| Virus cases surpass 40 million. "Xi Thought" is on the rise. And Softbank increases equity positions to more than $20 billion. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today. Global coronavirus cases exceeded 40 million, with the pandemic showing no signs of slowing. In the U.S., surges in battleground states like Wisconsin pose a challenge for President Donald Trump two weeks before he stands for re-election. Millions of Europeans face tighter restrictions on movement, with London, Paris and Vienna enforcing stricter curbs and Ireland enacting some of the region's toughest measures. Iran again reported a record number of daily deaths linked to the virus, while the Philippines shortened its curfew hours and government scientists in India said the country may be able to contain the world's second-largest outbreak by February. Asian stocks looked poised to follow their U.S. counterparts lower as chances of a fresh stimulus deal before November's election faded and global virus cases surpassed 40 million. Treasuries slipped. Futures pointed to modest losses in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. The S&P 500 Index fell to the lowest in almost two weeks. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to almost 0.77% and the dollar weakened versus major peers. Elsewhere, the pound jumped by the most since August at one point on a little Brexit optimism. Oil dropped after an OPEC+ meeting made no mention of any changes to a plan to further ease oil-output cuts from January. Demand for Hong Kong dollars hasn't been this strong since before the global financial crisis. Why? It's being propelled by stock sales from Chinese megacaps such as Ant Group's anticipated IPO. They've drawn so much cash to Hong Kong that the city's currency has remained near the strongest it's allowed to trade against the greenback since April. This year's inflows have forced the de facto central bank to sell local dollars, interventions that will have helped replenish the cash pool by about HK$280 billion ($36 billion) by Wednesday. The record annual increase is more than 2008 and 2009 combined. What sort of science fiction does Xi Jinping like? How can "Xi Thought" help prepare the country for the next big earthquake? These are the sorts of questions Communist Party cadres are now pondering as they prepare for the next big milestone in the president's effort to cement his control: Elevating Xi Thought alongside Maoism. The esoteric concept is expected to be written into the five-year development blueprint that will be unveiled later this month. Everyone from diplomats to executives to writers are under pressure to incorporate its broad, often fuzzy tenets. The project is central to Xi's effort to quiet opposition and to stay on past 2022, when he's expected to seek a third five-year term as party chief. Here's more on what that project looks like. SoftBank charged ahead with its new public stock trading arm, increasing equity positions to more than $20 billion despite an initially skeptical response from shareholders, according to a person familiar with the investments. The company had been targeting more than $10 billion and the sum could reach into the tens of billions. The Japanese conglomerate considered tempering its trading plans in early September after reports that SoftBank's spending spree was stirring froth in tech stocks. But over the past few weeks, SoftBank renewed its commitment to the public equities trading arm, the people said. In other Japan news, foreign investors are finally returning to stocks there, thanks to Warren Buffet. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: And finally, here's what Tracy's interested in todayImagine Amazon ran its own version of Venmo and every one in the U.S. used that payments app instead of cash to transact. Now imagine that version of Venmo also came with a gigantic money market fund, a wealth management business, a consumer lending platform, credit scoring and insurance. And now imagine Amazon was about to IPO this massive financial business for the first time. How much would that be worth?  Ant Group, the financial arm of Alibaba, is planning to raise about $35 billion at a reported valuation of $280 billion, which could make it the biggest IPO of all time. But the offering is unusual in other ways too. For a start, it's going ahead without cornerstone investors (Ant doesn't think it need them). Brokers are offering retail investors up to 20 times leverage on newly issued Ant stock (because it's seen as such a sure bet). Meanwhile, the sheer scale of the listing is boosting overall demand for Hong Kong dollars, as my Bloomberg colleagues note today. It's rare to see a blockbuster IPO that is so big it becomes the main attraction of an entire market. You can follow Tracy Alloway on Twitter at @tracyalloway. The U.S. presidential campaign has already been a roller-coaster ride for global investors, and it promises to get even more intense. Join us virtually on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. Singapore time (GMT+8) to hear how Kathy Matsui, vice chair Goldman Sachs Japan, and Brian Barish, president and CIO of Cambiar Investors, are preparing their portfolios. Register for free here to be part of the conversation or to access all content on-demand at your convenience. | 
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