• During this pandemic, the way we view our safety versus the way we view the safety of others illustrates a divide in how Americans view basic liberties.
• The debate over wearing masks is a perfect example of this.
• There are four views of liberty according to author David Hackett Fischer, and they each illuminate the way Americans are behaving during the pandemic.
• George Pearkes is the Global Macro Strategist for Bespoke Investment Group.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

How we treat other people in society reveals our fundamental understanding of liberty. Different understandings of the concept of liberty have very different impacts on individuals and society as a whole, and the arrival of COVID is helping to highlight the tradeoffs of the freedoms we preserve for ourselves and each other. 

In the midst of a global pandemic, the liberties we take with others' safety and the liberties we hold for ourselves reveal fundamental, competing differences in how Americans conceive of our freedoms.

But the coronavirus offers a chance for us to reassess our assumptions about the costs to others that taking liberties impose, and illustrate the need for a more egalitarian approach to making our way in the world.

Four views of liberty

In his massive book on the migratory origins of America's voluntary society, Albion's Seed, David Hackett Fischer identifies four different conceptions of "liberty" that all found their way into our national political culture: ordered, hierarchical, natural, and reciprocal.

These liberties are different ways of viewing the concept of freedom, and they have all played roles in American culture. The conflicts in our society highlighted by COVID generally and the push to wear a mask specifically neatly highlight these various conceptions of freedom.

Efforts to require masks are a straightforward expression of ordered liberty. The concept of ordered liberty argues that without structure and a set of rules which are enforced for the common good, society would devolve into chaos. Mask orders are quite literally saving society from itself, so that we can be more free than we would if COVID spread even further and faster.

Hierarchical liberty takes a different view: that hierarchy is the source of liberty. In this understanding, people of a lower rank do not have the same liberties or rights as those with higher rank, and that system of inequality actually improves society. To a believer in hierarchical liberty, hierarchy brings harmony and therefore freedom.

You won't find much respect for hierarchical liberty among those who follow a more natural liberty, which boils down to refusing any authority at all. Mask orders from local government and local business are seen as equally unacceptable to a natural libertarian, but they're also not going to be bothered by someone else deciding to mask...after all, that's their business.

Finally, we come to reciprocal liberty, which is best thought of as a generic application of The Golden Rule. Under principles of reciprocal liberty, any threat to one person's freedom or safety is a threat to the freedom or safety of all people, because that same threat may eventually be turned on whoever is avoiding it today. This approach would dictate mask-wearing not out of paternalistic concern for the wearer, but out of the wearer's concern that they may endanger the people they interact with.

These principles of liberty may be understood through a meal at a restaurant.

A diner focused on ordered liberty would assiduously follow the rules for patrons laid out by the restaurant itself, and by applicable government regulation. If not required to by the rules established, the diner wouldn't wear a mask. The fact that staff did wear masks wouldn't be strange to them...after all, the rules don't say they can serve without a mask, unlike the diner.

If that same diner had a hierarchical view of liberty, they might decide it was right and proper for the diner to be protected by mask-wearing staff's face coverings, but pay no mind to the risks their unmasked exhales create for staff. After all, there is an order established, and their liberty is greater being from a higher class or socioeconomic standing.

The natural libertarian may reject wearing a mask in the restaurant, complain about how spaced out seats were, or go the other way entirely and assiduously dine in an N95 out of fear of the virus. Either way, others wouldn't factor much in their thinking, regardless of position.

Finally, a reciprocal conception of liberty would dictate that any time a server approached the table, diners would pause, don masks, and keep them on until distance was re-established. After all, the server is at risk if the diners are not wearing masks themselves.

My wife and I decided that our first dinner out in a post-COVID world would be dictated by those reciprocal principles. It made the meal quite nerve-wracking by the standards of fine dining, both in terms of explaining our thinking to staff who had not encountered that sort of behavior before, and because we had to constantly look out for servers approaching the table. But we also felt more comfortable knowing that we were doing our best to treat servers as we expected to be treated ourselves.

American liberties before the virus

Our stratified and increasingly unequal society has been cast in even sharper relief by COVID. By-and-large, American society has steered further towards its hierarchical influences over the last several decades, with some influences of ordered and natural liberty sprinkled in.

Our economic model is reliant on services consumption, and the conventional wisdom for successful service is "the customer is always right". This dynamic appeals to both hierarchical and natural concepts of liberty: customers are on a pedestal above the services workers who cater to them, and face little restriction in their desires from any authority.

In a system of ordered libertarian thinking, disrupting a business because an order is incorrect makes no sense; a loud argument that bothers others is just as problematic as an incorrect order. Similarly, venting frustration and petty tyranny upon service workers makes no sense to a reciprocal libertarian, because receiving that sort of treatment is such a difficult experience.

Another example of hierarchical liberty current reckoning with police violence. But unlike consumer culture, police brutality appeals to ordered liberty; a conception of freedom requiring order sits at the core of any argument that atrocious force in response to disruption is justified. 

A path forward

Just as the virus may offer us the opportunity to make choices that are more reciprocal, society as a whole would be well-served by a reciprocal approach to problem solving. 

At the individual level, it requires a simple application of human empathy. In any situation of conflict or dispute, simply asking oneself "how would I feel being treated the way I am treating someone else?" can go a long way.

In public policy, renewed focus on solutions grounded in consent, agency, and discussion are more reciprocal than institutions which enforce order, create hierarchy, or retreat from intervention of any kind. Reciprocal libertarians always take up the pen and the chat over the gun or the court, and encouraging that sort of approach would do much to improve conditions for all Americans.

• The 1928 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Phantom I Ascot Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton used in the 1974 film "The Great Gatsby" is headed to auction via Classic Promenade Auctions.
• From 2011 to 2019, it underwent a ground-up restoration that cost $1.2 million.
• It is estimated to sell for between $1.5 million and $2 million.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Scott Fitzgerald fans rejoice: You'll soon have a shot at owning the iconic yellow Rolls-Royce famously featured in the 1974 film "The Great Gatsby," which starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. 

The 1928 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Phantom I Ascot Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton will be auctioned through Classic Promenade Auctions starting on Monday, October 12, Hagerty first reported. An emailed press release claims that this example is believed to be the only Ascot Sport Phaeton built with the dual cowl to match the description in The Great Gatsby: "…terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns."  

In the interest of accuracy, the car was repainted in this creamy yellow color and its interior dyed green in order for it to make its film debut. 

Classic Promenade is giving the car a pre-sale estimate of between $1.5 million and $2 million. Keep scrolling to see more.

This 1928 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Phantom I Ascot Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton is the one famously used in the 1974 film “The Great Gatsby.”

In the movie, the car is driven by Jay Gatsby, who was played by Robert Redford.

Author F. Scott Fitzgerald gave Gatsby a Rolls-Royce because it represented the utter opulence and extravagance that the character surrounded himself with.

In the book, it is described as having “a rich cream color, bright with nickel” and “a sort of green leather conservatory.”

For the movie, the car was repainted yellow and its interior dyed green to match the book’s description.

It will soon be up for online auction through Classic Promenade Auctions, which is based on Phoenix, Arizona.

You can view the listing here.

The car underwent a ground-up restoration between 2011 and 2019.

In total, the cost of the restoration was about $1.2 million.

It was even shown at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

The car has appeared with Redford on magazine covers, as well as in GQ and Vogue articles.

Because of its big-screen fame, literary association, and restoration, this is a Rolls-Royce unlike any other.

Classic Promenade gives the car a pre-sale estimate of between $1.5 million and $2 million.

It shows 73,848 miles on the clock.

And looks to be truly a massive car in person.

The car was originally delivered to and owned by Mildred Loring Logan of New York City.

Later on, it was owned by George Washington Hill, the president of American Tobacco Company.

The Gatsby Rolls will be available via online auction from Monday, October 12, through Sunday, October 25.

Bidding begins at 10 a.m. PST.

• Airbus' Silicon Valley incubator Acubed is pressing forward with a data collection program that will support future autonomous flight operations.
• Acubed's Project Wayfinder just acquired a Beechcraft Baron 58 and equipped it with onboard cameras and instrumentation to be used as a flying lab for researchers.
• Successful test flights of a self-flying Airbus A350-1000 XWB proved the concept of self-flying planes viable with Project Wayfinder aiming to make it a reality. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Airbus proved that autonomous flight for passenger airliners is possible earlier this year with its self-flying A350-1000 XWB that performed successful taxi, take-off, and landing tests entirely on its own without pilot input.

Performing over 500 flights as part of the Autonomous Taxi, Take-off, and Landing project, the aircraft was successfully able to distinguish airport runways and taxiways, skillfully piloting itself through each phase of flight and taking the idea of autopilot to the next level. 

Each flight was performed at Airbus' headquarters and main production facility in Toulouse, France, where the aircraft performing the tests was also assembled. But the software powering the flights had been driven by data from researchers and engineers 5,000 miles away in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Airbus' Silicon Valley incubator, Acubed, is home to Project Wayfinder, which aims to create autonomous solutions for the future of flight, whether it be manned and unmanned. Its findings may have implications in the development of new commercial aircraft but could also shape the creation of autonomous air taxi and eVTOL flights.

Following the success of the autonomous A350 trials, Project Wayfinder just acquired its own flying testbed as part of Airbus' quest to build a robust dataset that will enable autonomous with uses in urban air taxis and commercial aircraft.

Here's a look inside Project Wayfinder and its newest flying research aircraft. 

Self-flying planes were once believed to be the hallmark of a truly futuristic world, a technologically superior era where planes roamed the skies powered by artificial intelligence.

But Airbus has been proving the concept viable using passenger aircraft that are already flying today – such as the A350 – and crafting technology that use machine-learning backed by countless hours of test flight data.

With new technology – which integrates with onboard cameras – an Airbus A350-1000 XWB passenger jet was able to recognize taxiways and runways to perform successful take-off, landing, and taxi maneuvers without the pilot touching the controls.

