Apple is reportedly considering a tie-up with US radio group iHeartMedia

Apple is exploring a tie-up with the largest U.S. radio group, iHeartMedia, to try and boost its streaming service, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Talks between the two companies are at a preliminary stage and no deal has been agreed, according to people with knowledge, the FT said.

The newspaper added that a source said iHeartMedia, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, is hoping that the iPhone-maker will take an equity stake worth tens of millions of dollars. Another source suggested that the tie-up could result in a multimillion-dollar marketing partnership instead of a direct investment, the FT said.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC's emailed request for comment.

The FT said that the tech giant declined to comment while iHeartMedia did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Earlier this year, Apple bought music recognition app Shazam to bolster its music business as the company takes on streaming giant Spotify. Apple's subscription service boasted 50 million active users in May, though the company hasn't offered an official update since. Spotify has 83 million paying subscribers and 100 million or so unpaid users.

Apple is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.

Read the Financial Times' full report on Apple exploring a stake in iHeartMedia here.

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Credit Suisse: Net income for Q3 comes in at 424 million Swiss francs, vs. 449 million Swiss francs expected

Credit Suisse reported lower-than-expected net income results for the third quarter of the year.

Net income stood at 424 million Swiss francs, a 74 percent increase from a year ago. However, the numbers missed analysts' forecast of 449 million Swiss francs, according to data from Reuters.

Credit Suisse had reported a net income of 244 million Swiss francs in the third quarter of 2017. Shares in Switzerland's second-largest bank are down by more than 24 percent since the start of the year.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back again later for more.

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Sri Lanka's president to reconvene parliament as international pressure mounts

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena will reconvene parliament on Nov. 5, newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Thursday, as international pressure builds to resolve a political crisis.

Sirisena named the pro-China Rajapaksa as prime minister on Friday after abruptly dismissing the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe has said his removal is unconstitutional and has demanded he be allowed to prove his parliamentary majority.

"President has decided to reconvene the parliament on 5th," Rajapaksa said addressing a meeting at the prime minister's office.

Sirisena had earlier prorogued the parliament till Nov. 16 but political parties and foreign powers urged an earlier session to resolve the crisis.

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Banks are fighting to survive an 'extinction phase' spurred by new tech

Pedigrees, some stretching back centuries, are of little use to global banks unless they aggressively adapt to new financial technologies.

That's long been true, but the pace of innovation means financial juggernauts now face what one top executive likened to a mass extinction event.

A revolution in financial technology — often shortened to fintech — has propelled an explosion of new entrants who are shaking up the sector. Established giants, for their part, are fighting to adapt, emphasizing that technology may be changing fast but banking fundamentals are not.

Stephen Bird, CEO for global consumer banking at Citi, said the current changes may be happening on an unprecedented scale, but his bank — established in 1812 — is set to make the transition.

"The benefit of being 200 years old is that we have a survival reinvention DNA and that is core to who we are," Bird said during a panel discussion Wednesday at the annual Hong Kong FinTech Week conference.

"We think of it as we are living through an extinction phase," Bird said. "It is not an incremental thing, it's an epochal shift."

Given the explosion in new financial players, he said, established banks will need a "tense and deep re-engineering" of processes to enhance speed, convenience and trust and get at what is most important: the customer.

Bird said Citi in the United States, for example, has gained an edge by developing new ways of doing things by actively listening to its customers through "co-creation." Citi had 20,000 such sessions, which Bird credited with helping Citi achieve what he described as the most rapidly growing mobile base in North America.

Ben Hung, regional CEO for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, which has roots going back more than 150 years, said that one constant in the sector has been what customers seek at a basic level.

"It's all about how they want to manage their money, tend their money and grow their money and that fundamental need I don't think has changed," Hung said during the same Wednesday panel in Hong Kong.

What has, he stressed, is the pace of technological development now necessary to meet those requirements, which he acknowledged can be intimidating.

"It's about how to address some of these needs through technology in different ways, but equally it can be quite daunting given the uncertainty and speed by which technology happens," he said.

"It's all very exciting, very, very daunting," said Hung, who also serves as his bank's CEO for retail banking and wealth management.

Bird, meanwhile, said that the pace of investment flows into financial technology suggests an attention-grabbing shift away from incumbents toward new players.

"We take that provocation as very, very real because it's the economics of what's happening," he said.

He said that Citi has hired people from companies such as PayPal and Amazon who possess the "mindset" needed to aid the bank's transformation.

Also crucial, he said, is for the bank to be where its customers are. That increasingly means social media platforms such as WeChat as well as Instagram and Facebook.

"So we must fintegrate," he said.

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India jumps higher in World Bank's ranking of how easy it is to do business

India climbed 23 spots from a year ago to rank 77 out of 190 countries in the World Bank's latest report on the ease of doing business.

It was also among the top 10 most improved economies along with countries such as China, Djibouti and Azerbaijan, according to the "Doing Business 2019" report.

The ease of doing business in India improved notably after a series of reforms made it easier for companies to get construction permits, pay taxes and trade across borders, the report said.

Entrepreneurs were able to start a business more easily after India integrated multiple application forms into a general incorporation form, the World Bank noted. Reforms also "streamlined the process of obtaining a building permit and made it faster and less expensive to obtain a construction permit."

Last year, the country amended its insolvency and bankruptcy code which prevented willful defaulters from buying up any of their own troubled assets at discounted rates. That strengthened access to credit as "secured creditors are now given absolute priority over other claims within insolvency proceedings," the World Bank report said.

Other areas of improvement included simplifying India's complex tax structure that made it easier to pay taxes. Initiatives implemented under the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2017-2020 improved the efficiency of cross-border trading and reduced the time taken to meet compliance requirements, the report said.

India has steadily moved up the ranking since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government came into power and implemented a series of major reforms.

Modi said on Twitter that he was "delighted" by the ranking while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly told a news conference that India can crack the top 50 if it further improved the time taken for registering properties, starting a business and enforcing contracts.

Modi tweet: Delighted at yet another rise in India's 'Ease of Doing Business' rank. We are unwavering in our commitment towards economic reforms, which will ensure an environment that fosters industry, investment and opportunities. @WorldBank

"The jump in India's ranking under the [World Bank] ease of doing business is a recognition of recent progressive reforms," Radhika Rao, an economist with DBS Bank, told CNBC. "This improvement is commendable and timely, even if the benefits of these long-term focused and social plumbing reforms might not buoy growth in the immediate term."

India is currently battling a volatile rupee and a widening current account deficit while gearing up for next year's general elections.

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UK and EU reportedly agree to tentative Brexit deal on financial services

British Prime Minister Theresa May has struck a tentative deal with the European Union that would give UK financial services companies continued access to European markets after Brexit, The Times reported on Thursday.

British and European negotiators have reached tentative agreement on all aspects of a future partnership on services, as well as the exchange of data, the British newspaper reported, citing government sources.

The services deal would give UK companies access to European markets as long as British financial regulation remained broadly aligned with the EU's, the Times reported.

