Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• EU Nations Clash on Threshold for Direct ECB Oversight. The European Union is quarreling over thresholds on how big euro-area lenders must be in order to be designated for direct oversight by the European Central Bank, according to draft proposals. Nations are at odds over three different size thresholds, according to the document drawn up by Cyprus, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency. Some countries are seeking to set the bar as low as banks with more than 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in assets, while others are calling for divisions at 20 billion euros or 60 billion euros, according to the text, dated Nov. 27 and obtained by Bloomberg News. States are also split over having direct ECB supervision triggered by a ratio between a bank’s assets and the gross domestic product of its home country, according to the proposals, intended to forge a deal on the supervision plan.
• Schaeuble Signals Greece May Need More as Bild Slams Deal. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble signaled that Greece may need additional help as the country’s most-read newspaper slammed a rescue accord as a “never-ending story” financed by German taxpayers. Euro-area governments may provide additional funding through the European Union structural fund and further interest- payment reduction as long as Greece meets all its obligations under the agreement, Schaeuble wrote in a letter to German lawmakers obtained by Bloomberg News. Legislators in the lower house, or Bundestag, will vote on the measure on Nov. 30. 
• Emerging Stocks Drop Most in Two Weeks on U.S. Budget Concerns. Emerging-market stocks fell the most in two weeks on concern that little progress is being made in U.S. budget talks to avert spending cuts and tax increases that may send the world’s largest economy into recession. Vale SA, the world’s biggest iron-ore producer, led Brazil stocks lower. Hankook Tire Worldwide Co. (000240) slid to a four-week low in Seoul. Citic Securities Co. (6030), China’s biggest-listed brokerage, sank for the first time in six days as equity trading slumped in China and the Shanghai Composite Index slid to its lowest since January 2009. Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC), Egypt’s biggest publicly traded company, plunged 6.9 percent on concerns unrest in the country will continue. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) fell 0.8 percent to 988.35 at 10:20 a.m. in New York, and earlier slipped 0.9 percent for the biggest intraday decline since Nov. 13.
• SAC Said to Get Wells Notice From SEC on Insider Trading.
• American Housing Casino Revives After Big Drop: Mortgages.
• Egypt Protesters Clash With Police in Opposition Test. Egypt’s opposition resolved to stand firm against President Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, in a showdown over his self-decreed powers that dragged the nation’s top court into the political struggle. Amid renewed clashes between protesters and police in central Cairo, the Supreme Constitutional Court said it was “saddened” when Mursi joined in attacks on its justices. Maher Sami, the court’s deputy chief, denied allegations that it had been politically motivated when it ruled in June to invalidate the Islamist-dominated parliament’s lower house.

Wall Street Journal:

• Fiscal Cliff: Live Stream.
• EU Approves Funds for Spanish Banks. 
• U.S. Blocks New Contracts With BP(BP).
  

MarketWatch.com:

• Fiscal cliff at the pump: Gasoline prices hit record average in 2012.

CNBC: 

• Will Italy Need a Bailout in 2013? Even as markets have been focused on a potential bailout for Spain, analysts say Italy, which is heading for a protracted recession, may also need aid in 2013.
• Worried About 'Fiscal Cliff'? Look Out for 'Income Cliff'. While everyone wonders whether we're about to go over the "fiscal cliff," owners of dividend-paying stocks are bracing for what some are calling an "income cliff." Those who have been counting on dividends as income — often retirees but also higher-end retail investors — could see their tax burden nearly triple if the worst of the "fiscal cliff" is realized.
• US Economy Growing at Steady Pace: Fed's Beige Book.
• New Home Sales Disappoint - Could It Be 'Cliff Concerns?' “The recovery in new home sales is looking a little weaker than we were previously led to believe,” writes Paul Diggle of Capital Economics.
• How the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Could Hurt Married Couples. There are many financial perks that come with being married. Filing taxes generally isn’t one of them. If a complex, arcane tax code leaves singles confused and frustrated, try doubling the confusion associated with credits, deductions and income.

Zero Hedge:

• The Fiscal Cliff And The Grand Bargain.
• Europe Refuses To Be Fixed.
• The Grand Inquisitor. 
• Surprise: Right After The Election, New Home Sales Tumble From Downward Revised Two Year High. (graph)
• Bank of Japan Posts Whopping ¥233 Billion Loss As Its Soaring Balance Sheet Hits Record ¥156 Trillion. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Why Spain's Unemployment Nightmare Is So Much Worse Than Greece's. 
• Here's What's Happening In North America's #1 Housing Bubble.

Reuters: 

• Fitch warns France could be downgraded next year. Fitch Ratings could strip France of its triple-A credit status next year if the country fails to meet its targets on debt reduction and its economy performs worse than forecast, one of the agency's top sovereign experts warned on Wednesday. "We think it is challenging for France to hit its 3 percent deficit for 2013 particularly given its anemic growth prospects," Tony Stringer, managing director of Fitch's sovereign rating group told Reuters in an interview. "Any underperformance on either fiscal consolidation or on fundamental economic reforms could lead to a downgrade in 2013." Fitch currently expects France's economy to see 0.3 percent growth next year.
• Germans lament 'never-ending story' of Greek aid. German lawmakers and media accused the government on Wednesday of deceiving taxpayers over the true costs of saving Greece and said the euro zone would eventually have to write off much of its Greek debt. The Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament, is expected to vote on Friday on the package of measures agreed by euro zone finance ministers this week which aim to cut Greek debt to 124 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. The Bundestag's approval is not in doubt but the chorus of anger and frustration reverberating among German newspapers and lawmakers highlights the growing political risks for Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of next September's federal elections.
• Copper dips on Greek deal uncertainty, U.S. budget talks.

AP: 

• Spain to recognize Palestinian state at UN.

Financial Times:

• EU power bills ‘triple’ those of US rivals. Concerns among European companies over the rising gap with US rivals in their cost of energy is mounting with two leading business groups raising alarm over the issue. The European Union’s focus on pushing up use of renewable energy has led to sharp increases in energy costs in Europe, according to a “manufacturing manifesto” drawn up by Orgalime and Ceemet, two Brussels-based trade associations that represent 200,000 companies across the continent.

Telegraph:

• Debt crisis: Spain to overhaul banking sector as Bankia cuts 6,000 jobs. Spain is to overhaul its stricken banking sector after European Union regulators approved restructuring plans, as nationalised Bankia said that it would cut 6,000 jobs and report a loss of around €19bn this year.