We end the news week on a relatively quiet note, friends: Wednesday was slow in Egypt and there was no overnight pickup in news. Meanwhile, the international business press is squarely focused on the Democrats’ victory in the US midterm elections (they took back the House, but not the Senate) and the fact that The Donald demanded the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointed a loyalist in his place. Investors were certainly relieved the midterms were over: The CBOE’s volatility index fell as much as 16% to its lowest in almost a month. The European gauge also fell.

Also worth noting this morning:

Brent crude recovered to USD 73 a barrel yesterday following a report that Moscow and Riyadh are in talks to cut oil production in 2019. The news comes just days after the US reimposed sanctions on Iran.

King USD will not be toppled anytime soon as the world’s reserve currency, Megan Greene writes for the Financial Times.

No elections in Libya as rival faction reconciliation still in the works: Western powers and the United Nations have given up hope that Libya will hold elections in the immediate future, sources told the New York Times.

In miscellany this morning:

• October was the worst month for hedge funds in seven years (Financial Times)
• A husband and wife just made the inner circle at Goldman Sachs as the investment bank names this year’s class of partners. (Bloomberg)
• The new MacBook Air is awesome, but high-profile reviewer Joanna Stern says PC makers have caught up on design, battery life and ergonomics. (Wall Street Journal)
• Samsung teased a phone that folds out into a mini tablet. It says it will mass-produce the device in the new year. (Android Central | CNET)

The most-clicked stories in Enterprise over the past week:

• The World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report, which shows Egypt among the most-improved countries (World Bank, pdf)
• Questions we need to be asking about the suspension of Beltone’s investment banking arm (Enterprise)
• 9 hours of ‘Executive Time’: Trump’s unstructured days define his presidency. (Politico)
• Ocean Shock: A package of climate change stories by Reuters looking at what’s happening under the sea. (Reuters)
• Markit / Emirates NBD purchasing managers’ index for Egypt (Markit, pdf)
• Why do we destroy what makes us? (New York Times opinion piece on the Maspero Triangle)
• The office of the future? No desks, no chairs. (Fast Company)