The British pound jumped as much as 0.5 percent against the dollar following the report.

Global banks operating in the UK have had to reorganize their operations around Britain's departure from the European Union, due to take place in March next year. Many have set up new European hubs and begun to move operations, senior executives and staff to ensure they can continue to serve their continental clients if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal.

According to the Times' report, EU will accept that the UK has "equivalent" regulations to Brussels, and UK financial services companies will be allowed to operate as they now do in Europe.

EU officials have said that the EU's financial market access system, known as "equivalence," under which Brussels grants access to foreign banks and insurers if their home rules converge with the bloc's, is probably Britain's best bet.

"Equivalence" has so far had limited application, because, for one, under existing rules market access can be withdrawn unilaterally with only a month's notice, the Times said.

Under the new deal, "equivalence" will be extended and will fall under the governance of the wider trade treaty, allowing the EU and the UK to change or set new financial regulations after consulting each other beforehand, the Times said.

May's principal Europe adviser, Oliver Robbins, is continuing the negotiations in Brussels, according to the report.

With five months to secure a deal before Britain is due to leave the EU, business leaders are demanding certainty over the kind of trade terms the divorce will deliver.

UK's Financial Conduct Authority wants Britain to stay closely aligned with the EU, but without Britain's having to copy all the bloc's rules, the acting director of strategy at the FCA, Richard Monks, has said.

Britain on Wednesday said there was no set date for Brexit talks to finish, backtracking from a letter by Brexit minister Dominic Raab that suggested a deal on the terms of its departure from the European Union could be finalized by Nov. 21.

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A private survey shows China's factory activity unexpectedly grows

Chinese factory activity expanded sightly in October despite an ongoing trade dispute with the U.S., a survey of small and medium-sized enterprises in China showed.

On Thursday, Caixin and IHS Markit reported October Purchasing Managers' index (PMI) was 50.1 for October, beating analysts' expectations. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected the reading to have dipped slightly to 49.9 from 50.0 in September.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction.

Despite the better-than-expected headline number and slight expansion in manufacturing activity for October, a detailed reading of the survey showed softness in the Chinese economy.

The sub-index for new orders improved from a two-year low in September but remained in negative territory. New export sales dropped for the seventh straight month.

"China's economy has not seen obvious improvement," said Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group, a Caixin subsidiary in a press release.

"Overall, expansion across the manufacturing sector was still weak. Production and business confidence continued to cool despite stable demand. The pressure on production costs didn't ease," Zhong added.

On Wednesday, China reported the country's weakest manufacturing growth in more than two years.

Official manufacturing PMI was 50.2 in October — lower than the 50.6 that analysts expected in a Reuters poll. The official manufacturing PMI was 50.8 in September.

China's official PMI gauge focuses on large companies and state-owned enterprises, while the private survey by Caixin and IHS focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

October was the first full month after the latest U.S. tariffs went into effect. Washington and Beijing slapped additional tariffs on each other's goods on Sept. 24.

Economic data from China is being closely watched amid a trade war between the two economic giants.

Although economic data out of China has held up so far this year even amid the trade dispute with the U.S., analysts said many exporters were rushing to ship products before American tariffs on the goods hit.

Already, China reported slower-than-expected growth of 6.5 percent in the third quarter of the year — its weakest pace since the first quarter of 2009.

Even before the escalation in trade tensions with the U.S. this year, Beijing was already trying to manage a slowdown in its economy after three decades of breakneck growth.

The trade war with the U.S. is now complicating those efforts, with analysts expecting Beijing to boost policy easing measures to manage the threats from the bilateral dispute that may derail growth.

— Reuters contributed to this report.

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How to respond when an interviewer asks 'What's your current salary?'

It's the question you hope will never arise during your job interview: What is your current salary?

Answer honestly, and you risk getting low-balled and missing your chance to climb the pay scale. Bend the truth, and you might overshoot the mark or, worse still, be found out as a liar.

In the U.S., the once routine query is becoming increasingly uncommon as a number of states, cities and companies have moved to ban it. New York City, Delaware, Amazon and Facebook are but a few of the places to make the shift away from the question.

The move is part of efforts to reduce the gender pay gap. Research suggests that salary history questions can cause pay disparities between men and women to snowball over time.

In some cases, the ban appears to be working. New York City-based recruitment specialist Oliver Cooke told CNBC Make It that one female candidate who interviewed through his firm secured a 100 percent pay increase shortly after the city-wide regulation came into effect.

"I'm pretty confident that if she had said her salary history she would have been offered much less," remarked Cooke, who said he had seen a "big shift" in the year since the roll out.

Yet, elsewhere, the question continues to rear its head. According to compensation research firm PayScale, 43 percent of U.S. workers are still asked about their salary history. Meanwhile, in other countries, the request is still widespread.

So, how should you respond to make the most of your next job opportunity?

First up, do your research to find out the current regulation on the question in the particular place in which you're interviewing.

If the question is still legal, then it's unlikely you'll be able to dodge it entirely. According to Cooke, when a candidate attempts to do so, it is typically seen as a "red flag." But, if you are reluctant to share, it may be possible to answer indirectly.

"You can try to gloss over the question by stating, 'According to my recent research on [X site], I was being paid fair market value based on my role and level of responsibility at [Company X],'" Amanda Augustine, career advice expert for interview coaching site TopInterview, told CNBC Make It via email.

That answer may not satisfy your interviewer, or you may prefer to be direct from the start. In which case, experts agree you should not lie.

"I'm never an advocate for lying," said Augustine, noting recent research that suggests resume and interview lies tend to catch up with candidates sooner or later.

"Some employers will go so far as to request tax returns to support your compensation claims," she continued, adding that it's best to be upfront.

Bestselling management author and CNBC contributor Suzy Welch agrees, telling CNBC Make It earlier this year that honesty is the best policy.

"People are going to tell you that you should game this conversation ... That is no way to start a relationship," said Welch.

According to Grant Torrens, Singapore-based business director for global recruitment firm Hays, sharing your salary history with recruiters and hiring managers can actually be beneficial for candidates and ensures that their "expected salary is in line with what the employer is willing to offer."

However, it's important to also share other factors to put that pay into context, "such as skill set, experience, and personality," said Torrens.

Augustine agreed, saying that's even more vital if you're trying to change industries, when it may be unhelpful to compare salaries on an apples-to-apples basis.

In such instances, she recommended saying something like: "It's difficult to compare my previous salary to this role, as I was working for a very different [industry/type of company]. However, based on my recent research, I believe the value of my position in an [industry/company] such as yours is [$X]."

Finally, respond with confidence.

Whether you believe you've been underpaid previously, or are simply after a pay rise, the "what is your current salary?" question is also your opportunity to state your case, said Cooke of recruitment firm Selby Jennings.

"You probably wouldn't be at that stage of the process if you weren't considered a strong fit," he said, noting that employers will already have a vague idea of your market value.

"Just do your research and be open," he added.

