Thursday, November 5, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln removed General George B. McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac after he proved to be hesitant and unwilling to confront Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army.

Some people take up golf. One Detroit man took a dare from his coworkers and spent the next decade wrapping rubber bands around a ball until it weighed 11,578 pounds and needed its own storage unit. It took a crane to get it weighed, and we respect the commitment. You can find the details in Et Cetera.

Do you think tipping culture is out of control? Everyone is talking about it, so today Ayla breaks down five reasons Americans are fed up with the system, then flips the tablet around with five reasons tipping still matters. The spinning screen at the sandwich counter and the server who waits on your table are two very different stories. How much per hour do servers actually make on tips? Ayla has the full breakdown on today’s episode of The Flyover Podcast. Tune in here!

Today’s sponsor, REalloys, shares news of its selection for a heavy rare earth processing project on a U.S. military base and its role in the military’s critical mineral supply chain.

Two Key Senate Races Still Too Close to Call

The Democratic Party’s takeover of the Senate jumped to a 54-44 majority by Wednesday morning, with election results for two more Republican-held seats still too close to call.

In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom led GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by less than 100 votes in a race where state law sets no automatic recount, though a legal challenge by the losing candidate may follow.

In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola led in early counts over Sen. Dan Sullivan. The candidates were separated by just 626 votes out of 213,873 cast, while same-name independent challenger Dan J. Sullivan had 3,583 votes. The state doesn’t run its ranked-choice tabulation until Nov. 18.

Dozens of House races also remain unsettled, though the Democrats appear headed for their largest majority in nearly two decades. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he expects at least 255 seats once the counting finishes.

On the GOP side, Speaker Mike Johnson told staff Wednesday he will not run for minority leader. Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan are both running to replace him, with a leadership election set for Nov. 10.

Stocks Surge After Midterm Sweep

Stocks jumped Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. The Dow rocketed 1,569 points, or 3%, for its best day since April 2025, while the S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq 1.4%.

Investors appeared to embrace divided government as a brake on spending, sending Treasury yields and the dollar lower. Oil fell more than 8% as traders bet the new Congress will press to wind down the war with Iran.

Apple and Microsoft hit record highs, and First Solar rallied on expectations of friendlier energy policy. Companies tied to Elon Musk fell, and Nvidia dropped 3% as chip stocks stayed under pressure.

Swift Telescope Burns Up Over Indonesia

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory fell back to Earth Wednesday morning, nearly 22 years after its launch. The U.S. Space Force confirmed reentry at 7:39 a.m. ET over North Sumatra in Indonesia.

Most of the 3,200-pound spacecraft was expected to burn up, with any surviving pieces likely to land in the ocean. NASA had put the odds of debris hitting a populated area at about 1 in 2,100.

Swift launched in 2004 on a two-year mission to study gamma-ray bursts and ended up spotting more than 2,000 of them. A $30 million rescue attempt by a NASA-backed tug called LINK failed in August when the craft lost control of its orientation.

NASA shut down observations on Oct. 20 after Swift dropped to 171 miles up, and its data has already fed more than 7,000 scientific papers.

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U.S. Army Selects REalloys for Rare Earth Processing on Military Base

Only four companies were selected for critical-mineral projects at active U.S. military bases. REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) was the only one chosen for heavy rare earths, as a major Pentagon supply chain deadline approaches.

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes.

➤ Americans are fed up with tip screens, but what’s the real effect on workers’ paychecks? (Listen Now)

➤ Passengers who paid more than $300,000 for a lifetime at sea have been forced off their cruise ship in Cambodia. (Hear Why)

➤ The scientist who helped create Russia’s Novichok nerve agent, then accused Moscow of using it for state-level hits, has been found dead. (Hear Story)

➤ Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republicans losing both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s election results, writing on X that "the reason we lost is the war." (More)

➤ California voters were projected to reject Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ net worth, roughly 56% to 44%. Opponents spent more than $300 million against it. (More)

➤ Republicans picked up just two of the 15 House seats they targeted with mid-decade redistricting, according to election projections. (More)

➤ President Trump announced he has no plans to change his Cabinet after the losses, saying in a television interview that the results had nothing to do with his team. (More)

