Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• French Jobless Claims Jump to 14-Year High on Stalled Economy. French jobless claims jumped to a 14-year high as a stalled economy prompted companies to trim payrolls and investment. The number of people actively looking for work rose by 45,400, or 1.5 percent, to 3.103 million, the Labor Ministry said today in an e-mailed statement from Paris. Economists predicted an increase of 28,600, according to the median of six forecasts gathered by Bloomberg News. The increase brings jobless claims to their highest since April 1998, increasing pressure on President Francois Hollande to tackle labor rules and costs in a push for competitiveness that he has promised by year-end.
• Greece Wins Easier Debt Terms as EU Hails Rescue Formula. European finance ministers eased the terms on emergency aid for Greece, declaring after three years of false starts that Europe has found the formula for nursing the debt-stricken country back to health. In the latest bid to keep the 17-nation euro intact, the ministers cut the rates on bailout loans, suspended interest payments for a decade, gave Greece more time to repay and engineered a Greek bond buyback. The country was also cleared to receive a 34.4 billion-euro ($44.7 billion) loan installment in December.
• China’s Stocks Drop Below 2,000. China’s stocks fell, with the benchmark index closing below 2,000 for the first time since 2009, as the value of shares traded slumped to the lowest in four years. Material and health-care companies led losses. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) dropped 1.3 percent to 1,991.17 at the 3 p.m. local-time close, its lowest level since Jan. 23, 2009. Shares worth 33.1 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) changed hands in the measure yesterday, the least since Nov. 7, 2008, while data showed that the number of A-share trading accounts that made transactions last week fell to 5.6 million, the lowest for a five-day week since at least January 2008. “Investors are voting with their feet,” Zhang Ling, general manager at Shanghai River Fund Management Co., said by phone.
• Demand for U.S. Capital Goods Climbs in Spending Rebound. The Conference Board’s confidence index increased to 73.7 in November from 73.1 the prior month, the New York-based group said today. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities advanced 3 percent in September from a year earlier. Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft rose 1.7 percent last month, the most since May, the Commerce Department reported.
• ConAgra(CAG) gobbles up store brands with Ralcorp(RAH) deal. ConAgra Foods is set to become the nation's biggest maker of store brand foods, with its $5 billion purchase of Ralcorp expanding its stake in the fast-growing market for cereals, crackers and other packaged foods sold under private labels.
• RIM(RIMM) Shares Fall After U.S. Market Share Shrinks to 1.6%. Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) fell the most in almost three weeks after the BlackBerry’s U.S. market share shrank to 1.6 percent, hurt by Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone winning more customers. The stock dropped 6.8 percent to $11.17 at 12:21 p.m. in New York after earlier dropping as much as 8 percent, the biggest intraday decline since Nov. 7.

Wall Street Journal: 

• Gloom Over China Stocks Deepens; 4-Year Low. China's main stock index closed at its lowest level in almost four years Tuesday and slipped below a key psychological level, indicating deepening investor worries over the health of the nation's public equity markets.
• Home Prices Rose in September, S&P Case-Shiller Says.
  

CNBC: 

• Sen. Reid Reports Little Progress in 'Fiscal Cliff' Talks. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that "fiscal cliff" talks have made "little progress," sending stock prices down, while Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell ripped into President Barack Obama for planning to hit the road to promote his tax agenda.
• UK Prepares for Decisive Day as Downgrade Looms. With sluggish growth, an expanding budget deficit and fears of a downgrade, the U.K finance minister will next week use his Autumn Statement to update his plans for the economy with predictions emerging that a tax crackdown on multinationals could be on the cards.
• Why Has Wall Street Gotten So Bullish About Next Year? Even the bears are bullish for 2013, a year in which virtually every Wall Street expert believes the market will overcome its many headwinds and post a positive year.

Zero Hedge: 

• When Work Is Punished: The Tragedy Of America's Welfare State.
• Chart Of The Day: Continued Collapse In Capital Goods New Orders Confirms US Is In Recession. (graph)
• Goldman's(GS) Guess At 'Cliff' Compromise Composition.
• Home Equity Lines Of Credit Are Back As The Worst Of The Housing Bubble Worst Returns. (graph)
• Europe's Latest Can-Kicking Euphoria Fading Quick.

Business Insider:

• Leaked Graph Suggests Iran Is Developing A Nuclear Weapon. 
• Why Short Seller Carson Block Is Done Exposing Chinese Frauds. 
• Credit Suisse Presents 13 Must-See Charts On Taxes, Spending, And The Fiscal Cliff.

The Blaze:

• Republicans: We’re ‘More Troubled’ by Susan Rice’s Benghazi Comments After Private Meeting With Her.

CNN:

• Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Battle Brews in Washington as 'Fiscal Cliff' Looms. Washington should stay away from touching the mortgage interest tax deduction, warns the U.S. housing industry. Lately, housing is on the mend and one of the few bright spots in a lumbering economic recovery. Taking away a key tax break could throw a wrench into homebuying plans and hurt a long-sputtering recovery.

Reuters:

• OECD cuts global economic forecasts over euro zone risks. The OECD slashed its global growth forecasts on Tuesday, warning that the debt crisis in the recession-hit euro zone is the greatest threat to the world economy. In light of the dire economic outlook, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development urged central banks to prepare for more exceptional monetary easing if politicians fail to come up with credible answers to the debt crisis. The Paris-based think-tank forecast in its twice-yearly Economic Outlook that the global economy would grow 2.9 percent this year before expanding 3.4 percent in 2013. The estimate marked a sharp downgrade since the OECD last estimated a rate in May of 3.4 percent for this year and 4.2 percent in 2013.
• France to back Palestinian U.N. status. France said on Tuesday it would vote in favour of Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations, boosting Palestinian efforts to secure greater international recognition. Frustrated that their bid for full U.N. membership last year was thwarted by U.S. opposition in the U.N. Security Council, Palestinians have launched a watered-down bid for recognition as a non-member state, similar to the status the Vatican enjoys.

USA Today:

• Egyptians pack Tahrir Square for anti-Morsi protest. (video) Angry chants filled Tahrir Square on Tuesday as thousands of demonstrators filled the iconic center of last year's revolt, this time to protest a recent decree that grants President Mohammed Morsi sweeping powers. The protesters, waving Egypt's red, white and black flags and chanting slogans against Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, joined several hundred who had been camping out since Friday demanding the decree be revoked. "I'm against the constitution and the dictatorship of Mr. Morsi," said Horeya Naguib, whose first name in Arabic means freedom. "He is selling his own country and looks out for the interests of his group, not the people of Egypt."

Frankfurter Rundschau:

• EU expects Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi to reverse measures that put him above the law otherwise aid will be cut, citing EU parliament's foreign affairs committee Elmar Brok.

Handelsblatt:

• The European Union is pushing for ratings companies to be liable for incorrect credit ratings, citing people with knowledge of discussions at the European Commission. The EU's stance doesn't mean that ratings firms necessarily will face financial consequences, as the EU wants national courts to decide on potential damages. The burden of proof in court procedures will lie with complainants, not with ratings agencies.

Jiji Press:

• Passengers on JAL's China Flights Down 33% in October. The number of passengers on Japan Airlines' <9201> flights linking Japan and China plunged 33.0 pct in October from a year before to 68,311, the carrier said Tuesday. The fall reflected worsening relations between Japan and China following Japan's nationalization of three of the five disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, claimed also by China, in September.