Read More: Airbus' self-flying plane just completed successful taxi, take-off, and landing tests, opening the door for fully autonomous flight

Pilots barely had to do anything besides ensure the plane was making the right calculations and adjustments in each phase of flight.

Even Airbus' military division is benefiting from autonomous systems, with some being tested on air-to-air refueling planes.

The tech would recognize fighter jets and other military planes as they approached and conduct an automated refueling process.

Read More Airbus just beat Boeing to be the first to complete a wholly automated air-to-air refueling operation

Though, before the tech can be used widespread on planes like the Airbus A350 XWB...

More data needs to be collected on planes like this one.

Project Wayfinder just acquired this Beechcraft Baron 58 and outfitted it with cameras, sensors, and computers to capture valuable flight data as it flies around the Bay Area.

The flying lab collects imagery from each flight which is then auto-labeled and given to machine learning algorithms. That data, in turn, helps the system "see," according to Airbus.

The onboard cameras work in tandem with navigational charts to collect position data.

Here's what the machine sees when the aircraft approaches a runway.

The green outline indicates that the software recognizes it as a runway and data will be collected to analyze how the plane behaves as it approaches land.

The software needs to be able to detect runways from miles away, which isn't always an easy task.

The Baron 58 was chosen, in part, because it's a twin-engine aircraft – like most passenger jets – which leaves the nose area free of obstructions to increase the visibility and field of view for the onboard cameras.

Single-engine planes typically have a propeller affixed to the nose, which would obstruct the front view of the aircraft.

It's a far cry from an Airbus A350-1000 XWB but the principles of flight remain the same.

Onboard cameras are configured using a black and white checkerboard, called a calibration board.

The successful autonomous flights of the Airbus A350 spurred the ramp-up of data collection at Project Wayfinder.

The new flying lab took flight on July 28 and is already providing data to Project Wayfinder's machine learning team to process.

Test pilots will continue flying around the Bay Area collecting data while researchers and engineers process the data and fine-tune the hardware and software used for further data collection.

Once all the data is collected, Project Wayfinder researchers will have a better understanding of just how viable autonomous flight can be on a large scale.

Beyond commercial aircraft, the data provided by the flying lab could also power other autonomous projects like Airbus' eVTOLs program.

Airline pilots can also rest easy knowing Project Wayfinder's stated purpose is to increase safety in the cockpit by having autonomous systems reduce pilot workload and not completely replace pilots.

• Mark Cuban told "The David Rubenstein Show" that his buy-and-hold strategy had led him to big returns on Netflix and Amazon.
• The "Shark Tank" investor who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks said he stuck with companies he believed in.
• Cuban also said he used to be an active trader but no longer was. "There's a lot more money chasing fewer stocks, so it's harder to trade and be successful," he said.

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The billionaire investor Mark Cuban spoke with "The David Rubenstein Show" on Tuesday about his buy-and-hold strategy that he said had given him skyrocketing returns over the long term.

The Dallas Mavericks owner said he'd owned Netflix stock since it cost $50 a share. The streaming service closed Wednesday near $550, giving Cuban a roughly 1,000% return on his investment. He also said he was buying Amazon when it was between $500 and $700 and more recently had owned more shares at just under $2,000.

On Wednesday, Amazon closed at $3,441.85 — meaning an investment of $500 would have gained more than 500%. Cuban confirmed these returns with Business Insider.

Cuban said his strategy in recent years had been to stick with companies he believed in. 

"I pretty much make my own decisions," the "Shark Tank" investor told Rubenstein. 

"I used to trade a lot," he added. "I used to be very, very active as a trader. And back in the '90s and early 2000s, there was a lot less money chasing more stocks, and now there's a lot more money chasing fewer stocks, so it's harder to trade and be successful."

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 9 stocks that are poised to continue crushing the market as the 'shared favorites' of Wall Street's biggest investors

Beyond Netflix and Amazon, Cuban said he had "some scattered things" that he'd "owned over the years that I've held on to."

But the investor said that he no longer traded the way he used to and that the Federal Reserve's inflation of financial assets had given him a tailwind.

Cuban added that while the coronavirus pandemic had forced many small businesses to close and harmed some large companies, this uncertainty created opportunities for new innovation, especially in the digital realm.

"I think there's a lot of unique opportunities that are available to people who are creative, who have a vision for the future," he said. "I think 10, 15, 20 years, we'll look back and there will be 10, 20, 30 world-class companies that were created by people who we probably are thinking are crazy right now."

Read more: Chris Mayer wrote the book on how to make 100 times your money with a single stock. He gives an in-depth assessment of the latest company that 'checks all my boxes.'

• Researchers from The University of Chicago analyzed which jobs can be done from home given their characteristics and work duties.
• Given this classification of telework jobs, we decided to look at which jobs are high-paying and can be done from home but do not require a college degree.
• Using education requirements and typical salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we looked at jobs from the University of Chicago list that earn more than the US average annual salary and where the typical minimum education is a high school diploma or no formal education.
• Transportation managers made the top of the list with an average annual salary of $103,320 and a minimum educational requirement of a high school diploma or equivalent.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The kinds of jobs that can be done from home range from managers and supervisors to sales agents, and not all of these jobs require you to be a college graduate.

Jonathan Dingel and Brent Neiman from The University of Chicago researched the kinds of job that can potentially be done from home based on an occupation's characteristics and responsibilities found on The Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network (O*NET). 

Using two work questionnaires on O*NET, if an occupation met conditions like a "majority of respondents say they work outdoors every day" or "performing general physical activities is very important," then the researchers classified this occupation as one that cannot be done from home. The full list of these kinds of questions can be found in their white paper. 

To check this method, the researchers manually gave each occupation their own score. The O*NET and manual classifications were mostly the same, agreeing for about 85% of the jobs.

Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers were one of the jobs that did not match between the two assessments. The O*NET classification found these jobs can likely be done from home, while their manual classification believed these jobs are not suited for telework. Private detectives and investigators showed a similar difference.

Based on their O*NET method, they found about 37% of occupations can likely be done remotely. 

Given the large number of people working from home during the pandemic, Business Insider decided to look at high-paying remote jobs that don't require a college education. To do this, we used The University of Chicago's classification of jobs that likely can be done from home based on the O*NET classification scheme and found those where the typical minimum requirement is a high school diploma or its equivalent, or does not have a particular educational requirement. Of these occupations, we looked at those that make more than $53,490, the average annual salary of all occupations as of May 2019. 

The following are the 16 highest-paying jobs that you can do from home that don't require a college degree based on O*NET classifications. Education and occupational data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

16. Brokerage clerks

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $55,190 

Number of people employed: 47,990 

15. Private detectives and investigators

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $57,000 

Number of people employed: 35,000 

While the job-characteristic-based method found private detectives and investigators can work from home, the researchers' manual assignment found that this occupation probably cannot work from home. 

14. First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $57,840 

Number of people employed: 455,390 

13. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $60,130 

Number of people employed: 1,487,870 

12. Farm labor contractors

Education requirement: None

Salary: $62,060 

Number of people employed: 160 

11. Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $62,920 

Number of people employed: 542,690 

10. Insurance sales agents

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $67,780 

Number of people employed: 410,050 

9. Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $68,940 

Number of people employed: 287,960 

8. Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives, except technical and scientific products

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $71,110 

Number of people employed: 1,344,530 

7. Property, real estate, and community association managers

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $71,720 

Number of people employed: 220,750 

6. Postmasters and mail superintendents

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $78,220 

Number of people employed: 13,850 

5. Real estate brokers

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $81,450 

Number of people employed: 42,730

4. Intelligence analysts

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $86,030 

Number of people employed: 105,620 

Intelligence agents are included in the broader category of detectives and criminal investigators, but the researchers at University of Chicago found criminal investigators and special agents likely cannot work from home. These specific occupation titles from O*NET, intelligence analysts and criminal investigators and special agents, both use wage data for detectives and criminal investigators from BLS.

3. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $86,180 

Number of people employed: 249,090 

2. Athletes and sports competitors

Education requirement: None

Salary: $93,140 

Number of people employed: 11,330 

While the O*NET job-characteristic-based method found athletes can work from home, the researchers' manual assignment found that this occupation probably cannot work from home. 

1. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers

Education requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Salary: $103,320 

Number of people employed: 132,040 

• Arnold Spielberg, a World War II veteran and father of acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, died this week at 103.
• Arnold's experiences were a major influence on his son's films, some of which were inspired by his wartime service.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Steven Spielberg's father served in World War II and the director's dad has been a major influence on the director's career. Arnold Spielberg died this week at 103, so let's take a look at how he inspired his son to make some of the greatest films and TV shows about the greatest generation.

Like many young men of his generation, Arnold Spielberg enlisted in the Army within a month of the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

He served as a radio operator and chief communications man for the 490th Bomb Squadron, nicknamed the "Burma Bridge Busters" after their assigned mission to bomb Japanese bridges and railroad lines. Spielberg volunteered for two combat tours in the China Burma India theater of war.

Arnold married Leah Posner after his return home and son Steven was born in 1946 at the beginning of the post-war baby boom. He developed a fascination with gadgets during his military service and got an engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati on the G.I. Bill.

That led to a career in the new field of computer science that included stints working for RCA, GE, Electronic Arrays, SDS, Burroughs and IBM.

Steven credits his dad for his own devotion to new technology. "When I see a PlayStation, when I look at a cell phone — from the smallest calculator to an iPad — I look at my dad and I say, 'My dad and a team of geniuses started that.'"

Arnold Spielberg also supported his only son's devotion to movies, giving him access to gear and helping his teenage son make his first films with a home movie camera. The 1961 short "Fighter Squad" was shot at the Sky Harbor Airport hangar in Phoenix and featured grounded former WWII fighter planes.

Here are five World War II movies from a storied career, movies that would never have been made without the influence and early support of Arnold Spielberg.

