The daily business briefing: October 17, 2019

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1. Britain and the EU reach a draft Brexit deal
2. GM, UAW reach tentative deal to end strike
3. Netflix shares surge as new subscriptions beat expectations
4. Stocks lifted by news of a new draft Brexit deal
5. Chicago public school teachers to go on strike Thursday

published 17 October 2019

1. Britain and the EU reach a draft Brexit deal

Negotiators from Britain and the European Union reached a draft Brexit deal Thursday ahead of the start of a two-day EU summit. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson needs the EU to approve the deal at the summit, which starts Thursday, to pave the way for an orderly Brexit on Oct. 31. If the EU approves the revised divorce deal, British lawmakers, who have rejected previous proposals, will vote on it Saturday. Negotiators worked through the night Wednesday trying to finalize customs and sales tax regulations on trade between the Northern Ireland and Ireland. The proposal appeared to hit a last-minute snag when Northern Irish party allies Johnson needs to ratify the deal said overnight they could not support the proposal "as it stands."

General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative deal to end the union's strike against the automaker, 31 days into the walkout. Nearly 50,000 UAW members who work for GM have been on strike since mid-September demanding better pay and benefits, profit sharing, and greater job security. Full details on the proposed contract agreement weren't immediately available, but it was expected to include pay raises and policy changes. The nationwide strike came after a four-year contract expired and negotiations broke down. The strike is expected to cost General Motors around $1.5 billion. The proposed agreement still must be approved by a union council, which will meet Thursday, and then ratified in a vote.

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Netflix shares jumped by 9.2 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the streaming video giant added slightly more subscribers than analysts had expected in the July through September quarter. The company added 6.77 million paid customers worldwide, beating expectations of a 6.7 million subscriber gain. Investors had been bracing for weak new paid subscriber figures because of the looming challenge of new rival services by Disney and Apple. Netflix lost streaming customers in the previous quarter for the first time in eight years, but it got a lift in the most recent three-month period with the help of new seasons of popular shows, including Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why.

U.S. stock index futures gained early Thursday after Britain and the European Union reached a draft Brexit deal. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all were up by about 0.3 percent. Although the deal still must be approved by EU members at a Thursday-Friday summit, and then by British lawmakers who have rejected previous deals. The draft agreement eased some investor anxiety over the looming October 31 deadline for Britain's exit from the EU. The three main U.S. indexes all closed lower on Wednesday after unexpectedly weak retail sales data stoked concerns that the U.S. economy could be headed for a recession.

More than 30,000 Chicago public school teachers and support staff will go on strike Thursday, after the unions were unable to reach a deal with the district. "We have not achieved what we need to bring justice and high quality schools to the children and teachers of Chicago," Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said Wednesday night. "We need pay and benefits that will give us dignity and respect." About 300,000 students attend Chicago's public schools. Mayor Lori Lightfoot canceled classes for Thursday, but said administrators will be at all schools in case kids need a safe place to go. Negotiations will start again on Thursday. Chicago has the United States' third-largest school district.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.