• "Totally Under Control," a documentary film about the US government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, premieres October 13. 
• The film was filmed mostly in secret over the past five months, and blasts the Trump administration for failing to contain the pandemic.
• Here are nine key takeaways from the film. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Thursday, October 1, film directors Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan, and Suzanne Hillinger finished their coronavirus documentary – the first major film about the pandemic to be released in the US. 

The very next day, President Donald Trump announced he had the virus; the film also released its trailer, which has been viewed more than 6 million times. That weekend, more and more officials within Trump's orbit tested positive for the disease.

The timing of Trump's illness is a remarkable coincidence, with the film premiering on-demand on October 13 (it comes to Hulu on October 20.)

Made in relative secrecy over the past five months, "Totally Under Control" – a reference to Trump's claim the White House was controlling the pandemic – is all about the federal government's woeful failure to slow the coronavirus as it spread through the US.

"While the current administration makes its claims for a job well done, the fact is that the US response to COVID-19 is one of the worst, with 4 percent of the world's population and 21 percent of the deaths," an official statement from film distributor Neon read.

"Had the federal government done its job properly — by following clear guidelines in place based on past pandemics — most of the death and destruction could have been avoided." 

Business Insider viewed the film ahead of its release. Here are the nine biggest takeaways.

In 2019, the US government simulated a pandemic with "eerie similarities" to coronavirus

Dubbed "Crimson Contagion," the scenario involved a highly-lethal influenza virus that originated in China and spread throughout the world. The Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services conducted the scenario in 2019, from January to around August.

HHS detailed its results in October 2019, in a draft report the New York Times later published. It found that the government lacked funding for PPE and antiviral drugs, federal agencies conflicted over how to manage the response, and state governments received confusing messages about lockdowns and school closures.

In short, the report read like a preview of the year to come.

The Trump administration ignored advice on how to deal with a pandemic

In 2016, Beth Cameron, former senior director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security Council, put together a 69-page briefing with her team on how the federal government could coordinate its response to the pandemic.

The report "intended to allow the people in the White House to ask questions," Cameron said in the film. "What should we do, and also, what do we need to do to get ahead, so that we're not constantly reacting?" 

The Trump administration reportedly did not use the playbook, Cameron said. And in 2018, then-NSC advisor John Bolton disbanded the Global Health Security and Biodefense team. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also claimed the Obama administration "did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this." He later admitted he was wrong. 

The US's first coronavirus tests were faulty – and the CDC didn't address the issue for 3 weeks

The original tests, which were shipped to laboratories on February 5, contained a faulty assay: a test meant to measure the presence of a virus. Labs around the country notified the CDC of the problem almost immediately, but the agency didn't address the issue until February 28.

In the meantime, universities and labs couldn't develop their own tests quickly, because they would have had to slog through weeks of FDA bureaucracy. So for the entire month of February, the US conducted next-to-no tests of its residents. 

"It was as if we were flying blind, and we knew it. And frankly there was nothing we could do except wait," Scott Becker, CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, said in the film.

The White House's early testing strategy "was designed to miss community transmission"

Testing shortages in the US persisted for months, but they were worst at the start of the pandemic; at the end of February, the US was testing fewer than 100 people a day, while in South Korea, officials were testing 10,000 a day. 

In order to target their limited tests, the CDC restricted testing to people who'd traveled from China or had contact with people who'd tested positive. But this strategy assumed that the US didn't already have "community transmission," which refers to cases that spread through a community without a known source.

By late February, though, the virus had already spread to half the states in the US. By focusing only on people with known links to China, the CDC testing strategy "was designed to miss community transmission," Dr. Taison Bell, an infectious disease specialist and critical care physician at the University of Virginia, said in the film. 

Trump officials sold most of the US's protective masks to China in February

In February, the Trump administration created the "CS China COVID Procurement Service" partly to encourage American producers like 3M to sell their entire inventories of N95 masks to China. 

One month later, when American hospitals desperately needed N95s, they were forced to import them – and pay up to 10 times more than the price that American producers would have charged, according to the documentary. 

Pence's coronavirus task force had more than twice as many industry reps and politicians than scientists

As of March, just six of 20 members of Mike Pence's coronavirus task force had scientific expertise – and one of those was Ben Carson, who's a surgeon by training but has little public health expertise. 

Other task force members included Joseph Grogan, a former lobbyist for Gilead Sciences (the company behind remdesivir); Stephen Biegun, a former lobbyist for Ford Motor Company who served as Sarah Palin's foreign policy advisor in 2008; and Ken Cuccinelli, former Attorney General of Virginia and current climate change skeptic.  

Jared Kushner's PPE task force consisted largely of unpaid 20-something volunteers working 7 days a week

When 26-year-old Max Kennedy, Jr. volunteered to be on Jared Kushner's coronavirus task force, he joined a group of other young unpaid volunteers in a windowless conference room in the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The room's walls were covered in TVs that blared Fox News 24/7; Kennedy and the other volunteers, none of whom had experience in supply chains, were put to work trying to buy PPE from Chinese factories.

"We thought we'd be auxiliary support," Kennedy, who is the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, said in the film. "Instead, we were the team." He and other volunteers used their personal gmail accounts to communicate with the factories, he said. 

Kennedy quit the task force in April. That month, he sent an anonymous complaint to Congress detailing the task force's incompetency. 

"In my time on the task force, our team did not directly purchase a single mask," he said.

Kushner told California Gov. Gavin Newsom he had to publicly thank Trump to get testing supplies

In April, when Newsom asked the White House for 350,000 testing swabs, Kushner told his advisors that "the federal help would hinge on the governor doing him a favor."

The favor was two-fold: One, Newsom had to call Trump personally, and two, he had to thank him publicly. Newsom allegedly did the former, and on April 22, he publicly thanked the president for a "substantial increase" in testing supplies during a press conference.

Newsom has denied this version of events, saying that "no one told me to express" gratitude.

State and federal governments bid against each other, eBay-style, for ventilators and PPE

"It's like being on eBay with 50 other states," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said of the situation in March, when severe equipment shortages forced states to bid against each other for the right to purchase critical supplies like ventilators and masks from private companies.

The bidding war drove up the price of those supplies, increasing profits for foreign manufacturers at taxpayers' expense. FEMA also outbid many states, driving Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to express frustration on a March 19 teleconference with Trump.

"I got a feeling that if somebody has a chance to sell to you or has a chance to me, I'm going to lose every one of those," Baker said. 

Trump laughed.

"Well, we do like you going out and seeing what you can get, if you can get it faster," Trump said. "And price is always a component of that also. And maybe that's why you lost to the feds."

• Business Insider is putting together its first-ever list of the best young talent in real estate in 2020.
• We want to hear from you on the individuals that have been rising above the ranks and standing out in the worlds of commercial and residential real estate.
• Please submit your ideas through this form or by getting in touch with Michelle Abrego at mabrego@businessinsider.com by October 16th.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

We're seeking nominations for Business Insider's inaugural list of rising stars of real estate, and we want to hear from you. 

If you know an up-and-comer that should be considered, please submit your suggestions below or via this form.

We're looking for the leaders of tomorrow, those making notable contributions or accomplishments and setting themselves apart from their class in commercial and residential real estate. The nominations are open to professionals working in real estate as well as those in other industries with a focus on real estate.

Criteria and methodology

Our selection criteria: We ask that nominees be 35 or under as of November 30, based in the US, and stand out from their peers. We are seeking the best and the brightest working in real estate in roles including, but not limited to, developers, investors, and brokers. Editors will make final decisions.

Please make your submission below or through this form by October 16th to have your selection considered for the list. Please be as specific as possible in your submission.

Please email Michelle Abrego at mabrego@businessinsider.com with any questions or issues submitting nominations.

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk could pocket another $3 billion in compensation if the electric-vehicle company hits specific revenue or profit goals in its third-quarter earnings report later this month.
• That would be Musk's fourth of 12 tranches of awarded Tesla options, part of his 2018 incentive pay package.
• The pay package is based on two criteria: operational goals and market-capitalization milestones.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The meteoric and sustained rise of Tesla means its CEO, Elon Musk, could receive his fourth of 12 options tranches from his 2018 compensation package.

The compensation awards are based on two criteria: Tesla's operational goals, related to revenue and profits, and its market capitalization.

The first criterion for the fourth tranche, a six-month average market capitalization of $250 billion, has been achieved, according to data from YCharts.com.

Tesla's market value was $391 billion on Tuesday. The company breached the $250 billion threshold in July.

Read more: Goldman Sachs says buy these 21 stocks poised to deliver the strongest possible sales growth through year-end

Musk's compensation package is made up of a series of Tesla options awards, allowing him to buy a fixed number of Tesla shares at a discount to the stock price.

Each tranche qualifies Musk to purchase 8.44 million shares at $70 per share. Based on Tuesday's closing price, the fourth tranche of Musk's pay package would be worth about $3.5 billion and cost him only $591 million. If Musk immediately sold those shares, he would pocket $3 billion in profit.

Whether he gets the fourth tranche is based on Tesla's earnings report later this month. The company would have to hit a trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA of $4.5 billion to unlock Musk's award.

Read more: Jerome Myers left corporate America to start real-estate investing and amassed a portfolio with over 90 units. He shares the 4-part strategy he's using to chip away at his 1,000-unit goal.

In the trailing 12 months through June, Tesla hit $4.42 billion in adjusted EBITDA, just shy of the target.

But a bearish JPMorgan note published on Monday said analysts expected Tesla to record third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $1.183 billion, which would raise its trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA to just above $4.5 billion.