1. 'Saving Private Ryan'

"Saving Private Ryan," released in 1998, refocused American minds on the heroes of World War II and kicked off two decades of tribute to the men and women who won the war.

Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) leads his men behind German lines to rescue a missing soldier and teaches everyone the importance of shared sacrifice. The 20-minute opening sequence recreates the Allied Forces' D-Day landing on Omaha Beach and stands as the greatest battle sequence in movie history.

"Saving Private Ryan" is currently available to stream on HBO Max and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

2. '1941'

"1941," released in 1979, lampoons the panic in Los Angeles about a rumored Japanese invasion in the days immediately after Pearl Harbor. American wasn't exactly ready for a World War II farce back then and the movie has a reputation as one of Spielberg's rare failures.

Seen 40 years later, the movie plays as a cross between "Animal House" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," bringing together young comedy talent like John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and John Candy alongside Hollywood legends like Robert Stack, Christopher Lee, Warren Oates and Slim Pickens. It's flawed but still very funny.

"1941" is currently available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

3. 'Schindler's List'

"Schindler's List," released in 1993, won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Spielberg's first Best Director Oscar. More importantly, it told the story of the Holocaust for a mainstream audience by focusing on one of the few heroes from that terrifying chapter of World War II history.

Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist who protected his Jewish employees from Nazi extermination by employing him in his factories. The real-life Schindler is credited with saving 1,200 lives during the war.

Spielberg's family is Jewish and the movie is just as much about the lives lost as the lives saved. It's shot in black-and-white and effectively conveys the horror and the sadness while chronicling the heroism of a man who chose to resist the Nazi regime.

"Schindler's List" is currently available to stream on Netflix and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

4. 'Empire of the Sun'

"Empire of the Sun," released in 1987, features a 12-year-old Christain Bale in a movie based on J.G. Ballard's novel about a young English boy living in Shanghai, China after the Japanese invasion. Separated from his family, he's forced to grow up to survive over the course of the war.

The movie was originally set to be directed by the great David Lean and produced by Spielberg. Lean won Oscars for directing "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia." Both movies also won Best Picture and stand among the greatest war pictures ever made. Spielberg considers Lean a major influence on his filmmaking and aimed to make the same kind of epic once Lean dropped out of the movie.

"Empire of the Sun" is currently available to stream on HBO Max and on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

5. 'Escape to Nowhere'

Let's hope the 1961 "Escape to Nowhere" is safely stored in the Spielberg family archives and will be available for aspiring filmmakers to study someday. For now, we've only got the blurry (but still impressive) excerpt that's available on YouTube.

The clip that exists shows that young Steven was already learning how to shoot and edit a scene. Are uniforms wrong? Are the production values non-existent? Sure, but what were you doing when you were 15?

This list doesn't include the Spielberg productions of "Band of Brothers" (2001) and "The Pacific" (2010). Each epic HBO series took its inspiration from the camaraderie on display in "Saving Private Ryan" and told more stories collected by historian Stephen Ambrose. Both shows are streaming on HBO Max and available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

Spielberg and Apple TV+ are making yet another World War II series called "Masters of the Air" and have yet to announce a release date.

Spielberg also produced the outstanding Netflix documentary "Five Came Back," based on Mark Harris' book about five of Hollywood's most legendary directors and their service in World War II.

Arnold Spielberg may have had the most influence on "The Mission," a 1985 episode of the original "Amazing Stories" television series personally directed by Steven. Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland star in this show about a WWII tail gunner trapped in the belly of a B-17. You can stream this episode in the NBC app or on NBC.com. The "Amazing Stories" series is available on DVD and digital.

Finally, don't forget the Nazi bad guys in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and "Indiana Jones and Last Crusade" (1989). Some people want to count them as World World II movies, but even we're willing to admit that's a stretch. Both are streaming on Netflix and both are available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

The legacy of Arnold Spielberg offers a great lesson for parents. Support your kids. Encourage their creativity and provide them with whatever gear you can. Raise them right. They might not become one of Hollywood's greatest directors but they'll make you proud some other way.

• A man was fatally shot in Portland on Saturday, on a night of confrontation between pro-Trump and Black Lives Matter supporters, according to multiple reports. 
• Portland Police, who have opened a homicide investigation, has not confirmed whether the shooting was connected to the protests. 
• Images of a man being treated for an apparent gunshot wound in Portland show a man in a Patriot Prayer hat. Police have not confirmed the identity of the shooting victim.
• Patriot Prayer is a Portland-based pro-Trump group with far-right connections. 
• A caravan of around 600 vehicles had arrived to express support for President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press (AP).
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A man was shot and killed in Portland on Saturday evening, as protesters and counter-protesters clashed, according to multiple reports. 

Portland Police have opened a homicide investigation. In a statement, the police did not say whether the shooting was connected to the confrontations downtown that evening between a large caravan of Trump supporters arriving in the city and Black Lives Matter protesters. 

The identity of the man who was killed has not been confirmed. However, a photographer working on assignment for the Associated Press (AP) said the victim was wearing a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a Portland-based pro-Trump group with far-right connections. 

A Getty Images photograph from the protests also shows police treating a man, apparently white, at the scene in a Patriot Prayer hat. The block around the scene of the shooting has been cordoned off. 

"Portland Police officers heard sounds of gunfire from the area of Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street," read the police statement. "They responded and located a victim with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medical responded and determined that the victim was deceased."

During the day, a rally of around 600 vehicles in support of President Donald Trump had arrived in the city, according to the AP.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, police tweeted that there had been some clashes between the Trump supporters and the Portland protesters. 

—Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) August 30, 2020

The shooting took place after most of the pro-Trump caravan had left downtown, according to local newspaper The Oregonian. Organizers of the rally had encouraged the Patriot Prayer protesters to arrive armed, but not to wear weapons openly, the paper reported.

This is the third consecutive weekend that has seen clashes between competing groups, according to the paper.

Portland has seen continual protests from Black Lives Matter supporters since the police killing of Black man George Floyd in late May. 

• Throughout the Republican National Convention, speakers tried to paint President Trump as the "law and order" president.
• But Trump has routinely shown a disregard for the law, sown chaos across the country, and promoted disorder in our society.
• Michael Gordon is a longtime Democratic strategist, a former spokesman for the Justice Department, and the principal for the strategic-communications firm Group Gordon.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Throughout the Republican National Convention, a variety of voices cast the incumbent as the "law and order" president. 

According to President Trump's offspring, the dog whistlers of St. Louis and various elected officials like Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Democrats are soft on crime. They even encourage crime and are hell-bent on abolishing the police. 

These speakers have assured people that Trump will keep law-abiding Americans safe, even if it means deploying US troops on our own soil. 

But this narrative, like many spun by the Trump campaign, is more farce than fact, another attempt to draw focus from Trump's handling of the pandemic, economy, and racial injustice. Make no mistake, Trump is not the law and order President. He is the lawless and disorder President.

Lawless

Our "law and order" president has consistently shown a disregard for the "law" portion of that idea throughout his time in office.

He has abused the pardon power to shrug his shoulders at corruption - perhaps because it's fundamental to his life's work. He has granted clemency to Jared Kushner pal Patrick Nolan, who pled guilty to racketeering; Conrad M. Black, a friend convicted of fraud; and former governor. and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Rod. Blagojevich, who infamously tried to sell a US Senate seat. 

Like the member of a good crime syndicate, Trump protects his buddies who protect him. He rewarded Roger Stone's silent loyalty with commutation. His Justice Department dropped charges against Michael Flynn after Flynn pleaded guilty to the charges. And with Steve Bannon's days of freedom in peril, it feels as if the question isn't if Trump will pardon him but when.

Instead of standing up for truth in justice, Trump bristles at perjury charges - such as when Rudy Giuliani cried "perjury trap" to explain why the president would not be interviewed by Robert Mueller. Truth is truth, despite Giuliani's claim to the contrary, and there's no need to claim "perjury trap" when the facts are on your side.

Trump has even built lawlessness into his public policy. Dozens of officials from other countries have spent money at his properties, likely in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. His foreign policy decisions reek of corruption and conflicts of interest, and his immigration policies have likely violated domestic and international law. 

Crooked

Even before his presidency, Trump was involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits, including for his "sham university" that defrauded students and for underpaying his undocumented employees.

Then, there were his 2016 election crimes. The Republican-led US Senate Intelligence Committee did what Special Counsel Robert Mueller failed to do: prove decisively that Trump's campaign colluded with Russia. Meanwhile, there is strong evidence that Trump also broke campaign finance laws that same year by participating in hush-money payments to women.

Ultimately, some of his crimes in office would be too clear and obvious for Trump to slink away from entirely. He was of course impeached -- but not convicted -- of crimes that can be punishable by several years in prison. 

Despite his stain on history, Trump seems ever more emboldened to cross legal and ethical lines.

Disordered

President Trump also fails on the second half of his "law and order" claim., 

His words and actions don't help maintain order but rather sow division, unrest, and chaos. 

He speaks out against an "angry mob" of peaceful protesters but encourages mob violence at his rallies. He calls himself an ally to peaceful protesters but sends federal troops to tear gas them so he can have a photo op. He calls on foreign leaders not to kill their protesters but warns Americans that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." 

It's never been about order. It's a faux strength masking a President's deep insecurities. 

A president who openly meddles with the Justice Department cannot be a shield for our nation. A president who calls peaceful demonstrators "thugs" but sees "very fine people on both sides" in Charlottesville cannot restore "order" to a nation awakened to racial injustice. 

If Donald Trump were truly a man of order, he would unequivocally condemn this week's murder of protesters allegedly at the hands of a young supporter. He would turn off the heated rhetoric that inspires far-right violence. But by now we know he's not capable.

Trump claiming the mantle of law and order is like the US claiming victory over COVID-19. It immediately fails the smell test.  

