FTSE 100 LIVE: London stocks rocket as investors snap up big tech amid US election chaos

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US stocks climbed up again on Thursday as Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads in the polls against Donald Trump. The Dow Jones jumped by 1.7 percent while the S&P 500 rose by 2 percent.

The UK’s FTSE 100 increased by 0.5 percent on Thursday to 5,911 points, approximately a two-week high for the exchange.

Edward Moya told City AM: “US stocks continue to ride the unwinding of ‘blue wave’ bets, sending big-tech and healthcare stocks sharply higher.

“It seems Congress will be divided.”

He added: “Wall Street does not have to plan for corporate tax hikes, single-payer healthcare, sweeping clean energy initiatives, and massive infrastructure spending.”

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Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged, Notes Economic Activity Remains Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Most Americans are focused on the outcome of the presidential election, although members of the Federal Reserve still announced their latest monetary policy decision on Thursday.

The members of the Fed announced that they decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent, as widely expected.

The accompanying statement said the Fed expects rates to remain unchanged until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the central bank’s assessments of maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2 percent and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time.

The Fed also said it plans to increase its holdings of Treasury securities and agency mortgage-backed securities at least at the current pace to sustain smooth market functioning and help foster accommodative financial conditions.

In their assessment of the economy, the members of the Fed said economic activity and employment have continued to recover but remain well below their levels at the beginning of the year.

Weaker demand and earlier declines in oil prices have been holding down consumer price inflation, the central bank added.

The Fed also said overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses.

Cori Bush Just Became the First Black Woman Elected to Congress in Missouri

Cori Bush is now the first Black woman elected to Congress in Missouri.

The Democrat, who ran on a progressive platform, won in a landslide over Republican contender Anthony Rogers with nearly 79 percent of the vote from Missouri’s 1st congressional district, as reported by The Associated Press.

Bush’s win in the general election comes after a tough Democratic primary this past August, in which she beat incumbent Lacy Clay, the establishment Democrat and longtime representative who took over the post from his own father (and who received an endorsement from California senator Kamala Harris). In contrast, Bush first made a name for herself as a local activist following the 2014 Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson, where Mike Brown was killed by a police officer.

“I fight because I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, to be burdened with student and medical debt, and to live day to day in St. Louis where poverty is violence, crime is rampant, and our unhoused community grows daily,” Bush said in a statement on her website. “We need a champion for policies that will affect residents of Missouri’s 1st directly. I AM that champion. I’m running because you deserve better. I am running because I am the people I serve.”

Following her win, Bush posted a photo of herself posing in front of a portrait of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to vie for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination and the first Black presidential candidate for either party. “The First,” Bush captioned the symbolic picture.

Twitter Users Throw Trump’s ‘Apprentice’ Catch Phrase Back In His Face

Many Twitter users only needed two words to express their reaction to Democrat Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump.

Of course, those two words just happened to be Trump’s favorite catch phrase from his days on “The Apprentice”: “You’re fired.”

Even before Biden’s win in Pennsylvania sealed the Electoral College vote for him, many Twitter users chose to engage in acts of schadenfreude four years in the making. The race wasn’t called until Saturday, but many people started throwing the catch phrase back in Trump’s face days earlier.

Once the race was called, people piled even more.

George Takei tweeted the phrase and admitted in another tweet he’s wanted to say it since even before Trump became president.

Some people felt that one person above all deserved to post a “You’re fired” tweet to Trump.

The race between Detroit automakers and a slew of startups to dominate the electric pickup truck market

Americans love pickup trucks. Pickups accounted for 20% of all vehicle sales so far this year, according to Edmunds, and they are outselling sedans for the first time ever.

At the same time, there is an electric revolution taking place.

"It's a really exciting time for the automotive industry. I compare it to the start of the 19th century when motor vehicles were first being invented," said Duncan Aldred, VP of Global Buick and GMC. "We're in a similar time period now. There's a lot of people, nontraditional manufacturers, who want to come and be part of this journey to the electric vehicle."

Established players like GM, Ford and Tesla and a slew of startups like Rivian, Lordstown Motors and Bollinger Motors are all working on electric pickups.

The race is on for who will be first to market. But when there are a plethora of EV trucks to choose from, will loyal pickup truck drivers make the switch to electric? Watch the video to learn more.