Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Credit Swaps Fall to the Lowest Level Since May on G-20's Currency Pledge. The cost of protecting bonds from default in the U.S. fell to the lowest since May as stocks climbed following a Group of 20 pledge to avoid devaluations to stem the U.S. dollar’s decline. The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, slid 2 basis points to a mid- price of 94.3 basis points as of 8:28 a.m. in New York, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd. The index, which typically falls as investor confidence improves and rises as it deteriorates, fell for the fourth straight trading day.
• Cotton Jumps 4.2% to Record as China Cold Spell Threatens Crops. Cotton soared to a record, rising the maximum allowed by ICE Futures U.S. in New York, as a cold front threatened to damage the crop in China, the world’s biggest user of the fiber. A cold spell that started yesterday will last until tomorrow and may hurt fields, the China Meteorological Center said. Prices climbed 9 percent last week, the third straight weekly gain, as storms dropped damaging hail in Texas, the biggest cotton-growing state in the U.S., the world’s largest exporter. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts a 4.3 percent drop in global stockpiles in the year ending July 31.
• Supertankers Face Two-Year Losing Streak as Frontline Shuns Oil. Supertanker owners are facing the longest stretch of unprofitable rates in 17 years as the supply of new vessels increases nine times faster than demand for oil. Shipping companies are making $3,826 a day for a single voyage, 88 percent below the $30,900 Frontline Ltd., the biggest operator, says it needs to break even. Morgan Stanley estimates the tanker fleet will expand almost 13 percent next year and the International Energy Agency says oil use will grow 1.4 percent. Ships ordered before rates plunged from $177,036 in July 2008 are swelling the fleet of about 526 supertankers. Owners have responded by cutting average speeds 9 percent since March and anchoring 24 percent more vessels since January, ship- tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
• Lockheed Martin(LMT) Announces Approval of Plan for $3 Billion Share Buyback. Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense company, said its board approved a share buyback program of as much as $3 billion to return money to investors. “We remain committed to returning at least 50 percent of annual free cash to stockholders through dividends and share repurchases,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Stevens said in a statement. The company boosted its quarterly dividend by 19 percent to 75 cents last month.
• U.S. Existing Home Sales Rose 10% to 4.53 Million Rate. Sales of U.S. existing homes rose in September by the most on record, a sign cheaper borrowing costs are helping stabilize an industry that’s battling the headwinds of foreclosures and joblessness. Purchases increased 10 percent to a 4.53 million annual rate from 4.12 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. Economists forecast sales would rise to a 4.3 million pace, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg News survey. The median price fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier. Compared with a year earlier, existing home sales were down 19 percent before adjusting for seasonal patterns. Sales last month rose in all four regions, today’s report showed, led by a 14.5 percent jump in the Midwest. The median price decreased 2.4 percent to $171,700 last month from September 2009. The number of previously owned homes on the market fell 1.9 percent to 4.04 million. At the current sales pace, it would take 10.7 months to sell those houses, compared with 12 months in August. Month’s supply would need to drop to eight to nine months in order to stabilize home prices, according to the NAR. Distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short-sales in which the bank agrees to take less than the full amount of the mortgage, accounted for 35 percent of total sales.

CNBC:

• FDIC Head Sounds Alarm on Foreclosure Litigation. Litigation arising from the problems surrounding mortgage foreclosure paperwork could be "very damaging" to the housing market, a top U.S. banking regulator said on Monday.
• For Many Market Strategists, Equities are Top Dog Again. In 2011, strategists expect the stock market to notch double-digit gains and recommend investors boost allocations to ride the wave, whether its lower-risk consumer staples stocks or global companies tapping into emerging market supply needs.
• US Proposes First Fuel Standards for Big Trucks.
• Increased Money Supply is Band Aid: Principal Global CEO. Quantitative easing, a government tool used to increase the money supply in a recessionary economy, could be effective as a temporary strategy, but it could have adverse effects if kept in place for an extended period of time, according to Jim McCaughan, CEO of Principal Global Investors.