There are many words to describe heads of state who freely bend, flout, and manipulate laws for personal and political ends. Think dictator or strongman, not president. 

Trump's past and present prove that he is the last person capable of hoisting the law and order banner, and the last person we need in the White House for four more years. It's not what it is.

• S&P 500 corporate profits are holding up far better than they did in past recessions, and it helping fuel the stock market's summer rally, says James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group.
• Shrinking GDP typically drives profit declines roughly four to five times larger than what was seen during the 2020 downturn.
• Companies were able to limit earnings-per-share damage to "one of the mildest recessionary contractions of the post-war era," Paulsen said. They did that despite the coronavirus fueling the biggest economic downturn in nearly a century
• Outlined below are the four reasons why profits have held up so well during the coronavirus recession, according to the strategist. 
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Some of the stock market's extraordinary rally from March lows may have to do with how little corporate profits were pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic, says James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group.

Earnings weren't supposed to hold up as well as they did. The coronavirus pandemic prompted the largest quarterly and year-over-year gross domestic product declines in US history. Unemployment skyrocketed, consumer spending slowed immensely, and overall activity ground to a halt.

Plunges in US GDP have historically driven earnings-per-share declines four to five times larger than what was seen, the strategist found. This year's downturn reversed the trend. Though GDP has contracted nearly 11% from its recent high, EPS only dropped by 15%.

Companies were able to limit EPS damage to "one of the mildest recessionary contractions of the post-war era" despite the coronavirus fueling the biggest economic downturn in nearly a century, Paulsen said.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 9 stocks that are poised to continue crushing the market as the 'shared favorites' of Wall Street's biggest investors

"If firms are successful at minimizing the earnings impact of a record collapse in the economy, why shouldn't the stock market recover faster and more robustly?" he wrote in a note to clients.

Detailed below are the four factors Paulsen says reinforced corporate earnings before and during the coronavirus recession.

(1) Fed to the rescue

To start, the government and Federal Reserve's response to coronavirus economic fallout was faster and larger than in any other recession. The Fed stepped in with unprecedented lending programs and asset purchase strategies, while Congress passed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act to inject fiscal relief into the economy.

The response was more than double the size of aid efforts used during the financial crisis, and seven times larger than those used after the dot-com bust, Paulsen said. The cocktail of fiscal and monetary relief "buffered company sales trends" from the damage typically incurred in a recession, he added.

Sales data for S&P 500 companies shows just how directly the policy response buoyed earnings. For the first time in data going back to 1990, annual sales per share growth fell less than nominal GDP growth during a recession. The former even avoided contraction despite the dire backdrop.

Read more: 35-year market vet David Rosenberg warns the stock market's rally features distortions that were glaring during the tech bubble — and lays out his plausible scenario for a crash

(2) Companies battened down the hatches

Just as the government responded to the virus's sudden shock, so did the nation's biggest corporations. Firms slashed costs by unprecedented amounts through layoffs and liquidations to maintain their cash piles. By the second quarter, the US output gap — a measure of how much firms under-utilize the economy's resources — sank to a post-war low.

Though the pandemic itself wasn't anticipated, companies were prepared themselves for the resulting economic hit, Paulsen said.

"Because this recession was predictable, businesses moved more quickly and more assertively than ever in lowering breakeven points to preserve profits more effectively than in past cycles," the strategist added.

(3) Shrunken household debt piles

In past recessions, US households entered downturns with increasingly high levels of debt. Such indebtedness tends to worsen slumps, as Americans lack the extra cash to restart the country's economic engine.

This year has been different. The household debt burden sat near record lows when the recession started, leaving Americans with plenty more power to maintain spending and keep companies afloat. The personal savings rate heading into the recession was also double that seen before the 2000 and 2008 downturns. In all, these positive trends helped drive corporate sales and pad against a worse plunge than past recessions, the strategist said.

Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: Buy these 12 underappreciated stocks that offer strong profit growth and are due for a surge

"The US consumer came into this crisis in uncommonly strong financial shape, surrounded by a robust job market and with fewer headwinds than one normally faces when entering the recession," Paulsen said, adding the lack of hurdles could be "why many consumer spending categories have bounced back quicker and stronger than most expected."

(4) Bolstered rainy-day funds

Companies also entered the coronavirus recession in better positions than usual. S&P 500 firms' debt to earnings ratios stood at historic lows, and cash flow per dollar of sales was higher than in past downturns. Combined, the gauges reveal companies had less debt to worry about and healthier cash buffers once the pandemic stifled sales.

"Having financial strength and flexibility, as opposed to the worsening vulnerabilities that often characterize the health of businesses in advance of a recession, provides far greater options when challenges emerge once in a recession," Paulsen wrote.

Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:

Savita Subramanian uses her philosophy major more than her math degree as Bank of America's US equity chief. She told us how it guides her investing strategy — and shared the drivers behind her career success.

The US tech sector is now worth more than the entire European stock market, Bank of America says

Credit Suisse fired a banker who forged a wealth-management client's documents and cost the firm $11 million, a new report says

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Republican National Convention speech this week was seen by critics as similar to the rest of Trump's foreign policy: brash, defiant, and not always reflective of reality.
• That doesn't matter, because Pompeo doesn't care what critics think, and what he's offering is what you can expect from Trump's "America First" politics after Trump is gone, writes New America fellow and Arizona State University professor Candace Rondeaux.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Is Mike Pompeo the Teflon Don reincarnated? If you watched the US secretary of state's pre-recorded speech to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, you'll know your answer doesn't matter, because Pompeo doesn't really care about what you, many Americans or the world thinks.

Pompeo delivered his address from Jerusalem while on an official diplomatic trip to the Middle East, breaking decades of political norms, and likely federal ethics laws. In this new era of American gangster diplomacy, what matters is always being right — as Pompeo sees it — and always being unapologetic in strong-arming the world into accepting the Republican Party's isolationist and increasingly authoritarian bent under the GOP's godfather-in-chief, President Donald J. Trump.

Federal laws prohibit civil servants from using their office, title or government resources to influence election results. So Pompeo's remarks provided more proof that he genuinely believes that those laws don't apply to him, and that he's a made man as long as Trump's "America First" vision of the world prevails.

The Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, said this week that his committee would launch an investigation into whether Pompeo's RNC convention speech from the rooftop of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem violated the Hatch Act, a federal statute that bars civil servants, including Cabinet secretaries, from mixing their official government duties with partisan politics.

But like New York City's one-time mafia kingmaker, John Gotti, who repeatedly escaped prosecution, Pompeo has played the role of an untouchable and loyal mafioso, enforcing Trump's new world disorder and repeatedly testing the limits of the rule of law since his appointment as America's top diplomat in 2018.

Pompeo and his close associates have twice been the subjects of investigations into misconduct at the State Department.

First, there was the State Department inspector general's congressionally mandated inquiry into whether the department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs overrode a vote by Congress last summer to block the sale of $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. Then, there was the investigation into allegations that Pompeo and his wife routinely ordered his State Department staff to run personal errands on his behalf, and used State Department resources to enhance his political profile.

So far, Pompeo has managed to escape accountability for these alleged abuses of power and government resources, in part by appearing to commit more of them.

First, he convinced Trump to fire the State Department's inspector general, Steve Linick, who was investigating him. Then, Linick's replacement, Acting Inspector General Stephen Akard, abruptly resigned in early August, though he was, in any case, apparently held in poor regard by many in the US diplomatic corps.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has since taken up an investigation into Linick's firing. But with the Republicans in firm control of the Senate in what is shaping up to be a precarious election year for endangered incumbents, not much is likely to come of the effort to hold Pompeo's feet to the fire this year.

America's top diplomat has at the same time been a key frontline warrior in Trump's unwinnable trade war of attrition with China, while playing small ball on the much more winnable "tech wars" by imposing bans on popular Chinese-owned social media apps TikTok and WeChat.

In his convention speech, Pompeo also cheerily reminded the world that Trump's series of friendly summits with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un helped "lower the temperature" with the regime in Pyongyang, while carefully eliding the fact that North Korea has carried out 52 missile tests since Trump took office in January 2017, according to the nonpartisan Nuclear Threat Initiative.

There are 46 other countries on the Asian continent other than North Korea and China, including Turkey, Japan, India and Pakistan, which constitute by far America's most consequential, if at times inconsistent, partners in a wide region where geopolitical competition between the US and China is likely to be the most intense for generations to come.

As it is, tensions between China and India over the disputed Himalayan border territory of Ladakh only seem to be worsening, with India's defense chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat, saying that military options remain on the table. Given Pakistan's close diplomatic relations with Beijing, and its dependence on China for military goods and trade, the high-stakes standoff between Chinese and Indian soldiers on the world's rooftop sets up the possibility for a three-way shooting war involving three nuclear-armed countries.

This is one time when it might make sense for America's secretary of state to signal that a focus on allies is as important as adversaries in US foreign policy. It was only six months ago, after all, that Trump proudly touted his bromance with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, on his last major diplomatic trip before the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has similarly tried to muscle Japan's prime minister, Abe Shinzo, into being a key ally in an America First coalition of the coerced, arrayed against a rising China.

Yet there was not a single mention of Japan or India in Pompeo's convention speech.

Pompeo also enthusiastically touted the US assassination of Iran's top general, Qassem Soleimani, in January, ignoring the determination by UN human rights investigators that the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed him was unlawful.

He praised the Trump administration's shredding of the Iran nuclear deal, even as it became clear that the UN Security Council would reject the Trump administration's demand to trigger "snapback" sanctions against Iran that were part of the deal the White House trashed and withdrew from unilaterally.

Then there was the most embarrassing part of the speech, Pompeo's blithe commentary on the state of US-Russia relations, Ukraine and NATO.

"Today, because of President Trump, NATO is stronger, Ukraine has defensive weapon systems, and America left a harmful treaty so our nation can now build missiles to deter Russian aggression," he declared.