Tesla is still $10 billion short of hitting Musk's trailing 12-month revenue target of $35 billion, which would unlock an additional payment tranche.

Here's a breakdown of Musk's compensation incentive package and all 12 tranche requirements.

Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: High-growth tech stocks are entering a dangerous phase that is being mostly overlooked. These 3 trades can help investors profit while minimizing the risk to their portfolios.

• Four top US officials released a video Tuesday reassuring US voters about the integrity of the election process and countering many of the claims President Donald Trump has made about foreign interference, voter fraud, and mail-in ballots.
• FBI director Christopher Wray said that regardless of how voters cast their ballots, "rest assured that the security of the election — and safeguarding your vote — is and will continue to be one of our highest priorities."
• Trump has said that the election will be "rigged" against him and that increased voting by mail will lead to a fraudulent result. He also suggested that foreign powers could manipulate mail ballots and spark widespread voter fraud.
• William Evanina, the top counterintelligence official in the US, contradicted Trump's claim about foreign interference with mail ballots, saying that "it would be very difficult for adversaries to interfere with, or manipulate, voting results at scale."
• Evanina also revealed that foreign actors are trying to hack into election infrastructure.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The United States' top intelligence and law enforcement officials released a video on Tuesday defending the integrity of the election and countering many of the claims President Donald Trump has amplified about purported voter fraud and mail-in ballot issues.

"Next month, we will exercise one of our most cherished rights and a foundation of our democracy – the right to vote in a free and fair election," FBI director Christopher Wray said. "Some Americans will go to the polls on November 3rd to cast their votes, while others will be voting by mail; in fact, some have already begun to return their ballots."

Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, added: "I'm here to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher. That's because of an all-of-nation, unprecedented election security effort over the last several years."

William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said in the video that foreign actors are working hard to sway the election by spreading disinformation. They're trying to "collect derogatory personal information from candidates, campaigns, and prominent Americans" and hack into election infrastructure, he said.

The FBI and DHS had denied for weeks that hostile foreign powers were trying to gain access to election infrastructure, and Evanina's statement was the first acknowledgement of such activity by the US government, NBC News' Ken Dilanian noted.

Trump was not explicitly mentioned in the video, but US officials made several statements directly contradicting his claims that the election will be "rigged," that increased voting by mail would lead to a fraudulent result, and that foreign actors could manipulate mail ballots.

"No matter which method you choose, your voice is important," Wray said. "Rest assured that the security of the election – and safeguarding your vote – is and will continue to be one of our highest priorities."

Trump and his allies, including Attorney General William Barr, have also suggested that foreign powers could interfere in the election by mass-producing counterfeit mail ballots and sending them to US voters.

Evanina appeared to contradict that in the video, saying, "To be clear, it would be very difficult for adversaries to interfere with, or manipulate, voting results at scale."

As Insider previously reported, there are several reasons why foreign countries interfering with the mail-in voting process is very unlikely.

Election administration in the US is not centralized, meaning there is no single national ballot that a foreign state could replicate and send to voters. Moreover, most ballots and the envelopes they're mailed in are difficult to mimic because they contain specific information about barcodes, precincts, and voter ID numbers.

Senior government officials also said last month that the US intelligence community has found no evidence of foreign interference with mail ballots.

"We have no information or intelligence that any nation or state actor is engaging in any kind of activity to undermine any part of the mail-in vote or ballots," a senior federal official, who asked to remain anonymous, told reporters, according to The Washington Post.

US officials also appeared to counter Trump's claim that the results of the election will be fraudulent unless they're announced on Election Night itself or shortly thereafter.

"Elections are going to look a little different this year," Krebs said. "While this will change the way Americans vote, Americans will vote. And Americans will decide American elections. And you, as the American voter, are the last line of defense."

He also said that voters should "be patient, because of the changes due to COVID, on November 3rd, we might not know the outcome of our election."

"And that's okay, but we're going to need your patience until official results are announced," Krebs continued. "So get out there and vote with confidence, and be a part of protecting 2020."

Tuesday's video will likely enrage the president and those around him. Both Wray and Evanina have already drawn significant ire from Trumpworld over their public statements about Russia's interference in the electoral process.

Just last week, The Daily Beast reported that Trump has trained his sights on replacing Wray as FBI director after the general election.

Some Trump allies have publicly mocked Wray with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying in a CBS News interview that the FBI director "has a hard time finding emails in his own FBI let alone figuring out whether there is any kind of voter fraud." And Georgia Rep. Doug Collins said Wray was "complicit" in what Republicans say was a Democratic-led plot to sink Trump's 2016 candidacy by tying his campaign to Russia's campaign to interfere in the election.

The US intelligence community assessed with high confidence in 2017 that the Russian government meddled in the race to denigrate then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and elevate Trump to the Oval Office. Those findings were later confirmed by the special counsel Robert Mueller and a bipartisan Senate report on the matter.

• DoorDash launched DoorDash for Work — a program that allows organization to offer employees meal benefits and perks.
• Zoom, Charles Schwab, and Hulu are among the more than 5,000 organizations that have already signed up. 
• Working from home has killed office snacks and lunches with coworkers, with 90% of people saying they miss at least one food-related benefit of the office, according to a DoorDash survey. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Working from home has destroyed Americans' routines, killing lunch breaks and eliminating office snacks. Now, DoorDash is attempting to provide a solution. 

On Wednesday, DoorDash announced the launch of DoorDash for Work — a program that allows organizations to offer employees meal benefits and perks through the delivery service. More than 5,000 organizations have already signed up, including Zoom, Charles Schwab, and Hulu. 

Companies can offer employees perks like free delivery, expensed meals, gift cards, and group orders for team lunches and client meetings.

According to a press release, DoorDash rolled out the program to help restaurants that lost customers who would stop by on their morning commute or grab a lunch near the office prior to the pandemic. Chains such as Dunkin' and Starbucks have said that the pandemic has transformed their business, as the pre-work rush has shifted into the mid-morning. 

DoorDash says it is also aiming to fulfill the needs of people working from home and missing the food-related aspects of office life.

Roughly 90% of people say that they miss at least one food-related benefit of the office, according to a DoorDash survey of 1,000 people. The biggest loss is "eating and socializing with colleagues," something 76% of respondents said they missed. 

• Alexei Navalny, the Vladimir Putin opposition leader, spoke to BILD after surviving a suspected assassination attempt from Russia.
• He remains in Berlin, where he received medical care, with his family.
• Navalny told BILD that the chemical weapon attack on his life shows "that Putin's regime has now really gone insane."
• He criticized former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as "being paid by Putin" for casting doubt on the Russian leader's responsibility for the attack.
• Navalny also called for European sanctions of those within Putin's circle and said his supporters in the European Union should come under pressure.
• "I am not afraid. I am not crazy, I understand the risks, but I cannot control them, after all," he said. "I have to live with that."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

He is Putin's most serious opponent and the world's most famous poison victim: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

On 20 August, Navalny collapsed on a plane above Siberia. He was taken to a hospital in the city of Omsk. Two days later, he was flown to Berlin. A German army laboratory determined what the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed on Tuesday: the Kremlin critic was poisoned with the Russian nerve agent Novichok.

Navalny was in a coma for more than two weeks and remained at the Berlin Charité hospital for an entire month. BILD met the opposition politician for an extensive interview yesterday.

BILD: Mr. Navalny, a few weeks ago, you were still in a coma. Now you can be seen taking a stroll through Berlin with your family. How are you?

Alexei Navalny: "I feel alive. I have been taking several steps to recover since I woke up from the coma. In hospital, I understood what had really happened. I saw my wife and my children again. After 28 days in hospital, I took my first walk in the park, in the rain. It was a feeling of being alive that probably only a few people are familiar with. People were running past me, and I wanted to join them – it was great. My last thought on the plane was that I would die. It is wonderful to talk to my wife, to see my children, and to know: I am alive."

Did you miss anything during your time in hospital?

Navalny: "On Monday, I ate at a restaurant again for the first time. German cuisine, obviously. Eisbein. Maybe it's a cliché, but I very much enjoyed it. I heard that Berlin is known for its street food. I am looking forward to just going out, sitting down somewhere, and ordering a kebab and a beer."

You have a wife and two children. Do you feel responsible for them? Have you considered staying here and not returning at all?

Navalny: "That's the most difficult issue for me. Of course I have a responsibility for my family, but I also have their support. I don't want to lie: of course I'm wondering whether they might try to poison me in my apartment, where my wife and children are, instead of on a plane. However, my wife and I already made that decision years ago. There wasn't a single moment where we changed our minds. I am a Russian politician, a Russian citizen. I believe that I am doing something important, and many people in Russia support me. I have to share the risk with them. I have to stand on the street with them. This is the only way to gain people's trust."

How does your wife cope with you being in constant danger to your life? How does she cope with the fact that she could lose you at any moment? Doesn't she say: Alexei, quit politics and do something safe?

Navalny: "Nobody would be more disappointed by me than my wife if I were to leave politics behind. We never had such a conversation."

Did you ever expect that the nerve agent Novichok would be used against you?

Navalny: "No way. It's crazy that I was poisoned with a military chemical weapon. If the results from the German army lab and the French and Swedish laboratories didn't exist, I wouldn't believe it myself. We know a lot about Putin and the Kremlin. But to poison a civilian with Novichok so he will die on a plane – that's something I wouldn't have thought even the Kremlin would do. But now it's been proven without a doubt. Denying that I was poisoned with Novichok would be like denying chemistry itself. We have learned that Putin's regime has now really gone insane. From the victim's perspective, this is crazy. But maybe their primary goal was not to kill me, but to intimidate people in all of Russia. Sudden, mysterious deaths are incredibly intimidating, and people are afraid of this. It is much more intimidating than just shooting someone."