➤ Major League Baseball proposed delaying a salary cap until 2028, with a projected $258.2 million ceiling and $180.2 million payroll floor. (More)

➤ The WNBA’s first-ever Finals Game 7, won by the Golden State Valkyries, drew 3.3 million viewers, the most for any WNBA playoff game, according to ratings released Tuesday. (More)

➤ The Winnipeg Jets pulled off the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history Tuesday night, scoring four times in the final 2:39 of regulation before beating the Canadiens 5-4 in overtime. (Watch Comeback)

➤ Spanish police opened an involuntary manslaughter investigation into the death of Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel, 30, who went into cardiac arrest after colliding with a goalkeeper Monday. (More)

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Daily Market Report 11/04/2026

▲	NASDAQ National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	25,736.51	1.44%
▲	SPX S&P 500	7,688.62	1.58%
▲	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	53,356.12	3.03%
▲	BTC Bitcoin	$80,027.40	3.47%
▲	GOLD Per Ounce	$4,075.30	3.42%
▲	SILVER Per Ounce	$52.38	5.63%
▼	OIL West Texas Intermediate Crude	$88.47	-7.93%
▼	10Y 10-Year US Treasury Yield	4.89%	-1.25%
▼	ECG Everus Construction Group	$79.00	-29.92%

Bitcoin, gold, silver, and oil are traded 24 hours a day.

➤ Big Stock Move: Everus Construction fell nearly 30% on Wednesday after investors responded negatively to the company’s third-quarter 2026 earnings report. (More)

➤ CVS Health will split into two public companies by mid-2028, separating its roughly 9,000 retail pharmacies from the Aetna insurance and Caremark drug-benefit operations. (More)

➤ Kraft Heinz is selling its North American coffee business, including Maxwell House, Gevalia, and Sanka, to a private equity firm for $650 million. It will keep a 30% stake. (More)

➤ WNBA star Caitlin Clark signed a multiyear deal with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker, the first time either retailer has signed an athlete as a brand partner. (More)

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Who will help build America’s rare earth supply chain?

REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) is working to expand North American production of heavy rare earth metals and alloys used in advanced manufacturing and defense.

The company announced its selection for exclusive negotiations toward a proposed processing facility at Utah’s Tooele Army Depot. Its operational Ohio facility already supports government-funded work involving rare earth metals and magnet materials.

Explore how REalloys is connecting material sourcing, processing, and manufacturing, plus the milestones and risks ahead. Learn more about REalloys and its plans.

➤ Starfish Space’s NASA-funded Otter inspection satellite, launched Oct. 1, is unrecoverable after fault-protection software mistakenly switched off its radio during checkout. (See Details)

➤ The needle-nosed X-59 quiet supersonic jet marked its first year in the air with 41 flights and a cross-country trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA designed it to soften sonic booms into a gentle thump. (See Photos)

➤ NASA is asking private companies for ideas to boost or upgrade the 36-year-old Hubble Space Telescope before atmospheric drag pulls it down, with proposals due Nov. 30. (See Details)

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Throwback Thursday is brought to you by:

➤ Janet Jackson’s longtime costume designer, Wayne Scot Lukas, now claims her 2004 Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" was planned, with the reveal changed two days before kickoff. (See Details)

➤ Sixty-nine years ago this week, Soviet scientists launched a Moscow stray named Laika into orbit, the first living creature to circle the Earth. One scientist’s son still remembers playing with her as a boy. (See Story)

➤ Zsa Zsa Gabor once told a magazine that rival Elke Sommer was broke, drinking in sleazy bars, and knitting sweaters to get by. The lawsuit that followed became one of Hollywood’s most notorious. (See Details)

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➤ A team hunting for Noah’s Ark in eastern Turkey has released video from inside what it believes is the ship’s hull. Lab results on the samples are still pending. (Watch Video)

➤ A Detroit man spent more than a decade building an 11,578-pound rubber-band ball, and it took a crane and dozens of helpers just to weigh it. (See Ball)

➤ Diet Coke has been losing ground to its younger sibling, Coke Zero Sugar, for years now. A newsroom blind taste test asked whether loyalists can actually tell the two apart. (See Results)

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