The powerful coal-state lawmaker said Bidens words ignore the severe economic pain for people from higher energy prices and are why Americans are losing trust in Biden. Manchins stinging rebuke of his partys leader comes at precarious time for Democrats on the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesdays elections that could put Republicans back in power in Congress.

Manchin called for a public apology, and the White House later released a statement saying Bidens words had been twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended and that the president regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offense.

Biden raised Manchins ire with his reference to coal power during a speech Friday in Carlsbad, California, to spotlight his $280 billion plan to boost the semiconductor industry and scientific research.

I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal plant in America. Guess what? It cost them too much money, Biden said. No one is building new coal plants because they cant rely on it, even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of their existence of the plant. So its going to become a wind generation, Biden added. Were going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar.

Biden had visited a former coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts in July. The former Brayton Point power plant in Somerset is shifting to offshore wind power manufacturing, and Biden chose it as the embodiment of the transition to clean energy that he is seeking, including in the sweeping climate-and-health law he passed with Manchins help in August.

Former President Donald Trump promised to revive coal and restore mining jobs, but the industrys decadelong decline continued as utilities increasingly turn to cheaper natural gas and now renewable energy such as wind and solar power to generate electricity. The Energy Information Administration, a government agency, reports a yearly average of 39,518 employees at U.S. coal mines in 2021, compared with 91,611 in 2011, 51,795 in 2016 and 42,159 in 2020. Wyoming is the leader in coal production.

Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that Bidens remarks were not only outrageous and divorced from reality, they ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of rising energy costs.

Such remarks, Manchin said, are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden. It seems his positions change daily depending on the audience and politics of the day.

Manchin, whose support was crucial to Biden winning passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the biggest investment in climate programs in U.S. history, slammed Biden for offensive and disgusting words and said the president owed West Virginia coal workers an immediate and public apology.

Let me be clear, this is something the president has never said to me. Being cavalier about the coal jobs for men and women in West Virginia and across the country who literally put their lives on the line to help build and power this country is offensive and disgusting, Manchin. He added that it is time he learn a lesson that his words matter and have consequences.

The White House said Biden was commenting on a fact of economics and technology at a time when the country is undertaking an energy transition that he is working to ensure means more jobs and better opportunities. No one will be left behind.

The EIA projects that coal generation is expected to decline from 22.5% of U.S. electricity in 2021 to 21.1% in 2022, before falling to 19.9% in 2023 - the same coal generation share as 2020 when production hit its lowest level in decades, in part because of COVID-19. Natural gas is expected to make up for some of coals declining share in 2022 and beyond. Coal produced more than 40% of U.S. electricity though 2011 before a steep decline caused by the fracking boom.

In late 2021, Manchin torpedoed Bidens big domestic policy bill, leading to a hardball response from the White House to a lawmaker whose vote is crucial in the 50-50 Senate. Bidens press secretary called Manchins opposition, first announced on a Sunday news show, as a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position and a breach of his commitments to Biden and congressional Democrats.

Then, this past summer, Manchin suddenly reversed course and backed a revised bill that became law with only Democratic votes.

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That isnt necessarily a bad thing for equities as such scenarios tend to preserve the status quo, reducing uncertainty. Still, for specific areas like health, energy and tech, the makeup of the next Congress will be key to determining their path forward.

Republicans also have a shot at winning the Senate, which would give the GOP full control of Congress and make it easier to advance their policy priorities, though President Joe Biden could use his veto power. That could be the best-case scenario for industries that tend to be favored by Republicans such as energy, defense, pharmaceuticals and biotech.

The end of Democratic control would rob Biden of the ability to use lawmakers to executive the rest of his agenda, potentially causing him to rely more on executive action to promote his priorities.

Here are areas equity investors should watch after the midterm election results:

Cannabis

The cannabis sector has been hit hard this past year amid the fitful pace of US legalization and a broader risk-off mood among investors in the highly speculative industry. The Cannabis Index has plunged 57% in 2022, with Tilray Brands Inc., Canopy Growth Corp. and SNDL Inc. all sinking at least 45%.

Investors will be closely watching several state referendums for progress toward legalization at a local level. Voters in Maryland, Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota will weigh whether to approve legalization for adults.

