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U.S. SENATE REJECTS REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL; NO CLEAR PATH TO ENDING SHUTDOWN

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SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL SAYS NO PALESTINIAN ACCEPTS TO DISARM, ADDS PALESTINIANS IN NEED TO WEAPONS AND RESISTANCE

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* TrumpRx may expand beyond direct sales by drugmakers * Pharmacies seek role in TrumpRx for discount vouchers * Experts say value of TrumpRx for consumers is uncertain (Adds GoodRx shares in paragraph 6) By Deena Beasley Oct 9 (Reuters) – Retail pharmacies and prescription drug savings site GoodRx are talking with the Trump administration about joining its TrumpRx website, they told Reuters, suggesting an expansion beyond the early description of it as a link to pharmaceutical companies' direct discounts. Drugmakers, including Pfizer and Amgen, are offering to sell some brand-name medications directly to consumers at the negotiated prices they get from insurers rather than much higher list prices. Some say they will work with TrumpRx, spurred in part by President Donald Trump's threats of steep tariffs on drugmakers that don't cut prices and increase U.S. manufacturing. The site is due to launch next year. At a White House event last week, Trump and health officials described TrumpRx as a way to help consumers access drugs at discounted prices. How much value it represents to consumers is still uncertain. Wendy Barnes, CEO of GoodRx, which connects consumers to drug company coupons and discounts, said the Trump administration understands that "if we include the pharma direct programs, we also have to find a way to convey competitive cash pricing at retail pharmacies." Shares of GoodRx rose 11.5% to $4.89 in afternoon trading on Thursday. The National Community Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which represent companies like Walgreens and Costco, said they were also talking with administration officials. "As long as drugmakers deliver cost savings for American patients through TrumpRx, how they do so is irrelevant," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. CONSUMERS ARE SHOPPING AROUND MORE "This will be like consumers shopping on Amazon and seeing drug prices," said Yunan Ji, assistant professor of strategy at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. Direct-to-consumer sales would benefit more patients if they accept health insurance, Ji said. Some drugmaker sales portals incorporate insurance benefits, while others are cash-pay only. Many insured consumers shopping for the lowest price have already figured out how to make the most of discount programs. Jacquie Persson, a graphic designer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said a drugmaker-issued discount card cut her co-pay for an expensive migraine drug to $5 from about $100. "I'm really lucky to have good insurance through my employer. My husband's insurance isn't as good," she said. "I am a chronically ill individual … it is a stressful thing in the back of my mind to push through, keep working and not lose this good insurance." About 92% of Americans have health insurance, typically through their employer or government plans like Medicare, that limits out-of-pocket prescription costs. But as healthcare costs have risen, an increasing number of plans require patients to spend thousands of dollars a year before coverage kicks in. Some plans do not cover certain medications, such as weight-loss drugs, or charge co-pays that exceed the cash price of a prescription. ING Group estimated that if all branded medications were available directly from manufacturers, consumers could save $1.9 billion out of a $590 billion U.S. pharmaceutical market. PHARMACIES WANT LOWER PRICES TOO Douglas Hoey, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, said that any direct-to-consumer prices drugmakers offer through TrumpRx should also be available at pharmacies. "We don't feel like patients should have to chase a discount and have their medications split up," Hoey said. "We don't think that is good care." Chris Krese, head of congressional relations at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, said "the role of local pharmacies and American pharmacists is essential" to keep track of things like drug interactions and overlaps. His group would like the drugmaker direct-to-consumer sites to provide discount vouchers that could be applied at the pharmacy counter. The manufacturer-run sites could be used by Americans who are uninsured but can afford to pay cash to fill a prescription for a drug. For people who can't afford to pay, drugmakers say they will continue to offer assistance plans that supply discounted or free medication to millions of eligible patients. "These are still brand-name drugs at very high prices that the vast majority of people can't afford," said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. (Reporting By Deena Beasley; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington; editing by Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot and Alan Barona)