Who was the first person to tell you that you were poisoned with Novichok?

Navalny: "After I woke up, I had intense hallucinations for a while. That's the worst thing about a coma. I cannot remember the moment when I understood what had really happened. My chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, later told me of an episode where I was just sitting there with an open mouth, staring in front of me. When he and Julia told me that I had been poisoned with Novichok, I startled and asked: 'What, Novichok?' Then I continued to just stare."

Another big question is: why were you poisoned at the end of August? Do you think that the point of time had anything to do with the protests in Belarus?

Navalny: "It's complex. There were the protests in Belarus and, at the same time, massive protests in Khabarovsk. The Kremlin is terribly afraid because our strategy is working and the approval rates for Putin and his party 'United Russia' are dropping. And they have no idea what to do about it. Our organization has survived the pressure from the Kremlin. I think this was the last resort for them. They probably thought: 'Alexei, it's your fault. We tried everything to intimidate you, but you have continued. Sorry, now we have to kill you.' It was their last attempt to do something before it will get worse for them."

Will Putin fall?

Navalny: "I am no political scientist and don't do prognoses. But if there were fair elections tomorrow, we would beat Putin. I have no doubt: when there are fair elections, we'll beat his government party. However, Putin is crazy for money and power. He will do anything to stay in power – anything."

Does that mean he will try again to kill you?

Navalny: "Now that's very optimistic (laughs). I'm not naïve. Some things I simply can't control. But I have no other country. I am Russian, not German. My country is Russia. I know that my country is ready to have a normal life. To be wealthy. The Russian people deserve to have happy, normal lives. The biggest obstacle to this is Putin's goal to be the richest and most powerful man in the world. I oppose him and try to protect myself, my family, and my people."

The Kremlin has now frozen your bank accounts and seized your apartment. How do you want to carry on once you're back in Russia?

Navalny: "That's nothing new for me. My accounts were frozen several times before, and my apartment was also seized before. I got used to it – in contrast to Novichok and this coma thing (laughs). But I don't know what will happen when I return. Maybe they'll arrest me at the airport. I just don't know."

Former German chancellor Schroeder, who is working for Rosneft, among others, said that there are "no facts" yet and that so far everything is "speculation". What would you tell him?

Navalny: "That's very disappointing. It is humiliating for the German people, and especially for the Bundeswehr laboratory. Is he saying that they forged the result of their examination? Gerhard Schroeder is being paid by Putin. But if he is now trying to deny the poison attack, this is really disappointing. It's one thing to be a lobbyist for Putin. But now he's trying to protect murderers. I know that even his own party has a very negative view of Schroeder's work. It's simply humiliating to hear such words from a former chancellor.

It's also hard to understand for me. He is the former chancellor of the most powerful country in Europe, after all. Now Schröder is Putin's errand boy, protecting murderers. I don't know which hidden shadow he received from Putin. There is an official payment, and I have no doubt that there are also shadow payments. That's my personal opinion as a lawyer who has investigated Rosneft and Gazprom for several years. I don't have a document that says in black and white: Mister Schroeder, here is your suitcase full of money. But I have no doubt that Schröder receives shadow payments."

Schroeder and other Kremlin supporters say that they have a friendly relationship with Russia. Are they friends of Russia in your view?

Navalny: "Are people friends of Russia if they steal money from the Russian population? I want the people in Russia to have the same access to medical care that I had in the Charité. But not even the richest people in Russia have such access, because there are no hospitals like this. And why is that? Because of Putin and his friends, people like Gerhard Schröder. They misappropriate Russian money and keep the Russians poor. Just think of space technology. When I was a child, we were so proud to be involved at the forefront of these developments. That's over. The country is being degraded, and these people help to degrade my country. They are no friends of Russia."

You said you are used to harassment. Still, are you really not afraid?

Navalny: "I am not afraid. I am not crazy, I understand the risks, but I cannot control them, after all. I have to live with that. Activists who are working in the regions, or independent journalists who report on the Caucasus – these are really brave people. Like the journalist Irina Slavina, who set herself on fire after having been harassed for years. She was brave. I am a famous guy, it's easier for me. Even if someone tries to kill me, generous people help me organize a plane that brings me to Germany. But if you're an independent activist or journalist and you get murdered, nobody but your family will hear about it. If I were afraid, I would be ashamed of myself, because I know the people in the regions have to live with much more pressure than I do."

What does your son think, who is with you in Berlin at the moment? Does he also want to go back to Russia? Does he worry about you?

Navalny: "My son is having the time of his life. He doesn't have to go to school and can play video games all day. But seriously: my children also support me. They know what it's like when men with black masks search their children's rooms, when they search their toys, allegedly to find something. My son has a child's bank account on which he saved money for a new laptop. His account was also frozen. We told him: sorry, Sachar, but this money now belongs to Putin. He understands that it can't be right if Putin needs his 300 dollars in order to be happy."

Do you think that the plan was for you to die on the plane from Tomsk to Moscow?

Navalny: "Yes, I am alive because of fortunate coincidences. If the pilots hadn't made a stopover and if the ambulance hadn't come to the airport in Omsk, I would have died not even one and a half hours after collapsing on the plane."

There are German politicians who expect Russia to investigate the attack on you. What would you tell them?

Navalny: "There is not even an attempt to make it look as if there were an investigation. So far, there hasn't been any investigation in Russia. I am not naïve. I think that it was a direct order from Putin and I do not expect that there will ever be a real investigation. I also understand that there is not much you can do as a Western politician when a Russian is poisoned in Russia. However, the use of a chemical weapon is also relevant for the West. The OPCW must investigate this. Otherwise, it might be very tempting for a regime to use chemical weapons against its opponents. We only know of the failed poison attacks, but have no idea how many successful murders there have been."

Chancellor Merkel has visited you in hospital – that was a very strong gesture. But what are the consequences for the Kremlin that should follow from the poison attack on you? What would you recommend the Chancellor should do?

Navalny: "Let's look at what this is really about. They kill people because they want to stay in power. They embezzle money, steal billions, and over the weekend, they fly to Berlin or London, buy expensive apartments and sit in cafés. Sanctions against the entire country don't work. The most important thing is to ban the regime's profiteers from entering the country and to freeze their assets. Oligarchs and high officials, Putin's closest circle."

In a concrete case: how should the German government deal with Valery Gergiev, who has been a Putin supporter for years, and is now chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic?

Navalny: "The government should give him a hard choice. Gergiev supported Putin at the elections. If he loves the regime so much and doesn't want Russia to go the European way, he must be told: you are a very talented musician, but we will no longer allow you to enter the EU. You can enjoy Putin's regime in Russia. Or Gergiev changes his mind and stops support Putin at least publicly. There are many people like this in Russia. They are very talented and very hypocritical. They support Putin, they benefit from it, but they prefer to live in the West.

I'm glad you mentioned Gergiev. He is a perfect example. Such people must be put under pressure. They must turn away from Putin, because they realize that Europe will no longer tolerate them claiming in Russia that Europe is so terrible, and at the same time, they live in Europe. Mister Gergiev will not try to poison me with Novichok, but he supports everything Putin does. People like him must be banned from entering the country. And you know what? 99 percent of all Russians will applause that."

In Russia, there are big differences between Moscow and Saint Petersburg and the regions. What's the attitude of people far away from the metropolises towards Putin?

Navalny: "We have proven that the people in the metropolises are critical of Putin, but the people outside support him or don't care. It was our most important aim to destroy this myth that the regions support Putin like a wall. The Kremlin is terribly afraid of that. Following the pension reform, after wages have dropped for seven years in a row, the Kremlin is worried that this myth will break down."

Mister Navalny, final question: do you think you will live long enough to see a Russia without Putin?

Navalny: "I don't know. But I'm doing everything I can so that my children will be able to see a Russia without Putin. A normal, wealthy, European Russia."

• Read more:
• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny mocked Putin for suggesting that he poisoned himself
• Putin's attempt to explain away the poisoning of Alexei Navalny to France failed badly and helped unite Europe against him, intelligence sources say
• Alexei Navalny posted a photo of himself leaving hospital after 32 days, and the scars on his neck match those on a previous Novichok victim
• Trump sidesteps question about poisoning of Putin critic Alexei Navalny: 'We'll talk about that at another time'
• Putin will try to kill Navalny again and the West will do little about it, NATO sources say

• After abruptly ending stimulus talks on Tuesday, President Trump reversed course and called for a piecemeal strategy to passing some economic aid.
• In Tuesday night tweets, the president called for Congress to pass $25 billion in airline aid, $135 billion in funds for the Paycheck Protection Program, and another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.
• Yet the approach of passing standalone stimulus bills has failed before. Past attempts by Senate Republicans saw intraparty differences and Democrat opposition curtail their passage.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also indicated she will hold her ground in supporting a $2.2 trillion stimulus package.
• After Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin approached Pelosi on Wednesday regarding a standalone airline relief bill, she reminded him Republicans rejected the bill on Friday, according to the speaker's deputy press secretary.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump is pushing standalone stimulus efforts forward after unexpectedly nixing negotiations on a larger package.

