Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• OECD Cuts Global Growth Outlook on Emerging-Market Slowdown. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cut its global growth forecasts for this year and next as emerging-market economies including India and Brazil cool. The world economy will probably expand 2.7 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year, instead of the 3.1 percent and and 4 percent predicted in May, the Paris-based OECD said in a semi-annual report today. “Most of the emerging economies have underlying fragilities that mean they cannot continue growing as they used to,” OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan said in an interview. “They used to be an important support engine for global growth in bad times. Now the reverse is true and advanced economies can’t be said to be in very good times again.”   
• Italy Banks’ Bad-Loan Ratio Rises to Highest Since 1999. Bad loans at Italian banks climbed to the highest in almost 14 years as the nation’s economy endured its longest recession since World War II and sovereign-debt risks drove up funding costs for companies. Non-performing loans at face value as a proportion of lending increased to 7.5 percent in September from 5.9 percent a year earlier, according to data published by the Italian Banking Association today. That’s the highest since November 1999 and up from 3 percent in June 2008, prior to the financial crisis, said the Rome-based association, known as ABI. 
• Ibovespa Falls Most in Seven Weeks on Economy; Petrobras Drops. The Ibovespa (IBOV) declined the most in seven weeks on speculation Latin America’s largest economy will remain stalled, making stock rallies hard to sustain. Oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR3) contributed the most to the Brazilian equity gauge’s drop, following crude lower. Former billionaire Eike Batista’s LLX Logistica SA fell the most on the index after its biggest two-day gain since September. The Ibovespa slid 2.4 percent to 53,027.25 at 3:28 p.m. in Sao Paulo, the biggest decline since Sep. 30 on a closing basis and the worst performance among major global benchmarks after Argentina’s Merval.
• Europe Stocks Slip From Five-Year High; Paddy Power Drops. European stocks dropped from a five-year high as investors weighed equity valuations that are at the highest since 2009. Paddy Power Plc slumped the most in five years after Ireland’s biggest bookmaker cut its forecast for 2013 profit growth. KBC Groep NV (KBC) fell 2.7 percent as two shareholders sold a combined 18.8 million shares in the Belgian bank. EasyJet Plc (EZJ) rallied 7.1 percent after announcing a special dividend. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.7 percent to 322.56 at the close of trading in London.
• Junk Glistens Under ‘Bernankecare’ as Worst Stocks Win. Carl Giannone says he’s given up hunting for quality stocks. Now he’s simply riding the wave of upward momentum in the U.S. market. “It’s a game of musical chairs,” said Giannone, who manages a team of stock pickers at T3 Trading Group LLC in New York. “You just want to make sure you can sit down.” The Federal Reserve’s near-zero interest rate turns five years old next month, the longest period without an increase in history. Coupled with more than $3 trillion of asset purchases, it adds up to “Bernankecare,” said Joshua Brown, chief executive officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management in New York. And it’s causing parts of the market to behave strangely. Stocks of companies with weak balance sheets are rising twice as fast as stronger ones; junk borrowers get rates lower than their investment-grade counterparts did before the credit crisis; and initial public offerings are doubling on their first day of trading. While in the minority, some investors say prices have climbed so high it’s possible to look ahead and see an ugly end. Laurence Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., the biggest U.S. money manager, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Nov. 12 that he feared a bubble and the Fed ought to quit buying so many securities.
• Treasury 10-Year Yield Rises From 1-Week Low on Fed Speculation. U.S. 10-year yields rose four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 2.71 percent as of 2:30 p.m. New York time, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. Yields fell earlier to 2.66 percent, the least since Nov. 8.
• Wal-Mart(WMT) Touts $98 TV in Weakest Holiday Season Since ’09. U.S. retailers are discounting earlier than ever as they brace for the weakest holiday shopping season since 2009. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is dangling a 32-inch flat-screen TV for $98, down from $148 last year. Sears Holdings Corp. has waived layaway fees and its Kmart chain is introducing a rent-to-own program. More than a dozen retailers are opening earlier, or for the first time, on Thanksgiving Day. Among the attention-grabbing stunts: a $1 million jackpot for one of the first shoppers to visit Gap Inc. (GPS)’s Old Navy chain on Black Friday. Faced with wary shoppers and a shorter holiday season, retailers are piling on deals as they jockey for marketshare during the most important sales period of the year. For the fourth year in a row, disposable incomes in 2013 have only inched up.
• Best Buy(BBY) Falls After Saying Holiday Price War to Hurt Profit. Best Buy Co., the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer, fell the most in nine months after saying it will keep pace with competitors’ discounts in the holiday season, hurting fourth-quarter profitability. The shares dropped 6.3 percent to $40.83 at 9:35 a.m. in New York and earlier slid as much as 6.7 percent for the biggest intraday decline since Feb. 13.
• UN Chief Scolds Rich Countries for Backtracking on Climate. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon lashed out at rich nations that are watering down commitments to fight global warming, citing the typhoon that devastated the Philippines.
• VIX Trader Bets $13 Million on 88% Jump in Fear Gauge. An investor bought $13 million in call options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, betting the gauge will rally at least 88 percent in the next four months. About 100,000 VIX March calls were purchased with a strike price of 23 for about $1.30 each, making the contract the most traded on U.S. options exchanges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Trade Alert LLC.

