An unsurprising October surprise

October surprises are not really surprises anymore; they seem to happen so often during campaign seasons. And this year, only five days into the month, the first – but probably not the last – spasm of uncertainty disrupted the run-up to next month’s midterm elections.

OPEC+, the cartel of oil-producing countries, announced it would slash production by 2 million barrels a day. Their goal is to raise…