According to CoinMeta, the mid-term elections in the United States have begun. Brent crude oil has fallen below $105 per barrel. Reports indicate that Iran's supreme leader has authorized discussions on the "non-negotiable" issues. Russia has confirmed that trilateral talks between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine will take place in Abu Dhabi from October 10th to 11th. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing the policy rate to its highest level in 18 years; however, three members voted to keep the rate unchanged. Pfizer's revenue and profits in the third quarter both exceeded expectations, and the company raised its annual revenue forecast. Weight loss drugs and cancer medications have become new drivers of growth. Apple's stock price fell nearly 5% before trading began; the company's revenue and profits in the previous quarter also exceeded expectations, but there were issues such as high memory costs, narrowing gross margins, and slower service growth. Oracle issued shares at a 11% discount to raise $9.9 billion, and also issued bonds to raise $10 billion. Disney plans to lay off thousands of employees, and management has been instructed to cut costs by 20%. The World Gold Council has lowered its forecast for annual gold investment demand to 200 tons. Central banks around the world are accelerating their gold purchases, and ETF holdings have reached a new high. Japanese stocks are closed today; the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.82%, while the Hang Seng Index closed up 0.57%.