The president shocked economists, investors, and policymakers on Tuesday afternoon when he tweeted that he told representatives to stop stimulus negotiations until after the November election. Trump lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for "not negotiating in good faith," and called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to "focus full time" on confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

It took just seven hours for the president to reverse course. Trump began pushing a piecemeal legislative strategy in another tweet on Tuesday night, saying Congress should pass $25 billion in emergency relief for airlines and replenish the Paycheck Protection Program with $135 billion in new funding. Minutes later, Trump said he is "ready to sign right now" on another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows advocated a step-by-step strategy on Monday, telling Fox that "even if a large comprehensive bill is not possible" the administration can still "go ahead and pass a number of things that we can agree on."

By focusing on individual aid measures instead of a larger package, Republicans believe they can garner bipartisan support. Precedent, however, suggests such a strategy will be an uphill battle.

The GOP mulled smaller relief bills in July, when Senate Republicans aimed to pass a short-term extension to bolstered unemployment benefits. The CARES Act boosted weekly benefits by $600 but expired that month. The plan inevitably fell through as Republicans disagreed on the duration and size of renewed benefits.

Trump implemented a $300 per week expansion with an early-August executive order, but that extension has since dried up.

Read more: 'Absolutely incomprehensible': A $2 billion hedge fund chief explains why investors may soon have to grapple with an across-the-board wipeout — and says a Great Depression-like meltdown isn't out of the question

Senate Republicans tried to pass a smaller measure again in September, but Democrats blocked the plan. Republican Sen. Rand Paul also voted against the bill, criticizing the need for more federal relief spending. 

To be sure, House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package on Thursday that included the stimulus checks, airline aid, and PPP funds Trump called for. Yet Senate Republicans balked at the measure, with McConnell deeming its price tag "too high."

Negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued for days before Trump nixed bipartisan talks on new aid. Pelosi decried the president's action, saying in a Tuesday press release the White House is "complete disarray."

"President Trump showed his true colors: putting himself first at the expense of the country, with the full complicity of the GOP members of Congress," she said.

After the two parties failed to reach a compromise on a larger bill, it's unlikely Democrats will entertain the Trump's backing of smaller measures.

When Mnuchin spoke with Pelosi Wednesday morning about passing standalone airline aid, Pelosi reminded the Treasury Secretary the measure was blocked by Republicans on Friday, Drew Hammill, the speaker's deputy chief of staff, said in a tweet. Pelosi added that Mnuchin should review the bill "so that they could have an informed conversation."

As past deliberations have shown, a piecemeal approach faces opposition from interparty differences and partisan resistance. Separately, Trump's recent decline in the polls suggests the president has little political capital with which to muster a compromise.

Read more: 'We are going to see some big shifts in the coming 3 to 6 months': Investing pioneer Rob Arnott sounds the alarm on 'quite a few bubbles' in the market, including the tech boom — and tells us where he is finding bargains now

• Hours after President Trump tweeted that he would suspend pandemic stimulus negotiations until after the election, the president and his administration appeared to reverse course, sowing confusion among politicians and workers.
• Left in the balance: millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, including more than 32,000 airline workers.
• As negotiations break down over a larger stimulus package, a standalone airline package could be the next attempt.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hours after President Trump said on Tuesday that he would refuse to negotiate toward passing a new stimulus package until after the November 3 election, he reversed course, tweeting that Congress should pass individual stimulus measures intended to help some sectors amid the pandemic, including the airline industry.

The reversal, along with mixed messaging on Wednesday morning's cable news shows, represented the latest confusion, miscommunication, and legislative hurdles as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage employment and vast sectors of the economy. 

About 948,000 travel and tourism workers will lose their jobs without more stimulus funds, according to the US Travel Association. Among them are 32,000 airline workers who have been furloughed since CARES Act Payroll Support  requirements expired on October 1, and tens of thousands more who have taken unpaid leaves of absence to try to mitigate furloughs. Thousands of additional job cuts are expected, with Delta planning to furlough nearly 2,000 pilots in November, and Southwest warning of the first job cuts in its history for next year.

Worker unions and industry groups have expressed frustration over inconsistent messaging from the White House and the delay in passing a new stimulus.

"We are disappointed that negotiations between Congress and the Administration over additional COVID-19 relief were suddenly suspended yesterday," a number of airline worker unions wrote in a joint letter to Congress on Wednesday.

"We call on leaders to resolve any procedural issues and proceed as quickly as possible to extend the PSP in time to preserve this extremely effective and efficient jobs and infrastructure program," the unions added.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, urged political leaders to reach some kind of compromise.

"An overwhelming majority of both chambers of Congress and both political parties have been in support of extending the Payroll Support Program for two months," Nelson wrote Wednesday night. "Only Congress can appropriate those funds and secure the jobs and infrastructure our country needs."

The Payroll Support Program was meant to be aid for airline workers — not for the airlines themselves

The $25 billion Payroll Support Program (PSP) under the CARES Act was designed as a jobs program, or essentially aid to workers who would otherwise end up on the unemployment rolls, labor groups have said. Money was given to the airlines, which distributed it to workers through normal payroll systems.

In exchange for the payroll aid and other loans, airlines agreed to not furlough or lay off workers through at least September 30. (Other conditions included prohibitions on stock buybacks and shareholder dividends, as well as caps on executive pay.)

With travel demand still down 70% from 2019 levels and a recovery stalled by ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks across the US, workers and unions have argued that the PSP should be extended by six months. Although airlines expect that they will need to be smaller for three to five years until demand fully recovers, unions argue that airline workers can't be expected to find other jobs with hiring across industries still severely depressed.

Passing a piecemeal stimulus package

Congress had previously cited October 1 — the day that PSP funds expired — as a deadline to pass a second broad stimulus. With that target a week in the past, legislators and the president now appear to be considering a standalone aid package for the airline industry, as well as other sectors. 

After the President said on Tuesday that he was ending stimulus discussions until after the election, administration officials reversed course.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters on Wednesday that Trump had discussed standalone aid for airlines with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as standalone packages giving stimulus checks to Americans and offering aid to small businesses.

House Democrats, led by House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) had tried to push a standalone airline support bill on the House floor on Friday, but were blocked by Republican objections.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional Democrats have previously opposed piecemeal stimulus packages, arguing that they would not be enough to meet the economy's needs during the pandemic.

• Amazon uses third-party seller data to copy the site's most popular products, an antitrust report by the House Judiciary Committee alleged on Wednesday.
• Former Amazon sellers told an antitrust subcommittee the company released new products almost identical to their own and "killed" their sales.
• Amazon has denied accusations of this behavior in the past.
• "We have a policy against using seller-specific data to aid our private-label business," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in July.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee said it has uncovered evidence that Amazon uses detailed data from third-party sellers to copy popular products and push some sellers out of business — something the tech giant has consistently denied. 

The subcommittee said it had heard "repeated" concerns from both former employees and third-party sellers that Amazon uses seller data to either copy products or source the product directly from the manufacturer. It then sells it direct to consumers, according to the subcommittee's findings.

"We have heard so many heartbreaking stories of small businesses who sunk significant time and resources into building a business and selling on Amazon, only to have Amazon poach their best-selling items and drive them out of business," the subcommittee's chairman David Cicilline said.

The findings formed part of a wide-ranging antitrust report on Big Tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook.

One former Amazon employee who spoke to the committee compared access to third-party seller data to a "candy shop."

"Everyone can have access to anything they want," they said. Employees even use this data to set up their own successful third-party accounts, the Democratic leaders of the committee wrote in their report on Wednesday. 

Similar accusations have mounted over the past 15 months, but Amazon has adamantly denied using third-party seller data in this way.

Third-party sellers outstrip first-party sales

Amazon sells its products, and also directly sells products from other brands — but third-party sellers make up around 60% of its sales, according to the company.

"Third-party sellers are kicking our first-party butt. Badly," CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in a shareholder letter in 2018.

Amazon is using aggressive tactics to ensure its own-brand product sales stay strong, according to the antitrust report.

One former third-party seller told the subcommittee that over his 17 years of selling on Amazon, the platform repeatedly undercut him on price and ultimately drove him out of business. 

On more than one occasion, he claimed his company created a new, top-selling product or product line only for Amazon to launch a competing product. This included a line of board games with a distinctive design and color scheme, that Amazon copied once they became top-sellers – even down to the color palette, according to the report. Because Amazon determines which seller is featured on its listing pages, it could favor its own products — this "killed" the seller's business, he said.

The report listed many more examples alleging this practice. A small apparel business told the subcommittee that they were making around $60,000 a year from selling one particular item on the platform. "One day, they woke up and found that Amazon had started listing the exact same product, causing their sales to go to zero overnight."

How Amazon gathers its data

Amazon had multiple ways of getting information about third-party products, according to the report's findings.

One third-party seller told the subcommittee that Amazon asks retailers to submit their original sales receipts to prove their products' authenticity. A seller is supposed to be able to redact price information, but Amazon sometimes rejected these submissions by calling them "altered documents," they said. Gaining price information allowed Amazon to "easily replicate the seller's listing to offer a competing product," the report said.

Some Amazon employees may have also used the data for their own private gains, according to the subcommittee.

"It was widely known that many (10+) of my peers were running very successful [third-party] accounts, where they were pulling private data on Amazon seller activity, so they could figure out market opportunity," one former Amazon employee told the subcommittee.

Accusations surfaced in 2019

The subcommittee's investigation isn't the first time Amazon has been accused of using third-party data in this way.

One former product management employee told The Capitol Forum in July 2019: "I used to pull sellers' data to look at what the best products were when I was there … That was my job."

