Nobel Peace Prize For 2020 Goes To The "World Food Programme" -- October 10, 2020

Nobel Peace Prize: Not unprecedented, but very rare for the prize to be given to a group. The good news: it will result in minimal controversy and minimal discussion.

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Speaking of Controversy

October 10, 2020: the "peculiar" Covid-19 case with regard to President Trump. Has he commented on any loss of smell; has any 74-year-old with co-morbidities with low oxygen sats (?), admitted to a major metropolitan hospital with respiratory symptoms and a a positive Covid-19 test ever "cured" so quickly? Link here. Also, see these links:

• 40 cycles: a trillion particles;
• MSNBC does the math;
• a reader's conundrum;

35-minute video for flat-earthers: "crucial viral update, September 8, 2020."

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The Most Dangerous Animal On Earth

Recent report:

• the most dangerous animal on earth. Not only is he a racist but he doesn't even wash his hands when outside, visiting the park.
  

Quick, pop quiz: what is the demographic (age, sex, and race) most associated with gun felonies in Chicago?

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Market

COP raises dividend by 2 percent. Not trivial, considering.

P & G plans to return a lot of money to its shareholders this next year (fiscal 2021). Link here. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

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Not Unexpected If One Thinks About It

Fast-food chains doing well. Link here.  

The coronavirus pandemic is splitting the restaurant industry in two. Big, well capitalized chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Domino’s Pizza Inc. are gaining customers and adding stores while tens of thousands of local eateries go bust. 

Larger operators generally have the advantages of more capital, more leverage on lease terms, more physical space, more geographic flexibility and prior expertise with drive-throughs, carryout and delivery. 

A similarly uneven recovery is unfolding across the business world as big firms have tended to fare far better during the pandemic than small rivals, thinning the ranks of entrepreneurs who could eventually become major U.S. employers. 

In the retail world, bigger chains like Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. are posting strong sales while many small shops struggle to stay open.The divide between large and small restaurants surfaced in the summer. 

Chipotle more than tripled its online business sales in the second quarter while Domino’s, Papa John’s International Inc. and Wingstop Inc. all reported double-digit same-store sales increases in the third quarter compared with the year-earlier period. 

McDonald’s also said U.S. same-store sales rose 4.6% in the third quarter. That included a rise in the low double digits during September, its best monthly performance in nearly a decade. It credited faster drive-throughs and promotions.