Good morning, friends and Fortune readers.
It’s election day! If you aren’t sure what you should be paying attention to, check out Fortune‘s handy guide. In the business world, a variety of companies will report earnings today, including Wall Street darling Alibaba and a burger chain you may have heard of. Plus, oil prices are at multi-year lows after Saudi Arabia’s export price cut to the U.S. Here’s what else you need to know today.
1. Midterms! Midterms! Midterms!
The day we’ve all been waiting for is here. Even if you haven’t been waiting for it, it’s here. Nate Silver of 538 says there is a 75% chance the Republicans will win control of the Senate. There’s also a number of minimum wage hikes on the ballot, so this is sure to be an impactful election in the business world. This was the most expensive midterm campaign in American history, according to the New York Times.
2. Talking Alibaba again
Last month, people couldn’t get enough Alibaba (BABA). The “Chinese Amazon” opened trading on the NYSE with fervor usually reserved for boy bands, but since then it has been mostly quiet. Founder Jack Ma will get another go in the spotlight, though, as the company reported earnings today — the first time since its IPO. Alibaba said revenue was up 54% year over year.
3. Burger King (BK) serves up earnings
The fast food chain reported earnings this morning, the first since it announced its acquisition of Canadian chain Tim Horton’s in August, largely seen as a “tax-inversion” deal. The company news release makes several notes of the deal, expected to close later this year, or early next year. Sales and earnings were both up for the quarter.
4. Get ready to watch Frozen again
Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) announced today a deal that would allow consumers who buy Disney (DIS) movies from either company’s service to watch the video on the rivals devices, reports the Wall Street Journal. True Disney magic.
5. RIP Clack
Tom Magliozzi, one of the hosts of the popular NPR talk show “Car Talk,” died yesterday. And we do mean popular. So popular that when Magliozzi and his co-host and brother Ray decided to retire in 2012, NPR continued airing old episodes, because people just couldn’t get enough of their talk of carburetors and life anecdotes. Magliozzi was 77.