While there are ultimately sound reasons for the recent US decision to redeploy thousands of American troops stationed in Germany to Poland, it is undeniable that the White House's move, and how it made it, has created more fissures within the already unsteady trans-Atlantic alliance.

It's all well and good that after more than a year of dithering, Ukraine now appears to be prepared to deploy its US-made Javelin anti-tank batteries closer to the contested region of Donbass in eastern Ukraine. But there is zero indication that there is a Ukrainian-American game plan in the event that Russia escalates its operations in Ukraine, either in response to ongoing negotiations over the status of Donbass and Crimea, or to the still bubbling situation in neighboring Belarus.

On top of all that, why anyone would view the idea of ramping up another nuclear arms race with Russia after the US pullout from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty as a good thing is beyond me, and probably several million other Americans. There is so much that is illogical about the Trump administration's Russia policy, including the lack of response to repeated provocations between Russian and American forces in the field, most recently in Syria this week.

Pompeo's RNC speech was, in a nutshell, just plain defiant and deceptive. But it was also pretty scary. If you were at all curious about what America might look like under Trump's most avaricious and aspiring political heir apparent, Pompeo's taxpayer-funded campaign speech and preening to the RNC is probably the closest thing to a crystal ball.

Trump or no Trump, the trajectory of the GOP's foreign policy is unlikely to veer far from this brand of ultranationalist diplomacy as long as Pompeo remains a leading light of the party.

Candace Rondeaux is a senior fellow and professor of practice at the Center on the Future of War, a joint initiative of New America and Arizona State University. Her WPR column appears every Friday.

• Adam Guild, a 20-year-old founder and CEO of restaurant ordering system Placepull, is a lifelong entrepreneur. He launched his first successful project when he was 13, and has since built companies that reached millions of users. 
• Guild believes being a young entrepreneur gives you unique strengths that can work to your advantage when attracting brands and business leaders. 
• There's more time to take risks and learn from your mistakes when you're young, so take this time to form a fresh perspectives that will differentiate you from older, more experienced entrepreneurs.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I began my first successful entrepreneurial project when I was 13, and I'm here to tell you: Being young makes it much harder to start a business. It's harder to build trust with customers. It's harder to raise money from investors. And it's harder to build authority with employees. When I started my restaurant-technology business, people at trade shows would look me up and down, roll their eyes, and walk away — often saying something condescending about my age. 

But Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Page started their companies at ages 20, 21, and 24 respectively. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are now collectively worth over $2.7 trillion. Each one of them leveraged their youth to their advantage, and turned that weakness into a strength. 

So did I. 

In fact, I now believe that being a young entrepreneur can be a secret weapon. Here's why:

1. You aren't trapped by the existing ways of doing things

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, said, "Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking." 

When you're young, your perspective on the world is fresh. Whereas others have spent years learning how things are, everything is new to you. You have no choice but to think about things from scratch. You can think more clearly about what's required to solve problems today, without having the dated reasoning of yesterday, because you haven't been conditioned to believe things have to be the way they are.

For example, when I decided to help restaurants grow using digital marketing, most people would have done it the "usual" way: building an agency full of consultants and doing everything manually. This is how it had been done since digital marketing became a thing in 1998.

But I wasn't limited by that way of thinking. I never even considered doing it manually. I went straight to building technology to automate it and optimize it, and the result was exponentially greater outcomes for our customers and higher profits for our business.

2. It's the best time to take risks

It's hard to make something from nothing — to build a sustainable business — and it's really risky. 

The best time to do it is when you're young. Larry Page, who was 24 when he founded the internet giant Google, once said, "I encourage you to take a little more risk in life. If you do it often enough, they will really pay off."

When you're a young entrepreneur, you don't have a family depending on you, or a mortgage to pay. You haven't gotten used to living a fancy life. 

So you have the freedom to take big risks, which may not pay off. 

It's the time in life when you generally have the least to lose. I'm now 20, and the companies I've built over the past seven years have collectively reached millions of users. My company was recently valued at over $13,000,000. 

But I still drive a modest car, live on groceries, wear cheap clothing, don't vacation, live as a minimalist, and keep my expenses very low so that I can take bigger risks and compound my capital. The money my competitors are putting into big salaries and fancy lifestyles I invest in building a bigger business.

3. "People don't take you seriously at first. But when they do, they go overboard."

That's a direct quote from Bill Gates, who founded tech giant Microsoft when he was 20 years old. He has since created over 144,000 jobs and created $1.06 trillion in market value.

Gates says that people were skeptical of him at first because of his age, but that when they realized he knew what he was talking about, they became extremely enthusiastic and tried to work with him as much as possible. His age became a part of the story that helped sell customers, because they enjoyed feeling like they were supporting a young prodigy and genius. 

I've had that same experience. Billion-dollar brands who were skeptical at first became extremely enthusiastic and supportive once they saw that I knew what I was talking about. They liked helping a young person. Top business leaders like Sean Rad (founder of Tinder) and Greg Creed (CEO of Yum Brands) might have ignored me if I was older, but they ended up sharing fantastic advice and becoming mentors. 

My age became an advantage because it was a point of differentiation. It reminded them of when they were young and just getting started.

4. You have more time to fail

Success comes with a lot of failures. And failures suck. They can feel like wasted time. But they're also inevitable when pursuing success. As the world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, said, "failure and invention are inseparable twins."

And it's best to fail fast when you're young. I've personally experienced some emotional punches in the face. My first project — a Facebook-like network for my sixth-grade class — was shut down by school authorities in a matter of weeks. My second one — a popular Minecraft server network — was threatened by Microsoft. Along the way, people that I thought I could count on let me down. I spent months on initiatives that utterly failed. I flew across the country for trade shows that didn't get me any customers. I embarrassed myself publicly again and again. Even though each failure was frustrating at the time, I was able to grab lessons from each experience and move on, with more time left to do better in the future. I'm glad I did.

So yes, being a young entrepreneur is especially challenging. It's harder to get others to believe in you, and it's harder for most young people to believe that they can be successful, since they often see themselves as just kids. 

But our youth is also a secret weapon with powerful advantages if you learn to recognize them. 

So don't stall your start and use your age as an excuse. None of the greats do.

Go. Get started. Now is the best time.

Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of Business Insider stories from executive editor Matt Turner. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday.

Hello!

So much for a quiet end to August. To recap:

• Palantir, Asana, Snowflake, and GoodRx filed to go public this week, among others. 
• A judge ruled that Apple was justified in booting Fortnite from its App Store, but Apple must continue to give Epic Games access to software developer tools and thus cannot try to choke Epic's broader game engine business.
  
• Salesforce laid off off about 1,000 workers a day after reporting blockbuster results that surpassed Wall Street estimates.
• The SEC said it would for the first time allow people who are not already rich to invest in startups and venture funds.
• The 25-year-old CEO of Luminar sold the self-driving-car startup he founded in high school in a $3.4 billion deal
• The head of Uber Eats for the US and Canada left the company, just as food delivery surges during the pandemic.
• Google quietly bought an office-development site near Seattle for $40 million, suggesting that the pandemic isn't slowing its expansion plans.

The biggest story of all, however, has been TikTok. CEO Kevin Mayer quit months in to the job. And in the coming hours and days, we're likely to find out more about a deal to buy some or all of TikTok. To help make sense of what's become a very complex situation, Paige Leskin produced this handy guide:

• Walmart, Microsoft, and Oracle are just some of the companies jostling to buy TikTok. Here's who is, who isn't, and why they might want it.

You can get more on why Walmart wants in on a deal here. And here's what experts are saying about Oracle's interest.

Related:

• You can get all the latest on TikTok and tech right here.
• Sign up here to get the 10 things in tech you need to know in your inbox every weekday morning. 

The most powerful man in HR

From Shana Lebowitz:

On February 1, 2018, employees of the Society for Human Resource Management convened for an all-staff meeting at a hotel near headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

Some staffers were flown in from other parts of the country. The new CEO, Johnny C. Taylor Jr., treated employees to lunch and handed out SHRM-branded T-shirts.

Later that afternoon, former staff recalled, about two dozen employees were called individually into meetings with their division chiefs. It was their last day at SHRM, they learned. SHRM staff escorted them off the premises, where IT representatives wiped company email accounts off their phones. They got into their cars and drove home. Some were still wearing their celebratory SHRM T-shirts.

Taylor has turned the organization, which counts 300,000 HR professionals as members, around financially, Shana reported. But many former employees that Business Insider spoke with used the word "fear" to describe its culture. They also said they felt pressured to return to the office during the coronavirus pandemic. You can read the full story here:

• The CEO of the world's largest HR organization led a $20 million turnaround. Meet Johnny C. Taylor Jr., a visionary who insiders say embraces layoffs and dismisses COVID-19 fears.

Investing philosophy

If you're a close follower of market news, you've probably seen Savita Subramanian on your television screen at one point or another, writes William Edwards. From his story:

The head of equity and quantitative strategy at Bank of America is a regular contributor to financial TV for good reason: She does some of the most influential work on Wall Street for one of the biggest investment banks. People care about what she has to say.

But odds are Subramanian isn't like many of the other analysts you might see making media appearances — or even generally similar to most people working in the numbers-heavy field of finance, for that matter. 

Of course, Subramanian is well-versed in the quantitative side of things — she has a mathematics degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA with a focus in finance from Columbia University. 

While at Berkeley, from which she graduated in 1995, she also majored in philosophy. The decision still informs her work, sometimes more than her other fields of study.

"My math major is what got me in the door, but my philosophy major is what kept me here," she recently told Business Insider in an exclusive interview. 

You can read William's full interview with Savita here:

• Savita Subramanian uses her philosophy major more than her math degree as Bank of America's US equity chief. She told us how it guides her investing strategy — and shared the drivers behind her career success.

Here are some headlines from the past week you might have missed. 