Wall Street Journal: 

• J.P. Morgan(JPM), U.S. Settle for $13 Billion. Deal Ends a Number of Legal Headaches for Largest U.S. Bank.

CNBC:

• Was Jack Welch right? Jobs numbers under fire. (video) Jack Welch may not have been so off the mark after all. The former General Electric CEO was pilloried back in October 2012 when he suggested that the previous month's unemployment report smelled fishy and perhaps had been manipulated. 
• Obamacare may need a taxpayer bailout: Ex-HHS head. (video)

Zero Hedge: 

• Santelli Slams The Jobs Manipulation Scandal: "American Media, You Can Do Better". (video)
• Gold Manipulation Probed By U.K. Regulator.
• Increased Minimum Wage, Decreased Economic Prosperity. (graph)
• Big Trouble In Massive China: "The Nation Might Face Credit Losses Of As Much As $3 Trillion". (graph)
• Step Aside Carl Icahn, It's Time For Larry Fink's Dose Of Cold Water.
• The Structural Decline Of US GDP In 4 Charts.
• Boehner:"Obamacare Needs To Be Scrapped Now" - Live Webcast. (video)

ValueWalk:

• EPS Downgrades For 81 Straight Weeks, Matching Longest Drop Since 2000. EPS downgrades as measured by Citi’s Earnings Revision Index (ERI) have fallen for 81 straight weeks, matching the 2008-2009 drop in the wake of the financial crisis and beating every other negative streak since 2000. But Equities are up 25% since the current streak of downgrades began in May 2012, with much of the price growth happening this year, and investors are still mostly bullish.

Business Insider: 

• Government Rebukes Tesla(TSLA) For Saying It Requested The Model S Fire Investigation. 
• Why The Stock Market Has Become Increasingly Like Dog Racing.
• Here Are The 50 Stocks That Big Hedge Funds Love Most.
• An Unusual Development In The Volatility Markets Is Flashing A Stock Market Warning Sign.
• Obama's Poll Numbers Continue To Crash.

Washington Examiner:

• More Obamacare promises are going up in smoke. The keep-your-coverage promise was just part of the Obamacare sales job. Obama, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and top Democrats made all sorts of claims in their effort to convince a skeptical public to accept a complicated, far-reaching national health care scheme. Here are three promises that might cause serious trouble in the days to come:

Reuters:

• Investec sees euro crisis flare-up risk; short French bonds vs Bunds. Stagnant growth and possible deflation could trigger fresh upheaval in Europe next year, says Investec, which has short positions on peripheral bonds and expects European stocks to lag other developed equities in 2014. Philip Saunders, Investec's head of multi-asset investment business, told the Reuters Global Investment Outlook Summit on Tuesday that European equities would probably deliver positive returns next year but inflows of cash rotating from emerging and U.S. markets could soon dry up.
• Mexican stocks fall sharply after trading halt. Mexican stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after trading resumed following a halt due to technical difficulties. The IPC stock index shed 1.12 percent to 40,572 points.

Telegraph:

• OECD calls Europe's crisis policy unworkable, fears 'virulent episodes' in emerging markets. OECD's chief economist says current European policies are pushing a string of countries into deflation and onto a much lower growth path.