Speaking to Yahoo Finance in September 2019, employees described access to data as a "free-for-all," and said Amazon Retail and Marketplace "share the same access to the data warehouse, which makes it possible for the retail team to use the data from marketplace sellers to develop private labels."

In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that executives in Amazon's private-label division used information about Amazon sellers to research products they want to compete against. This included Amazon employees reportedly using sales data about Fortem, a third-party seller of car-trunk organizers, to develop a near-identical Amazon private-label version.

Amazon has repeatedly insisted that it doesn't use third-party seller data for its own gains.

Amazon: Third-party trust 'critical to success'

"Amazon recognizes that third-party sellers are our customers too, and their trust is critical to Amazon's success," it told the subcommittee. It referred to the Seller Data Protection Policy it introduced in 2014, which prohibits Amazon Retail teams from using data from individual third-party sellers to compete against them.

"We do not use [third-party sellers'] individual data when we're making decisions to launch private brands," Amazon lawyer Nate Sutton said in his testimony at a subcommittee hearing in July 2019.

"We have a policy against using seller-specific data to aid our private-label business," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in July 2020 when questioned by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington. But he added that "I can't guarantee you that that policy has never been violated."

In correspondence with the subcommittee, Amazon claimed that it only uses "aggregate" data, which is collected from multiple sellers, rather than "individual" data about a specific seller. But Amazon itself defines what aggregate data means, and how it should be collected. 

In The Wall Street Journal report, for example, Fortem accounted for 99.95% of total sales in the car-trunk organizer product category. Because 0.05% of sales come from other sellers, Amazon considered sales data from the category aggregate, rather than individual, according to the report.

In its response to the antitrust body's report, the e-commerce giant claimed that "Amazon and third-party sellers benefit each other" and described their relationship as "mutually beneficial."

The company has strong financial incentives to support third-party sellers, it added, because it usually makes the same or more revenue from third-party sales. 

"Clearly, when it comes to Amazon and third-party sellers in our store, it's not zero-sum," Amazon said.

Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

• Technology stocks have led the broader market rally this year, but a team of analysts led by UBS Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele see stocks representing a return to normalcy on the rise.
• "We think global equity gains from here may lean more heavily on 'more normal' themes rather than the 'stay at home' dynamics that have favored mega-cap tech," UBS said in a Wednesday note. 
• To play this trade, UBS recommends investors remain in tech but diversify within the sector, while adding stocks that represent the "more normal" theme.

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Technology stocks led the broader market rally this year, but a team of analysts led by UBS Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele are now predicting that stocks representing the "more normal" theme will start to gain over mega-cap tech names.

In a Wednesday note, UBS said that recent price volatility in the technology sector has "flagged concentration risks." It also forecast that uncertainty surrounding technology antitrust will linger until the election.

"We think global equity gains from here may lean more heavily on 'more normal' themes rather than the 'stay at home' dynamics that have favored mega-cap tech," UBS said. 

Here's how UBS is advising investors to prepare for this shift:

1. Diversify within tech 

"Tech stocks are not in a bubble, in our view, and are fairly valued given their earnings growth outlook," UBS said. The firm still likes "many of the largest names" but also said now is a good time to rebalance mega-cap tech exposure with newer themes. "We like 5G enablers and platform beneficiaries, which include leaders in smart mobility, cloud, and gaming, as well as China's digital economy stocks, including ecommerce, food delivery, travel, search and fintech services," UBS said.

Read more: Jerome Myers left corporate America to start real-estate investing and amassed a portfolio with over 90 units. He shares the 4-part strategy he's using to chip away at his 1,000-unit goal.

2. Diversify beyond tech

"We think the next leg of the rally will likely rely on incremental mobility gains, positive vaccine developments and improvements in US political dynamics." UK stocks, US mid-cap stocks, emerging market value stocks, and global industrial stocks are all poised to gain from this trend, according to UBS. 

3. Stay invested

"Rebalancing mega-cap tech exposure does not mean selling it all off," UBS added. The wealth manager said that typically a rebound of at least 20% occurs in global tech stocks after a correction. So, investors shouldn't look at near-term volatility as a major threat. Instead, UBS said to use this volatility to "build up positions using options, structured investments, or a disciplined phasing-in strategy where appropriate."

• You can check your Uber passenger rating by opening the app's side menu.
• Your Uber passenger rating is determined by a variety of factors, including how well you tip, and how you treat your driver and their car.
• It's easy to check your rating from the Uber app, but improving your score may take some time.
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

To improve the user experience, Uber uses a rating system, which allows you to score your driver's performance from one to five stars. Likewise, your driver can also give you a score, rating their experience taking you where you're going. 

You rarely have to worry about your rating — unless it's so low that drivers might hesitate to pick you up. In that case, it's time to start improving your rating.

So how do you find out your Uber rating? And if your score is low for any reason, how do you improve it? While determining where you stand on Uber's scoring system is easy, bringing your score up if it's lower than you'd like can be more complicated. 

How to check your Uber passenger rating 

1. Open the Uber app on your mobile device.

2. In the app, tap on the menu icon in the top-left corner of your screen. It looks like three stacked lines.

3. Opening the menu will reveal a list of options with your name at the top. Just below your name is a number rating with a star next to it. This is your Uber rating. 

4. You can tap your rating to open a page that explains how the rating is calculated.

How to improve your Uber rating

While there's no one way to bring your Uber rating up, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of getting a five-star rating from your driver. Here are a few suggestions, adapted from Uber. 

1. Show up on time. If you request a ride to pick you up ASAP, you should be outside and ready to go when your car arrives (barring inclement weather, of course). The driver doesn't want to have to wait for you, so be as prompt as possible. 

2. Be nice. Even if you're having a terrible day, that's no reason to take it out on your driver. Being courteous, considerate, and polite will go a long way in getting you a good rating. 

3. Don't leave your trash behind. If you have a quick snack or a bottle of water on the way to your destination, don't leave your garbage in the back of your Uber driver's car. Take your trash with you and treat their car with respect. 

4. Wear your seatbelt. Uber drivers can be fined for a passenger who doesn't wear their seat belt. Not only is it the law, it's important for your personal safety, so strap yourself in. 

5. Don't slam the door. This is just common sense—there's no reason to use brute force when closing your driver's door. Many Uber drivers use their own personal vehicles to work, so be respectful of their property.

6. Tip well. If your Uber driver got you to your destination safely and comfortably, they'll probably enjoy a nice tip for their efforts — and you'll pretty much guarantee yourself a good rating. 

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

• 'Why is my Uber account disabled?': A guide to Uber account deactivation, and how you might get your account back
  

• How to split an Uber fare with multiple people, or accept a fare-split invitation from someone else

• How to use an Uber Eats gift card to pay for orders on the app

• How to contact Uber Eats in several different ways if you experience an issue with your order

• How to request an Uber with a car seat for your child

• Now that House Democrats have completed a sweeping antitrust investigation into Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google, they're prepared to introduce new laws to curb the tech giants' power.
• The 449-page report published by the House Antitrust Subcommittee on Tuesday, as well as public statements by Democrats on the heels of the report, signal how they might go about changing the laws.
• Antitrust court decisions in recent decades have focused on consumer welfare, but Democrats say laws need to be updated given that many tech companies don't charge consumers for their products and have wide-ranging impacts on workers and other businesses.
• Meanwhile, Republicans have signaled that they're on board for some — but not all — of Democrats' plans for new antitrust laws.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In their scathing report published on the heels of a 16-month investigation into Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google, House Democrats concluded that the four companies are powerful monopolies the likes of which America hasn't seen in over a century.

"Companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons," they wrote.

But now, in order to regulate the companies, Democrats say the antitrust laws that were used to lasso robber barons of centuries past need to be majorly updated.

Lawmakers on the House Antitrust Subcommittee said they want to move quickly to introduce new laws in the coming weeks and months that could effectively break up the big tech companies and rewrite the rules that current dictate much of the US economy.

—David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) October 6, 2020

Not everyone agrees with Democrats' conclusions — Republicans on the subcommittee signaled that they support tougher regulation but may resist the push to separate parts of the companies' business. All four of the companies under investigation responded to the report by denying that they have monopoly power or unfair dominance.

Here's how Democrats could rewrite antitrust law to restore competition in tech.

Democrats want to establish a definition of monopolies that extends beyond "consumer welfare"

Antitrust laws in the US haven't been significantly changed in decades. The Sherman Act and the Clayton Act were passed in 1890 and 1914, respectively, granting the federal government authority to regulate monopolies and mergers.

Since 1914, most of US antitrust law has been determined by court precedent in lawsuits over those two laws. As antitrust experts testified before the subcommittee, court decisions in the 20th Century weakened the federal government's ability to break up monopolies by focusing on "consumer welfare" as a test of unfair market power.

In other words, current US antitrust law hinges on the idea that in order for a company to be a monopoly, it must be imposing unfair costs on consumers.

But this test doesn't make sense for the tech giants, Democrats now argue, because the companies don't charge consumers anything for many of their products — instead, they make money by collecting people's personal data and selling ads, in the case of Facebook and Google, or from charging other businesses for using their platforms, in the case of Amazon and Apple.

To remedy this, Democrats say Congress should reassert that antitrust laws "are designed to protect not just consumers, but also workers, entrepreneurs, independent businesses, open markets, a fair economy, and democratic ideals."

New laws could also chop up tech giants' businesses to stop them from competing against third parties using their platforms

Democrats concluded in their report that the tech giants' businesses are rife with conflicts of interest, in which they compete against smaller businesses that rely on platforms the tech giants own.

