1. 2 conservative justices appear to oppose striking down health law
Two conservative Supreme Court justices — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh — expressed skepticism about Republican-run states' calls to strike down the Affordable Care Act. Republican state attorneys general argued that the whole law should be invalidated since Congress has eliminated the individual mandate to acquire insurance that was at the heart of the law. Kavanaugh said he "tend[s] to agree" the mandate could simply be removed and the law allowed to stand, and called it "fairly clear" that precedent allowed for only cutting out the mandate. Roberts said some lawmakers might have hoped the high court would strike down the whole law, but that dismantling the law is not the high court's "job." If Roberts and Kavanaugh side with the court's three liberal justices, the health-care law will survive the challenge.
2. Russia says coronavirus vaccine 92 percent effective
Russia's sovereign wealth fund said Wednesday that interim trial results indicated that the country's Sputnik V vaccine is 92 percent effective at protecting against COVID-19. Russia registered the vaccine candidate for public use in August, making it the first vaccine in the world to receive such approval. But the large-scale trial didn't start until September. The initial results came days after Pfizer and BioNTech reported that their vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective in its trials. Russia's interim results were based on data from the first 16,000 participants to receive both required doses of the vaccine. "We are showing, based on the data, that we have a very effective vaccine," said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is backing and marketing the vaccine.
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3. Dow continues post-election rally
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday continued its post-election rally, which was fueled this week by positive news on a coronavirus vaccine and treatment. The Dow rose by 0.9 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped by 1.4 percent as stocks poised to benefit from an economic recovery rose, but tech stocks that have thrived as Americans did more work, learning, and shopping online during the pandemic started losing some ground. "This is a market in which a rotation is likely to continue into the end of the year," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent on Tuesday. Futures for all three of the main U.S. indexes rose early Wednesday.
4. Judge dismisses some Apple counterclaims in legal fight with Epic Games
A federal judge in California on Tuesday dismissed some of Apple's counterclaims against Epic Games in their legal battle. Apple has removed Epic's popular Fortnite game from its App Store over the online game maker's use of its own in-app payment system to avoid the iPhone maker's App Store fees. A judge ruled in October that Apple could remove Fortnite from its App Store but couldn't hurt Epic's developer tool software, which is used in hundreds of games. Epic filed a motion in October seeking the dismissal of Apple's counterclaims of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. Apple is asking to recover lost App Store fees and other damages.
5. Alibaba's extended Singles Day event sets sales record
Chinese online retail giant Alibaba's annual Singles Day shopping event has set a sales record. Total orders across Alibaba's platforms had surpassed $56.4 billion as of early Wednesday. The event generates more sales than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. Singles Day's huge discounts on millions of products typically last just a day, but this year the event was extended. It started Nov. 1, and ends at midnight Nov. 12. Last year's Singles Day generated $40.6 billion in sales over 24 hours. Despite the big sales, Alibaba and rival JD.com have seen their share prices fall recently after the Chinese government proposed new antitrust regulations.
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