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Europe
Poland
Oct 31, 2024 Poland is gearing up to start negotiations with Lockheed Martin for more than 100 HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems, General Kuptel, head of Poland’s Armament Agency, confirmed. Under a pre-existing framework agreement, Poland has the option to purchase up to 486 HIMARS systems. HIMARS excels in targeting critical enemy assets such as radar systems, command centers, armored units, and other strategic points. HIMARS systems are compatible with a range of missiles, including the GPS-guided M31 GMLRS rockets, which have a reach of up to 80 kilometers, and the longer-range ATACMS missiles, capable of striking targets up to 300 kilometers away. Each HIMARS unit can carry either a pod of six GMLRS missiles or a single ATACMS missile. In April, Poland also signed a contract for 72 K239 Chunmoo missile systems from South Korea, with initial deliveries slated for 2026. Ammunition production for these missile systems will be established locally through collaboration between Polish defense firm WB and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace. Poland’s Armament Agency has been busy this year, securing around 100 contracts to date. (Source: bulgarianmilitary)
by Nikolov
Spain
31.10.2024 Search for missing people underway after devastating storm kills 104 in Spain. 101 victims were in Valencia (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency (Turkey)
Russia
(31 October 2024) Authorities in the Russian-controlled town of Horlivka, located close to the front lines, have installed jamming devices on some of the local buses to protect them from drone strikes. At least one bus driving around the town, located near the Russian-held city of Donetsk, was attacked by a Ukrainian drone this month, and three people were wounded in the incident. Jammers work by disrupting a drone's communications with its operator. (Source: trtworld) Turkey
North America
United States
10/31/2024 05:00 AM EDT The S&P 500’s performance in the run-up to Election Day has historically been a strong indicator of whether the incumbent party’s candidate will retain control of the White House - correctly forecasting all but four presidential races over the last 96 years. If the index is falling, the theory goes, investors are bracing for more uncertainty from a new administration. But a climb in the S&P 500 signals that the market is expecting the current president’s party to win. And the index’s recent rise is suggesting that Vice President Harris, who took over the Democratic ticket from President Biden this summer, could be bound for victory. The S&P 500 is not a perfect forecasting tool. The index’s movements in 2020 indicated that Trump was likely to win a second term over President Biden. And this year, there are plenty of doubters on Wall Street about the S&P 500’s predictive power - many are once again wagering that he will soon return to power. The S&P steadily climbed throughout the year, often from gains recorded by a handful of tech giants or news on the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation - and not likely on election developments. Trump, for his part, has regularly claimed credit for the stock market’s gains, saying investors believe that his return to power would boost share prices even more. Wall Street executives, political gamblers and cryptocurrency traders are piling up their bets that former President Trump is returning to the White House. Election-betting markets are leaning toward Trump. And stocks that could get a boost from a Trump presidency are climbing, too. In a recent research report, Morgan Stanley noted that a basket of investment products tracking industries that may see a windfall from a Republican win had outperformed the Democratic basket by 10 percent over the year. The Republican basket tracks energy companies, banks and crypto firms, among others. Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said the former president “continues to dominate in poll after poll.”“Voters know that Harris has destroyed our country, but President Trump will fix it - and that is why he is well-positioned for victory on November 5.” Spokespeople for the Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment. With voters’ views of the economy splintered heading into Election Day, the stock market and the S&P 500 may not be the most useful in deciphering who will ultimately be elected, Stanford’s Grimmer said. (Source: politico *)
* Politico, an American political digital newspaper company acquired in 2021 by Axel Springer SE, a German news publisher and media company. Headquarters Arlington county, Virginia, U.S.
(Thursday, 31 10 2024) The Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Truth Social, saw its share price decrease by 22.3 percent yesterday. That’s the company’s worst one-day loss since it went public in March, The stock closed at above $51 on Tuesday, with Trump’s stake in the company valued at $5.9bn. That figure had dropped to $4.6bn by the end of Wednesday, a drop of $1.3bn. It remains unclear what caused the share price to drop, The share price has become a barometer for how some traders think the election will turn out. A number of traders blamed the nosedive on technical issues and a decrease in momentum for the meme stock. The stock doesn’t require official corporate announcements to see spikes or downturns. From September 23 until the closing of the markets on Tuesday, the stock had quadrupled in value, pushed on by Wall Street bets that Trump will win Tuesday’s election. The increase saw Trump Media’s evaluation shoot up to $10.3bn before closing on Tuesday. Truth Social has 698,000 monthly active US users. Fundamentally the valuation is a head-scratcher but it has seen other meme stock narratives like GameStop on similar paths the last few years. (Source: independent ) United Kingdom
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