If four or five approve, it would probably be deemed a positive, but if Maryland does not approve, that would definitely be deemed a negative, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kenneth Shea.

Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress would likely push federal legalization off the table for now. Democratic control of both chambers, while unlikely, would be far more favorable for the cannabis industry. The Cannabis Index surged 18% last month when Biden issued a pardon for all prior federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana.

Health care

Investors in the healthcare industry have been closely following developments from Washington around the issue of drug pricing, with the midterm elections magnifying ramifications for the sector. 

Provisions that would empower Medicare to negotiate some drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act are being marketed by Democrats as a landmark change that would lower drug costs for Americans. Not all high-price drugs will be subject to negotiations, but certain cancer treatments and other brand-name medicines used by seniors could have lower prices as early as 2026. 

Republicans have traditionally been more favorable to the drug industry than Democrats, Cowen analyst Rick Weissenstein wrote in a note Oct. 14. While Republicans wont be able to repeal the drug pricing provisions, they have vowed to hold hearings on the plan and to look for other ways to slow down implementation of the bill.

Pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer Inc., AbbVie Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Merck & Co. could all see their revenue outlooks impacted by any changes to rules on drug pricing.

US-listed Chinese stocks

A threat to delist Chinese stocks that trade on US exchanges but dont comply with Trump-era audit laws has backing from both Democrats and Republicans. That support, as well as growing geopolitical tension surrounding China, has sent the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index plunging 39% this year.

If Republicans take full control of Congress it will ratchet up the intensity of oversight and likely lead to hearings not only over the status of audits but also if Chinese firms should even be listed in the US at all, according to Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen & Co.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has identified about 200 stocks that face removal for not allowing US auditors access to their records including tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Pinduoduo Inc., and Baidu Inc.

Clean power

Democrats recently passed a landmark climate law that includes generous long-term subsidies for clean-power installations. Even though no Republicans in Congress supported the bill, its highly unlikely these credits face any danger after the midterms. This bodes well for developer NextEra Energy Inc. and rooftop-solar installer Sunrun Inc. Biden still has another two years in his term and the climate package is a signature achievement that he will be keen to protect.

Energy

Energy stocks have been a rare bright spot in an otherwise grim year for equities, boosted by skyrocketing oil and natural gas prices. Thats translated to higher fuel costs for Americans, making the sector an easy target for Democrats in an election cycle focused on the burdens caused by inflation.

Assuming Republicans win control of either the Senate or House, energy policy is unlikely to see a major shift. While the Biden administrations recent threat to impose a windfall tax on oil producers initially sent companies including Phillips 66, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. lower, such a proposal is likely to be blocked by Republican lawmakers. 

Even under the current makeup of Congress Biden has little power to push his tax proposal through, according to Benjamin Salisbury, a managing director at Height Capital Markets. It is highly unlikely that Congress will make any progress on the issue before year-end and is unlikely to address it in 2023, he added.

Even if Biden somehow gets the votes he needs to move forward with a windfall tax which, to be clear, is a longshot at best there is a potential upside for energy stocks, according to Louis Navellier, the chief investment officer at Navellier & Associates. The idea is that the levy would discourage new investment, thereby curbing oil supplies and driving prices even higher.

Big tech

Major US technology companies, from Alphabet Inc. to Meta Platforms Inc., have long been thought to be a target for potential regulation. And indeed, the White House is planning a post-midterms push for antitrust legislation, a last-ditch effort to get a stalled pair of bills through Congress before a predicted Republican takeover in January. The GOP has made it clear that they wont support the bills if they retake control of either chamber of Congress. 

For tech investors, the midterms also bring a renewed focus to the research and development tax break put in place during the Trump administration, which expired last year. Under that legislation, firms with large R&D spending like Intel Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. could fully deduct those costs during the year in which they occurred as opposed to having to write them off over of the span of five years.

The R&D tax credit change, if reversed, we feel would be positive for the information technology sector, said Michael Taylor, an analyst at Wells Fargo. If the tax credit is not reversed, a higher corporate tax bill could potentially weigh on the earnings and performance of the affected companies.