Don't miss: When resigning, here's why you should never accept that counteroffer

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Cramer Remix: Facebook's not back yet, but it's on its way

Facebook's third-quarter earnings report told CNBC's Jim Cramer that the social media giant has a chance at a comeback after months of recurring issues around data privacy.

"The important thing here is that a turn is even possible ," the "Mad Money" host said after shares of Facebook closed nearly 4 percent higher on Wednesday.

"Advertisers are spending a fortune on Instagram stories," he continued. "I believe Facebook will be able to monetize many of its other products and while I can't say it's back, I do think the company's now in a position to under-promise and over-deliver, particularly on expenses."

Cramer also lamented the trading action in FANG, the acronym he uses to talk about the stocks of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, now Alphabet. For more on that, click here.

Following in the path of the tech-savvy Domino's Pizza, fast-casual chain Wingstop is turning its focus to digital as customers become increasingly familiar with its web-based platforms, Wingstop CEO Charlie Morrison told CNBC on Wednesday.

"Today, … 25 percent of our revenue comes from digital," Morrison said in an exclusive interview with Cramer.

With Wingstop's plans to launch delivery across its restaurant base, build its own customer-facing website and mobile app, and start using natural voice recognition to streamline ordering, that percentage could soon grow, the CEO said.

Click here to watch and read more about his interview.

Cramer was immediately intrigued when shares of Masco, a home supply manufacturer, managed to surge more than 7 percent after the company's disappointing earnings report on Tuesday.

Most news headlines painted Masco's quarter as weak, pressured by a slowing housing sector, rising raw costs, a hawkish Federal Reserve, higher tariffs and a muted full-year forecast.

But the action in the stock indicated otherwise, sending Cramer "a classic signal that the psychology of the market may be changing, and changing for the better."

Click here for more.

The pockets of weakness in Clorox's first-quarter earnings report, particularly with its charcoal-based and RenewLife supplement products, were "temporary" whiffs, Chairman and CEO Benno Dorer told Cramer on Wednesday.

"We are facing temporary issues that are related to out of stocks following supply chain problems" with RenewLife, the CEO said. "We're seeing two things: first of all, we've seen very irregular ordering patterns from major customers and that is nothing special in the vitamins, minerals, supplements category, but newer to us. And then we've made some integration-related, very good changes for us in the long term, that have hurt us in the last quarter."

Still, the household and personal products maker is "executing very well in a tough environment" and will likely benefit over the longer term from its initiatives, Dorer said.

Click here for his full interview.

Nick Akins, the chairman and CEO of the largest power transmission network in the United States, is keeping a close eye on the country's economic patterns, he told Cramer in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

"Oil and gas is still doing fine, industrials grew by 2.4 percent, but we saw residential and commercial growth come down a little bit," the American Electric Power chief said. "We think it's really driven by strong dollar; certainly some of the tariffs are having an impact on non-oil-and-gas-related activities — chemicals and so forth — and we're seeing some level of tempering, so we're watching that very closely as we go forward."

Residential and commercial growth are important indicators for the stability of the economy and for AEP, an electric utility giant at the center of large-scale power generation.

"It sort of erodes confidence when you see that kind of activity start to temper in that regard, particularly commercial load, which is your mom-and-pop stores and commercial big box stores," Akins told Cramer. "You want to make sure that that continues to progress, because residential will follow."

Click here for his full interview.

In Cramer's lightning round, he shared his take on callers' favorite stocks:

XPO Logistics Inc.: "XPO reported after the close and one of their clients filed for bankruptcy and it looks like that's going to bring the stock down $4. [CEO] Brad Jacobs is doing a good job. I think the weakness caused by this bankruptcy might be an opportunity to buy."

Align Technology Inc.: "That was not a good quarter. This did surprise me. Finally the competition is coming up to them and there are other companies that want to be against Invisalign and they did not do the number and that was shocking to me."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet.

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The stock of Masco managing to soar on weak earnings says a lot about this market: Cramer

CNBC's Jim Cramer was immediately intrigued when shares of Masco, a home supply manufacturer, managed to surge more than 7 percent after the company's disappointing earnings report on Tuesday.

Most news headlines painted Masco's quarter as weak, pressured by a slowing housing sector, rising raw costs, a hawkish Federal Reserve, higher tariffs and a muted full-year forecast.

But the action in the stock indicated otherwise, sending Cramer, host of "Mad Money," "a classic signal that the psychology of the market may be changing, and changing for the better."

"Every so often, we'll reach an inflection point, a point where the bad news is totally baked in and a short becomes a long, and that's what happened to Masco yesterday," he said on Wednesday after Masco's stock rose another 1.69 percent. "This is an important tell ... for the broader market, so I want you to understand how it happened and why."

Cramer pointed out that housing pressures, higher interest rates, China and raw cost inflation were already weighing on Masco's stock ahead of its most recent earnings report.

Shares of the Behr parent are still down about 32 percent for the year even though the company has historically had "excellent financial discipline" and strong relationships with retailers like Home Depot, he said.

The quarter, however, wasn't as bad as many feared. Raw costs seemed to peak thanks to lower demand, an "unexpected" benefit that will "bolster Masco's bottom line next year," the "Mad Money" host noted. And even though home sales are slowing, the repair and remodeling business is getting stronger, as is consumer spending.

Lastly, Masco, a global company, has long been navigating changes in raw costs and inflation, so tariffs may not have a drastic effect on business, Cramer said.

On the post-earnings conference call, Masco's management team spoke about shifting production out of China — most of Masco's competitors still source all of their products from China — and managing tariff pressures with a combination of price increases, negotiating with suppliers, supply chain shifts and other efficiency initiatives.

"You've got a stock that's down 32 percent for the year even as its raw costs are now going down, its end markets are holding up thanks to repair and remodeling demand, and its supply chain is strong enough that the tariffs may actually allow the company to crush its private-label competition," Cramer said.

"That's how a stock like Masco manages to rally on seemingly horrific news, and I bet it's got more room to run," he continued. "And that's how you get a bottom in a terrible group."

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'It's a mistake' to write off FANG even as the stocks could still go lower, Cramer says

Sometimes, CNBC's Jim Cramer wishes FANG, the acronym he uses to talk about the stocks of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, now Alphabet, had never been created.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I rue the day we created this silly thing," the "Mad Money" host said one day after Facebook's third-quarter earnings report. "Now, there are 10 FANG ETFs that link them all together. Shameless."

The social media giant's mixed results sent the other FANG stocks on a roller-coaster ride as the exchange-traded funds that package them all together forced them to trade "practically in lockstep" with shares of Facebook, Cramer said.

"It's the power of the ETFs. When one FANG stock gets wrecked, they all get whacked. When one rallies, they all rally, as we saw today, with Facebook ultimately gaining 4 percent and the rest of FANG following suit," he said.

Calling this kind of action "monumentally stupid," Cramer stressed how different each FANG company is from the others, adding that "it's a mistake to write them off" because of their distinct prospects and massive end markets.

