Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Wells Fargo(WFC) Reports Record Profit as Credit Improves. Wells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. home lender, reported record third-quarter profit that beat most analysts’ estimates as credit conditions improved, and said it’s not planning to halt foreclosures. Net income rose 3.1 percent to $3.34 billion, or 60 cents a diluted share, from $3.24 billion, or 56 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the San Francisco-based bank said today in a statement. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated profit of 56 cents. Revenue dropped 7.1 percent to $20.9 billion. “It’s remarkable that here we are in one of the worst environments the banking industry has ever experienced and this company is producing record earnings,” said Nancy Bush, an independent analyst based in New Jersey who specializes in financial firms. “And there is lots of upside in terms of loan growth.”
• ECB Should Renew Monetary Support if Recovery Stalls, IMF Says. The European Central Bank should remain poised to extend non-conventional policies if the euro region’s economic recovery stutters, the International Monetary Fund said. “The ECB should remain ready to adjust the time horizon of its low-interest rate policy and re-deploy extraordinary monetary measures if the recovery should stall unexpectedly,” the Washington-based lender said today in its latest regional economic outlook for Europe.
• Iran to Try Americans Accused of Spying in Revolutionary Court Next Month. The trial of three Americans charged with illegal entry and espionage in Iran will start Nov. 6 at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, their lawyer said. "Both charges have been denied" by Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, the lawyer, Masoud Shafiei, said today in a telephone interview from Tehran. Shafiei said he has informed their families of the trial date.
• Delta(DAL), US Airway(LCC) Beat Estimates as Demand Buoys Fares. Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways Group Inc. posted profits that beat analysts’ estimates, buoyed by rising fares in what may be the industry’s best quarter since 2007. Delta’s profit excluding certain costs was $1.10 a share, topping the 94-cent average of 13 estimates compiled by Bloomberg, while US Airways’ $1.23 a share on that basis exceeded the $1.17 estimate. AMR had net income of $143 million, or 39 cents a share, to beat the 32-cent average estimate.
• China Pledges Rare Earth Supplies, Signals Exports May Rebound. China pledged to maintain supplies of rare earths and signaled exports of the ingredients used in electronics, wind turbines and smart bombs may rise next year. The Commerce Ministry denied reports in the New York Times and China Daily that the government plans further export cuts and has extended an embargo of Japan to include the U.S. and Europe. “China will continue to supply rare earth to the world,” the ministry said in a faxed response today. “China might raise the production cap and export quota slightly next year,” said Wang Caifeng, until last week the deputy director at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology who oversaw the sector, adding that it was her personal opinion. She is now in charge of setting up the ministry-affiliated China Rare Earth Industry Association.
• Pentagon Notifies U.S. Congress of Planned $60 Billion Arms Sale to Saudis. The U.S. Defense Department today notified Congress it plans to sell Saudi Arabia as much as $60 billion worth of weapons to help confront threats from Iran and regional extremists violent. The proposed weapons sale, which may be the largest to another country in U.S. history if all purchases are made, includes Boeing Co. F-15 fighter jets, attack helicopters and satellite-guided bombs, according to notices sent to Congress today. It also contains helicopters made by United Technologies Corp. and advanced radar from Raytheon Co.

Wall Street Journal:

• What's the Next Deal in Online Gaming? Sources Say Angry Birds Publisher Chillingo Could Be Next in the Hand. The online and mobile gaming sector has been a hotbed of deal activity over the the last year, from the sale of Playdom for $750 million and Tapulous to Disney, to the acquisition of Playfish by Electronic Arts(ERTS) for $400 million, to the multitude of small developers being bought up by Zynga.

CNBC:

• US Economy Grew at Modest Pace in Recent Weeks: Fed. The U.S. economy continued to grow at a modest pace in recent weeks with growth picking up in several districts, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. However, there were scant inflation pressures, the U.S. central bank noted. Jobs growth remains slow, and the Fed's Beige Book provided further evidence the economy is in a slow recovery. Still, unlike last month's Beige Book report, the Fed this time avoided language about deacceleration fears.
• REITs Are Quite Alright. It's generally agreed that real estate investment trusts, REITs, shouldn’t occupy more than 10 percent of one's investment portfolio, except during rare times. Some say, one of them happens to be now.
• Retail's Big Opportunity: Online Sales.
  

Business Insider:

• Apple's(AAPL) New MacBook Air Goes On Sale Today, Starts at $999. Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the lid off Apple's new MacBook Air and Mac OS X today. The new MacBook launches today, starting at $999. It's impressively thin. Mac OS X 7, "Lion," will launch next summer. A new Mac App Store will launch within 90 days. And Apple's new iLife software launches today. We watched Apple's live stream, summarizing, posting photos, and analyzing the announcements.
• SanDisk(SNDK) is the First Stock Surging on Today's Apple News.
  

MarketWatch.com:

• U.K. to Stick to Deficit-Reduction Timetable. Britain will stick to its timetable for making the largest cuts in government spending in decades, the chancellor of the exchequer said Wednesday, vowing that the sweeping measures would bring the country “back from the brink” of bankruptcy.

Washington Examiner:

• Top 10 Ways Government Kills Jobs in America by Arthur Brooks.

Politico:

• Public Opinion of Nancy Pelosi Hits a New Low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorable ratings have dropped to a new low. Just 29 percent of people have a favorable opinion of the California Democrat, down 7 points since May, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday. Just 21 percent of independents find Pelosi favorable, and 58 percent have an unfavorable view. Among Democrats, 22 percent have an unfavorable view of Pelosi.
• Every Big Senate Race Just Got Closer. A new wave of polling shows virtually every close Senate race growing even more competitive, raising the pressure on both parties in the final days of the midterm campaign.
  

Rasmussen Reports:

• Only 25% Prefer a Government With More Services, Higher Taxes.

Reuters:

• Venezuela Draft Oil Law Would Make Takeovers Easier. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government is studying a draft law that would make it easier to nationalize the assets of oil field service companies working in South America's biggest crude exporter.
  
• China Exporters Brace for Sharp Yuan Rise as Profits Thin. Further gains in China's currency to 6.28 yuan per dollar will spark losses at Chinese exporters and heighten pressure to raise the prices of goods to bolster margins, a Reuters poll at a top trade fair showed. Since China depegged the yuan from the dollar in mid-June, allowing it to rise around 2.6 percent against the U.S. dollar, 83 percent of manufacturers say their exports have suffered, according to the poll of 102 small- and medium-sized firms at China's largest trade event, the Canton Fair.