Here are just a few of the conflicts of interest outlined in the report:

• Amazon competes directly with third-party sellers on its own online marketplace, gathering data on competition to give its own products an edge.
• Apple imposes a 30% commission on revenue for apps in the App Store, charging competitors like Spotify fees that its own Apple Music doesn't face.
• Facebook uses data gathered from its wealth of social media users to anticipate which other apps are becoming popular and adjust its strategy accordingly.
• Google prioritizes its own sites and products over competitors in its dominant search engine.

Democrats say those conflicts of interest should be eliminated in order to restore competition. Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Rep. David Cicilline has called for a sort of modern Glass-Steagall Act, referencing the 1933 law that prohibited firms from operating as both investment banks and retail banks simultaneously.

Passing such a law is central to Democrats' strategy to regulate the tech giants, subcommittee member Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in an interview with CNBC Wednesday.

"I think time will continue to show that it's absolutely essential that we take on issues like structural separation," Japayal said.

Democrats could face roadblocks from Republicans and court challenges from the big tech companies

While Republican members of the subcommittee said they agree regulators need more resources to crack down on the tech companies, they balked at proposals to separate parts of the companies' businesses, saying the plan would amount to breaking up the companies.

"We agree that antitrust enforcement agencies need additional resources and tools to provide proper oversight," Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, wrote in response to the report. "However, these potential changes need not be dramatic to be effective."

The tech giants themselves will also likely mount legal defenses that aim to reaffirm antitrust laws that focus on a "consumer welfare" standard. The Department of Justice is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google before the end of the year, which is likely to play out in court over the course of several years.

However, both Democrats and Republicans think Congress should allocate more funding to regulatory bodies like the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission to regulate future mergers and possible anticompetitive behavior by tech companies.

"It is fundamentally anticompetitive to simultaneously serve as the only substantial marketplace operator, including setting terms, policies, and fees; host third-party sellers; and use marketplace data to launch and sell competitive products," Buck wrote.

• President Donald Trump left the Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday evening after doctors said his condition had improved.
• Trump tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday. By Friday, he had a fever and his blood-oxygen level had dropped at least once, so he was hospitalized.
• It's common for coronavirus cases to wax and wane. But many patients take a turn for the worse around day 10 of symptoms.
• Trump's illness could follow that standard progression in the coming week.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As a 74-year-old, overweight male, President Donald Trump was more vulnerable to a severe COVID-19 infection than someone younger and more spry would be. So it was little surprise when, after testing positive for the virus on Thursday, his condition went downhill.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told the Associated Press that Trump had a "very concerning" period on Friday. The president's blood-oxygen level dipped below normal, and he developed a high fever. Trump's doctors confirmed on Sunday that the president has gotten supplemental oxygen twice.

That's a sign of a more severe case of COVID-19. On Wednesday afternoon, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said Trump has been "symptom-free for over 24 hours."

If Trump's first symptoms appeared the day he tested positive, the typical progression of the illness would suggest he is approaching a crucial moment when coronavirus cases can take a turn for the worse: day 10 of symptoms. That's around the time when severe cases are admitted to the hospital.

We know Trump had reached at least day seven by Wednesday, but the White House hasn't clarified exactly when his symptoms began. With that assumption, his day 10 could hit on Saturday.

Trump, of course, isn't an average patient: He has received a level of attention and access to treatments thus far that almost nobody else can get.

The president was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday evening, fewer than 24 hours after testing positive. Treating symptoms early often improves the chances of a patient's survival. Trump also received an experimental antibody cocktail that isn't publicly available yet. And he has been treated with dexamethasone, a steroid usually reserved for the sickest coronavirus patients.

All of these factors likely make Trump's prognosis better than other men in their 70s. But his doctors still said the president isn't out of the woods, and that his illness could follow a standard chain of events in the coming week. Here's what that looks like, based on data so far.

Most patients don't reach the ICU stage

As many as 40% of coronavirus cases are asymptomatic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among patients who develop symptoms, a fever and cough are usually the first to arrive. They're often followed by a sore throat, headache, muscle aches and pains, nausea, or diarrhea (though, in severe cases, gastrointestinal issues can appear earlier in the course of an infection).

Severe cases usually develop difficulty breathing — one of the virus' hallmark symptoms — around five days after symptoms start.

But it could be another two to six days before patients are admitted to the hospital with conditions like pneumonia or sepsis. Around this time, patients may also experience clotting in their brain or lungs.

Scientists have a few theories about why some coronavirus patients take a rapid turn for the worse. One is that immune systems overreact by producing a "cytokine storm" — a release of chemical signals that instruct the body to attack its own cells.

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonary physician at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, compared that process to an earthquake — generally, it's the falling buildings that kill someone, not the quake itself.

"Your infection is a rattling of your immune system," he said. "If your immune system is just not well structured, it's just going to collapse."

In severe cases, an aggressive immune response can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, which may necessitate a ventilator. This often happens around day 12 of symptoms. That's also around the average time when critical COVID-19 patients are admitted to the ICU.

A 'horrible purgatory' between death and recovery

But viewing coronavirus infections based on averages can hide the fact that the disease often doesn't progress in a linear fashion.

"Courses can step by step worsen progressively. They can wax and wane, doing well one day, worse the next," Megan Coffee, an infectious-disease clinician in New York City, told Business Insider. "An 80-year-old man with medical issues can do quite well. Sometimes a 40-year-old woman with no medical issues doesn't."

Coffee estimated that one in four hospitalized COVID-19 patients wind up on the ICU track. The rest, she said, remain in a standard hospital ward, then get discharged after a week or two. (Trump was discharged after 72 hours.)

If a patient's immune system continues to overreact, they may experience damage to other organs, like the heart or kidneys, by the second week of symptoms. Among patients whose health deteriorates quickly and critically, death can come around day 18 of symptoms.

But therapies like the ones Trump has received could prolong life for several weeks, or ultimately lead to recovery. Trump received his fifth and final dose of remdesivir, an FDA-authorized antiviral treatment, at the White House on Tuesday. Doctors said his dexamethasone treatment would continue there, as well.

"We all know if they're going to be effective, the drugs are more likely to be effective if given early on," David Battinelli, a professor of medicine at Hofstra, told Business Insider.

Galiatsatos said he frequently administers remdesivir to mitigate the impact of sepsis in ICU patients. Steroids like dexamethasone can also keep pneumonia from getting worse.

"We know this disease is very gradual and insidious," Galiatsatos said. "What we have become really good at is stopping the progression at some point, but that usually puts patients in kind of this horrible purgatory of still struggling for their lives, but not dying."

Patients who recover in the ICU are typically discharged after a month, Coffee said. From there, they should expect another month of rest, rehabilitation, and recovery, she added.

Even non-hospitalized patients may experience lingering symptoms, including fatigue and trouble breathing, for several months. Some may develop a chronic fatigue-like syndrome that persists for more than six months.

"Survival is just chapter one," Galiatsatos said. "The long-term effects we're all still learning in real time."

Aylin Woodward contributed reporting.

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• Special-care clothing, particularly pieces with a "dry-clean only" label, can be a pain to take care of. Trips to the dry cleaner can be inconvenient and expensive.
• To extend the life of my special-care clothing, I use the Dryel At-Home Dry Cleaner Kit ($10).
• It's an affordable way to keep your dry-clean-only garments in great condition, and it couldn't be easier to use. Plus, it has saved me tons of money and trips to the dry cleaner over the years.
• While the kit works wonders on denim, wool, and cashmere, it's worth noting that it can be damaging to certain fabrics like leather, velvet, and silk. 

Is it just me or does anyone else's heart drop a bit when you find an amazing clothing item just to inspect it and find "dry-clean only" inscribed on the tag?

Let's face it: Dry cleaning is kind of a pain. Living in New York City, where a laundromat sits on just about every corner, it's not so bad. But getting your clothes dry cleaned can be pricey, and if you have multiple pieces it can add up quickly. If you want to keep your clothes in good condition, though, there's really nothing you can do — you just have to suck it up, put down those extra dollars, carve out some extra time to head to the laundromat, or incessantly google how long your clothes can last without a wash. At least, that's what I thought until my mother introduced me to this very simple solution (thanks, Mom). 

The Dryel At-Home Dry Cleaner Kit does just what it says — it works to clean your special-care pieces from the comfort of your own home.

The starter kit comes with everything you need to complete the cleaning process: a garment bag, booster spray, and the patented "ultracleaning" cloth. It's a three-step process that truly couldn't be easier to use.

How to use the kit

Step 1

Place your garments (up to five) and one ultracleaning cloth into the reusable bag. If any of the pieces are stained or particularly dirty, pretreat them with the included booster spray before placing in bag.

Step 2

Put the bag in the dryer and tumble on medium heat for 15 minutes for a quick refresh. If you're looking for a deeper clean, tumble on medium heat for 30 minutes instead. 

Step 3

Hang your garments so they are wrinkle-free. The end!

How it actually works

You may be wondering if this is some sort of laundry machine magic, but there's actually a very simple explanation. Dryel's ultracleaning cloths are concentrated with a heat-activated cleaning solution that, when met with the heat of your dryer, is released as a steam that penetrates fabric to remove stains and odors. The garment bag protects your special care fabrics from the intense heat of the dryer, so nothing will shrink on you. In the end, you're left with clothes that feel softer and smell fresher. 

