FINPULSE Update @2026-10-12 04:37:55 - Calle 15 de Febrero

- FTSE 100: 10,605 - 10,613 (up about 0.5-0.6%) - DAX: 25,213 - 25,236 (up about 0.5-0.6%) - EUR/USD: 1.1186 - 1.1206 - GBP/USD: 1.3220 - 1.3238 - USD/JPY: 158.25 - 158.60 - Gold: 4,183 - 4,210 per ounce - Brent crude: 103.2 - 104.4 per barrel - WTI crude: 90.3 - 91.3 per barrel - Bitcoin: 83,400 - 84,150 USD - Calendar: US CPI due Wednesday, October 14. Discrepancy resolved: an earlier Brent reading above 106 and WTI at 92.56 do not match Monday quotes; ranges above reflect Monday trading. ======================================== NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS ======================================== Robert E. Hall (Stanford University) and Michael Woodford (Columbia University) were awarded the 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, announced October 12 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Official citation: for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor, shared equally. Correction: the citation does not name "New Keynesian models." Confirmed by: Reuters, AP, CNN, NPR, Japan Times. ======================================== ENERGY AND OIL ======================================== - Energy ceasefire: President Trump announced on October 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire. Zelenskyy said the announcement was news to him, that Ukraine supports a ceasefire if Russia does the same, and separately offered elections in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Moscow is open to an energy ceasefire and that contacts are ongoing. Ukrainian officials reported further Russian strikes after the announcement, including on an energy facility near Kharkiv. Status: announced, not confirmed by both parties. - Russian diesel: Trump agreed on October 9 to lift sanctions on Russian diesel. Oil fell on Monday on this and on ceasefire hopes; Brent held above 100. - Brent: about 103-104 on Monday. - Analyst view that U.S. consumers will see little price relief: not confirmed in sources reviewed. Sources: Axios, CNBC, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, Newsweek. ======================================== MIDDLE EAST AND SECURITY ======================================== Riyadh airport (King Khalid International), Houthi attacks: - Thursday, October 8: strikes killed three Saudi nationals including a pilot; three aircraft reported damaged. - Saturday, October 10: missile strike killed at least 12 (Saudi civil aviation authority via Saudi Gazette, CNBC, Al Jazeera) or 13 (NBC, CBS) and injured about 309. Deadliest attack on Saudi soil in over a decade. - Sunday, October 11: projectile struck Terminal 4, killing one person (a Pakistani resident) and injuring 11; an Indian national hurt Saturday later died. The Houthis claimed a four-wave attack. - Weekly toll reported by CBS: about 20 dead including one American. Airport closed; 600+ flights cancelled (CNN). Consolidation: the "one killed, 11 injured" figure refers only to Sunday's strike. Trump response: said the U.S. "may" join Saudi operations against the Houthis and "will look at it"; plans to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. No decision reported. Other: - New York Times, October 12: "America's Favorite Fruit Is Being Bruised by the Iran War" covers bananas and the war's effect on fuel and shipping costs. (Banana Association of North America cited rising bunker and diesel costs on September 29.) - New York Times item on the world's energy order being tested: not located. Sources: NBC News, CNBC, CBS News, Al Jazeera, CNN, NPR/AP, Euronews. ======================================== UKRAINE AND RUSSIA ======================================== - Zaporizhzhia, Saturday October 10: five Russian glide bombs hit residential buildings. Toll rose from 15 to at least 20 dead, including three children; 16-18 injured. Zelenskyy tied the attack to the U.S. diesel deal. Russia said it struck a data-processing centre in Kyiv and a cargo ship bound for Odesa. - Yandex: third Ukrainian strike on Yandex sites this week, on a data centre near Moscow; Yandex paused operations at the facility (BBC). An earlier strike hit the Sasovo site. - Russian film "Witnesses": Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets condemned it as an attempt to rewrite the 2022 Mariupol drama theater bombing, shot on the rebuilt theater's stage. Death estimates: about 300 (Mariupol city council) to about 600 (AP). Amnesty International attributes the bombing to Russian aerial bombs; Russia denies targeting the theater. The New York Times article itself: not located; film and controversy confirmed. Sources: BBC, UPI, TVP World/Reuters, Liga.net, United24. ======================================== TECHNOLOGY AND AI ======================================== - Intel and Broadcom: at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on October 12, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said capital may be the biggest constraint on AI growth, ahead of wafers and memory. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan cited capital, the cost of capital, and the need for returns on investment. (CNBC, Reuters) - Microsoft: President Brad Smith told ITV News on October 8 that AI is less regulated than a washing machine or a carton of milk. Attribution corrected to ITV News. - IMF and World Bank: at the Annual Meetings in Bangkok, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called AI a "slow-moving tsunami" and estimated about 40% of jobs worldwide will be affected. Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, co-chair of the World Bank Jobs Council, urged making crisis-era support measures permanent. World Bank President Ajay Banga said 1.2 billion young people will turn 18 over 15 years. (CNBC) - Developer jobs: Indeed Hiring Lab (July 8, 2026) found U.S. software-development postings up about 15% since February 2025 while total postings fell about 7%. The specific CNBC article was not located; the data point is confirmed. - Flock Safety: Reuters exclusive reports plans to cut about 270 jobs, roughly 18% of about 1,500 staff, after a September voluntary buyout, with departures at the end of October. Company declined to comment. Reuters headline says "several hundred"; the figure reported is 270. ======================================== OTHER ======================================== - flydubai flight FZ1073 (Wednesday, September 30): the co-pilot attacked the captain and tried to take control. The UAE prosecutor general described it as a terrorist attack and cited a crash axe; Reuters described a stabbing. Reports name the co-pilot as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national; Reuters stated the UAE and flydubai had not publicly disclosed his identity. He reportedly studied at RMIT in Melbourne. Victoria's Joint Counter Terrorism Team is investigating his links to Australia. The UAE attorney general suggested radicalisation at a mosque in Australia in 2017; the Financial Times, citing two people, reported visits to "radical mosques." No specific mosque has been identified. All claims remain allegations under investigation. - Djibouti shipwreck: IOM reports at least 139 dead and 84 missing after a boat carrying 305 people capsized the night of October 8-9 near Guhere, north of Obock, en route to Yemen. About 82 survived; 15 of the dead are children. The count includes only bodies buried by authorities; others buried by migrants are not yet counted. - China-EU: on October 9, the EU and China reached an interim trade deal after two days of talks (AP reports Hong Kong; the EU trade commissioner held his press conference in Beijing). Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said it could cut Chinese electric and plug-in hybrid imports by up to 50%, and hybrid exports by more than half over four years. China to lower duties on about 4 billion euros of EU goods. Requires approval from leaders of all 27 EU states. ACEA welcomed it on October 9. This replaces the earlier January 12 minimum-price guidance as the current story. - Kenya: BBC Africa Eye (October 12) analysed 1,500+ videos and images and found three mourners shot dead at Kasarani Stadium on October 16, 2025, during Raila Odinga's farewell were 60-160 metres from the clashes, and identified elite police units as present and armed. Two more died in a stampede the next day. - Nepal: on October 11 a flash flood on the Budhi Gandaki River in Gorkha district destroyed homes, damaged or destroyed four bridges and damaged three hydropower projects. At least five missing; 82 rescued including nine foreigners. House counts vary: about 12 (early BBC), about 36 (NBC), 45 (national disaster agency). Cause per the agency: a landslide dam that burst. Context: the August 26 glacial-collapse flood killed more than 1,400 (AP); an earlier police count of 469 is superseded. - India: on October 12 the INDIA bloc, led by Congress, marched toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged "vote theft." Chief Justice Surya Kant declined to meet them, citing pending cases on the electoral roll revision that removed about 130 million names. Police detained thousands of activists over the weekend (AP). - Taliban and Europe: New York Times, October 12, reports Germany and other European governments are negotiating with the Taliban to speed Afghan deportations; the Taliban seek a larger diplomatic presence and economic aid. Talks reported with at least four countries. ======================================== SOURCE CONTACTS (verified in directories or official pages) ======================================== Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Nobel economics) Email: press@kva.se Address: Lilla Frescativagen 4A, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden Press secretary phone: +46 70 878 67 63 (published on Academy releases through 2023) International Organization for Migration (Djibouti shipwreck) Address: 17 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland Phone: +41 22 717 9111 Email: hq@iom.int Reuters (Thomson Reuters) Address: Thomson Reuters Building, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5EP Phone: +44 20 7250 1122 The New York Times Address: 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 Phone: +1 212 556 1234 Email: nytnews@nytimes.com (press releases) CNBC Address: 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Phone: +1 201 735 2622 Associated Press Phone: +1 212 621 1500 BBC Address: Wogan House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA Phone and email for The Guardian, South China Morning Post, ITV News, CNN, Al Jazeera, Axios, Flock Safety, the IMF and the World Bank were not located. Contact details above for media outlets are corporate or switchboard listings, not newsroom desks; confirm on each outlet's own contact page before use. Evan Winter Fiveo1 PO Box 312786 Avalon, California 90704