Week in Review (Nov. 2–6, 2026): Democrats Win Congress, Tech Stocks Tumble and Tankers Hit in Hormuz

This week in review covers Nov. 2–6, 2026. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Two days later, Wall Street had its worst session in more than 18 months as investors sold technology and chip stocks. In the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian forces said several tankers were damaged as U.S.–Iran diplomacy remained unsettled. Below are the week’s most important stories, each linked to its original source, with verified facts kept separate from commentary.

U.S. News: Democrats Take Control of Congress

Verified facts:

• House: CBS News projected that Democrats won control of the House in the Nov. 3 midterms. On Wednesday afternoon, CBS estimated Democrats were on pace for about 256 seats, up from 214 before the election (CBS News).
• Senate: CBS News projects Democrats will control the Senate in January with at least 54 seats (CBS News). Republicans held 53 seats going into the election.
• Notable Senate results reported by Northeastern Global News: in Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson unseated Sen. Susan Collins. In North Carolina, Roy Cooper flipped a Republican-held seat.
• Still uncalled: In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom led Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) by 1,724 votes, 49.0% to 48.9%, with about 96% counted as of Thursday. In Alaska, Mary Peltola (D) led Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) by just over 600 votes with 74% tallied, and the race may go to ranked-choice tabulation (Yahoo News).
• Governors: Northeastern reports that Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won in Georgia, and Republican Byron Donalds won in Florida.
• Leadership: According to CBS, House Democrats have scheduled leadership elections for Nov. 18–19, Hakeem Jeffries has announced a bid for speaker, and Mike Johnson will not seek the minority leader post.

Developing: Seat totals are projections and may change as remaining ballots are counted. See our pre-election coverage: 2026 Midterm Elections: More Than 50 Million Early Votes Cast.

Markets: Tech Sell-Off Sends the Nasdaq Into a Correction

Verified facts:

Source: Fox Business and TradingKey. It was the S&P 500’s largest one-day drop since April 2025, and the Nasdaq closed more than 10% below its Oct. 6 record. Micron fell about 17% and Nvidia about 9%. Coverage linked the selling to concerns that the new Congress and some states could slow data-center construction and tighten oversight of AI. Through Thursday, the Nasdaq was down about 4.4% for the week and the S&P 500 nearly 3% (TipRanks).

Earlier in the week: Oil prices fell sharply on Monday on hopes for U.S.–Iran diplomacy (our Monday report). After the market closed Thursday, Cloudflare reported 39% revenue growth and raised its guidance (Vanderbilt Report coverage).

Friday: The October U.S. jobs report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Forecasts compiled by Investing.com and Kiplinger call for about 59,000 to 65,000 new jobs and a 4.2% unemployment rate. September’s gain was 29,000.

World News: Hormuz Tensions and a Bank of England Rate Hike

• Qeshm Island strikes (Mon., Nov. 2): U.S. officials told ABC News that the U.S. carried out limited “defensive” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island after an Iranian attack on a U.S. aircraft. One official said the strikes do not signal a return to major combat. (Our earlier report.)
• Tankers hit (Thu., Nov. 5): Iranian forces said at least five tankers were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz, mostly by mines (Al Jazeera). Separately, the UK’s maritime trade agency (UKMTO) reported a tanker struck by projectiles north of Qatar. CBS News notes these reports have not been independently confirmed by maritime officials (CBS News).
• Oil: Brent crude fell about 9% on Wednesday to roughly $94 a barrel, then rose 2.2% on Thursday to $96.70 (CBS News).
• Diplomacy: Qatari, Pakistani and Saudi mediators are carrying messages between the two sides. Qatar said both have been reviewing proposals. Status: developing.
• Bank of England (Thu., Nov. 5): The BoE raised its Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage point to 4.00%. Eight policymakers voted for the quarter-point hike and one for a half-point. U.K. inflation was 3.5% in the 12 months to September (SPF Private Clients).

Technology

• Google in Malaysia: On Nov. 4, Google announced a $15 billion investment in Malaysia covering 2027–28, including data-center campuses in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan (Tech Startups roundup).
• Meta bond demand: Meta’s first euro-denominated bond drew about €53 billion in orders for up to €9 billion of debt. A day earlier, it sold a $15 billion dollar bond (same source).
• Related: China to speed up AI safety legislation.

Health and Science

• FDA approval: The FDA granted accelerated approval to Johnson & Johnson’s subcutaneous Rybrevant Faspro (amivantamab and hyaluronidase) for some patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. In the OrigAMI-4 trial of 102 patients, 42% responded to treatment (OncLive).
• Also on Vanderbilt Report this week: Huntington’s disease gene therapy AMT-130 gets FDA priority review and energy drinks and heart health.

Sports

• WNBA champions: The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68–63 on Sat., Oct. 31, in the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, winning a title in only the franchise’s second season. Gabby Williams was named Finals MVP after scoring 30 points (CBS Sports). Our preview: WNBA Finals Game 7.
• Explainer: How the College Football Playoff works.

Crypto

• Bitcoin: Bitcoin traded near $80,221 early Thursday, according to Fortune, then fell along with tech stocks later in the day.
• Binance hack recovery: After the roughly $6.3 billion theft on Oct. 29, Binance says it has replenished most affected assets and restarted withdrawals in phases beginning Nov. 1. Tether and Circle froze about $2.4 billion of the stolen tokens (crypto.news). Recovery figures are reported by the company.

What to Watch Next Week (Nov. 9–13)

Only scheduled or documented events are listed here.

• Mon., Nov. 9: COP31 climate conference opens in Antalya, Türkiye, running through Nov. 20, with a leaders’ summit Nov. 11–12 (Climate & Capital Media).
• Tue., Nov. 10, 8:30 a.m. ET: October Consumer Price Index release (BLS schedule).
• Wed., Nov. 11: Veterans Day. SIFMA recommends a full close of U.S. bond markets (SIFMA).
• By Fri., Nov. 13: Deadline for Mississippi counties to certify results in the uncalled Senate race (Yahoo News).
• Earnings on public calendars (earnings calendar; dates can change, so confirm with company investor-relations pages): KKR, Constellation Energy, Occidental, Take-Two and The Trade Desk (Nov. 9); Sea and CoreWeave (Nov. 10); Corteva (Nov. 11); Applied Materials (Nov. 12).

For this week’s preview, see The Week Ahead (Nov. 2–8, 2026).

Sources

• CBS News — House election results 2026 · CBS News — Senate election results 2026
• Yahoo News — Midterms live updates · Northeastern Global News — Midterm results analysis
• Fox Business — Stocks, Nov. 5, 2026 · TradingKey — U.S. stocks close · TipRanks — Stock market today, Nov. 6
• ABC News — Qeshm Island strikes · Al Jazeera — Tankers struck in Hormuz · CBS News — Iran live updates
• SPF — Bank of England increases base rate · Fortune — Bitcoin price, Nov. 5 · crypto.news — Binance reopens withdrawals
• Tech Startups — Nov. 4 tech roundup · OncLive — FDA approves amivantamab/hyaluronidase for HNSCC · CBS Sports — WNBA Finals Game 7
• BLS CPI release schedule · SIFMA Veterans Day recommendation · COP31 preview

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