Hello and welcome to our first ever Monday edition! We're unbelievably excited to tackle topical stories that broke over the weekend — all with accompanying charts and data of course, as well as our revamped "Hi-Viz" section.
Today we're exploring:
America’s energy sector is thriving.
On Friday, ExxonMobil and Chevron — America’s largest oil companies — reported record results. Combined the 2 companies raked in more than $30bn of profit in the last 3 months, with Exxon printing their best quarter in the company’s 156-year history.
Take cover
Considering the state of the US economy, energy execs are keen to play down their success, fearing political retribution. Indeed, in recent months the Biden administration has been mounting pressure on oil companies to reinvest in supply chains rather than return the cash to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buybacks — a plea that so far has gone mostly unnoticed.
Across the swathe of corporate America, the energy sector is the anomaly of 2022. Every other sector in the S&P 500 Index has lost ground this year. Energy is up 66%.
If 2020-2021 were the boom years for virtual goods and services, 2022 has been the year for “stuff that comes out of the ground”, as imbalances between supply and demand for oil, gas, raw materials and food have seen prices soar.
If you’re a Halloween-celebrator who didn’t spend your weekend trick-or-treating, you might have spent it in a cinema being frightened by the latest horror offerings on the big screen.
The scare share
An increasing share of movie goers are now opting for a fright, with data from The Numbers revealing that horror movies have taken 10-12% of all box office receipts in the last 3 years, roughly double the 5-6% share that the genre averaged from 2000-2010.
With the advent of streaming, and the proliferation of higher-quality TVs and sound systems, the at-home viewing experience for most genres is now a closer substitute for the cinema experience. Watching horror movies, however, likely remains a much more intense experience at the cinema, which is perhaps one reason why horror fans have flocked back to the big screen at a faster rate than other movie fans. Horror movies also typically don't need to have A-list star power or be attached to a universe or particular IP, giving a better chance for independent movie makers to recoup their investment.
2021 was horror’s best year relative to other genres, with 63 million tickets sold thanks to box office hits such as A Quiet Place: Part II, Candyman, Halloween Kills and the third movie in The Conjuring series. This year at the top of the scare charts has been Nope, Smile and The Black Phone, with horror films topping the box office for the last 5 weekends in the run up to Halloween.
Related charting: R-rated movies at the box office.
As the US counts down the days until the midterms it was Brazil’s turn to head to the voting booths on the weekend. Yesterday’s presidential election saw former metal worker Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, head-off against the incumbent and former army captain Bolsonaro, with Lula securing a narrow victory after securing 50.9% of the vote.
As home to the world’s largest tropical rainforest, the environmental and conservation policies in Brazil are arguably some of the most important of any country — making Brazil's election globally significant. Under Bolsonaro the country experienced a surge in deforestation as the president reduced enforcement measures, diminished spending for science and environmental agencies and fired environmental experts. Data from the INPE suggests the rate of deforestation jumped some 72% in his first 3 years in office.
Canopy cover
With as much as 17% of the forest already lost, and experts stating 20-25% as a crucial tipping point for the ability to control global warming, Lula — a former two-term president — ran on a promise to protect the Amazon, a key policy during his previous time in office. That made him this year's “greenest” candidate according to Observatório do Clima, a Brazilian environmental coalition.
• A 1.2 mile long train, consisting of 100 coaches sets record as longest passenger train.
• The latest research from job platform Indeed shows software development job postings falling by 28.7% as the tech sector leads the way in 2022’s job postings decline.
• SpaceX is now NASA's largest vendor according to new federal procurement data, with $2.04bn allocated to the Californian-based company for 2022.
• How much does it cost to host the football (soccer) world cup?
• Interesting visual on the most popular ad topics for each political party in the run-up to midterms.
• Great charts from The Economist breaking down the change in birth rates before and after the pandemic.
Off The Charts: What film franchise has this split between their two trilogies? (hint: we wrote about this universe last week).
Answer here.
