Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• German Yield Falls Below Zero on Greece Vote; Spanish Bonds Drop. German government bonds rose, pushing two-year note yields below zero for the first time in two months, as Greece prepared for a vote as soon as this week on austerity measures needed to keep the nation in the euro. Ten-year bund yields fell to the lowest level in more than five weeks as Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras struggled to win political support for the measures needed to assure the country’s financial lifeline. Spanish bonds declined for a second day after a report showed jobless claims rose the most in nine months in October. The country is scheduled to sell a combined 4.5 billion euros ($5.75 billion) of debt with maturities of up to 20 years this week. “The market is clearly in a more negative sentiment and we can see Spanish yields creeping higher again,” said Allan von Mehren, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. Greece is “approaching a more decisive phase again and investors will look for safety until we get past those hurdles,” he said.
• Italy Said to Rebuff Bad Bank Plan That May Boost Sovereign Tie. Italian Treasury officials rejected proposals to create a so-called bad bank for the non-performing loans of the nation’s lenders amid concern the plan would strengthen the link between sovereign and bank debt, said people with knowledge of the matter. At least three restructuring advisers held talks with government officials about a bad bank that Italy could fund without seeking external aid, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions were private. The bad bank could hold 30 billion euros ($39 billion) to 100 billion euros of assets and lenders would receive government bonds in return for their bad loans, according to one person.
• Italian GDP to Shrink as Unemployment Gains, Istat Says. The Italian economy won’t start recovering until the second half of 2013 as foreign demand fails to offset the effect of a decline in household spending, the national statistics institute said. Gross domestic product will shrink 2.3 percent in 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2013, Rome-based Istat said today in an e-mailed report. In May, Istat projected a 1.5 percent contraction this year and a 0.5 percent expansion next. Household consumption will fall 3.2 percent in 2012 and 0.7 percent in 2013, Istat said today. The euro region’s third-biggest economy will experience an “easing of unfavorable pressures and a modest recovery in the second half” of next year, according to the report. Still, household “spending will remain negative due to the persistent difficulties in the labor market.” Italy’s jobless rate will rise to 10.6 percent this year, before climbing to 11.4 percent in 2013, Istat said. Its GDP projections are subject to downward revisions should “global trade slow down and tensions on financial markets sharpen,” the statistics agency said. 
• World-Beating Euro Imperiled by Biggest Loan Drop Since ’09. The euro’s three-month rally against all but one of its major peers is imperiled by a deepening credit crunch for European companies that adds to the risk of another recession as the region’s counterparts recover. The currency has weakened 3.1 percent versus the dollar from a four-month high on Sept. 17 as small and medium-sized companies that Deutsche Bank AG says generate as much as 70 percent of the economy are starved of credit. Loans from European banks slumped 0.8 percent in September from a year earlier. The last time lending contracted that much, in October 2009, the euro fell 5.8 percent in the following three months.
• Breaking: Gallup to Show Romney, Obama in Dead Heat. Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport tells Bloomberg Businessweek that the release of Monday’s tracking poll, set for 1 p.m., will show Mitt Romney leading President Obama 49 percent to 48 percent among likely voters nationally. This is the first tracking poll released since Hurricane Sandy and is notable for the strong movement to Obama.
• U.S. Debt Risk Soars as Election Anxiety Fuels Fiscal Cliff Woes. The cost of insuring U.S. Treasuries jumped by the most in three years before tomorrow’s presidential election on concern a failure to tackle the so-called fiscal cliff will tip the world’s largest economy into recession. Credit-default swaps on U.S. government debt rose as much as seven basis points to 37, and cost 35 basis points at 11:30 a.m. in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the biggest increase since at least 2009 when Bloomberg began tracking the data. As Americans prepare to vote for President Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney, Group of 20 finance ministers pressed the U.S. to prevent the $600 billion in tax increases and government spending cuts set to occur unless Congress can reach a budget compromise by the end of the year.
• Apple Sells 3 Million IPads in Debut Fueling Optimism. Apple Inc. said it sold 3 million units of its iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad during the debut weekend, a sign that the new devices can help the company withstand accelerating competition in the tablet market. “Demand for iPad mini exceeded the initial supply and while many of the pre-orders have been shipped to customers, some are scheduled to be shipped later this month,” Cupertino, California-based Apple said today in a statement.
• Michigan Couple Stole GM(GM) Secrets for Chinese, U.S. Says. A former General Motors Co. (GM) engineer and her husband stole trade secrets of the automaker’s related to hybrid-car technology to help develop such vehicles in China, a U.S. prosecutor said at the beginning of their trial.

Wall Street Journal: 

• Election 2012: Streaming Coverage. 
• Wave of Death Hit New York Enclave. As superstorm Sandy barreled toward New York City, Jack Paterno, who got around in a wheelchair, stayed put in the low-lying neighborhood of Midland Beach. Nearby family members assumed the storm wasn't going to be so bad. But when it hit, a wall of water submerged Mr. Paterno's one-story bungalow in a matter of minutes.
• Bomb Blasts Rock Bahrain's Capital. A series of bomb blasts in Bahrain's capital killed two people Monday, authorities said, a sign that some factions within the opposition may be increasingly turning to violence in the nearly 21-month uprising against the Gulf nation's Western-backed rulers.
• Intense Fighting Erupts in Syrian Capital. Palestinian supporters and opponents of Syria's regime got swept up in intense fighting in Damascus Monday while rival rebel groups clashed over control of a border crossing with Turkey, activists said.

CNBC:

• Middle Class Worse Off Than You Think: MIT Professor. 
• Natural Gas Could Be Bigger Than the Internet, Welch Says. Too much regulation is standing in the way of the key to America's energy future and in turn its economic growth, former General Electric Chairman Jack Welch said on CNBC. Removing barriers to developing natural gas is every bit as important as resolving the "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax increases that looms ahead, the head of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "We have a chance in this country to make this the American century," Welch said. "This gas thing is huge. The gas that we have found is in the first inning — it's like the Internet in 1990. This is the first inning of the great American century."
• Is Asia Planting the Seeds of the Next Financial Crisis? Asia’s economies may still be booming, but a worrying amount of private sector credit is laying the groundwork of the next financial crisis, according to a new research by Capital Economics.

Zero Hedge: 

• How Canada Became Spain's Best Friend; Or Why The ECB Does Not Need To Haircut Toxic Spanish Bonds. 
• Meet The French Major Whose Spanish "A" Rating Keeps The ECB €17 Billion Margin Call Away. 
• Service ISM Posts First Miss And Decline In 3 Months. (graph) 
• Peripherals Plunge As Swiss/German Safety Sought Once Again. (graphs)

Business Insider: 

• A Large Fire Has Broken Out In Jersey City. 
• US Crashes Out Of The Top 10 In World Prosperity Index. An "unprecedented" decline.
• The Police Can Now Put Hidden Cameras In Your Home Without Your Permission.

Wall Street All-Stars:

• Indicator Update: Dangerous Curves Ahead?

The Blaze:

• The Most Devastating Anti-Obama Election Video of 2012? You Decide. (video)

RasmussenReports: 

• Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 49% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns the vote from 48%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and one percent (1%) remains undecided.

Reuters: 

• Copper hits 2-month low as U.S. election, China in focus.

Telegraph:  

• UK services sector slows to 22-month low: reaction. Growth in the UK services sector grew in October, but the pace has slowed to an almost two-year low, according to "disappointing" official data. We look at analyst reaction to the figures.