"Sure, they each have some sort of overlap, but you know, really, what they have in common? The fact that ... they used to spell the word FANG, which is why we on 'Mad Money' coined the ... acronym five years ago," he said.

Even so, "FANG is by no means out of the woods" because of the weight these FANG-laden ETFs carry, the "Mad Money" host warned. He noted that many of them include the stock of Apple, and that any weakness in the iPhone maker's Thursday earnings report could bring trouble.

"It's entirely possible Apple talks about a Chinese slowdown. They might even have a miss in service revenue," he said. "Unlike the core FANG names, Apple's stock is barely down from its highs. So get ready for more short-term volatility, which, of course, is code for vicious, exaggerated declines by ETFs."

And while FANG's stock charts "remain terrible" and each company, especially Facebook, still faces challenges, Cramer wasn't comfortable writing them off entirely because of momentary, market-driven and possibly mechanical pain.

"The bottom line here is that there's a reason these four companies have been able to disrupt entire industries over and over again, and that reason is the fundamentals," he said. "Even when the FANGs screw up, they're still incredible companies."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple.

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Trump says up to 15,000 US troops could deploy to southwest border

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he may deploy as many as 15,000 troops to the southwest border ahead of a caravan of Central American migrants.

"As far as the caravan is concerned, our military is out... we'll go up to anywhere between 10 and 15,000 military personnel, on top of Border Patrol, ICE and everybody else at the border," Trump told reporters before traveling to Florida.

The Department of Defense estimates that more than 7,000 troops will be positioned in California, Arizona and Texas in support of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection. The border mission, dubbed Operation Faithful Patriot, will have a larger U.S. military footprint than the combined efforts in Iraq and Syria.

In mid-October, a caravan of at least 3,500 Central American migrants left Honduras for the United States border. The caravan is currently in southern Mexico.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary James Mattis downplayed criticisms Wednesday that the active-duty troop deployment to the border was a political stunt motivated by the midterm elections.

"The support that we provide to the secretary for homeland security is practical support based on the request from the commissioner of customs and border police. We don't do stunts in this department," Mattis said.

A day prior, the four-star general overseeing the deployment, said the Department of Homeland Security requested 5,239 troops and that the figure was poised to rise.

"We do know that the 5,239 is — going forward and I will — what I can confirm is that there will be additional force over and above the 5,239," U.S. Air Force Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday.

O'Shaughnessy, however, noted that he had yet to hear of a figure as high as 14,000 troops.

"The numbers, for example, I heard 14,000 [troops] out there. I honestly don't even know where that came from. That is not in line with what we've been planning," he said.

Earlier in the week, Trump told Axios that he would terminate birthright citizenship for non citizens and undocumented immigrants.

"We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States ... with all of those benefits," Trump said Monday. "It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end."

"It's in the process. It'll happen ... with an executive order," Trump added.

Despite Trump's claim, Canada and many other countries grant birthright citizenship.

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One of Silicon Valley's most outspoken investors slams 'bizarre Ponzi balloon' of start-up economy

Chamath Palihapitiya, one of Silicon Valley's most outspoken tech investors, doubled down on calling the venture capital and tech start-up economy a Ponzi scheme on Wednesday.

In a letter released by Social Capital, his venture firm, Palihapitiya wrote that "the dynamics we've entered is, in many ways, creating a dangerous, high stakes Ponzi scheme" and a "bizarre Ponzi balloon."

Palihapitiya argues that "start-up valuations are massively inflated" as venture firms invest in each others' companies, push start-ups to use their funds to pay for user acquisition, and then raise investments from more firms. All the while, the venture firms can profit from management fees long before any of the start-ups they bet on are successful.

"These markups, and the paper returns that they suggest, allow VCs to raise subsequent, larger funds, and to enjoy the management fees that those funds generate," he wrote.

The cycle hurts two groups in particular, Palihapitiya wrote -- the so-called "limited partners" who invest money in venture capital funds, and the employees of the tech start-ups supported by those funds.

Limited partners don't see returns until "many years down the road," as the typical venture fund runs seven to ten years. Meanwhile, start-up employees give up the cash compensation they'd earn at a big company for stock options, which are difficult to cash out and often end up worthless, as later investors dilute their value or the start-up fails.

This is not the first time Palihapitiya, who was an early Facebook employee, has called Silicon Valley's start-up ecosystem a Ponzi scheme.

"We are, make no mistake … in the middle of an enormous multivariate kind of Ponzi scheme," Palihapitiya said at a San Francisco conference three weeks ago.

Palihapitiya's comments come after a turbulent year for Social Capital. The firm has seen the departure of numerous employees, and in September, Palihapitiya said Social Capital would no longer accept outside investment from limited partners.

"We think not, and we believe it's time to wait patiently as the air is slowly let out of this bizarre Ponzi balloon created by the venture capital industry," Palihapitiya wrote in his letter.

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Tech stocks plunged in October, suffering their worst month since the 2008 recession

Technology stocks just capped off their worst month since the depths of the recession a decade ago.

The Nasdaq plunged 9.2 percent in October, its steepest monthly drop since a 10.8 percent decline in November 2008. At that time the financial markets were in crisis and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was at the tail end of a six-month slump, during which the index lost more than 40 percent of its value.

All the biggest tech stocks suffered big losses in October, led by Amazon's 20 percent decline and Alphabet's 9.7 percent drop.

Investors pulled away from the stocks that have delivered the best returns in recent years, as concerns about President Trump's trade war and rising interest rates sent fund managers into assets that are perceived as safer should the economy turn.

The tech sector certainly wasn't alone in October. Eight of the 10 subgroups of the S&P 500 fell, led by energy and consumer discretionary stocks, which dropped more than the tech group. The broader S&P 500 declined 6.9 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 5.1 percent.

But tech has an outsize impact on the market as a whole, because five of the six most valuable U.S. companies are from that sector and hail from either Silicon Valley or the Seattle area.

Apple will be the last of the big five to report quarterly earnings, when the iPhone maker announces results on Thursday. Facebook reported mixed results on Tuesday, with earnings per share beating estimates but revenue falling short. Amazon and Alphabet plunged last week on disappointing numbers, while Microsoft rose on better-than-expected earnings but still fell for the week.

WATCH: Tech stocks saw a volatile October

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The auto cycle leaves plenty of room for Ford and GM to continue growing, analysts say

There's still plenty of time in the auto cycle, and General Motors and Ford will continue to grow, Tigress Financial Partners CIO Ivan Feinseth said on CNBC Wednesday.

He told "Closing Bell" that at the trough of the auto cycle, the average age of a car is about 11 years old. At the peak, it is about 7 years old. This year, the average age of a car is about 10 years old.

"Auto sales, as far as an upgrade cycle or a necessity purchase cycle, have a long way to go," Feinseth said.

"You also have people who buy new cars every three years because of the lease cycle, and also one of the biggest motivators of new car purchases is all of the infotainment and collision-avoidance features that are now available in new cars, so I think that the runway still has a ways to go for GM and Ford," he added.

He said Ford has a lot of room to grow in the luxury market to compete with GM.

