Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Spanish Banks’ Bad Loans Ratio Climbs to Record 12.1%. Spanish defaults as a proportion of total lending climbed to a record in August as companies and consumers struggled to make loan payments in an economy with an unemployment rate that’s still above 26 percent. Non-performing loans accounted for 12.1 percent of lending in August, compared with 12 percent in July and 10.5 percent in the same month a year earlier, the Bank of Spain said on its website today. The stock of bad loans rose to 180.7 billion euros ($247.2 billion) during the month as 2 billion euros of lending turned sour.

• European Stocks Gain for Seventh Day as China’s GDP Rises. European stocks rose for a seventh day, their longest winning streak this year, as China’s economic growth accelerated for the first time in three quarters. Schindler Holding AG jumped 4.3 percent after the Swiss elevator maker announced a share buyback. Cap Gemini (CAP) SA climbed to six-year high after saying it will repurchase convertible bonds to forestall a potential dilution of equity. Grifols SA fell 3.5 percent after an investor sold a stake in Europe’s largest blood-plasma products maker. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent to 318.47, extending its highest level since June 2008.

• Google(GOOG) Surpasses $1,000 for First Time on Ad Optimism. Google Inc. (GOOG) reached $1,000 for the first time amid optimism about new advertising for wireless devices and online video, joining a small club of U.S. stocks. The world’s largest search-engine company gained a record 13 percent to $1,007.40 before retreating to $1,001.99 at 12:17 p.m. New York time. The stock, sold at $85 in a 2004 initial public offering, has risen every year since except for 2010 and 2008, when it slumped 56 percent during the recession. The Internet company is benefiting from ads for new formats after expanding beyond delivering advertisements alongside search results on desktop computers. Google should take 33 percent of the global online-advertising market this year, up from 31 percent in 2012, according to EMarketer Inc.

• Boeing(BA) Cuts 747-8 Output Again as Jumbo-Jet Sales Slump. Boeing Co. (BA) is cutting production again for its 747-8 jumbo jet, the planemaker’s biggest model ever, as demand continues to dwindle for four-engine aircraft. The new rate will be 1.5 planes a month instead of 1.75, a pace that will be maintained through 2015, Boeing said today in a statement.

Wall Street Journal:

• eBay(EBAY) CEO on “Cautious” Holiday Outlook: We Didn’t Mean to Sound So Negative. 

• Health Website Woes Widen as Insurers Get Wrong Data. New Errors Indicate Technological Problems Extend Issues Already Identified.

Barron's:

• Hedge Funds Surge to New Asset Record: $2.51 Trillion. Investors keep forking over the money. Hedge-fund assets surged to a fifth straight all-time record in the third quarter, at $2.51 trillion, Hedge Fund Research reports this morning.

CNBC:

• BoE's Tucker warns on shadow banking risk. Regulators need to "up their game" in overseeing hedge funds and shadow banks as risky pools of capital build up beyond the heavily scrutinized world of traditional banking, one of the world's top central bankers has warned.

• ETF investors are making a hugely bullish bet.

Zero Hedge: 

• Fed Balance Sheet Increases By $50 Billion In One Week, $100 Billion In One Month, $1 Trillion In One Year. (graph)

• IMF Discusses 'One-Off' Wealth Tax.

• Conservatism And The Debt Ceiling.

• China's Largest Conglomerate Buys The Building That Houses JPMorgan's(JPM) Gold Vault.

Business Insider: 

• This One Statistic Explains Why Google's Stock Exploded Through $1,000 A Share.