Bloomberg:
- For the first time in a year, U.S. companies are planning to boost payrolls and investments, indicating the nascent economic recovery will be sustained into 2010, a private survey showed. The percentage of businesses expecting to hire staff over the next six months exceeded the share projecting more firings by 4 points, the first positive reading since July 2008, according to figures from the National Association for Business Economics issued today in Washington. The spread in favor of those looking to spend more on new equipment was even larger.
- Higher oil prices are a “significant risk” to global economic growth, according to Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency. Crude oil futures have jumped 81 percent this year and rose to a one-year high of $82 a barrel on Oct. 21.
- ING Groep NV plans to raise 7.5 billion euros ($11.3 billion) in a rights offering and sell its insurance units as the biggest Dutch financial services company seeks European Union approval for a taxpayer-funded bailout. ING, which traces its roots to 1743, fell the most in seven months after saying it planned to sell shares to finance the repurchase of 5 billion euros of core tier 1 securities held by the government. It will shed the insurance units through initial public offerings and sales to other firms over the next four years, the Amsterdam-based company said today.
- Hedge fund managers are trailing benchmark commodity indexes by the widest margin in four years after copper doubled and oil surged 58 percent. Touradji Capital Management LP, the second-biggest in commodities, earned 7 percent in its largest fund in the first nine months, according to an investor with knowledge of the result. Krom River Trading AG, which has $590 million, lost 8.1 percent in its raw materials fund. Commodity hedge funds lost 3.2 percent through September, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc. of Chicago. All lag behind the 12 percent gain in the S&P GSCI Enhanced Total Return Index.
- Four of the top five U.S. newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and Gannett Co.’s USA Today, posted average weekday circulation declines. The Wall Street Journal’s circulation rose. New York Times Co.’s namesake newspaper lost 7.3 percent of its average weekday circulation in the six months through September compared with a year earlier, according to data released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. USA Today fell 17 percent, Washington Post Co.’s namesake title declined 6.4 percent and Tribune Co.’s Los Angeles Times dropped 11 percent. Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp., added 0.6 percent to its average weekday circulation in the period, according to Schaumburg, Illinois-based ABC. That newspaper’s circulation includes subscriptions to its for-pay Web site. Overall, weekday circulation at 379 U.S. newspapers fell 11 percent, ABC said.
- Treasuries fell, with 10-year note yields touching their highest level in two months, as the U.S. began to sell a record $123 billion of notes to fund its stimulus program and record deficits. Government securities declined for a fourth day as the Treasury sold of $7 billion of five-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities at a yield of 0.769 percent. The offering, which drew higher-than-average demand, will be followed by three auctions of fixed-rate notes this week.
Wall Street Journal:
- Why Government Health Care Keeps Falling in the Polls. Regardless of how President Barack Obama's health-care agenda plays out in Congress, it has not been a success in public opinion. Opposition to ObamaCare has risen all year. According to the Gallup polling organization, the percentage of Americans who believe the cost of health care for their families will "get worse" under the proposed reforms rose to 49% from 42% in just the past month. Many are searching for explanations. One popular notion is that demagogues in the media are stirring up falsehoods against what they say is a long-overdue solution to the country's health-care crisis. Americans deserve more credit. They haven't been brainwashed, and they aren't upset merely over the budget-busting details. Rather, public resistance stems from the sense that the proposed reforms do violence to three core values of America's free enterprise culture: individual choice, personal accountability, and rewards for ambition.
- Ford Motor Co.(F) has weathered the car industry's downturn better than many competitors. Now some analysts think the company has turned the corner so far it could report break-even results for its core North American operations or even an overall profit when it releases third-quarter earnings Nov. 2. At the heart of Ford's relative success has been its ability to minimize its year-over-year sales declines while taking advantage of its competitors' weakness and grabbing market share.
NY Times:
- CNN, which invented the cable news network more than two decades ago, will hit a new competitive low with its prime-time programs in October, finishing fourth – and last – among the cable news networks with the audience that all the networks rely on for their advertising. That means CNN’s programs were behind not only Fox News and MSNBC, but even its own sister network HLN (formerly Headline News.) That was the first time CNN had finished that poorly with its prime-time shows. For the month, CNN averaged 202,000 viewers between the ages of 25 and 54 – the group that television news organizations use as their basis of success because of their advertising sales. That was far behind the dominant leader, Fox News, which averaged 689,000. The only CNN show from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. that did not finish last was Larry King, which was third, ahead of the new Joy Behar show on HLN. But Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News had a huge lead with 659,000 viewers in that age group. At 7 p.m. CNN’s host, Lou Dobbs was fourth, barely beaten by Jane Velez Mitchell on HLN, 166,000 to 162,000. The big winner was Shepard Smith on Fox with 465,000 viewers. CNN’s performance was worst in the 8 p.m. hour. Bill O’Reilly on Fox News continued his long dominance with the biggest numbers of any host, 881,000 viewers.
NYPost:
- Goldman Sachs'(GS) motivation in filing a claim against fallen Lehman Brothers is coming under scrutiny. Despite telling Wall Street that its credit exposure to Lehman was, in the words of Goldman CFO David Viniar, "immaterial," the gold-plated bank late last month filed one of the largest and most senior claims against the bankrupt Wall Street firm. That has raised the hackles of some Lehman creditors, who are noting the disconnect between Goldman's public statements and its actions. "How can you say this on one hand, while making these claims on the other?" asked one creditor, who described the inconsistencies as "suspicious." Goldman, in last month's claim, said it was initially owed $4.2 billion, but reduced that figure to $1.5 billion after it replaced some Lehman positions. A second Goldman entity claims it's owed $999 million, bringing the total Goldman claim to around $2.5 billion. However, during a Goldman earnings conference call on Sept. 16, 2008, a day after Lehman filed for bankruptcy, Viniar during Goldman's earnings conference call downplayed its exposure to both Lehman and American International Group, the insurance giant that back then was on the verge of collapsing.