"Ford needs some redesign in a number of their vehicles and they need a bigger push in the luxury market," Feinseth said, noting that Cadillac is the dominant American luxury car brand.

However, he thinks Ford is winning in pickup trucks and sports cars.

As for GM, it "has the best line-up it's ever had as far as vehicles in the company's history. They are led by one of the best CEOs in the company's history, so I think the wind is at their back," Feinseth added.

Michael Ward, an auto analyst with Williams Research Partners, also thinks the auto cycle will go higher.

"In an environment where the unemployment rate is low, confidence is high, interest rates at an all-time low and income growing, you're not going to have lower car sales," Ward said on "Power Lunch" Wednesday.

"You might be down 1 percent; that's because the industry is not goosing them up with incentives. I think you're probably going to see industry sales at 17 million units each in the next two or three years, and to me, that's what the market is missing," he added. "That will enable companies like General Motors and Ford and the suppliers and dealers to generate record profitability."

He also said electric cars will be key in growth.

"Electrified vehicles include hybrids," Ward said. "That is where you're going to see the most growth because they can be in trucks, they can be in cars, they can be in every sized vehicle. Fully electric vehicles are still going to be a very small portion of the market, 1-2 percent at most in the next five to 10 years."

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Guggenheim's Scott Minerd: GOP election win could extend expansion but worsen recession that follows

Guggenheim's Scott Minerd expects a recession in 2020, but if Republicans maintain control of Congress in the upcoming elections that could be delayed.

However, there will be a cost, he told CNBC on Wednesday.

"That will extend the expansion but that will make the recession that follows all the worse. We're already seeing excesses in the system," said Minerd, the firm's global chief investment officer and chairman of investments. Guggenheim has $265 billion of assets under management.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump reiterated his claim that if Republicans perform poorly in next week's election, "I think you're going to lose a lot of money."

The remarks followed Trump's tweet on Tuesday that said if people want stocks to go down they should vote Democrat.

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Trump's top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, also weighed in. He told CNBC on Wednesday, "Many investors are concerned that a big change in Congress would cause a rollback of the key factors driving this strong economy."

Minerd said if Republicans control Congress they would have the opportunity to do things like making tax cuts permanent or enacting middle-class tax cuts and thereby extending the economic expansion.

However, there will also be more pressure on wages and prices, which will make the Federal Reserve even more aggressive in raising interest rates, he explained.

"It would be good for us to have a recession so that we can flush out the excesses in the system and build foundation for a new expansion," Minerd said on "Closing Bell." "If we don't have a recession soon then the downturn that will follow will be even worse."

Minerd has been predicting a recession in 2020 and a "nasty" bear market. He sees a sell-off of 40 to 50 percent from the highs.

"Expansions don't die of old age. They die because the central bank takes them outside behind the woodshed and kills them," he said on Wednesday.

However, he said, because of falling unemployment and mounting price pressures, the Federal Reserve has no choice but to continue raising interest rates. The Fed is expected to hike rates one more time in 2018 and three times in 2019.

However, by 2020 the fiscal lift coming from the nation's capital will turn negative, Minerd said.

"You are going to have the confluence of higher interest rates and a drag coming out of Washington fiscal policy, and that's the formula for a recession," he explained.

That said, the market has only recently been going through a standard seasonal correction and should move about 15 percent higher from here until next May or June.

He said long-term investors should start reducing their exposure to equities now, while traders can buy stocks and exit before seasonal pressures take over in the second half of the year.

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Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Fitbit, Allstate and more

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:

Fitbit shares soared as much as 13 percent in after-hours trading after the company beat earnings and revenue expectations for the third quarter. The fitness tracker manufacturer reported earnings of 4 cents per share, while analysts had expected a loss of one cent per share. The company reported $394 million in revenue compared to the $381 million the Street estimated.

Fitbit also gave guidance for fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts' estimates.

Allstate stock fell 3 percent in the extended session after the company released a mixed quarterly earnings report. The company beat revenue expectations, reporting $9.16 billion in revenue compared to the $8.72 billion estimated by Wall Street. However, the insurance giant reported earnings of $1.93 per share, missing the $2.21 per share estimated by analysts.

Allstate also announced a new $3 billion stock buyback plan.

Molina Healthcare shares jumped 8 percent in after-hours trading after the company beat the Street's estimates for third-quarter earnings. The company reported earnings of $2.97 per share compared to the $1.64 per share analysts expected. The company reported $4.7 billion in revenue for the third quarter, in line with estimates.

Molina also raised its earnings estimates for the full year above analysts' estimates.

XPO Logistics stock fell as much as 4 percent in the extended session after the company released its third-quarter earnings report, which missed expectations. The company reported earnings of 89 cents per share, while Wall Street expected 98 cents per share. XPO also reported $4.34 billion in revenue compared to the $4.4 billion analysts estimated.

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Democrats are spending tons of last-minute cash in their bid to seize the House from the GOP

Democrats are leaving nothing to chance in the final leg of the midterm election campaign, outspending Republicans by a wide margin in the parties' battle for control of the House.

With less than a week left before Election Day, campaign cash is flooding into battleground congressional districts around the country as Democrats seek to win back control of the House.

In just the last week alone, political action committees have shelled out more than $340 million in so-called soft-money spending, mostly on campaign ads favoring one party over another. These outside spending groups aren't limited in how much they can spend, as long as they don't coordinate directly with a candidate.

The bulk of that cash — more than $200 million — is being spent in the 30 districts rated as "toss-up" by the Cook Political Report.

Most of those seats in toss-up districts are held by Republicans. But in the final weeks of the campaign, Democrats are outspending their GOP rivals by more than 2-to-1. Five of those toss-up races are in California, where outside spending has flooded those battlegrounds. More than $50 million has been spent since last Wednesday, according to the latest campaign finance data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics.

In those five races — for California's 10th, 25th, 39th, 45th and 48th districts — Democrats are outspending Republicans by more than 4-to-1. Most of that money is paying for campaign advertising, and most of it is negative. Voters in the most competitive battleground races have been inundated with television ads since Labor Day, and the pace is expected to continue through the weekend into the final days of the campaign.

The number of negative ads aired from Labor Day through Oct. 25 was up 61 percent over the 2014 midterms, according to the Wesleyan Media Project. Nearly 569,000 attack ads were broadcast during that period, up from the 2010 record of nearly 450,000.

Here's how soft-money spending has been flowing in the last week to the hottest races in the country:

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Trump ally Mike Braun cuts into Democrat Joe Donnelly's slim lead in Indiana Senate race: Poll

Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly is locked in a tight race with Republican Mike Braun as he defends his important seat in Indiana, a new poll released Wednesday found.

The incumbent leads his GOP challenger by two percentage points among likely voters, down from six percentage points in September, according to the NBC News/Marist survey that comes six days before Tuesday's midterms. Donnelly garners 48 percent of support, versus 46 percent for Braun, with 5 percent undecided.

When Libertarian Lucy Brenton is included, Donnelly's edge expands slightly to three percentage points. The survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.5 percentage points for the likely voter sample.