— Matt

• More than ever, Americans are depending on Congress for COVID-19 relief.
• However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP seem to be more interested in aiding corporations than getting aid to places that need it most.
• Budget crises for state and local governments can slow the economic recovery, as we saw after the Great Recession.
• So Congress should include a substantial aid package to state and local governments in a new coronavirus aid bill.
• Margarida Jorge is the Executive Director of Health Care for American Now (HCAN)
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Americans are depending on Congress to take more action in the coming weeks to provide immediate relief from the tremendous consequences of COVID-19.

Yet, as the need for basic services like healthcare, unemployment insurance, and food assistance escalates, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP are more focused on providing big corporations with liability insurance and setting arbitrary limits on relief funding than helping average Americans respond to the worst health and economic crisis in a century.

McConnell is refusing to include adequate funding to help states and localities struggling with budget shortfalls due to COVID-19 in the next relief package, despite clear evidence that without it, states are not equipped to combat the pandemic or recover from economic downturn. 

The GOP leader is claiming that the funds can't be included because it would drive up the price tag on the bail and future generations would face too great a burden from more federal spending. But past recessions have shown that failure to adequately fund state and local governments hinders recovery and puts the future at risk for all of us. 

Dropping public sector employment, curtailed services, and other consequences of underfunding state and local governments deepened the Great Recession and continue to be a problem to this day.

Debt hypocrisy

McConnell's concerns about future generations also ring hollow given the massive tax giveaways he's supported. 

He didn't lament adding to the national debt when he passed the 2017 tax cut law law that gave away $1.9 trillion in tax breaks mainly to the rich and corporations. Nor was he worried about the future when he gave real estate tycoons and hedge fund managers $135 billion in the CARES package. 

In the first three months of the pandemic, wealth for billionaires actually grew by $700 billion even as record job loss and economic hardship swept the nation. 

While more than 50 million people have filed unemployment claims since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak and over 5 million have lost health coverage, the top 1% are getting another tax break averaging $1.6 million just this year. McConnell and his Republican allies slipped the giveaway into the last relief bill by re-opening a loophole that benefits 43,000 business owners making more than $1 million annually.

It's the height of hypocrisy when Republicans in Congress wail about the deficit while handing out favors to the richest households and corporations while millions of their constituents are facing joblessness, hunger, and sickness. 

That hypocrisy points to the bigger deficit in their priorities: instead of passing relief and recovery that is commensurate with what real people need to get through this crisis and for the country to beat COVID, these politicians are putting their rich donors and corporate shareholders ahead of the rest of us. 

States need help, now

Now, state revenue is plummeting due to job losses resulting in less money from income taxes and diminished sales tax revenue at the same time the burden of COVID-19 is increasing.  State budget shortfalls will force more cuts to jobs and to services at the same time that states are still struggling to contain the pandemic, deepening the crisis and putting recovery further out of reach. 

We've seen this cycle before: during the last recession, failure to address the budget needs of state and local governments resulted in weak recovery and a longer recession, prolonged struggles for more people and diminished opportunities for future generations. A bipartisan letter from the National Governors' Association noted that state and local governments require at least an additional $500 billion in federal funds for COVID relief.  Yet McConnell has delayed taking action since May even as deadlines for unemployment insurance relief approach.

Hedge fund managers, real estate moguls, pass-through owners and corporate shareholders on the other hand aren't worried about eviction, feeding their families, losing insurance or paying the bill because thanks to McConnell, the rich are getting richer off the pandemic. 

If the federal government can afford billions in tax breaks for rich and corporations--even in a worldwide pandemic that has already killed more than 170,000 Americans--then we can also afford to give ailing families and the local governments they depend on the resources they need to combat COVID and recover quickly.

Americans are tired of lip service, delays, half-measures and excuses. It's time for Sen. McConnell and President Trump to make the future of struggling families, seniors, people with disabilities, frontline essential workers and others a higher priority than their rich donors and corporate cronies.

Margarida Jorge is the Executive Director of Health Care for American Now (HCAN)

• Netflix's "Lucifer" dethroned "The Umbrella Academy" this week as the streamer's most popular show.
• Netflix introduced daily top lists of the most popular titles on the streaming service in February.
• Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of the lists and provides Business Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular TV shows on Netflix.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a few weeks at the top, Netflix's "Umbrella Academy" was dethroned as the streamer's most popular TV series by "Lucifer." The first half of the show's fifth season debuted last week.

Netflix introduced daily top 10 lists of its most viewed movies and TV shows in February (it counts a view if an account watches at least two minutes of a title).

Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Business Insider a list of which TV shows have been most prominent on Netflix's daily lists that week. 

Netflix's latest reality series, "Million Dollar Beach House," also gained popularity this week.

Producer Nick Rigg told Business Insider's Ashley Rodriguez in an interview that Netflix was a "natural home" for the show because it's "somewhat of a hybrid model of a show — it's not all a docu-soap and it's not all a heavily formatted show — it's somewhere between the two."

"The Legend of Korra" was the only show that's not a Netflix original on this week's list. 

9. "Million Dollar Beach House" (Netflix original, 2020-present)

Description: "The competition is fierce — and the drama undeniable — as a group of young and hungry agents try to seal the deal on luxury listings in the Hamptons."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A

What critics said: "Naturally, if viewers are not quite satisfied luxuriating in the dream homes of other people, they can be marinating in the bile generated by those selling the dream homes of other people." — Wall Street Journal (season 1)

8. "Trinkets" (Netflix original, 2019-2020)

Description: "A grieving teen finds an unexpected connection with two classmates at her new high school after they all land in the same Shoplifters Anonymous group."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 50%

What critics said: "Trinkets satisfies in its final season by switching to a character-driven focus that lets its main trio have the final word on how we view them, and how they view themselves." — RogerEbert.com (season 2)

7. "Teenage Bounty Hunters" (Netflix original, 2020-present)

Description: "Twin sisters Sterling and Blair balance teen life at an elite Southern high school with an unlikely new career as butt-kicking bounty hunters."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 91%

What critics said: "'Teenage Bounty Hunters' is not perfect television, but it's infused with the sort of small-scale, needle-sharp sensibility that can't be achieved by committee, nor, really, by anyone fearful of falling flat." — Variety (season 1)

6. "Rust Valley Restorers" (Netflix original, 2018-present)

Description: "Old-school auto collector Mike Hall, his pal Avery Shoaf and son Connor Hall go the extra mile to restore retro cars — and hopefully turn a profit."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A

What critics said: N/A

5. "High Score" (Netflix original, 2020)

Description: "This docuseries traces the history of classic video games, featuring insights from the innovators who brought these worlds and characters to life."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 74%

What critics said: "High Score presents video games as a great equalizer ... It does not have any interest in exploring the gatekeepers, inside and out of the industry, who have made this vision as simplistic as it is wrong." — The Verge 

4. "The Legend of Korra" (Nickelodeon, 2012-2014)

Description: "An avatar who can control the elements fights to keep her city safe from the evil forces of both the physical and spiritual worlds."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 93%

What critics said: "In a cultural climate that is starving for strong female representation The Legend Of Korra has consistently delivered captivating female figures." — AV Club (season 4)

3. "Hoops" (Netflix original, 2020-present)

Description: "A foul-mouthed high school basketball coach is sure he'll hit the big leagues if he can only turn his terrible team around. Good luck with that."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 15%

What critics said: "If Hoops had the courage of its lack of convictions it would be as overtly racist and homophobic as it is sexist. But it doesn't. It confirms its racism and homophobia through tokenism." — Guardian (season 1)

2. "The Umbrella Academy" (Netflix original, 2019-present)

Description: "Reunited by their father's death, estranged siblings with extraordinary powers uncover shocking family secrets — and a looming threat to humanity."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 82%

What critics said: "What makes the second season of "The Umbrella Academy" such pleasant viewing is all the ways it lives up to the promise of the flawed-but-very-watchable first year." — San Francisco Chronicle (season 2)

1. "Lucifer" (Netflix original, 2016-present)

Description: "Bored with being the Lord of Hell, the devil relocates to Los Angeles, where he opens a nightclub and forms a connection with a homicide detective."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 86%

What critics said: "Lucifer will always be the show that gave us an archangel chasing a chicken while the Devil laughs in the background and Season 5 is going all-in on the parts of the show that make it such an addictive watch." — TV Guide (season 5)

• Paula Madrid is a clinical and forensic psychologist who specializes in trauma; she's assisted in a variety of disaster response efforts and is adjunct faculty at Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness.
• She already had a packed schedule pre-pandemic — and self-care routines that involved going out for happy hours and working out with a personal trainer.
• Now those things aren't possible, so she's readjusted.
• She's fulfilled her New Year's resolution to learn French by logging on to a virtual French lesson every morning at 7 a.m.
• She's also found that dinner — and its preparation — has become a sacred time.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A very good friend who knows my schedule well has affectionately labeled me a "working soccer mom." 

I run two businesses and (pre-pandemic) drove my daughter to school daily, picked her up, and took her to lessons three times a week. I had found it quite challenging to find regular time for self-care routines. Pre-pandemic, most weeks I found time to fit in a training session with the amazing personal trainer Ador Orca, happy hour with "the girls" on Wednesday evenings, and at least three work-free weekends per month. Such luxuries are hardly tenable in the current climate.  

At the outset of the pandemic, I contemplated ways I could remain active and positive while continuing to have a challenging schedule — now also occupied with homeschooling — while putting aside some time for new culinary ventures at home.  

Since about April 15, I have managed to get a simple routine down that's worked wonders for me. I attribute this success to drawing from my innermost desires, rather than basing my choices on what others typically say self-care "should be" all about.

Self-care is very personal. It requires an intimate understanding of one's true wants and needs, and then going for it! It can change on a weekly or even daily basis and thus requires some real introspection and lots of planning.

Here's how my routine works:

6-8 a.m.: I set an alarm for 6 a.m. so that I can actually get myself up by 6:45 most mornings.