Business Insider:
- A whopping 74% of companies have been beating their earnings estimates this quarter, which is the highest beat-rate in over ten years according to Bespoke Investment Group. This is even more surprising given that analysts had been substantially raising their estimates ahead of the latest releases.
- Production of natural gas from shale has been surprising both industry players and analysts on the upside, which clearly isn't helpful for natural gas prices either now or into 2010. Dozens of companies are drilling shale or other unconventional sources due to what they see as the potential for very high returns, even despite the relatively low gas prices of late. Thus the era of ultra-cheap natural gas could be upon us, which would be bad news for gas ETFs such as United States Natural Gas (UNG). Natural gas prices are currently down over 5%.
SmartTrend:
- Bank of America's (BAC) plans to exit the government's TARP program have stalled as regulators discuss how much additional capital the bank should be required to hold, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cites people familiar with the situation. The bank is hoping to repay the $45 billion investment provided by the U.S., arguing that it can survive without help after having raised $40 billion of new equity since May. But some officials are skeptical of BofA's ability to absorb more losses, and think that the bank should go beyond $40 billion and replace some of the federal funds. Bank of America is eager to repay the funds and hopes to escape compensation restrictions set by "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg last week.
Washington Post:
- It takes a while for most start-up companies to gain the confidence of a U.S. congressman and the promise of federal funds. But last year, a small Illinois company accomplished its goal in 16 days with the help of Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, a little-known Indiana Democrat who sits on the House committee that funds the Pentagon. In rapid succession, the three-employee technology firm, NanoSonix, filed its incorporation papers in Skokie, Ill., and hired a Washington lobbying firm, K&L Gates, which boasted to clients of its close relationship with Visclosky. A week later, Visclosky wrote a letter of support for a $2.4 million earmark for NanoSonix from the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee.
The Detroit News:
- A consulting firm is charging General Motors' bankruptcy estate more than $23 million for three months' work leading up to and following one of the largest corporate bankruptcy filings in U.S. history. According to a quarterly report filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, crisis management firm AP Services LLC charged GM and its bankruptcy estate $23 million for about 90 days of work and expenses that included airfare, hotels, meals and rental cars.
Real Clear Politics:
- A poll of opinion polls shows Americans' attitudes are changing rapidly. They are less and less thrilled about the country's direction and Congress, according to Tom Bevan, executive editor of national polling aggregator RealClearPolitics. He says independent voters are shifting away from the polices of the Obama administration and Democrats. "Independents have flipped negative," warns Bevan. "That's not a good thing for any party." Registered and likely voters, in particular, are disillusioned and disgusted with both parties and their candidates, who seem to over-promise, under-deliver, ask for too much and take advantage of their positions, explains Brown. Americans are worn out by inflated rhetoric and Washington insiders who just months ago said they were outsiders. Voters wonder what happened to candidates they elected to clean up Washington, stop partisan bickering and remove Wall Street titans who retained fat bonuses only because taxpayers bailed out their companies. Americans are simply fed up:
Rassmussen:
- If the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats passes, 57% of voters nationwide believe it will raise the cost of health care, and 53% believe the quality of care will get worse. That’s part of the reason that just 45% support the plan. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% are opposed to it. Those numbers include 23% who Strongly Favor the plan and 40% who are Strongly Opposed. Just 18% say passage of the congressional plan will reduce costs, while only 23% believe it will lead to better care.
Politico:
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will announce this afternoon that he plans to push ahead with a public option vote – most likely one that includes an opt-out provision for states – even though he's currently short several votes for passage, according to people close to the situation. The Nevada Democrat has 3:15 p.m. press conference to discuss details. Reid, who spoke with virtually every member of his 60-member caucus this weekend, currently has between 56 and 57 votes for a proposal to create a national insurance plan but allow states to opt out of it, according to Democratic aides.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue says a campaign by the White House and its allies to undermine his $200-million-a-year association has largely failed — and actually has helped raise even more money for its pro-business efforts. In a 75-minute interview with POLITICO, Donohue dismissed recent defections by Apple and at least four other companies, which quit over the Chamber’s opposition to Democratic climate change legislation — as essentially meaningless. “Members come and go all the damn time,” he said. Donohue made plain he believes the White House, or at least its closest allies operating on the outside, are behind a very orchestrated campaign to embarrass and undermine the Chamber.
USA Today:
- The Department of Defense has awarded nearly $30 million in stimulus contracts to six companies while they were under federal criminal investigation on suspicion of fraud. The companies claimed to be small, minority-owned businesses, giving them preference in bidding for government contracts, Air Force documents allege. But government investigators found they were part of a larger minority-owned firm and not eligible for small-business contracts. The Air Force and Army awarded the companies 112 stimulus projects, federal contract records show. It wasn't until Sept. 23 — more than a year after the investigation started — that the Air Force suspended the firms from new federal contracts. Scott Amey of the non-partisan Project on Government Oversight said the case exposes an oversight gap under the $787 billion stimulus plan and federal contracting in general. "Was there any disclosure of the contractors' missteps prior to them receiving the stimulus money?" he asked.
Reuters:
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