Cheddar

A car? A motorcycle? It’s very French either way🚙🇫🇷

A French startup built a car that leans into turns like a motorcycle. The idea came out of Paris traffic. It pushed co-founder Alexandre Lagrange onto two wheels, and after two close calls he went looking for a vehicle with a motorcycle’s agility and a car’s protection. It took seven prototypes to reach the version unveiled in December 2024.

No customers have one yet. Prototypes are on public roads, type approval is still in progress, and first deliveries are planned for France and the rest of Europe. Several million euros have gone into the project since 2020, with support from Bpifrance, ADEME and France 2030. It was shown at CES in Las Vegas, but no US launch has been announced.

Trick-or-treat math is getting harder🍫🎃

FinanceBuzz tracked full-price bulk bags of mixed Halloween candy at Walmart, Target, Kroger and Albertsons every year since 2021. A 100-piece bag that averaged $9.91 in 2021 now averages $16.96, a rise more than triple the 22% national inflation rate over the same stretch.

Most of the jump came recently: the bag rose $2.45 from 2023 to 2024 and $2.34 from 2024 to 2025. This year’s increase was smaller, about 57 cents, or 3.5%.

Are you cutting back on candy this year?

Restaurants built DoorDash. Now it’s paying for your weekly grocery run. 🛒🥑

Instacart, founded in 2012 and public since 2023, rode the pandemic delivery boom but has since lost ground as DoorDash and Uber Eats moved into groceries. Uber also held talks at one point to buy Instacart.

What changes for customers? DoorDash says DashPass and Instacart+ members would pay one membership fee instead of two, an estimated $100 million a year in savings, and Instacart users could shop more than 50,000 additional stores. DoorDash also sees a multi-year path to $500 million or more in annual synergies.

DoorDash plans to fund the cash with cash on hand and debt, backed by a JPMorgan bridge loan, and holders of about 19% of Instacart’s shares have already agreed to vote yes. Open questions remain: Instacart delivers for Walmart, which DoorDash stopped serving in 2022. Wedbush analysts warned that looking at the online market more narrowly “can make approvals more challenging.”

It’s DoorDash’s latest deal after buying Deliveroo and SevenRooms, as the delivery business keeps consolidating and Amazon and Walmart push faster grocery delivery.

The Fed hit pause, but it didn’t sound relaxed about it🏦

The central bank held its benchmark rate at 3.75%–4% on Wednesday, a month after its first hike since 2023. Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented in favor of another quarter-point increase. It was Cook’s first dissent since joining the Fed in 2022, and it comes after President Trump tried to remove her.

The Fed upgraded its read on the economy to “expanding at a strong pace,” but Chair Kevin Warsh said “inflation is too high,” with energy prices climbing again. Asked about next week’s midterms, he said: “Politics played no role in the decision.”

The other big news, is starting in 2027, one of the Fed’s eight meetings will cover strategy only, with no rate vote. In 2028 that becomes two. Markets still see a strong chance of a hike in December. The 2-year Treasury yield slipped to about 4.71% while the 10-year rose to about 5.04%.

And the award for the biggest known donor of the 2026 midterms goes to…💸

The Washington Post counts $446 million of his own money in this cycle, according to filings through Oct. 23. That’s already well past the roughly $290 million he spent in 2024 to help elect President Trump and Republicans.

Most of it is going to keep Congress in GOP hands. The Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates, has received $168 million from him this cycle. The Congressional Leadership Fund, its House counterpart, has received $30 million.

His America PAC says the money gives Republicans “a fighting chance to defy history.” Democrats see it differently: “Republicans are hoping to buy these elections,” a Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said.

With days to go before Election Day, the spending may not be done.