After a quick shower and a relaxed dressing (except for Fridays, when I actually wear PJ's until around 11 a.m.), I prepare a cup of earl gray in preparation for a 7 a.m. virtual French language lesson. This has become one of my most important self-care rituals during this COVID era. 

On December 31, 2019, I held a New Year's Eve party at home. When friends asked about New Year's resolutions, I replied that I was set on becoming fluent in French and growing my secondary business. Fast forward to August 23, 2020: When I listen to podcasts in French, I can actually understand what's being said! 

Believe me, it's a rare pleasure to be able to follow through on a goal like this. What began in my mind as a lofty ambition — a "would be nice" scenario — has progressed into real achievement in the midst of this unfortunate crisis. 

Actually following through on a seemingly fanciful but long-held aim has filled me with a unique joy, and allowed me to note real changes in the way I see myself; it has engendered a strong sense of self-confidence I never knew I could draw from.     

8 a.m.-6 p.m.: My days are full of calls, emails, organizing meals, overseeing an active seven-year-old, delegating tasks to my associates and staff, composing reports, and putting out fires of a seemingly limitless variety — all of which results in me feeling a good deal overwhelmed, especially as this multi-tasking is ever-changing.  

I have found that, more than ever, having set to-do lists has been a lifesaver. I have a list of daily musts, which I prepare the night before, as well as ongoing lists of important — sometimes urgent — tasks to be performed at some specified time. 

This helps me stay sane, focused, and feel a sense of accomplishment on a daily basis, as a once-dreaded pastiche of tasks is reduced to checklist items. Each line drawn through a completed task yields a sense of satisfaction.

7-9 p.m.: The dinner hours have become quite the sacred time.

I have found a new love in preparing dinner with my family. I myself am a master veggie-chopper, our 7-year-old is an ace at salad dressing, and my husband has perfected the art of producing what my daughter has labeled "heavenly chicken." We use this time to laugh, tell jokes, play loud music or give each other dance lessons, plan where our next vacation might be (one day), as well as share about our days. 

~10 p.m.: After much joking around and a heavy dose of either Food Network watching or Harry Potter reading, our daughter finally falls asleep.

Success! 

11 p.m.: I do a bit more work and prepare for bed.

Composing a list of the wonderful things I experienced during the day, I realize I am smiling as I do so. I find that gratitude keeps me in a positive frame of mind, aware of how fortunate we are and have been, and how much we can offer to others in need. 

We are healthy, and we have basic needs covered, friends and family we can count on, and the freedom to dream about the future with the serene optimism of security. Indeed, we are just about as fortunate as it gets. Time to turn on a French podcast and fall asleep smiling because I actually understand what is being said.

• Black and Hispanic children eat more fast food than white kids, and teenagers eat more fast food than younger children, a study by the CDC shows.
• Fast-food consumption has risen during the pandemic, with hot dog sales increasing by more than 120% in March.
• In the UK, there are fears that a government-funded eat-out scheme will lead to higher obesity rates.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

American children and adolescents are eating more fast food than ever before — but just how much varies greatly by age and ethnicity, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed.

The report found that children and adolescents got an average of 13.8% of their daily calories from fast food between 2015 and 2018. The previous figure, from 2011 to 2012, was 12.4%.

The study also shows older children consume a higher proportion of calories from fast food. Children aged 2 to 11 get 11.5% of their daily calories from fast food, rising to 18% for those aged 12 to 19.

Black and Hispanic children eat more fast food than white kids, the report said.

More than a third of American children eat fast food on any given day, the report said.

The CDC report is based on data from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2018, meaning it doesn't take the effects of the pandemic into account. But by all indications, American diets have moved more toward convenient and affordable foods in recent months. 

During lockdown, the sales of many fast food products have skyrocketed, with hot dog sales increasing by more than 120% in March year-on-year. 

However, it isn't just comfort cravings that are causing Americans to eat more unhealthy food. People have less time and money to invest in cooking nutritious meals — during the pandemic, more jobs have been lost than at any time since the Great Depression. 

Grocery prices, which rose by about 3.6% from April to July, may have also contributed to increased fast food consumption.  

It isn't just the price that makes fast food attractive. Parents are juggling working and looking after their kids who are spending more time at home. The American Camp Association says 80% percent of overnight camps and 40% of day camps have remained shut this summer because of lockdown. These time-strapped Americans are turning to the convenience of takeout food, and many delivery services are soaring. Domino's reported that its US same-store sales rose by 16% in the second quarter of 2020, and in the first half of the year generated $240 million in net income - 30% higher than in 2019.

In the UK, there are similar concerns that obesity rates will rise because of the pandemic. To support the hospitality industry the government introduced the "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme in August, where diners at eligible restaurants, cafes and bars can receive 50% off the cost of their meal. This is subsidized by the government. The offer was used more than 64 million times within its first three weeks, and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that this program is supporting nearly 2 million employees in the hospitality sector.

However, fast-food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC are eligible for the scheme. This has brought widespread concerns that it will accelerate UK obesity rates, with the National Obesity Forum arguing that it would be a ''green light to promote junk food."

This increased fast food consumption during lockdown, in turn, is making people more at risk from COVID-19. Obese individuals — those with a BMI over 30 — are 113% more likely to be hospitalized from the virus, and have a 48% higher risk of death, according to a study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Some countries are taking desperate steps to fight this rise in obesity. Recently Oaxaca became the first state in Mexico to ban the sale of junk food and sugary drinks to children. Businesses who break the new law can be fined and risk closure, and their owners can even face time in jail. This isn't the first radical measure introduced in the country to combat its childhood obesity rate, which is among the highest in the world. In 2014 a country-wide tax on sugary drinks and junk food was introduced. Despite this, 73% of Mexicans are currently classified as overweight, according to the OECD. This figure was just 20% in 1996.

• Chrissie McClatchie is a freelance journalist who lives in the south of France with her husband and two daughters.
• Instead of spending thousands on a vacation rental this summer, McClatchie's family opted to do a home exchange, swapping their apartment on the French Riviera for a house with a garden in the French Alps.
• They only spent about $150 on the home exchange membership fee and less than $200 on transportation costs, and were also able to bring their cat along. 
• There were some growing pains to the experience, but McClatchie says they enjoyed their stay overall, and are eager to do another home exchange soon.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

This summer, my family and I went on a house swap organized through an international home exchange portal, homelink.org. It was the first house swap we'd ever done. We traded our home, a 667-square-foot sea view apartment with terrace in Villefranche-sur-Mer, on the French Riviera, for a house four times the size with a garden, in a village in the valley between Grenoble and Chambéry, in the French Alps. 

I know it looks like we scored the best deal. But the truth was that we've swapped a sea breeze for a place everyone has told me is the hottest part of France in summer — and there wasn't even a fan, let alone air conditioning, in the house.

The first night, we all struggled to sleep because of the heat. As I laid awake, I wondered if maybe our friends and family had been right: were we crazy to have handed over our home to a stranger for 18 days? "Weren't we worried about them touching our belongings?" people had asked before we left.

For us, the incentive was financial: As a family of four, we've saved at least €2,500 (around $3,000) on the price of a lengthy vacation rental this summer — and that's a conservative estimate. 

A friend had recommended Homelink to us. The process to sign up and create a profile was easy. After writing a description about our apartment and our neighborhood, I uploaded some photos and paid the  €125 ($148) annual fee. (For US members, the annual fee is $99). 

It wasn't long before we started to receive exchange offers

"We always love to go to Villefranche for a holiday, so let us know if you fancy a week or so in London," one member wrote. In total, we had offers from England, Wales, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Germany, the USA, and France.

In the end, we decided on the first inquiry we had received, from a retired teacher in the French Alps. It was the pictures of the trampoline, swing set and outdoor playhouse that sold us. "The girls will love the space," my husband said. Plus, Grenoble was just five hours away and the 250-mile drive would cost only about €80 ($95) each way in fuel and tolls. The listing also welcomed animals, so we could bring our cat.

As our first exchange, it felt wise to stay close to home in case anything went wrong

We signed the agreement in late January before any major COVID-19 outbreak in Europe. With hindsight, we can now see how fortunate our decision to stay in France this summer was.

Our home is one of approximately 8,000 listed in 70 countries on the website, Homelink's UK director Caroline Connolly told me via email. "Quite a few members have hidden their listing at the moment due to COVID-19 travel restrictions," Connolly said.

Connolly explained that swaps are often arranged six to nine months in advance. "A lot of exchanges were canceled early on," she wrote. 

We had our moments of doubt, too, particularly as the COVID infection rate crept up again in France in the weeks leading up to our departure. 

But, as the usual crowds of August tourists started to descend on our village, we realized we would actually feel safer there than at home.

We arrived at a three-story stone house, which the owner said dates from the Renaissance

The property sits at the foot of the Chartreuse mountain range. It's full of character, but it's also big and quite creaky. This was our exchange partner's 40th exchange and it showed: I found a welcome hamper in the kitchen and there are notes and instructions stuck all around the house. In the living room, folders of tourist information were spread out across the sofa. I wondered how I would ever keep the house clean.

But she didn't tell us everything, especially that her road is being dug up this summer. Most mornings we were woken by the sound of diggers driving past the bedroom windows. During the day, we often found machinery parked in the driveway. The road was covered in loose stones that bounce off the undercarriage of our car every time we left the house.

I found it hard to relax. It didn't help that soon after we arrived her two goldfish died, despite following their care instructions to a tee.

My husband was right when he said: "The problem is this place isn't ours, so I can't settle into it." I didn't want to be that family — you know, the one that breaks heirlooms (or kills pets).

Luckily, my daughters were oblivious to all this. Our exchange partner has three grandchildren and boxes of their toys were left out for our children to play with. I really appreciated this touch.

It took me a week, but I finally settled into vacation mode

I closed off rooms that we didn't need to use, and bought a fan to keep us cool. My daughters stayed entertained by playing in the garden.

