E-commerce and Retail - Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days event is scheduled for October 7th and 8th, marking an early start to the holiday shopping season with exclusive deals for Prime members [2][3] - The event features discounts on popular toy brands like Fisher-Price and Tonies, electronics from Samsung and LG, and home appliances from brands such as Dyson and Ninja [3] - Target and Walmart are also participating in the early shopping events, with Target Circle Week offering 40% off daily deals and Walmart Deals running from October 7th to 12th [5] Online Shopping Trends - Adobe forecasts that Cyber Monday on December 1 is expected to be the largest online shopping day of the season, with projected sales of $14.2 billion, reflecting a 6.3% year-over-year increase [6] Company Layoffs - Novo Nordisk has laid off dozens of employees at its largest U.S. manufacturing site in North Carolina, part of a broader plan to cut 9,000 jobs globally [6][8] - The layoffs affected various roles, including technical manufacturing workers and project coordinators, as the company aims to reduce costs and enhance focus amid competition with Eli Lilly [8] AppLovin SEC Probe - AppLovin's shares fell 14% following reports of a potential SEC investigation into its data collection practices, although the SEC has not accused the company of any violations [9][10] - Despite the recent drop, AppLovin's shares have surged over 80% year-to-date [10]