Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• French Recession Looms as Industrial Production Slumps. French industrial production slumped and confidence among factory executives held near the lowest in almost three years, prompting the Bank of France to indicate that Europe’s second-largest economy may be tipping into recession. Production fell 2.7 percent in September from August, Paris-based statistics office Insee said today. That’s the biggest drop since January 2009 and more than the 1 percent decline forecast by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. With sentiment among manufacturing executives unchanged at 92 in October, the Bank of France said the economy may shrink in the fourth quarter. Previous surveys suggest it also contracted in the third. “The latest French industrial data makes for particularly grim reading,” said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London. “The problem in France is the perennial lack of growth.” 
• EU Said to Tide Greece Past Bill Redemption as Aid Talks Drag On. European governments will find a way of tiding Greece past next week’s bill redemption as the pieces of an updated aid package take longer than planned to fall into place, a European official said. While finance ministers on Nov. 12 are unlikely to sign off on 31.5 billion euros ($40 billion) of fresh loans, the result won’t be an “accidental default” for Greece when 5 billion euros of bills mature on Nov. 16, the official told reporters in Brussels today on condition of anonymity. 
• Soros Says Euro Crisis Threatening Europe’s Cohesion, EU Ideals. Billionaire investor George Soros said the euro zone’s debt crisis is harming the forces that have held the currency bloc together as well as the vision that led to the creation of the European Union. “The euro crisis is threatening Europe’s cohesion and the ideals behind the European Union,” Soros said at the Martti Ahtisaari Day seminar in Helsinki today. “The attractive idea of equal states being devoted to common goals is threatened, as there is a division between countries. Investors and creditors are in charge,” he said.
• Most European Stocks Drop Amid Concern on U.S. Economy. Most European stocks fell, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posting its biggest weekly drop in a month, amid concern that automatic spending cuts and tax increases may push the world’s largest economy into a recession. Credit Agricole sank 5.9 percent after posting a wider third-quarter loss than analysts had estimated.
• Muni Yields Plunge to 1967 Low as Obama’s Tax Plans Stoke Demand. U.S. municipal-bond yields dropped to the lowest in more than four decades as President Barack Obama’s re-election fueled speculation that income-tax rates will increase, boosting the appeal of tax-free debt. The interest rate on 20-year general-obligation bonds fell 0.12 percentage point to 3.55 percent in the week ended Nov. 8, according to a Bond Buyer index. That beats this year’s previous low of 3.6 percent and is the lowest since April 1967, when Lyndon B. Johnson was president. 
• Consumer Sentiment in U.S. Increases More Than Forecast. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 84.9, the fourth straight increase and the highest since July 2007, from 82.6 in October. Economists projected an initial reading of 82.9 for November, according to the median estimate of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. 
• Fed to Give Failing Stress Test Banks Second Chance. The Federal Reserve will give the 19 largest banks a preliminary result of its capital stress test, offering institutions that fail a chance to adjust their dividend and stock buyback policies. The change comes after Citigroup Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) narrowly missed meeting the 5 percent tier one common equity to risk-weighted assets minimum capital ratio in the 2012 test at 4.9 percent and 4.8 percent respectively. Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY) had a stressed ratio of 2.5 percent in the last test. 
• Google(GOOG) Sees China-Traffic Drop, Web Monitor Cites Block. Google Inc. (GOOG) is reporting an unusual drop in traffic to its sites in China, and an Internet monitor said the search engine’s services are being blocked in the world’s most populous nation.

Wall Street Journal:

• Live: Fiscal Cliff Stream.

MarketWatch.com:

• Senate Democratic wins may thwart ‘grand bargain’. 
• Fiscal cliff talks to start next week. Boehner and Obama both dig-in and talk compromise.

CNBC: 

• Greece Says Cash Reserves Almost Depleted. 
• Most Affordable US Cities.

Zero Hedge: 

• Do We Have What It Takes To Get From Here To There? Part 2: China. 
• Is Micro Weakness Smelling Macro Trouble?
• USA As Seen By Europe: The Next Greece?

Business Insider:

• The CBO's Report On The Fiscal Cliff Makes Clear We're Heading For A 'Can Kick'. 
• Angela Merkel Wants To Mold A New EU Based On Her 'Domestic Policy'. 
• IT'S OFFICIAL: Chris Christie's Favorability Takes A Dive Among GOP After Hurricane Sandy. 
• Things Have Gotten So Bad At JCPenney(JCP) That Analysts Are Now Talking About A Cash Crisis. 
• CHART OF THE DAY: US Crude Production Is Heading To A 20-Year High. 
• CIA DIRECTOR DAVID PETRAEUS RESIGNS — Extramarital Affair Cited In Letter.  

Reuters: 

• John Henry to shutter commodity trading firm at year-end.
• Copper hits 2-month low on U.S. fiscal, euro zone concern.

Telegraph: 

• German risks rift with France over economic healthcheck demands. Germany's finance minister has reportedly asked a panel of top advisers to examine France's economic problems amid concerns that weaknesses could spread to the rest of Europe.
• The Bank of England has just crossed the line into straight government financing.