We visited the three mountain ranges that surround Grenoble and discovered lakes and waterfalls that were both shady and socially distanced. We hiked child-friendly trails and got a glimpse of a snow-capped Mont Blanc in the distance.

Because we didn't have to budget for accommodation, and our transport costs had been modest, we also had more money to spend on vacation treats, such as nice cuts of meat for the barbecue.

Suddenly, our departure loomed, and I found myself already browsing exchange listings for next summer

"The first exchange is always the hardest — the next one will be a breeze!" Connolly signed off in her email. 

Am I ready to test her theory and do it again? Definitely.

We were able to vacation in a house and garden in the heart of the French Alps without paying anything more than the Homelink registration fee, and the fuel and tolls to get there and back. It doesn't get much better than that, really.

Interested in a home exchange? Here are five things to consider:

• In practice, most exchangers are homeowners. "Renters can exchange on the proviso that their landlord (and any associated mortgage and/or insurance companies) are happy with the arrangements," Connolly said.
• You can specify dates and/or set preferred destinations, or leave either option open. Some listings offer a 'non-simultaneous' exchange, which means you don't have to swap homes on the exact same dates. 
• Your house doesn't have to be in pristine condition. "Have a spring clean and declutter – you don't need a show home, but it should be clean and comfortable," Connolly said.
• If you are travelling as a family, consider searching for an exchange partner with children of a similar age. For us, arriving at a house already equipped for play was invaluable.
• If you are flying to your exchange destination, look for a listing that offers a car in the swap as well, as that will save on car rental fees.

Chrissie McClatchie is a freelance journalist who writes about luxury, lifestyle, and travel with a particular focus on the world of superyachts and stories from the south of France.

• President Donald Trump is slated to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday in the wake of protests that erupted after police shot and wounded Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man.
• White House spokesman Judd Deere told reporters that Trump is set to meet with local law enforcement and "survey damage from recent riots," AFP reported.
• The president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump said on "Fox News Sunday" that Trump also scheduled a meeting with Blake's family while he's in Wisconsin.
• After a week of tensions in the city, the Associated Press reported that Trump's visit is sure to "exacerbate tensions" in Kenosha, and Democratic Rep. Karen Bass criticized the trip as designed to "agitate things and to make things worse."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump is slated to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, just over one week after police shot and wounded Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man.

The White House announced the visit to reporters late Saturday, and White House spokesman Judd Deere specified that Trump will meet with local law enforcement and "survey damage from recent riots," AFP reported.

The president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump said on "Fox News Sunday" that Trump is set to meet with Blake's family while he's in Wisconsin.

However, the status of those plans is unclear, as an attorney for the Blake family, Ben Crump, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that they had not been contacted to meet with Trump. 

"We will see," Crump said about a possible meeting with the president, before adding that the family had already met with Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who spoke with them "for about an hour."

One day after Blake's father joined at least 1,000 other protesters in Kenosha, Crump said his parents are "focused on trying to march for their son because he'll never be able to stand up for himself unless a miracle happens"

Blake was shot in the back seven times by an officer while standing in the driver's door of a car with his children inside after police had initially responded to a domestic dispute.

Blake was hospitalized after the incident, and his family and attorney have since confirmed he is paralyzed.

The protests in Kenosha coincided with the Republican National Convention, where Trump and his allies repeatedly touted a "law and order" vision for the country. Speeches at the convention often bashed protesters in Portland, Oregon, where demonstrations that began as peaceful gatherings against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death descended into violent clashes with National Guard agents deployed to the city by Trump's administration.

The Associated Press reported that the visit is sure to "exacerbate tensions" in Kenosha, where more than 1,000 National Guard soldiers were on the ground, Reuters reported.

Democratic Rep. Karen Bass echoed that concern of tensions on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, where she said Trump's trip has "one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to agitate things and to make things worse."

—State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 30, 2020

Earlier in the week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers had declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and implemented an 8 p.m. local time curfew.

Two Kenosha police officers have been placed on administrative leave in the wake of the shooting, which is currently being investigated by the Wisconsin Justice Department's criminal division in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

• One stock market signal is pointing to rising odds of a Joe Biden presidency, according to a note published by LPL on Monday.
• And if Biden does win and become president next year, the risks to the market will be minimal, and no more than the risks posed to the market under an Obama presidency, LPL said.
• "We do not see a particularly strong reason to fear a Biden presidency from a market perspective today," LPL said.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Joe Biden's chances in the poll booth this November are on the rise, according to one stock market signal.

In a note published on Monday, LPL highlighted that a basket of stocks perceived to perform well under a Joe Biden presidency are outperforming a basket of stocks perceived to perform well under a second-term Donald Trump presidency.

Citing data from Strategas Research Partners, LPL showed that the Joe Biden stock portfolio has reached its highest level of relative outperformance to the Donald Trump stock portfolio since February 2020 in recent weeks.

The relative outperformance signals that the market may increasingly view a Biden presidency as likely, though LPL does acknowledge that the individual stocks within the portfolios are driven by other factors as well.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 9 stocks that are poised to continue crushing the market as the 'shared favorites' of Wall Street's biggest investors

If Biden does win the upcoming November election, the chances of the Democrats flipping the Senate from red to blue are above 50%, according to LPL.

Read more: 35-year market vet David Rosenberg warns the stock market's rally features distortions that were glaring during the tech bubble — and lays out his plausible scenario for a crash

And in a scenario where the Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the presidency come January 2021, Joe Biden will have more freedom to pass his agenda, which can have a direct impact on the economy, and ultimately the stock market.

A recent research note from Liberum showed that the economy and stock market do significantly better under a Democratic president than under a Republican president, as Democratic policy initiatives to stimulate consumption via expanded unemployment benefits and food stamps have a bigger economic impact than Republican initiatives of tax cuts and deregulation.

LPL said it believes that risks to the stock market are few, and investors should not sell their stocks based on whether Biden or Trump wins the November election.

Read more: Chris Mayer wrote the book on how to make 100 times your money with a single stock. He gives an in-depth assessment of the latest company that 'checks all my boxes.'

"We foresee some market risks in a Biden presidency, but no more than in an Obama presidency, which had a strong stock market record," LPL concluded.

And while one stock market signal is pointing to rising odds of a Biden presidency, another is still pointing to a Trump presidency. Generally, a rising stock market in the three months prior to the presidential election helps the incumbent party, while the opposite is true for a falling market.

Since the three-month clock started ticking on August 3, stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, are up 4% as of Monday's close, representing a benefit to President Trump's re-election chances.

Read more: Bank of America shares a trading strategy designed to boost returns from a 'potential blow-off' rally in Apple's stock as it surges past big-tech peers

• S&P 500 can explode a further 11% and touch 3,900 before year end if Trump's revolutionary vaccine plan gets recognized, a CEO of an online trading platform said. 
• Anthony Denier, CEO of Webull told Business Insider: "I would predict the S&P to flirt with 3,900."
• Trump announced this week the White House is mulling an emergency use authorization for UK-based AstraZeneca's experimental vaccine before the November election. 
• The S&P 500 hit multiple record highs this week following the news, and closed above 3,500 on Friday.
• But veteran strategist Ed Yardeni told Business Insider that while he is still bullish on the index, most vaccine news has already been priced in.
• "Its already gone to the moon on a rocket ship," he said. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The S&P 500 could balloon 11% from its current explosive level before the end of the 2020 if US President Trump's revolutionary vaccine plan gets realized before the November election, according to the CEO of a trading platform. 

Anthony Denier, CEO of trading platform Webull, told Business Insider: "Social sentiment aside, if Trump succeeds in getting a treatment to the US that results in 35% less deaths due to COVID-19, and we continue to see infection rates decline, then this would give him a strong tailwind into the election for another four year term."

"I would predict the S&P to flirt with 3,900," he added. Climbing to 3,900 would represent an increase of some 11% from Friday's closing price.

The S&P 500 has bounced back from hell after touching coronavirus lows in March. It hit a new record of 3,508 points on Friday, gaining all week after it emerged Tuesday that Trump is mulling an emergency use authorization for an early stage coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca in the UK.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 9 stocks that are poised to continue crushing the market as the 'shared favorites' of Wall Street's biggest investors

Such an action would bypass regulatory standards and potentially introduce a vaccine to the US market before November's presidential election.

The S&P 500 index has bounced 53% since touching coronavirus lows in March. 

A raft of factors has contributed to the index's spectacular recovery. Central banks across the world rolled out stimulus packages to help companies survive the pandemic. This has left interest rates and yields at rock bottom, making the stock market an attractive place to make money. 

Investors have been very sensitive to all types of news, particularly on anything related to the likelihood of a vaccine being developed in the near future. 

Separately, the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for using convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19.

While Denier thinks the S&P 500 could touch 3,900 should Trump successfully bring a vaccine to the US pre-election, veteran strategist Ed Yardeni is less convinced the vaccine news can move markets higher, adding that any news on such front is likely already priced into the S&P 500 index. 

Read more: 35-year market vet David Rosenberg warns the stock market's rally features distortions that were glaring during the tech bubble — and lays out his plausible scenario for a crash

Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research told Business Insider: "I said before we're going to go to 3,500 before the end of the year and then 3,800 next year. But the market keeps getting to the levels well ahead of schedule." 

"If this vaccine use just came out of the blue and we hadn't had a lot of other encouraging news on the vaccines for the past several months, the market would be going to the moon on a rocket ship," Yardeni said. "But it's already gone to the moon on a rocket ship."

Yardeni said Trump's "very vague plan" was simply an effort to ramp up as much positive news in the week of the Republican convention. 

As long as the perception is that the global economy is recovering, then markets can reach 3,800 earlier than next year, he said. 

But the index shooting up to these levels on vaccine news alone is unlikely, he concluded. 

Read more: 'Basically one mass manipulation': A market expert unloads on the central bank-driven 'failure' of the modern financial system — and says another stock meltdown is likely coming