Today's Scoop:

Hey friends - tomorrow’s Friday. Look out for your Weekly Scoop tomorrow.

Here’s what you need to know today…

1. Companies have cut back on layoffs.

2. US manufacturing is still in a rut.

3. Expensive mortgage rates and a home shortage have stalled the real estate market.

S&P 500: 4,330.00
1Mo: -1% | 1Yr: +15% | 5Yr: +49%

The market had its worst day in months as investors worried that a turnaround isn't coming anytime soon. The economy has a fever that looked deadly for a while, but it’s gone down. Policymakers are forcing bed rest. Investors want to get back to running around, but that might spike the fever and kill the economy. So we’ve just got to wait it out.

Companies have cut back on layoffs. The Labor Department reported initial unemployment claims sank last week to 201,000, the lowest level since January. Unemployment is historically low, and there are still more than 1.5 available jobs for every unemployed person. Policymakers want to cool business activity until the demand for workers more closely meets the supply.

The American manufacturing industry has been in a recession all year, but it might be hitting a bottom. With consumers and businesses purchasing less stuff, factory activity has been much lower than usual. Measures of business activity from the Federal Reserve in New York showed a surprising jump in September after a decline in August, while the opposite happened around Philadelphia. The inconsistency might indicate a coming turnaround.

Homes are both unaffordable and unavailable right now, leading to a steep dropoff in home-buying activity. The National Association of Realtors reported a slow month in August, selling the fewest homes since January and 15% fewer than the year prior. Expensive mortgage rates have scared away sellers who want to hold on to their affordable homes, leading to the lowest supply of available homes on record for August. The low supply keeps prices high, and rising mortgage rates may worsen things.

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• Disney doubles down on parks to move past politics

• General Motors fires employees, blames strikes

• Dollar General named the worst place to work

• Bank of America raises its minimum wage again

• Cisco buys cybersecurity firm Splunk [🤓]

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How do mergers work?

Mergers and acquisitions are a core component of corporate expansion and development. When a company wants to expand into a new market or absorb new resources that another company has, it'll typically hire an investment bank (like a real estate broker, but for companies) to help identify, value, and negotiate a deal with the target company.

The acquiring company may take on debt to fund the deal, trade its stock, or use its cash reserves. The acquisition can be an all-cash deal, where shareholders receive cash in their brokerage accounts, or an all-stock deal, where your shares of Company X turn into some amount of shares of Company Y, or some mixed combination of the two.

Regulators review all corporate mergers and acquisitions to ensure newly-formed companies won't limit competition in a way that harms consumers with less choice or higher prices.

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