Fed Holds Rates as Two Officials Push for Hike

Alaska Democrats Embroiled in Ballot Scandal Days Before Election

Hackers Publish Records Identifying 40,000 DHS Personnel

Microsoft, Alphabet Post Record Sales as AI Spending Climbs

Brewers Beat Rays to Claim First World Series Title

Fed Holds Rates as Two Officials Push for Hike

The Federal Reserve voted 10-2 on Oct. 28 to keep its benchmark interest rate at 3.75% to 4%, leaving borrowing costs elevated for consumers and businesses. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack favored a quarter-point increase, marking Cook's first dissent since joining the board in 2022. The pause follows September's increase, the first in about three years, as inflation remains above the Fed's 2% target and oil prices have risen during the war with Iran. Chair Kevin Warsh described growth as strong and inflation as elevated but declined to signal a decision for the Dec. 8-9 meeting. He said politics played “no role” in the decision six days before the Nov. 3 midterms and announced fewer rate-setting meetings in future years. Futures traders continued to see a strong chance of a December increase despite President Trump's calls for lower rates.

CNBC / NBC News / Axios / CNN / Yahoo Finance

Alaska Democrats Embroiled in Ballot Scandal Days Before Election

Mary Peltola's Senate campaign and national Democrats worked to put a second Dan Sullivan on Alaska's ballot to draw votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, the New York Times reported. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied recruiting candidates, despite text messages the Times said showed their officials discussing the effort. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, allowing voters to rank candidates by preference and transferring votes from eliminated candidates to the next remaining choice. The alleged strategy aimed to split Republican support in a race that could help determine Senate control. The Justice Department sued Oct. 22 to block certification of a Peltola victory if votes for the namesake cost the incumbent the election. Alaska's Republican-led government asked a federal judge Oct. 27 to dismiss the suit as lacking a legal basis, and Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have also sought dismissal.

NYT / Alaska Division of Elections / Anchorage Daily News / The Hill / Alaska Public Media / Alaska Beacon / PBS

Hackers Publish Records Identifying 40,000 DHS Personnel

A group calling itself the Department of Peace released a database identifying more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security employees, agents and associates, NPR, NBC News and CNBC reported. Posted on the leak-publishing site Distributed Denial of Secrets, it includes more than 21,000 Customs and Border Protection records and about 10,000 relating to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Homeland Security Investigations unit. NBC reported that some agents are marked as undercover, an exposure that could endanger officers and compromise investigations. The group said the data came from an Okta login service used by DHS, while Distributed Denial of Secrets cautioned that the database is not a complete staff directory. DHS said it was aware of a potential breach and was working to address it. The group described the release as retaliation for the administration's immigration enforcement campaign.

NPR / NBC News / CNBC / WLRN

Microsoft, Alphabet Post Record Sales as AI Spending Climbs

Microsoft and Alphabet reported rising cloud sales Oct. 28 alongside growing investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, highlighting the balance between revenue growth and the cash needed to expand. Microsoft's July-September revenue reached $92.28 billion, while its Azure cloud business grew 48%, beating analysts' forecasts. Microsoft spent $45.2 billion on capital investments and projected about $170 billion in spending for the fiscal year ending next June. Alphabet's revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, slightly below estimates, while Google Cloud revenue increased 103% to $30.7 billion. Alphabet's $51.4 billion in quarterly capital spending left free cash flow at negative $9.1 billion for a second consecutive negative quarter, and the company maintained its $195 billion to $205 billion annual spending forecast. Alphabet said spending would increase significantly in 2027, and its shares fell roughly 8% to 11% in after-hours trading while Microsoft's rose.

Alphabet / CNBC / Reuters / SiliconANGLE / Yahoo Finance / The Motley Fool / Neowin

Brewers Beat Rays to Claim First World Series Title

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Oct. 28 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, winning the World Series four games to one for their first championship. Catcher William Contreras was named series MVP after batting .381 with four RBIs. Tampa Bay had avoided a sweep with a 4-3 victory in 12 innings the night before, when Ben Williamson's pinch-hit, game-ending single snapped Milwaukee's eight-game postseason winning streak. The Brewers won a franchise-record 103 regular-season games and swept the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Milwaukee, one of baseball's smallest markets, ended a 57-year championship wait in its first World Series appearance since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. The Rays, who led the American League with 98 regular-season wins, remain without a title.

CNN / NBC News / ESPN / NBC Sports / MLB

October 29, 1969: First Electronic Message Sent via ARPANET

On this day, researchers at UCLA sent the first electronic message over ARPANET, the pioneering computer network that would evolve into today’s internet. The brief message—intended to be “login” but cut off as “LO” by a system crash—marked the beginning of global digital communication.

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Sources

1. CNBC / CNBC Live / NBC News / Axios / CNN / Yahoo Finance
2. Alaska Beacon / Anchorage Daily News / The Hill / Alaska Public Media / PBS / NYT via GV Wire / Alaska Division of Elections
3. NPR / NBC News / CNBC / WLRN
4. Alphabet (SEC Filing) / CNBC / Reuters via U.S. News / SiliconANGLE / Yahoo Finance / The Motley Fool / Neowin
5. CNN / NBC News / ESPN / NBC Sports / MLB