For ease of use, Dryel gets an A+, but it also does wonders for your wallet. A starter kit with enough supplies for four loads is only $9.99. When you do the math, that's just about $2.50 per load. If you consider the maximum capacity of five garments per load, you're down to just about fifty cents per garment. Just a few weeks ago I got five pieces dry-cleaned at my local laundromat for about $24. That one trip cost me more than double this entire kit, which has the capacity to clean four times the amount of garments. 

Of course, there are some important things to note. While the kit works wonders on denim, wool, and cashmere, it can be damaging to certain fabrics like leather, velvet, and silk. 

When you compare the prices, it's hard to believe this easy dry-cleaning solution isn't more widely used — or, maybe it is, and I'm just the last one hopping on the bandwagon. 

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We rounded up the best sales and deals happening online today, with savings at Houzz, Bandier, and more. 

Deals in this story are subject to change throughout the day. The prices listed reflect the deal at the time of publication. For even more deals and savings across the web, check out Business Insider Coupons.

The best sales happening right now:

• Save 20% on Chuckit! brand toys from Chewy for National Fetch Day.
  • Read our guide to the best dog toys here. 
• Get 30% off beauty from Urban Outfitters.
• Save $30 on a 12-month subscription of PlaystationPlus from CDKeys.
• See more: Amazon Prime Day 2020: Everything you need to know, The best Amazon sales and deals, and coupons for your favorite stores.
• Visit Insider Reviews' deals page for more sales.

The best on-going sales and exclusive discounts happening right now:

Save up to 85% sitewide from Houzz

Shop the Houzz Anniversary Sale now.

Now through October 7, Houzz, a site we recommend, is holding its 10-year Anniversary Sale sitewide. Now is a great time to redecorate or furnish your home, since right now you can take up to 85% off furniture, decor, and so much more from this expansive sale. Though it's not set to end until October 7, act fast, since stock may not last that long. 

Get 30% off sitewide during Bandier's Friends and Family Sale

Shop the Friends and Family Sale from Bandier now.

An apparel brand with more than just athleisure, Bandier has a wide variety of styles for you to browse during its Friends and Family Sale. Right now, you can get 30% off sitewide from the brand — everything is included, new arrivals, shoes, sweats, and so much more is discounted in the sale. The discount reflects in cart. 

Get up to 60% off winter gear from Backcountry.

Shop the Backcountry No Reservations sale now.

Winter is coming and right now you can prep for your outdoor activities at a discount. Backcountry is holding a No Reservations sale in which you can shop gear, apparel, and footwear up to 60% off right now. Since most of these items are clearance, stock is limited, so act fast. 

Save up to 20% on flooring from LL Flooring

Shop the Start to Finish sale from LL Flooring now.

If you're looking to do some changing up in your home's interior, don't miss out on this expansive sale from LL Flooring (formerly Lumber Liquidators). A huge variety of styles are now up to 20% off during the company's Start to Finish sale, and if you're open to buying in-store, installation is $300 off. 

Get 50% off daily from Target's 14 Days of Beauty Deals

Shop the 14 Days of Beauty Deals now.

Now through October 10, Target is offering up to 50% off selected products daily as part of its 14 Days of Beauty sale. The discounted items are different every day, so check back daily or mark your calendar for days you'd like to watch out for. 

Save on 15% on holiday cards and 25% on wedding invites from Minted

Shop engagement and holiday cards from Minted now.

Whether you're planning or rescheduling your wedding, Minted has you covered. Save 25% on your custom invites with code ENGAGED25. With beautiful designs by independent artists, you're sure to find the right invite for your engagement. 

If you've already got your engagement covered, Minted is also offering 15% off holiday cards with code PREVIEW2020. 

Both offers are only available through October 5, so take advantage of them while they last. 

Get 20% off any full-price M.Gemi item or $75 off the Corsa Collection with promo code

Shop with 20% off full-price M.Gemi items or $75 off the Corsa Collection.

It's no secret that we love M.Gemi shoes, though they can run on the pricier side. Right now, the Corsa Collection is discounted when you use code CORSA75 to get $75 off. The collection features both sleek, neutral colors and loud animal prints for you to choose from. 

Get more than half off your The North Face Outlet past-season online order

Shop The North Face Outlet past-season sale now.

Sitewide sales from The North Face are few and far between, so this past-season outlet sale is a great chance to get some great gear at less than half the price. To help you get started, we've also highlighted some of the best deals from the sale.

Save 20% on any Leesa Hybrid or Legend mattress

Save 20% on any Leesa Hybrid or Legend mattress.

Insider Reviews readers can take 20% off any Leesa Hybrid or Legend mattress with our exclusive discount code INSIDER. This is the lowest price Leesa has ever offered on these mattresses, and it applies to all sizes of each mattress. For what it's worth, we ranked the Leesa Hybrid as the top pick in our best mattress buying guide for its comfort and support. 

Get unlimited online courses for $199 at GoSkills

Shop the GoSkills sale now.

GoSkills is having a big sale that'll keep you learning new skills long past graduation. Right now, you can gain access to the site's entire selection of online courses for $199 per year. With the discount, you'll save $100 on unlimited courses. The sale includes everything from simple courses like Microsoft Office to more advanced courses on business, finance, and writing. After completion, you'll be able to add the official certification of training to your resume.

Save up to 15% on your first MeUndies order

Shop the MeUndies sale.

There isn't a member of the Insider Picks team who doesn't love underwear from MeUndies. Right now, you can save up to 15% off your first order with our exclusive promo code is INSIDER15. This offer excludes packs and membership. 

Save up to 25% on closet storage essentials at The Container Store

Shop The Container Store's sale now. 

If your closet is currently a disorganized mess, The Container Store has the sale you've been waiting for. Right now you can save up to 25% on closet storage solutions, including hangers, garment bags, shoes, drawer solutions, shoe organizers, and much more. Whether you have a large walk-in closet or something much smaller to store your clothes in, you'll find plenty of useful items for making the most out of your space. 

Get a 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $30

Get this deal from CDKeys now. 

Whether you own an Xbox One or prefer PC for your gaming, a 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is a great addition to your experience. Usually retailing for about $40, this is a solid discount on a subscription that gets you Xbox Live Gold and an Xbox Game Pass for both console and PC. 

• The stock market is trading in an environment that is very similar to the fourth quarter of 2008, DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas said in a note on Wednesday.
• Those similarities were heightened on Tuesday after President Donald Trump torpedoed current stimulus negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin via tweet.
• But there are three main differences between now and 2008, and a strong third quarter earnings season could help stocks move higher, according to DataTrek.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US stocks are experiencing "a bit of déjà vu" to the end of 2008, according to a Wednesday note from DataTrek Research. 

The similarities between the end of 2008 and the end of 2020 were only heightened on Tuesday after President Donald Trump shot down further stimulus negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin via tweet. 

"Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their [request]," Trump tweeted. 

But the similarities between the fourth quarter of 2008 and 2020 extend far beyond a failure for Congress to pass stimulus, DataTrek co-founder Nicholas Colas said.

First, the US economy is on shaky ground, though for different reasons. It was a housing crisis that infected the financial industry in 2008, rather than a global pandemic that caused an economic decline in 2020.

Read more: JPMorgan's $1.9 trillion asset management firm shares the 5 biggest opportunities it's recommending for clients across markets during the fourth quarter

On top of that, "we're walking into a US election," and a change of power between parties is a possibility.

And if a piecemeal stimulus deal doesn't pass Congress prior to the election, then additional fiscal stimulus would likely be delayed until after the inauguration of the next president in late January. 

In 2009, it wasn't until February when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed, providing the much-needed fiscal stimulus to help jumpstart the economy. 

But there are some differences between 2008 and 2020 as well, DataTrek noted.

Corporate earnings are much stronger today than they were in the fourth quarter of 2008, the banking system is on solid footing today compared to a crumbling banking system in 2008, and the Fed is providing significantly more liquidity to help calm the credit markets than it did then, according to DataTrek.

"On balance, we don't think October 2020 is a carbon copy of October 2008, but that isn't enough to sound the all-clear," Colas said.

The positive catalyst that could help stocks avoid the fate of 2008 and move higher, according to DataTrek, is strong third quarter earnings.

"But without clarity on further fiscal stimulus, it's hard to see management sounding upbeat going into Q4 and 2021," Colas concluded. 

Read more: A Neuberger Berman investment chief says he's identified 3 overlooked ways to profit from world-changing 5G technology - and shares the stock picks best-suited for all of them 

• The US economy will face "enormous consequences" if further fiscal stimulus is not approved, and there are no "moral hazards" to providing more aid, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari told CNBC on Wednesday.
• "There are enormous consequences if we just let things go, and the downturn will end up being much, much worse," Kashkari said.
• The Fed president said that unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic was not born of a weakness in the financial system, so there should be no qualms about using public money to support airlines and other industries.
• "There are millions of Americans who are directly affected by this, and I think just letting them deal with it on their own — I don't think it's the right thing to do, and I don't think it's good for the economy overall," he said.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari told CNBC on Wednesday that the US economy would face "enormous consequences" without a new federal coronavirus relief package.

"There are enormous consequences if we just let things go, and the downturn will end up being much, much worse," Kashkari said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"If we don't support people who have lost their jobs, then they can't pay their bills, and then it ripples through the economy, and the downturn is much worse than it needs to be," he added.

Kashkari is one of the more dovish members of the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets US monetary policy.

"Whatever assistance can be provided to people who have lost their jobs is important," Kashkari said. "Whatever assistance can be provided to small businesses that have been affected by the pandemic is important. And supporting state and local governments, whose revenues have been hammered by the COVID crisis, that also is important, because they employ a lot of people."