With assistance from Bre Bradham, Geoffrey Morgan, Ryan Vlastelica and Brian Eckhouse.

In a tweet on Saturday morning, one day after his longtime friend Musk slashed about half the companys workforce, Dorsey wrote:

Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.

He added, I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I dont expect that to be mutual in this momentor everand I understand.

The love and gratitude might be hard to reciprocate for some considering Dorsey praised Musk as the singular solution I trust to run the company back in April, when the takeover saga began. This is the right pathI believe it with all my heart, he added at the time.

As for Musk, he tweeted Friday night that the mass layoffs were necessary, writing: Regarding Twitters reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.

Talking to investors earlier in the day at the Baron Investment Conference in New York City, he joked about overpaying for the social media company,  Insider reported.

I mean I think most people would say, given how [the] market has evolved this year, the price is on the high side, Musk acknowledged onstage. 

Wedbush Securities tech analyst Dan Ives called the $44 billion purchase one of the most overpaid tech acquisitions in the history of M&A deals on the Street, arguing that $25 billion would have been a fairer price.

At the conference, Musk said he expects the job cuts to save the company $400 million a year.

In September, leaked documents from the Elon Musk v. Twitter trial showed some of Dorseys thinking about the social network he co-founded in 2006. In texts to Musk, Dorsey wrote:

I believe it must be an open source protocol, funded by a foundation of sorts that doesnt own the protocol, only advances it. A bit like what Signal has done. It cant have an advertising model.

Last month, Dorsey launched a decentralized social-media platform, Bluesky Social.

Musk, for his part, has seen a slew of companies suspend their advertising on Twitter, wary of its direction despite his assurances that it wont become a free-for-all hellscape. 

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The conglomerate reported a $962 million loss on insurance underwriting in the third quarter, the worst quarterly loss in a year. Auto-insurer Geico took the biggest hit among its insurance businesses, with a pre-tax loss of $759 million. The unit hasnt turned a quarterly profit since the second quarter last year.

Auto insurers have struggled to keep pace with elevated used-car prices, worsening frequency and severity of accidents and higher costs tied to medical claims and litigation related to accidents. The broader insurance industry has also had to grapple with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which slammed into southwest Florida in late September causing billions of dollars in damage.

Claims frequencies in the first nine months of this year were higher across the board, Berkshire said, including property damage, injury and collision.

Geico is definitely a pressure point to watch at Berkshire, said Cathy Seifert, an analyst with CFRA Research, noting that a measure of future revenue was weaker than levels reported by peers. It looks like Geico is losing market share as well.

Still, Berkshires other operating units, which include railway BNSF alongside utilities and energy operations, were otherwise profitable, though revenue for railroad declined from last year as rising inflation took its toll on the Omaha, Nebraska-based company.

While customer demand for products and services was relatively good in 2022, demand began to weaken in the third quarter at certain of our businesses, Berkshire said in a regulatory filing. We continue to experience the negative effects of higher materials, freight, labor and other input costs. 

Operating earnings overall clocked in at $7.76 billion, a 20% increase from last year. The increase included $858 million in foreign-exchange gains tied to debt not denominated in US dollars, as well as a 17% gain in revenue from businesses Berkshire owns between a 20% to 50% stake in.

On balance, the businesses are performing very well, said Jim Shanahan, an analyst with Edward Jones.

For the first time, Berkshire included Occidental Petroleum Corp. under the equity method of accounting after its stake in the company surpassed 20% earlier this year. Including warrants, the conglomerate owns almost 30% of the oil firm. The company said it will report results from that business on a one-quarter lag, with Berkshires share of Occidental earnings set to be reported in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Berkshire also reported a net earnings loss for the quarter of almost $2.69 billion, driven by a $10.4 billion hit tied to its investment portfolio as economic uncertainty rattled markets. 

The company repurchased $1.05 billion of shares in the period, in line with the approximately $1 billion bought back in the prior three months. Buffett has increasingly turned to buybacks as a way of deploying cash when opportunities are otherwise sparse. 

Berkshires cash hoard increased slightly to $109 billion as Buffett maintained its stash of dry powder amid a market downturn spurred by economic fears.

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