's thought bubble: I cannot vouch for the integrity of this survey because, had they asked me, I would've said the right way to eat candy corn is to not eat it at all.

A federal jury in Kansas City on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and some of the largest real estate brokers in the country guilty of colluding to inflate real estate commissions.

Why it matters: The verdict is a major shake up to the U.S. real estate market and could change how Americans purchase homes, or specifically, how they pay for broker fees.

Toyota is raising the wages of its factory workers — all of them non-unionized — after the UAW strikes at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis culminated in pay hikes for unionized employees.

Why it matters: After reaching tentative deals with the Detroit Three, the UAW is setting its sights on organizing non-unionized automotive plants in the U.S. — with Toyota a possible target.

The Japanese central bank's strategy of stimulating its economy by capping long-term borrowing rates is literally history.

Driving the news: The Bank of Japan said it will now maintain a 1% "reference" point as the yield on 10-year Japanese Government Bonds, rather than a cap on those yields.

President Biden's administration has released a new proposal for student loan relief that prioritizes borrowers experiencing financial hardship.

Why it matters: After the Supreme Court struck down Biden's signature student debt relief plan in June, the administration has worked to find additional ways to deliver promised relief to millions of borrowers.

Treasury Wine Estates, a listed Australian wine producer whose brands include Penfolds, agreed to buy Paso Robles, Calif.-based Daou Vineyards for upwards of $1 billion.

Why it matters: This reflects Treasury's belief that U.S. wine consumers are moving upmarket, where producer margins are higher, and away from discount bottles.

Even though the tech industry shed hundreds of thousands of jobs over the past year, hiring for tech jobs involving AI is surging.

Why it matters: AI is not only fueling the stock market — driving companies like Nvidia to new highs — it's adding a little juice to the job market, too.

Trey Yingst, a 30-year-old Jerusalem-based foreign correspondent for Fox News, has been covering wars and power battles in the Middle East and Europe since 2018. He tells Axios that he saw "the worst of humanity on display" during the Oct. 7th Hamas attack on Israel.

Why it matters: The personal toll of war on journalists is rarely covered on air or in print. The stress of reporting out a story and getting it right is often compounded by constant safety and security concerns, as well as mental and emotional baggage.

There have been nearly four times the number of views to TikTok posts using the hashtag #StandwithPalestine globally compared to posts using the hashtag #StandwithIsrael in the past two weeks, according to data from TikTok's creator center.

Why it matters: The data shows how the conversation around the war between Israel and Hamas is playing out on one of the most popular platforms for young people in the world.

Walmart is devoting more of its floor and retail space to online grocery pickup and delivery, the company announced Monday.

Why it matters: Grocery sales have helped the chain win over customers during high inflation — particularly high income consumers — while also giving the company a new edge in online sales over Amazon.

The FDA is warning consumers to immediately stop using and avoid purchasing 27 over-the-counter eye drop products due to the "potential risk of eye infections that could result in partial vision loss or blindness."

Why it matters: The agency said in an alert posted Friday that investigators found "insanitary conditions in the manufacturing facility and positive bacterial test results from environmental sampling."

Sam Bankman-Fried suggested any adequately collateralized user of the crypto exchange he founded, FTX, could have borrowed money and used it any way they wanted, including withdrawing it and using it off the exchange.

Driving the news: A key question in the fraud trial of SBF is whether or not the hedge fund he founded had special privileges that other users (and the exchange's investors) didn't know about, putting their funds in danger.

Tech workers at the New York Times plan to walk out Monday afternoon to protest the company's return-to-office policy.

Why it matters: The Times' Tech Guild, which represents more than 600 staffers, is trying to negotiate its first contract with management after voting to unionize in March 2022.

The rapid rise in long-term interest rates has mostly been a story about the United States, what it means for the domestic economy, deficits and more. But the narrative has gone global.

Why it matters: The higher-rates-for-longer phenomenon looks to be rooted in changes to the U.S. outlook but is sending ripples across major economies, resulting in higher borrowing costs for companies, individuals and governments around the globe.

Andreessen Horowitz expects to target around $3.4 billion for its next core early-stage and seed-stage funds, representing a slight increase to its prior efforts, Axios has learned.

The big picture: Overall VC fundraising is down, although investments are up in the AI sector where Andreessen Horowitz is placing many of its bets.

Top venture capital firms and university endowments have a long and lucrative relationship. But it may be fraying.

The big picture: Endowments often get preferential access to VC funds managed by premier investors.

Google has agreed to invest up to $2 billion into Anthropic, a San Francisco-based generative AI startup that recently secured $4 billion from Amazon.

Why it matters: Not only does this escalate Big Tech's proxy fight over the industry's next big platform shift, but also comes on the same day that the Biden administration unveiled an "aggressive" executive order on artificial intelligence.

Stellantis and unionized autoworkers in Canada reached a tentative contract agreement Monday morning, ending a brief strike that began at midnight.

Why it matters: The tentative deal struck by the automaker and the union, Unifor, covers some 8,200 Stellantis workers. It comes days after the company reached a tentative deal with the United Auto Workers union to end weeks of historic strike action in the U.S.

This year's once-significant stock market gains are slipping away fast, as the higher-for-longer rates consensus clobbers the market.

Why it matters: Remember how everybody — ahem, almost everybody — was declaring that stocks were clearly in a bull market?

The Biden administration's long-awaited executive order on artificial intelligence will require developers of the most powerful AI systems to share critical testing information with the government.

What's happening: President Biden is expected to sign the AI executive order Monday afternoon at a White House event.