What you need to know today

Last burst before a break
U.S. stocks ended Wednesday in positive territory before going on break today for Thanksgiving. Treasurys briefly fell to a two-month low before inching up again. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Thursday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell about 0.6% as flash estimates showed the country’s business activity contracting at its fastest pace in 27 months. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3%.
Altman’s back
Sam Altman has returned as the CEO of OpenAI, less than a week after he was ousted by the company’s previous board. There’s also a board reshuffle, with Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce and Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary, joining. Separately, OpenAI researchers reportedly warned the board of an AI breakthrough ahead of Altman’s ouster.
Binance outflow
Binance has seen outflows of more than $1 billion in the past 24 hours — and that figure doesn’t even include bitcoin — according to data from blockchain analysis firm Nansen. Still, more than $65 billion worth of assets remain on Binance, Nansen noted, and there hasn’t been a “mass exodus” of funds. The withdrawals come after founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to criminal charges Tuesday.
Smartphone sales rebound
Global smartphone sales rose 5% year on year in October, reversing a downward trend that lasted 27 months, according to data from Counterpoint Research. “The growth has been led by emerging markets with a continuous recovery in Middle East and Africa, Huawei’s comeback in China and onset of festive season in India,” the research firm said.
New AI trend
Generative artificial intelligence relies heavily on computing power, typically hosted on cloud servers. Some companies are trying to change the way consumers use AI, which would save costs, reduce latency — and help those companies' shares outperform in 2024 and 2025, according to Morgan Stanley. $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ $Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ.US)$ $SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.US)$