Donnelly, a first-term senator, faces one of the toughest re-election bids of anyone in the Senate this year as Republicans try to maintain or boost their 51-49 majority in the chamber. He attempts to hold a seat in a state President Donald Trump won by about 20 percentage points in 2016. The president has repeatedly visited the state to bash Donnelly and boost Braun, a former state representative and businessman.

The Democrat has walked a tightrope in deep red territory this year, pledging to protect health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and highlighting his cooperation with Trump on issues such as immigration. But he has also made some nods to the Democratic base, voting against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation and scheduling a rally with former President Barack Obama this weekend.

Braun has cast himself as a Trump ally, hitting Donnelly for his votes against last year's GOP tax law and the Supreme Court justice. He has cast himself as a job creator who will boost the state's economy. But Braun, like many Republicans around the country, has had to play defense over pre-existing conditions coverage amid Democratic attacks.

Trump heads to Indianapolis on Friday, followed by an additional rally in Fort Wayne on Monday to try to leverage his appeal to GOP voters. Among Indiana likely voters, 50 percent approve of the job Trump is doing, versus 42 percent who disapprove, an improvement since September, according to the NBC/Marist survey. It includes 35 percent who strongly approve and 33 percent who strongly disapprove.

Voters appear to have better views of Donnelly than Braun, which could help him to overcome the state's red, pro-Trump leanings. Forty-six percent have a favorable view of the Democratic senator, while 38 percent see him unfavorably, the survey found. That compares with an even 41 percent who view Braun favorably and unfavorably.

Donnelly's opposition to Kavanaugh also may have turned some voters away from him, after he supported Justice Neil Gorsuch's confirmation last year. Forty percent of likely voters said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supported Kavanaugh, versus 33 percent who responded that they prefer a candidate who voted against the justice.

The live-caller NBC/Marist poll of Indiana was conducted from October 24-28 among 931 adults (which has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.9 percentage points), among 800 registered voters (plus-minus 4.2 percentage points) and 496 likely voters (plus-minus 5.5 percentage points).

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GOP senators want Trump to halt nuclear technology talks with Saudis after Khashoggi killing

Five Republican senators have asked the Trump administration to suspend talks to transfer U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's consulate in Turkey.

The lawmakers, led by Senator Marco Rubio, threatened to block any agreement to export civilian nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, potentially setting up a showdown with the White House. The Trump administration has courted the Saudis as they seek to build 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 25 years, an endeavor that would generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity.

In a letter to President Donald Trump, the senators say the slaying of Khashoggi, as well as other foreign policy issues, raise questions about whether the Saudi leadership should be entrusted with U.S. nuclear technology and know-how.

"The ongoing revelations about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as certain Saudi actions related to Yemen and Lebanon, have raised further serious concerns about the transparency, accountability, and judgment of current decisionmakers in Saudi Arabia," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump.

"We therefore request that you suspend any related negotiations for a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear agreement for the foreseeable future."

The letter was also signed by Cory Gardner of Colorado, Dean Heller of Nevada, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Todd Young of Indiana.

Rubio, Young, and Gardner were part of a bipartisan group of senators that earlier asked the administration to start an investigation into Khashoggi's death and determine whether the United States should impose human rights sanctions on Saudi individuals.

A Saudi prosecutor said for the first time last week that agents of the kingdom planned Khashoggi's killing, after initially determining the Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident died during a physical altercation with the operatives. Prior to that, the Saudi government claimed Khashoggi left the consulate in Istanbul unharmed.

Prominent Republican lawmakers have stated publicly that they think Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the nation's king-in-waiting and a close ally of the Trump administration — orchestrated the killing. U.S. intelligence officials reportedly believe Prince Mohammed is culpable in Khashoggi's death.

In the letter to Trump, the five senators say they have long had reservations about selling nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. They note the Saudis have balked at a provision in U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

These so-called 123 agreements prohibit countries from enrichment processes that can produce nuclear arms, among other restrictions.

Earlier this year, Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire a nuclear weapon, but would try to arm itselfas soon as possible if its regional rival Iran developed one.

Supporters of U.S.-Saudi nuclear cooperation say stringent demands will cause the Saudis to turn to other nations like China and Russia, which do not seek the same reassurances. They also stress that the Saudi business is critical to shoring up the beleaguered U.S. nuclear power industry, a priority for the Trump administration.

Last month, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the United States is still in the running to build the nuclear power plants after meeting with his Saudi counterparts.

The five senators said it is critical for Saudi Arabia to accept the "Gold Standard" for nuclear nonproliferaton enshrined in U.S. agreements, especially in light of the Trump administration's stepped-up efforts to block Iran's path to a weapon. Trump restored sanctions on Iran in May in a bid to secure a tougher nuclear accord with the country than the Obama administration negotiated alongside five other world powers.

The lawmakers also mentioned Saudi Arabia's behavior in Yemen, where it has waged a war against Iran-backed rebels that has caused a humanitarian crisis. The Lebanon reference appears to refer to an incident a year ago, when the country's prime minister briefly resigned, allegedly under pressure from Saudi Arabia.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

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GOP fund won't help Rep. Steve King in tight Iowa race due to his support for white supremacists

Republicans need every House seat they can win next week — but that doesn't mean Iowa Rep. Steve King, who has been accused of racism, will be getting any last-minute help from the main GOP group responsible for electing party members to Congress.

The National Republican Congressional Committee says it will not help out King, who has supported far-right causes and white supremacists, in the remaining days of his bid to win re-election to his Iowa 4th District seat against Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten.

The NRCC cited King's "words and actions" for its decision to sit out the race, despite the fact that Republicans in Tuesday's congressional elections will be hard-pressed to retain their relatively slim majority in the House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, one of King's Republican colleagues in the House, Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, in an MSNBC interview said, "I would never cast a ballot for someone like Steve King," even if it meant the loss of GOP control of the House.

"My principles are more important than any of that," Curbelo said. "His comments and his actions are disgusting."

King for years has engaged in language viewed as racist. He once described former President Barack Obama, who is black, as "very, very urban." He has displayed a Confederate flag on his desk, and once predicted "that Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other before" their combined population exceeded the number of whites in the United States.

Earlier this month, King tweeted an endorsement of far-right Toronto mayoral candidate Faith Goldy, who has appeared on a neo-Nazi podcast.

Nonpartisan analysis site Cook Political Report recently shifted its outlook on the 4th District to "lean Republican," a notch down from "likely Republican," after a Democratic poll found King's opponent trailing by just 1 percentage point. King also has been massively outfundraised by Scholten, who has garnered more than $1.7 million in contributions against the incumbent's nearly $740,000.

And King will be getting less money from now on.

The political newsletter Popular Information, on Sunday revealed that after it highlighted King's rhetoric, Intel informed employees that it would no longer donate to King.

"We looked into the congressman's public statements and determined that they conflict with Intel values," Dawn Jones, the company's director of policy and external partnerships, wrote in an email obtained by Popular Information.

