1. PM Scott Morrison “laps the field to No 1” according to the Australian Financial Review magazine’s current Power List. Hot on our PM’s heels was Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, with Health Department Secretary Dr Brendan Murphy in third place. Former power brokers Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian, Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie and ABC Chair Ita Buttrose were put on the “Who’s Out” list, in an excellent article by Phillip Coorey in this weekend’s magazine.

2. The six-month loan repayment holiday offered to those in a mortgage crisis during Covid is expiring and banks say they will only grant an extension in cases of severe hardship. The deferral option was taken up by one-in-10 people who held a mortgage. Banks are urging anyone with continued mortgage stress to talk to their lender early to work out alternative repayment options, such as stretching the term of the loan.

3. Donald Trump has tweeted his reluctance to accept rule changes aimed to lessen the recent Trump/Biden debate outbursts. “Why would I allow the Debate Commission to change the rules for the second and third Debates when I easily won last time?” the President tweeted. The recent first debate saw the President regularly interrupt and talk over Joe Biden as well as moderator Chris Wallace. The US presidential debates commission said it would adopt changes to allow for a "more orderly discussion", with the next debate set for October 15. Only in America!

4. Donald Trump won’t like this one with Moderna’s CEO Stéphane Bancel saying his company’s vaccine won't be ready for widespread public distribution until spring of next year. “The drugmaker also won't seek emergency authorization for the vaccine for frontline medical workers and other at-risk individuals until November 25 at the earliest”, he told the Financial Times. The CEO said Moderna would not be ready to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for the vaccine for use in the general population until at least late January. If the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, approval is unlikely until late March or early April. Let’s hope one of his rivals is ahead on their delivery timeline or the story is fake news!

5. After falling below yesterday's close later in the session, the Dow Jones managed to close slightly higher and end the day up 0.13% to 27,816.90. There were larger gains for both the S&P 500, which rose 0.53% to 3,380.80, and the Nasdaq, which gained 1.42% to 11,326.51.