1. Stock markets call a Biden victory

According to CNN, the stock market has locked-in its presidential prediction. The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 0.04% between July 31 and October 31. That means the market forecasts (by a hair) that Biden will win, according to CFRA Research's Presidential Predictor. Since World War II, when the S&P 500 fell in the three months leading up to the November vote during a presidential election year, the incumbent president or party of the outgoing president lost the election 88% of the time. The Presidential Predictor matches Wall Street's forecasts. Goldman Sachs analysts predict a "blue wave," in which Democrats will retake the White House and Senate and maintain control of the House of Representatives. Goldman believes that could be a positive outcome for markets. Similarly, JPMorgan strategists noted in July: "The consensus view is that a Democrat victory in November will be a negative for equities. However, we  see this outcome as neutral to slightly positive." CNN polling shows Biden with a sizeable head-to-head nationwide lead as of October 28, and within striking distance of the 270 electoral votes needed to claim victory. No incumbent has ever won a second term when there has been a recession in the two years leading up to the election, according to data from RiverFront Investment Group.

2. UK lockdown to kick off 5 November

National restrictions begin in England from 5 November. Holidays both inside England and abroad will be banned until 2 December, as the government tries to stop a second wave of coronavirus from spreading. People must not travel to second homes either in the UK or abroad. "Sadly... our message is people should stay at home," Cabinet Minister Michael Gove told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show. However, people travelling for work or education are exempt from the new rules. Foreign nationals planning to arrive in the UK from abroad between 5 November - 2 December may still do so, however they will need to follow the appropriate lockdown rules in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Anyone arriving in England from abroad will need to quarantine for two weeks if they are coming from a country that isn't on the official travel corridor list.

3. Would you pay $430,000 for a book?

Publishing house Taschen has released a new edition of Sumo that celebrates the work of prolific fashion photographer Helmut Newtown. The book’s release coincides with what would have been the German-Australian artist’s 100th birthday. Limited to just 10,000 copies, the original Sumo was published by Benedikt Taschen in 1999 and all 10,000 signed copies sold out immediately. A year later, the first copy of the book, signed by 100 of the book’s featured celebrities, hammered down for a record-breaking $430,000 at auction in Berlin making it the most expensive book of the 20th century. First edition Sumo can be found in numerous important collections, including New York’s MoMA, and second-hand copies sell for sky-high prices.

4. Pinterest performance positive
Invest in what you understand is an old market saying. Those who like and use Pinterest will be happy to know that one of America’s top stock tipsters expects the company share price to go from US$58 to US$72, along with his strong buy recommendation. The expert company watcher is Justin Post of Bank of America, who came in as the 22^nd best-performing analyst on Wall Street. “During the third quarter, the company generated revenue of $443 million, reflecting a gain of 58% year-over-year and handily beating the Street’s $384 million call,” CNBC reported. “According to management, strong user and usage growth, a spend shift from the advertiser boycott, a rebound in advertiser demand and new initiatives such as conversion optimization, shopping ad products, automated bidding and video uploads were behind the stellar performance.” That looks like a pretty picture for an investor to pin their money on!

5. Wall Street's performance last week

All of the three major Wall Street indexes fell further on Friday to end the worst week for the US stock market since March. For the week, the Dow Jones was 6.47% down to 26,501.60, the S&P 500 was 5.64% lower on 3,269.96 and the Nasdaq fell by 5.51% to 10,911.59.