The mass murder Saturday of 11 Jewish worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue by a gunman, who allegedly told police "I just want to kill Jews," ramped up pressure on King's backers to drop him.

Two other companies followed Intel's lead Tuesday.

The political action committees of dairy products giant Land O'Lake and Purina, the pet-food subsidiary of Nestle, bowed to online pressure and announced they would not longer support King.

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Amid those moves, GOP Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, chairman of the NRCC, in a tweet Tuesday said he "strongly condemned" King's conduct.

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Later Tuesday night, Matt Gorman, spokesman for the NRCC, told Fox News that the group was joining the boycott of King.

"The NRCC and Congressman Stivers haven't been afraid to show moral leadership when the time calls for it," Gorman said.

"We believe Congressman King's words and actions are completely inappropriate and we strongly condemn them. We will not play in his race," he added.

King fired back at the NRCC in a tweet Tuesday that said "Establishments Never Trumpers" are complicit with enemies of President Donald Trump in the effort to "flip the House" and impeach the president.

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Vice News reported Wednesday that AT&T's PAC, which has already made its contributions for 2018 campaigns, "will take all concerns" about King "very seriously" when it decides who to give money to in future years, according to an email from an AT&T spokesman.

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Fitbit jumps 13% after beating on top and bottom lines

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Fitbit shares soared as much as 13 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company beat earnings and revenue expectations for the third quarter.

The fitness tracker manufacturer reported earnings of 4 cents per share, while analysts had expected a loss of one cent per share. The company reported $394 million in revenue compared to the $381 million the Street estimated.

Fitbit also gave guidance for fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts' estimates. The company expects earnings greater than 7 cents per share compared to the 6 cents per share analysts estimated. The company expects revenue above $560 million, while analysts expected $569 million.

Fitbit is known primarily for its fitness tracker bands, but its smartwatch business is growing. In the third quarter, the company said its smartwatch revenue grew to 49% of total revenue, up from less than 10% a year ago.

In September, the company launched a new platform called Fitbit Care. The service offers personalized coaching to help users stay on track with their fitness plans, lose weight and manage chronic diseases.

Shares of the company closed up 7 percent on Wednesday at $4.73 per share. The stock is down 17 percent this year.

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Senate panel investigates former Trump advisor Bannon: Reuters

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is pursuing a wide-ranging investigation into former White House adviser Steve Bannon's activities during the 2016 presidential campaign, three sources familiar with the inquiry told Reuters.

The committee is looking into what Bannon might know about any contacts during the campaign between Moscow and two advisers to the campaign, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, they said.

Papadopoulos, a consultant, initially advised the presidential campaign of Republican hopeful Ben Carson before joining the Trump campaign. Page is also a consultant, who had business contacts in Russia.

On Sept. 7, Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison. He had pleaded guilty last year to lying to FBI agents about the timing and significance of his contacts with Russians, including a professor who told him the Russians had "dirt" on Trump's Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

No charges have been filed against Page.

The panel also will examine Bannon's role with Cambridge Analytica, a former data analysis company that the Trump campaign hired to help identify and target messages to potentially sympathetic voters, the sources said.

The Senate committee is working with Bannon's advisers to set a date for him to be interviewed by staff investigators in late November, two of the sources said.

Neither Bannon nor his spokesperson immediately responded to requests for comment.

Bannon recently met for the second time with investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of Russian interference on Trump's behalf in the 2016 presidential election, one of the sources said.

Russia has denied interfering in the election and Trump denies any collusion, frequently describing the Mueller investigation as a political witch hunt.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Bannon was questioned last week by Mueller's team. The newspaper said the interview focused on Trump supporter Roger Stone. In emails to Reuters, Stone has said he did not know about or have access to WikiLeaks materials related to Democrats.

In the run-up to the 2016 election, WikiLeaks published hundreds of emails hacked from the Democratic Party and the personal account of top Hillary Clinton campaign adviser John Podesta.

One of the sources familiar with the Bannon-related Senate panel investigations said Mueller's team does not consider Bannon to be a potential subject of their investigation.

Trump targets Ryan over birthright citizenship
Bannon served as a vice president of Cambridge Analytica from June 2014 to August 2016, at which point he joined Trump's presidential campaign as a senior strategist.

Sources said the Senate Intelligence committee has sought to interview other witnesses about the role played by Cambridge Analytica and affiliated companies in the 2016 election.

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Strategists see a buying opportunity — 'The tide is still coming in for equities'

The recent sell-off period has been a "normal development in markets," and investors should step in to buy, strategist Scott Clemons told CNBC on Wednesday.

The markets have seen a 15th correction since the bull run kicked off in 2009, and this one isn't even one of the largest, the chief investment strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman Private Banking said on "Power Lunch."

"I don't think it speaks to any underlying fundamental weakness," Clemons said. "You look at the earnings reports, you look at the strength of the economy, the tide is still coming in for equities."

"This is a buying opportunity," he added.

U.S. stocks were up for a second straight day in midday trading on Wednesday. The month has been a volatile one thanks to concern over rising interest rates and trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Slowing earnings growth has also weighed on investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 4.5 percent for October and is on pace for its biggest monthly drop since January 2016. The S&P 500 is down 6.3 percent and could end up with its worst monthly performance since September 2011. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq's 8.6 percent drop this month could be its largest monthly pullback since November 2008.

John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist for Oppenheimer Asset Management, suggested last week's sell-off would rank among the best buying opportunities for investors in years.

"The overhang remains in terms of China, U.S. trade war and all the worries about the Fed, but we think we get beyond those as we get towards the end of the year," he told "Power Lunch."

He likes technology, industrial, consumer discretionary, health care and financial stocks.

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Stock market faces more potential turbulence in November as G-20 summit, elections loom

Wall Street is wrapping up what has been a tumultuous month for stocks, but more volatility could be ahead.

November features several variables that could influence markets, including an upcoming G-20 summit of world leaders, the midterm elections, the latest jobs report and a Federal Reserve meeting on monetary policy.

Investors will kick off November after a rough month for the major stock indexes. Through Tuesday's close, the S&P 500 has fallen more than 6 percent in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite are also down sharply for the month.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said on Oct. 23 that President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.

The meeting between the two leaders comes as the two largest economies engage in a heated trade spat. The U.S. has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods. China has retaliated with levies of its own on U.S. goods. Investors have feared for most of the year that a protracted trade spat will lead to slower economic growth and diminishing profits for companies.

"The big risk is still with trade and China," said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank, noting the market has not fully priced in the possibility of a protracted trade war with China. "Investors are optimistic still. Most of them believe cooler heads will prevail."

These tariffs have led companies to rethink their dealmaking and supply-chain strategies moving forward, according to an EY survey released last week. The survey, which polled 500 top executives, found that 84 percent of U.S. companies are reviewing or have already made chances to their strategies. Meanwhile, 72 percent of companies plan to offset the rising costs of tariffs by raising prices.

The two countries have been at a stalemate for months, with no formal trade negotiations taking place since late summer.

