The daily business briefing: November 2, 2021

1. Stocks hit record highs as Dow touches 36,000 for 1st time

Stocks edged up Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly breaking 36,000 before inching down but still closing at a record high of 35,913.84. The S&P 500 also closed at a record high after rising by 0.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.6 percent. It too set a closing record. Tesla continued its recent surge, with its shares jumping by nearly 8.5 percent days after the electric-car maker became the first automobile manufacturer with a market capitalization of $1 trillion. Stocks tied to the economic recovery, including Ford and Occidental Petroleum, also rose. "The key story arc driving equities is the strengthening global recovery," Fundstrat's Tom Lee wrote in a note to clients. U.S. stock futures were mostly flat early Tuesday.

CNBC

2. China locks nearly 34,000 people inside Shanghai Disneyland over 1 COVID case

Chinese authorities briefly shut down Shanghai Disneyland with nearly 34,000 people trapped inside after a single visitor was found to be COVID-19 positive, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Shanghai Disneyland, which was Disney's first park to reopen during the pandemic, tested every person before allowing visitors to leave. Shanghai's government said everyone tested negative. The reaction to the positive case, which was discovered Sunday, demonstrated China's "zero-tolerance" approach to the coronavirus nearly two years into the pandemic, even though the country now says it has an 80 percent vaccination rate. Shanghai Disneyland was to remain closed through Tuesday. China said it confirmed 48 domestic cases on Saturday, spread over several provinces.

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The Wall Street Journal

3. Coca-Cola takes control of sports drink maker Bodyarmor for $5.6 billion

Coca-Cola announced Monday that it was buying the 85 percent of sports drink maker Bodyarmor that it didn't already own. Coke will pay $5.6 billion for the remaining stake, making the deal its biggest brand acquisition yet. The beverage giant bought its initial 15 percent stake in Bodyarmor in 2018. That made Coke Bodyarmor's second largest shareholder. Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who invested in Bodyarmor in 2013 seven years before his death in a helicopter crash, was the company's third-largest shareholder. Bryant's estate will get about $400 million from the sale. The acquisition will boost Coca-Cola's share of the sports drink market, although rival PepsiCo's Gatorade still dominates with 70 percent market share.

CNN CNBC

4. Rivian Automotive IPO plan values EV startup around $60 billion

Amazon-backed Rivian Automotive said in an updated regulatory filing on Monday that it is targeting a valuation of more than $53 billion for its U.S. stock debut. Its shares would be expected to sell between $57 and $62, although that could change depending on market conditions. The electric-vehicle startup wants to raise up to $8.4 billion, which would make its IPO the third-largest in the U.S. by funds raised in the last decade. That would value the company around $60 billion. Amazon said in late October it had a 20 percent stake in Rivian. The online retail giant has ordered 100,000 Rivian electric delivery vans to help reduce its carbon footprint. Rivian in September started delivering its first vehicle, an electric pickup called the R1T.

The Wall Street Journal Reuters

5. 'Squid Game'-inspired cryptocurrency scam costs investors $3.38 million

The creators of a cryptocurrency inspired by Squid Game cashed out and disappeared, making off with as much as $3.38 million and sending the virtual currency's value to $0. The cryptocurrency, called $SQUID, launched in late October. Its value jumped to more than $2,800, rising by as much as 310,000 percent in days. It was marketed as a way to play a future online game based on the wildly popular Netflix television series from South Korea, in which people overwhelmed by debt play a deadly game hoping to win a massive cash prize. There were signs that the cryptocurrency, which had nothing to do with Netflix, was a scam. Its website was full of spelling and grammar errors, and people who bought the coins were not allowed to sell.

Gizmodo Engadget