CNN BUSINESS | Goldman Sachs: A Democratic sweep would mean faster economic recovery

New York (CNN Business) – President Donald Trump is once again warning voters that Democrats would “shut our economy and jobs down” if they win in November.

Goldman Sachs is telling its clients the exact opposite.

Just hours after Trump’s all-caps Monday morning tweet predicting economic disaster, Goldman economists pointed out that polls “suggest a ‘blue wave’ in which Democrats gain unified control of Washington is becoming more likely” — and they’re not suggesting investors dump stocks.

In fact, “all else equal, such a blue wave would likely prompt us to upgrade our forecasts,” Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a Monday report.  —more—  

CNN health | 9 Foods for Beautiful Skin

9 Foods for Beautiful Skin
The right creams and skin care products can help your skin glow, but nourishment from the inside out is just as important. As you consider these nine foods to help keep your skin looking youthful and radiant, remember to enjoy a balanced diet with moderate portion size.  —more— 

CNN health | This is what happens to your body over months in isolation

(CNN) – Since the pandemic officially began in March, we’ve been told staying home is the best way to avoid catching Covid-19. And it is. But life in confinement can cause physical ailments on its own.

Being homebound for so long contorts the body, weakens the heart and lungs and even impairs brain function. The effects of life in isolation may stay with us beyond the pandemic’s end (whenever that may be).

This is what half a year of isolation, staying home and staying sedentary can do to your body.  —more— 

CNN health | A healthy sex life boosts long-term survival hopes for heart attack victims

(CNN) – People who have had heart attacks can boost their chances of long-term survival by returning to normal levels of sexual activity, a new study shows.

Many people stop having sex after a heart attack in the belief that it could trigger another episode, but research published Wednesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology says sex is good for survival rates.

Researchers followed 495 couples for around 20 years and found that those who maintained or increased their frequency of sexual activity in the first six months after a heart attack had a 35% lower risk of death than those who stopped having sex or reduced their frequency.  —more— 

CNN | Architect’s innovative shipping container homes could help solve Puerto Rico’s housing crisis

(CNN) – Puerto Rican architect Carla Gautier Castro stands overlooking the remains of a home after a string of earthquakes hammered the town of Yauco, on the southwest of the island.

It’s a painful scene she has seen again and again. It is also the reason she now dedicates her life to ensuring everyone on the island has a safe dwelling.

The pillars of this concrete house collapsed, crushing three vehicles underneath. Furniture and personal belongings are strewn around, unreachable, unsalvageable.

“I’m traumatized,” homeowner Luz María Morales Vargas tells Gautier Castro. “We’ve lived here for 27 years.”  —more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Home sales reach a 14-year high in August, with prices hitting a new record

Home sales surged to a 14-year high in August as record low interest rates brought homebuyers out in droves and pushed prices to a new record high.

Existing home sales — which includes sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — were up 2.4% in August from July, to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6 million transactions, according to the National Association of Realtors. That was a 10.5% increase from the year before and the highest level since December 2006.  —more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Commercial real estate flounders as housing market booms

New York (CNN Business) – The housing market is red hot thanks to record-low mortgage rates and consumers looking to flee cities for the suburbs. But offices, shopping malls and other commercial real estate properties have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The rise of Zoom (ZM), Slack (WORK) and other productivity tools has made it easier for people to set up home offices and still get their jobs done. Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN) and other digital retailers are flourishing amid the Covid-19 pandemic as the shift from bricks to clicks has accelerated.

“There will likely be less demand for commercial real estate due to the rising popularity of online shopping and working from home,” said Ivy Investments global economist Derek Hamilton in an e-mail.  —more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Fed pledges to keep interest rates near zero for years

New York (CNN Business) – The Federal Reserve committed Wednesday to do more to help the US economic recovery, promising more asset purchases and lower interest rates for even longer than it previously expected.

The Federal funds rate remained unchanged at zero to a quarter percentage point, and will stay there until America’s labor market has recovered “consistent with the Committee’s assessments of maximum employment” and the inflation rate has risen to 2%, and is on track to exceed that level for some time.

Given the country is still down 11.5 million jobs since February and the consumer price inflation rate over the past 12 months stood at 1.3% last month, this seems like a long way off.  —more— 

CNN Business | Home Depot cancels Black Friday

New York (CNN)Black Friday as you know it is gone this year at Home Depot.

But don’t fret. The home improvement retailer said it’s just taking a different approach to the annual one-day deep discounts bonanza that occurs the day after Thanksgiving.

Instead of a single day, Home Depot (HD) said it will offer Black Friday discounts for two months, beginning in early November through December.  —more— 

CNN | Officers covered head of Black man and held him to the ground before he stopped breathing, bodycam video shows

(CNN) – Newly released police video of the March death of a Black man in Rochester, New York, shows officers covering his head and holding him on the ground before he stopped breathing.

Daniel Prude was having a mental health episode on March 23 when his brother Joe Prude called the Rochester Police Department for help, the family said at a press conference Wednesday. Prude stopped breathing after police knelt on him while he was handcuffed, according to video.

When he was brought to the hospital 15 minutes later, he was brain dead, Joe Prude said.  —more—