The midterm U.S. elections will take place on Tuesday. There are three possible ways the elections could unfold:

1. The Democrats regain control of the House while the Senate remains under Republican control.
2. The GOP fends off the so-called Blue Wave to retain a majority in both chambers.
3. The Democrats get a majority in both the House and Senate.

According to various polls, Democrats are expected to take the majority in the House. But if Republicans manage to keep majorities in both chambers, that could boost stocks in the short term on expectations of more tax cuts ahead. A Democratic majority in both the House and Senate, on the other hand, could weigh on the market as it could mean more investigations into Trump. A divided Congress could help diffuse the current trade disputes with other countries.

"For markets, the key issues are whether to expect further fiscal stimulus, and what the implications are for trade policy," said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, in a note Wednesday. "On the former, unified Republican control is likely more bullish, while on the latter, divided government could de-escalate the current trade conflict."

Historically, stocks do well following such contests. Since 1934, the S&P 500 has averaged a gain of 2.7 percent between the five days prior to the election and three days after, according to data from The Stock Trader's Almanac.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release the latest employment numbers on Friday morning. Economists polled by Refinitiv expect to hear the U.S. economy added 190,000 jobs in October.

The report comes as investors fret over whether a tight labor market could lead to more inflation and potentially tighter monetary policy.

"The employment numbers are going to be strong," said Gaffney of TIAA Bank. "The question is whether we see more wage pressure. That would solidify the Fed's path."

Next week, the Fed is scheduled to hold its latest monetary policy meeting. While the central bank is not expected to raise rates at this meeting, investors largely forecast one more rate-hike before year-end. The Fed has raised rates three times in 2018.

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Trump advisor Larry Kudlow: 'Nothing is set in stone right now' on new China tariffs

President Donald Trump's top economic advisor pushed back slightly on reports that Trump may implement more tariffs on China as the two nations' trade battle escalates.

"Nothing is set in stone right now," Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Wednesday, ahead of potential talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi at the G-20 meeting next month.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect indicted on 44 counts

The suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday, four days after 11 people were killed and six wounded in the deadliest attack on Jews in American history.

The indictment, which was expected, charges Robert Bowers with 44 counts, including hate crimes. Federal prosecutors have previously indicated they plan to seek the death penalty. The charges were announced on the second day of funerals for the victims.

"Today begins the process of seeking justice for the victims of these hateful acts, and healing for the victims' families, the Jewish community, and our city," U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in a statement. "Our office will spare no resource, and will work with professionalism, integrity and diligence, in a way that honors the memories of the victims."

Bowers remained jailed without bail ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Members of Pittsburgh's grief-stricken Jewish community, meanwhile, endured another round of funerals for the congregants who were gunned down in Saturday's rampage.

Melvin Wax, 87, Irving Younger, 69, and Joyce Fienberg, 75, were being laid to rest as part of a weeklong series of services.

"It can't be fixed," Robert Libman said at the funeral of Fienberg, his sister, clutching his chest as he described the pain of losing her. "My sister is dead. My sister was murdered. There was no one I know like her. Pure goodness. ... She was the most tolerant and gentle person that I've ever known."

Her sons, Anthony, of Paris, and Howard, of Vienna, Virginia, said she spent five years caring for their father as he battled cancer, then after his death a few years ago, devoted more of her time and energy to Tree of Life.

"My mom would be very angry that her funeral wasn't able to be at Tree of Life, and that her friends lost Saturday couldn't be here," Howard Fienberg said.

The funerals for Wax and Younger were to be held later Tuesday.

Six people were wounded in the attack, including four police officers, two of whom remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Two congregants were still in the hospital, one in critical condition.

In a bit of good news, hospital officials said the two most seriously injured shooting victims are improving.

A police officer and a congregant remain in intensive care but "are doing much better now," Dr. Donald Yealy, chairman of emergency medicine at UPMC, said Wednesday. "I think overall the prognoses are good now. But each of them, in a varying way, will have a different trajectory and likely will require a series of ongoing care."

With Tree of Life still cordoned off as a crime scene, the man arrested in the attack, 46-year-old truck driver Robert Gregory Bowers, remains behind bars, awaiting a hearing Thursday on federal hate-crime charges that could bring the death penalty. Authorities said he raged against Jews during the attack.

The first three funerals were held on Tuesday, with thousands of mourners jamming a synagogue, a Jewish community center and a third, undisclosed site for the funerals of a beloved family doctor, a pillar of the congregation, and two intellectually disabled brothers in the 50s who were known as "the boys."

Cecil and David Rosenthal were "beautiful souls" who had "not an ounce of hate in them — something we're terribly missing today," Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the massacre, said at their funeral at Rodef Shalom, one of the city's oldest and largest synagogues.

The brothers were both active at Tree of Life, with Cecil the more gregarious of the two, a man with a booming voice who was known as the "mayor" of the city's Squirrel Hill neighborhood and the "town crier" for the gossip he managed to gather.

"They were innocent like boys, not hardened like men," the Rosenthals' sister, Diane Hirt, told mourners.

On Tuesday afternoon, after the day's funerals were over, Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Pittsburgh to shouting, chanting protesters with signs such as "It's your fault" and "Words matter," a reference to allegations that Trump's combative language has emboldened bigots. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, both Democrats, declined to join him during the visit.

"He didn't pull the trigger, but his verbiage and actions don't help," said Squirrel Hill resident Paul Carberry, 55, wearing anti-Trump patches on his hat and jacket.

Another Squirrel Hill resident, Shayna Marcus, a Jewish 34-year-old nurse and Trump supporter who hoped to catch sight of the presidential motorcade, said: "I don't think focusing on Trump is the answer, or on politics."

One person was arrested during the protests.

During their visit, Trump and the first lady lit candles at Tree of Life for the victims and laid white roses as well as stones for each of the dead, a Jewish burial tradition. They later went to a hospital to visit with survivors.

They were joined by Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, as well as Myers, the Tree of Life rabbi, and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer.

A private funeral was conducted Tuesday for Daniel Stein, the 71-year-old men's club president at Tree of Life. And a service with more than 1,000 people was held for Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.

The 66-year-old Rabinowitz was a go-to doctor for HIV patients in the epidemic's early and desperate days, a physician who always hugged his patients as they left his office.

"A lot of people are feeling really angry about this. A lot of rage built up inside about this, because of it being a hate crime. Don't get me wrong; I do. But I'm so overwhelmed with sadness right now that I can't even be angry right now," said Robin Faulkner, whose family had seen Rabinowitz for 30 years and counted him as a dear friend. "It's just such a loss. Just tragic."

Among the mourners at the Rosenthal brothers' funeral was Dr. Abe Friedman, who typically sat in the back row of Tree of Life with the two men but was late to synagogue on Saturday and was not there when the gunman opened fire.

As he stood in line at the funeral, Friedman wondered why he had been spared.

"Why did things fall into place for me?" he asked. "I usually sit in the back row. In the last row, everyone got killed."

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