Read more: Goldman Sachs says buy these 21 stocks poised to deliver the strongest possible sales growth through year-end

Kashkari said that unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic did not pose a "moral hazard" in which public money couldn't be used to support hard-hit industries.

"This is a natural disaster effectively hitting the US economy," he said, adding: "There are millions of Americans who are directly affected by this, and I think just letting them deal with it on their own — I don't think it's the right thing to do, and I don't think it's good for the economy overall."

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he would end stimulus negotiations, prompting US stocks to fall. Hours earlier, the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, had warned of the "tragic" consequences of no further stimulus.

Read more: Jerome Myers left corporate America to start real-estate investing and amassed a portfolio with over 90 units. He shares the 4-part strategy he's using to chip away at his 1,000-unit goal.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted Trump's decision, saying that without further federal spending the US economy would be "staring down the barrel" of one of the largest mass evictions since the Great Depression.

But later Tuesday, Trump appeared to change tack, tweeting that he was open to signing legislation that would send direct payments to Americans and aid to airlines and small businesses.

"If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?" he tweeted, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

US stocks climbed as much as 1.3% on Wednesday.

Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: High-growth tech stocks are entering a dangerous phase that is being mostly overlooked. These 3 trades can help investors profit while minimizing the risk to their portfolios.

• Co-living startup HubHaus is shutting down leaving its tenants, who rented bedrooms through the company, unsure of the status of their existing leases, according to multiple reports.
• Clients have been complaining about HubHaus for months, with tenants saying they were paying for housecleaning services that stopped being provided and landlords complaining that the comany fell behind on rent and utilities.
• Former medical school student Shruti Merchant founded HubHaus in 2016 with the goal of helping young professionals find both affordable accommodation and a chance to build new living communities. Merchant left the CEO role in March.
• At one point, the company managed nearly 300 homes around San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For months, the co-living, venture-backed startup HubHaus was not making full payments to homeowners while also charging tenants for services that it later failed to deliver, according to reports from multiple outlets.

Now the company — which leased large houses and sublet the bedrooms to young professionals — is officially terminating its business, according to emails obtained by multiple news outlets. HubHaus did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment, nor did it comment to other media outlets.

HubHaus members learned of the decision last month, when they were informed via email that the company was completing a formal "closure and liquidation process" through Diablo Management Group, according to a copy of the email posted by Mission Local reporter Joe Eskenazi. 

It's a move that leaves hundreds of tenants and homeowners in limbo over the future of their leasing agreements, which were once set by HubHaus. Some tenants are unsure of whether they can continue renting from their home's owners and there are discussions about potential legal protections against eviction on Reddit and Facebook.

For many clients, the news follows months of difficult dealings from HubHaus. Some landlords who had rented their homes to the third-party platform told the San Francisco Chronicle that the company had cut monthly rental payments earlier this year in the wake of the pandemic, leaving them snubbed of tens of thousands of dollars. And tenants were noticing that amenities like housecleaning services offered by the company were not being completed, even though they were still paying for them.

Founded in 2016 by former medical student Shruti Merchant, HubHaus sought to distinguish itself from competitors by focusing on building community among fellow tenants — with the added perk of setting them up in luxurious, multimillion-dollar houses. The company raised around $11 million since 2016, drawing in big-shot investors like General Catalyst and Social Capital. 

Over the past few years, HubHaus managed nearly 300 homes around San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. The company rented rooms to as many as ten people in a single-family home — a business tactic that violated zoning rules in San Francisco and led to the eviction of seven tenants living in a home in Monterey Heights, Mission Local reported.

The pandemic exacted a sharp toll on co-living companies, as rental costs in major cities plummeted and people became reluctant to live with strangers. Stay Alfred, a Washington-based property management startup, shut down this spring, and Airbnb-backed corporate startup Zeus Living laid off most of its staff in the spring. Around 30% of HubHaus rooms were vacant towards the end of summer, The Information reported last month. 

The company, however, was in trouble even before coronavirus shut down the U.S. economy this March, landlords told the San Francisco Chronical's Carolyn Said. It struggled to hit its growth goals in 2019 and failed to raise an additional round of funding that year, the Information's Cory Weinberg reported. In February, the company laid off 16 U.S.-based employees.

"We made a series of bad bets," HubHaus founder Shruti Merchant then told laid-off employees, weeks before exiting the company, the Information reported. Merchant was succeeded as CEO by Jamie Wilson, who stepped down this September as the company was taken over by Diablo. 

In a recent letter sent to HubHaus creditors and shareholders, posted in full by Mission Local, Diablo noted that HubHaus had "no funds available to pay the claims of unsecured creditors (e.g. claims by landlords, tenants, trade creditors or contractors)."

• Researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research found the gender pay gap between female and male teachers in Wisconsin widened after the state gutted union strength. 
• Wisconsin passed a law in 2011 that barred unions from bargaining on behalf of teachers, and instead put the onus of negotiating for higher pay on teachers.
• Without union support, women teachers were less likely to negotiate pay raises than male teachers, NBER found. 
• Throughout the country, teacher union membership has declined by about 9% since 1999; white women comprise most of the public school teacher workforce.
• Teachers already make less than the median US income, and many say they work multiple jobs to make ends meet. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Decreased union membership may have widened a gender pay gap between male and female teachers in Wisconsin, per a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The research follows Wisconsin because that state passed a law in 2011 that barred unions from bargaining on behalf of teachers and instead put the onus of negotiating for higher pay on teachers. The measure, called Act 10, also weakened union power by stopping union dues from automatically deducting from member paychecks. It ultimately led to an overall decline in teacher union participation. 

Without union support, women teachers were less likely to negotiate pay raises than male teachers, NBER found. Younger female teachers earn 1.4% less than their male counterparts, and older ones earn 0.7% less than men. The researchers said that if the gap persisted over time, "women would lose an entire year's pay over the course of a 35-year career relative to men."

One left-leaning think tank found that across the board, median salaries for Wisconsin teachers fell by 2.6% and median benefits by 18.6%, five years after Wisconsin moved to decrease union strength. 

Throughout the country, teacher union membership has declined by about 9% since 1999. White women comprise most of the public school teacher workforce: 76% percent of teachers are women and 82% of them identify as white, according to two federal databases.

Teacher pay is one of the weightiest issues facing the American workforce today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the 2019 median pay for high school teachers was $61,660, with middle and elementary school educators earning about $2,000 less. Pay also varies significantly depending on where the teacher works.

Among all genders, teachers make much less than other jobs that require a college degree. Educators earn approximately 18.7% less than comparable professions, amounting to making less on average in inflation dollars than they did in 1990, per the Department of Education. In 1994, the gap between public school teachers and other jobs that required a college degree was just 1.4%.

Now, one in six teachers say they work multiple jobs and nearly all say they use their own money to pay for school supplies, demonstrating the dire state of the industry. Teachers across the country have pushed back on decreased wages by going on strike and protesting in many states in the last few years, including ahead of school reopenings this year.

• Chevron has overtaken Exxon in market value. 
• Exxon was the largest company in the world seven years ago. 
• Chevron's market value has also fallen substantially in the last year, driven down largely by the collapse in oil prices. 
• A number of events pushed down Exxon's stock including reporting two consecutive quarters of loss and getting booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. 
• For more stories like this, sign up here for our weekly energy newsletter.

Chevron surpassed Exxon in market value Wednesday, becoming the largest oil company by market cap in the US. This is the first time Chevron has been in the top spot since at least 1980, according to Bloomberg data.

The milestone is more about Exxon's decline than it is about Chevron's ascent, because the entire oil industry has been battered by a fall in crude prices sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

Exxon's market value is down more than 50% since the start of the year, and stands at $141.1 billion. Chevron's value has fallen about 40% to $141.3 billion. The broader S&P 500 is up more than 5% in the same period.  

Exxon's stock has faced pressure from a number of events including its ousting from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in August and two consecutive quarters of loss. The company also has a high dividend yield, signaling that it may be forced to cut its prized payout in the coming weeks.

"Dividend sustainability remains top of mind at XOM," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a late-September note, "with mixed views on how the company will ultimately move forward on the dividend."  

While Chevron has faced similar challenges — it reported an $8.3 billion loss in the second quarter — some analysts consider it a more resilient pick when oil is cheap. Chevron also has a stronger balance sheet than Exxon, according to a note published in early September by Goldman Sachs. 

Chevron's stock also got a boost when the company announced in July it would acquire gas-producer Noble Energy.

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The energy sector has underperformed every other industry in the S&P 500 this year, forced down by a collapse in oil prices in March. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, is down about 37% from the start of the year. 

Do you have information concerning Exxon or Chevron? Send tips to this reporter at bjones@businessinsider.com or through Signal/text at 1-646-768-1657.

Exxon was once the world's largest company

Seven years ago, Exxon was the largest company in the world by market value. It was worth almost half a trillion dollars by mid-2014 when oil was trading above $100 a barrel. 

Exxon's financial losses are tied to the recent collapse of oil markets. Plus, investor interest in fossil fuel companies at large is waning. In an August report, Bank of America said there's a "cocktail of disincentives" to own oil stocks, including a focus among investors on sustainability.

Investors are now rewarding companies that are disciplined with their capital, Bank of America said. Goldman Sachs, which favors Chevron (CVX), said in late September that it has "expectations that CVX will implement strong capital discipline."

After Exxon was cut from the 30-company Dow, Chevron was the only oil stock to remain.