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(Adds details throughout) Oct 9 (Reuters) – Alliance Laundry Systems was valued at nearly $4.83 billion after its shares jumped 11.4% in their New York debut on Thursday, making the commercial laundry machine maker the latest to capitalize on a buoyant listings market. Shares of the Ripon, Wisconsin-based Alliance opened at $24.5 apiece, above the issue price of $22. Alliance and some of its existing shareholders sold 34.1 million shares in an initial public offering on Wednesday, at the top of its target range of $19 to $22 apiece. U.S. IPO activity has picked up after a slowdown earlier this year, with companies moving to tap investor appetite as concerns over President Donald Trump's trade policies ease. Companies such as Swedish fintech firm Klarna and online ticketing marketplace StubHub tested the public markets with their hotly anticipated debuts last month. (Reporting by Anuj T and Pritam Biswas; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

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WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had no view regarding the possibility of a two-state solution following a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas and he would follow whatever was ultimately agreed on. "I don't have a view. I'm going to go with what they agreed to," he told reporters at a meeting of his Cabinet. On what Palestinians can expect, he added: "We're going to create something where people can live … We're going to create better conditions for people." (Reporting by Jeff Mason; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Chris Reese)

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WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he hopes to raise the issue of soybeans with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during their upcoming meeting, while warning the United States may have to halt a large share of imports it takes from China if trade relations do not improve. China is the world’s largest buyer of soybeans, and in recent months has sharply reduced purchases of U.S. soy in favor of sourcing from Brazil and Argentina amid tariff and trade disputes. (Reporting By Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Chris Reese)

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BRUSSELS, Oct 9 (Reuters) – The Belgium federal public prosecutor's office said on Thursday that it had thwarted a terror cell that was aiming to target the country's politicians, and Belgian newspapers said Prime Minister Bart de Wever was among the intended targets. "There are indications that the intention was to carry out a jihadist-inspired terrorist attack targeting politicians," it said in a statement. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)

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Oct 9 (Reuters) – * RISHI SUNAK TAKES MICROSOFT AND ANTHROPIC ADVISORY JOBS-FT Source text: https://tinyurl.com/bdhsm4md Further company coverage:

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BELGIUM PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE: ARRESTS MADE AS PART OF PROBE INTO GROUP SUSPECTED OF WANTING TO CARRY OUT ATTACKS TARGETING BELGIAN POLITICIANS

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By Patturaja Murugaboopathy Oct 9 (Reuters) – Short-bias exchange-traded funds, which bet against stock indexes and fast-rising sectors like technology and artificial intelligence, are drawing strong inflows as lofty prices and policy risks spur some investors to position for a pullback. According to LSEG Lipper data, global short-bias funds drew $3.7 billion in September, the biggest monthly inflow in nearly three years. U.S. funds accounted for $2.2 billion of that while Japanese and South Korean funds took in $653 million and $424 million respectively. They have added another $1.4 billion so far this month. Flows into short-bias funds have often increased during times of stress, delivering strong gains in the 2008 financial crisis when broader funds struggled. While such inflows are not always a precursor to downturns, rising allocations to funds that profit from falling markets are seen as a sign of unease, with valuation risks mounting. This year, AI optimism has lifted megacap tech firms such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Oracle, pushing the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow to fresh peaks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on Thursday, up 15% and 19% this year, while the Dow has gained 10%. The forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of the MSCI World index was at a near 5-year high of 20.4 at the end of September. However, the surge in equities has elicited a wave of warnings about the risk of a looming correction. The Bank of England has pointed to rising risks of a market reversal, citing U.S. auto credit stress and political deadlocks in France and Japan, while the Fed faces pressure that could spark a sharp repricing of U.S. assets. International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva spoke on Wednesday about the risks to the world economy from potentially large corrections in lofty stock markets. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also warned of a heightened risk of a significant correction in the U.S. stock market within the next six months to two years, the BBC reported. So far in October, the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares has led with $255 million of inflows, followed by $200 million into the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ and $143 million into the ProShares Short S&P 500. (Reporting By Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Mark Heinrich)

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