Business Insider:

• California is Broke: 19 Reasons it May Be Time for Everyone to Leave the State for Good.
• Paul Krugman is Somehow Unaware That Everyone and Their Mother Thinks Bernanke is Killing the US Dollar.
  

MarketWatch.com:

• USDA: Food Inflation to Accelerate Into 2011. Food inflation will “accelerate” during the final months of 2010 and into the first six months of 2011, especially for meat, cereal and dairy products, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Monday.
• Airlines' Benchmark Flirts With 52-Week High.
  

New York Post:

• United Federation of Teacher's $6.3 Million Albany Tab. The teachers union gets an A in political science -- it spent a whopping $6.3 million in lobbying fees and campaign contributions to Albany this election cycle to defend traditional public schools and teacher tenure while fighting to limit charter schools.

New York Times:

• Carlyle Bids to Take CommScope Private. CommScope, the telecommunications equipment maker, said Monday that it had been approached by Carlyle Group with an offer to take the company private, confirming an earlier report in DealBook.

Detroit News:

• Congressman Want to Postpone GM Dealer Closings. Two Ohio Republicans want General Motors Co. to halt its planned closing of about 500 dealers by the end of the month. U.S. Reps. Steven LaTourette and House Minority John A. Boehner want the Obama administration "to immediately suspend GM closures until a current investigation of dealer terminations is completed." "There is too much at stake to proceed in an atmosphere where dealers were denied so much crucial information in a process rife with secrecy," the lawmakers said. "We believe it is necessary to thoroughly analyze its results before continuing with the closures of hundreds of dealerships, and the potential loss of thousands of jobs."
  

TheStreet.com:

• Citi(C) Shares Jump on Goldman(GS) Call. Citigroup(C)'s stock price was up in early trading Monday after Goldman Sachs (GS) added the bank to its "conviction list."

Politico:

• Health Care: Freddy Krueger Lives. Caught in a cobweb of false promises, the American people were fed a story about how health care reform would insure everyone, allow people to keep their own insurance policies and reduce health care spending while improving quality. Sadly, these were fantasies masquerading as fact. The scary tale that follows needs no skeletons or vampires; statistics alone can frighten you.
• Poll: Independents Siding With GOP. Republicans are on the verge of broad wins next week for one big reason: independent voters are ready to boot Democrats from office, according to a new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll. Expressing deep dissatisfaction with President Obama’s policies and performance, independents have increasingly sided with conservatives in the belief that government grew too large, too fast under Obama—and that it can no longer be trusted. In the final pre-election Battleground Poll, Republicans hold a 14-point edge among independents and lead overall, 47 percent to 42 percent, in the generic ballot match up.
  

Reuters:

• Security Software Gears Up for More M&A: Sources. Tech behemoths rushing to fill hardware and software holes in their portfolios may buy up most of the remaining public security software companies over the next 12 to 24 months, according to tech investment bankers and analysts. Security companies such as Websense Inc (WBSN), Sourcefire Inc (FIRE) and Fortinet Inc (FTNT) would fit into the portfolios of tech giants looking for ways to increase security in their data centers, said two other software bankers.
• Bloomingdale's Has Good Fall, Led by Accessories. Upmarket U.S. department store chain Bloomingdale's is enjoying a good fall season, although the rise in sales is not as strong as that recorded during the spring, its chairman and chief executive said on Monday.
• Wall Street Journal Remains US Largest Newspaper. The Wall Street Journal remains the nation's top newspaper with more than 2 million in average daily circulation according to the latest industry numbers.

Financial Times Deutschland:

• Adobe Systems(ADBE) values its independence and aims to exploit growth opportunities on its own, CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an interview. The graphic-design software maker is looking for small acquisitions to fuel growth, Narayen said.

Economista:

• Spain's Finance Ministry is working on a plan to shore up revenue with tax increases in case economic growth falls short of forecasts. The government may raise tax on tobacco, fuel, alcohol and electricity if growth is slower than expected.