Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Global Services Weaken as Europe Slides Into Recession: Economy. Services industries from Asia to Europe cooled last month after the euro-area debt crisis pulled economies including Spain and Italy into recession and damped global growth prospects. The purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.7 in September from 56.3 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing in Beijing said today. That’s the lowest since at least March 2011. In the euro-area, a gauge slipped to 46.1 last month from 47.2 and a U.K. measure also fell. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.  
• BNP Is Coming Under Pressure With SocGen to Isolate Risk. French lenders’ trading assets have grown to almost match the size of the nation’s economy, making them vulnerable to government efforts to wall off banking risk. Investment-banking units of BNP Paribas SA (BNP), Societe Generale SA, Credit Agricole SA (ACA) and Natixis (KN) SA have 2.05 trillion euros ($2.64 trillion) in trading assets, including bonds, equities and derivatives, data compiled from the banks show. That’s a 21 percent jump in the 12 months to June and a two-year high, just shy of France’s $2.77 trillion gross domestic product.
• U.S. States Teetering on Brink of Fiscal Cliff, Ganeriwala Says. The possibility of automatic federal budget cuts threatens U.S. states’ well-being, even as their revenue recovers, said Manju Ganeriwala, the incoming president of the National Association of State Treasurers. “We’re approaching the cliff, and hopefully it’s a climbing down and not just jumping from the cliff,” Ganeriwala, Virginia’s treasurer, said today at the State & Municipal Finance Conference hosted by Bloomberg Link in New York.
• Oil Falls to Four-Day Low as U.S. Supply Increases, China Slows. Oil fell to its lowest in four days after U.S. crude stockpiles climbed for a fourth week and a measure of China’s economy declined, signaling fuel demand may be faltering in the world’s biggest users of the commodity. Brent oil for November settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange dropped $1.28, or 1.2 percent, to $110.29 a barrel. 
• BlackRock(BLK) Leads Firms Poised to Win From Hedge Fund Ads. The firms most likely to benefit first from new rules that would allow hedge funds to conduct wide advertising campaigns aren’t hedge funds. 
• Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) Plunges as Whitman Projects Profit Drop. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman forecast fiscal 2013 profit that missed estimates and said a turnaround at the computer maker won’t happen any time soon, sending shares to a more than nine- year low. “The recent financial performance of HP has not been good,” Whitman said at a meeting with financial analysts today. “The single biggest challenge facing Hewlett-Packard has been the multiple changes in CEOs,” she said. “It’s going to take longer to right this ship than any of us would like.”

Wall Street Journal:

• Obama, Romney Look to Win Over the Undecided. After jousting from afar for months, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will meet Wednesday night in one of their last best chances to sway undecided voters and solidify support among the party faithful. For 90 minutes beginning at 9 p.m. EDT, the presidential candidates will share a stage at the University of Denver, laying out their ideas about domestic issues. The first of three televised presidential debates will heavily emphasize the economy, with both men trying to persuade voters that they understand their struggles and can improve the economic landscape in the next four years.
• Apple(AAPL) Suppliers Now Mass-Producing Tablets Smaller Than Existing iPad -Sources.  
• Tensions Rise as Syrian Shells Land in Turkey. Syrian mortar rounds landed in a Turkish border town on Wednesday, killing five people and wounding at least a dozen, opening a potentially dangerous new phase along the neighbors' increasingly tense shared border. Three Syrian shells fell on Akcakale, a Turkish town in the southern province of Sanliurfa, shortly after 3:30 p.m. local time, sending residents scattering to find cover, said Abdulhakim Ayhan, the town's mayor. 
• Dozens Killed in Syrian Suicide Blasts. Dozens of people were killed and wounded, many of them government soldiers, in multiple car bombings in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda-inspired or -linked jihadists, signaling a bloodier phase in the conflict in the city, where opposition rebels have been deadlocked in battle with the regime for nearly three months.

MarketWatch.com:

• Green-energy policy hurts America. Commentary: Environmental policies lead to less wealth.

CNBC:

• California Cities in 'Conga Line' For Fiscal Trouble. Then came Stockton. Mammoth Lakes. San Bernardino. Which California city will go bankrupt next? "There's a lot of them lined up in the conga line," said Marilyn Cohen, CEO of Envision Capital Management. Up next could be the city of Atwater, where civic leaders will vote Wednesday night on declaring a fiscal emergency. They may even lay off a quarter of the town’s 90-person workforce.   
• Fed Easing Has Little Impact So Far: Out of Bullets? "We've been range-bound as everyone digests the information," said Robert Laura, president of Synergos Financial Group in Brighton, Mich. "There's nothing that's going to take us any higher. The headwinds out there are too large for QE to overcome."
• There's Too Much Debt, Here's What to Do: Kyle Bass. Kyle Bass, who famously made a fortune shorting the subprime market before the housing market collapse, is worried that there's too much debt in the world. “We’ve never been here before,” said Bass, founder of hedge fund Hayman Capital, in an interview Wednesday on CNBC'S “Squawk on the Street.” “It has been the largest peacetime accumulation of debt in history.” And that makes investment decisions extremely difficult, Bass said.

Zero Hedge: 

• Noisy ADP Print Declines But Beats Expectations; Just 4000 Manufacturing Jobs Added. (graph) 
•  IMF Brings Good Tidings: Prepare For Another Lost Decade. 
• Services ISM Better Than Expected Even As Employment Slides, Prices Soar. (graph) 
• Ultraluxury NY Real Estate Market Cracking As Legendary 740 Park Duplex Sells 45% Below Original Asking Price.  
• Does Stimulus Spending Work? (video)

Business Insider: 

• These Charts Prove Biden Is Right About The Middle Class Being Buried Over The Last 4 Years. 
• Demand For Apartments Is Slowing As An 'Avalanche' Of Units Hit The Market.  
• South Africa Is On The Brink Of Total Chaos As Strikes Are Leading To Fuel And Cash Shortages.  
• Why You Should Be Outraged About The Ruling To Keep The NDAA Indefinite Detention Clause In Effect. That the NDAA is fully enforceable right now is scary enough, but the details of the ruling are truly bothersome to those that have been following the rulings in the case.  
• Why Everyone Is Losing Hope In Solar Power.   
• CONFIRMED: A Top Russian General Was Killed By Syrian Rebels While Advising Assad. 

WeKnowMemes: 

• The US Budget Explained In Simple English.

Reuters: 

• Copper falls as weak Europe, China data raises demand fears. Copper slipped on Wednesday, ending four days of gains, as weak data from Europe and China reinforced concerns about the outlook for industrial metal demand despite recent efforts by central banks to stimulate economic growth. 
• Greek hopes fade for quick deal on austerity cuts. Greece's hopes of striking a deal with its lenders before euro zone finance ministers meet next week dimmed on Wednesday, when officials admitted the two sides disagree on how much the economy will contract in 2013 - a key figure in their calculations. 
• Troika sees Greek economy slumping by 5 pct in 2013- Greek source.

Telegraph:

• Multiplying Europe's fiscal suicide (technical).
• Portugal to raise taxes to meet austerity targets. Portugal has announced a raft of new cuts designed to reduce the country's debt load, as finance minister Vitor Gaspar unveiled sweeping changes that will see the average income tax rate rise by 2pc.