Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Asset-Backed Bond Sales Fall to Lowest in 15 Years as Consumer Cut Back. Sales of bonds tied to consumer debt including credit card payments and car loans may fall short of $100 billion for the first time in 15 years in 2010 as U.S. households seek to save more. Issuance of so-called asset-backed securities linked to household borrowing stands at $80.4 billion, compared with $110.1 billion in the same period in 2009, according to Wells Fargo Securities data. Bond sales tied to credit card payments fell more than 83 percent to $7 billion as lenders funded consumer demand with money from bank deposits rather than tapping the bond market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “We are at the mercy of the economy right now,” John McElravey, an analyst at Well Fargo Securities, said in an interview yesterday at Information Management Network’s annual ABS East conference in Miami. “If people have jobs they can go out and spend.”
• Beijing Second-Hand Home Sales Fall on Government Curbs, China News Says. Beijing’s second-hand home sales fell to 18 units on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 combined, from 1,067 on Sept. 30 alone, after the government and provincial authorities stepped up measures to cool property prices, China News said. Home sales in the eastern city of Suzhou dropped to 169 units on Oct. 1 from 519 the day before, and in Hangzhou halved on Sept. 30 from the previous day, the news service said. Zhejiang provincial government said it would tighten the monitoring of developers’ pre-sale funds from November, while Xiamen of Fujian Province limited new home purchases to one unit per household until the end of this year, China News reported.
• Corn Falls for Third Day as U.S. Harvest Advances, Supply Hits 3-Year High. Corn slumped for a third day to a one-month low after the Department of Agriculture said supplies left from last year’s crop climbed to the highest level since 2006, and as dry weather speeds the U.S. harvest. Inventories on Sept. 1 rose 2 percent from a year earlier to 1.708 billion bushels, the USDA said on Sept. 30. That was 322 million bushels above the agency’s Sept. 10 estimate. About 27 percent of the crop was harvested as of Sept. 26, up from 18 percent a week earlier, the USDA said last week.
• Microsoft(MSFT) Cut From Goldman(GS) Buy List on Mobile Weakness. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts cut Microsoft Corp. shares to “neutral,” citing the world’s largest software company’s struggles to gain market share in mobile devices. Microsoft was removed from the bank’s Americas Buy List, with a price target of $28 rather than $32, Goldman Sachs analysts including Sarah Friar wrote in a note to clients. The company needs to win “a firmer foothold in the growing migration to mobile devices” in order to improve investor sentiment, they wrote.
• California Has to Delay Bills to Avert IOUs, Controller Says.
  

Wall Street Journal:

• California Budget Plan Draws Skepticism. Rank-and-File Lawmakers Express Doubts About Proposal From Governor, Legislative Leaders to Close $19.1 Billion Gap.
• Google(GOOG) Enters Content Partnerships for Google TV.
  

CNBC:

• Plosser Voices Concern Over Further Easing. The US Federal Reserve must not launch a new round of asset purchases without setting out what they are meant to achieve, the president of the Philadelphia Fed has warned in an interview with the Financial Times. “I think that before we engage (in further quantitative easing) we need to be very clear about what it is we’re trying to do, how we’re going to go about doing it, how we’re going to measure whether we’re effective at it or not, and how we’re going to communicate that,” said Charles Plosser, who opposes a second round of quantitative easing – nicknamed “QE2” – at this point.
• Flawed Paperwork Aggravates a Foreclosure Crisis.
  

Business Insider:

• Here are the 12 Huge Bets Hedge Funds are Making Right Now. (graphs)
• A Shocking 53% of Investors See a US Sovereign Debt Crisis in the Next Two Years.
  

Zero Hedge:

• Rare Earth Mineral Prices Explode in Q3. (graph)

MarketWatch.com:

• Dollar Gains on Renewed Euro-Zone Worries. The dollar rose against the euro on Monday on renewed worries about the impact of the single-currency region’s ongoing debt woes. The greenback also strengthened against the yen ahead of the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting.

BusinessofVideo.com:

• AT&T(T) Partners With Cotendo for App Acceleration, Will Challenge Akamai(AKAM).

FINalternatives:

• LTCM Survivor Meriwether Launches Global Macro Hedge Fund. Two-time hedge fund loser John Meriwether has launched two new hedge funds, hoping that the third time turns out better.

Politico:

• Environmental Protection Agency Rules Could Hurt Barack Obama in 2012. President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is putting some hazardous speed bumps on his 2012 electoral road in key swing states. Controversial rules covering everything from power plants to petroleum refiners, manufacturers, coal mines and farmers could come back to haunt the White House in industrial and Midwestern states that carried Obama to the presidency two years ago. Political battlegrounds like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia that Obama won in 2008 will be watching how the EPA moves on climate change. Coal-reliant states such as Missouri — which Obama lost by less than 1 percentage point — will be monitoring clean air rules and coal ash standards. And farm states that Obama carried, including Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, are waiting on a proposal to tighten air quality limits for microscopic soot. Obama’s situation is tricky. He campaigned on the need to address climate change and faces pressure on his left to tackle a range of issues that environmentalists complain were neglected by former President George W. Bush. But with EPA regulations expected to come out in rapid-fire succession over the next two years, Republican presidential hopefuls are already adding them to the larger, anti-Obama narrative against expansive government. “Some of the things his administration is proposing are just disastrous in the heartland,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said in an interview. “If he has any hope of winning votes in the center of the country, then he is going to have to reconsider a lot of these things the EPA and some of his agencies are trying to get done.”
• GOP Ready to Rumble on Health Law. If Republicans regain control of the House, the one issue likely to be most transformed is the health care overhaul. The debate on and passage of the new law became a galvanizing call for the GOP’s depressed and disillusioned base last summer and will be a driving force in November for voters who oppose the law.
• Task Force Undermines Freedom. Americans know best what kind of health care coverage is right for them and their families. They should be able to work with their own trusted physicians to determine the treatments and services that meet their needs. Unfortunately, the health reform law, which was rushed through Congress and forced on the American public, empowers the government to make decisions that should be left to doctors and patients.

Reuters:

• Iraq Raises Proven Oil Reserves Figure by 25%. Iraq raised its proven oil reserves figure by a quarter on Monday in a bid to match the clout of leading producer Saudi Arabia and strengthen its case for OPEC to grant it a higher output quota. New estimates at West Qurna and Zubair fields helped push the figure to 143 billion barrels. That would allow Iraq to surpass Iran to become the world's No.3 reserves holder after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, according to BP (BP) data.
• US Clean Energy Loan Chief Says Ramping Up Lending. The former venture capitalist who now is in charge of about $70 billion in federal funding for alternative-energy projects is trying to bring a dash of private-sector efficiency to his new government job.

Financial Times:

• Ireland's Economic Outlook Worsens. Ireland’s economic outlook worsened on Monday as the country’s central bank cut its growth forecast for this year, with gross domestic product now set to increase 0.2 per cent against previous forecasts of 0.8 per cent. The slowing economy will compound the challenges the Fianna Fáil-led government faces in framing this year’s budget, which is critical to restoring investor confidence in Ireland’s fiscal consolidation plan.

Naftemporiki:

• Greece's government will increase objective property values by an average of 30% from Jan. 1 to boost state revenue by at least 400 million euros. In neighborhoods where the market value is close to the objective value the increase will be between 10% and 20% as of Jan. 1. The increase will be over 50% in coastal areas and areas earmarked to be included in town plans.

Cinco Dias:

• Compania Espanola de Petroleos SA said gasoline demand is declining, citing an interview with CEO Dominque de Riberolles. "The situation is somewhat better than last year though demand is still falling," the executive said. "Gasoline demand is falling 6% and diesel once again declined in July and August .6%."