- China’s Bribery Culture Poses Risks for Multinationals. To the risks of doing business in China -- an authoritarian government, sprawling market, worsening pollution -- add another one: running afoul of local and U.S. anti-corruption laws. Multinational companies are working to navigate bribery risks in China, where possible corruption by JPMorgan Chase & Co., GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Avon Products Inc. have sparked probes by the U.S. or Chinese authorities.
- Indonesia Pain Threshold Looms on Rate Increases: Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s most aggressive rate-tightening in eight years has barely dented a current-account deficit, prompting calls for more increases and other measures before the Federal Reserve cuts stimulus.Bank Indonesia has raised borrowing costs by 1.75 percentage points to 7.5 percent since mid-June, the quickest since 2005. Following data last week showing the country recorded its second-highest current-account shortfall on record in the three months through September, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Standard Chartered Plc now see a further 50 basis points of increases in the first half of next year.
- Draghi Says ECB Aware of Concern Low Rates Risk to Stability. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said keeping interest rates low for an extended period carries risks that policy makers weighed carefully before they reduced the benchmark rate to a record low. “I am of course aware that our rate cut raised some concerns,” Draghi said in a speech in Berlin today. “A protracted period of time of low rates creates the scene for risks in financial stability.”
- Snai Plans Euro Bonds as Junk Borrowing Costs Fall Below 5%. Snai SpA (SNA), an Italian betting website operator, is meeting investors for the company’s debut sale of high-yield bonds in euros as junk borrowing costs dropped to a record 4.99 percent. Snai is planning to sell 300 million euros ($403 million) of senior secured notes and 160 million euros of senior subordinated notes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The average yield investors demand to hold junk-rated debt fell 12 basis points this month, Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data show. Borrowers are benefiting from record low central bank rates, which are encouraging investors to take on more risk as default rates approach historic lows. Investors placed $19 billion in European high-yield credit funds this year, compared with $771 million in investment grade, according to a Bank of America Corp. report this month, citing EPFR Global data.
- Europe Stocks Slip After Fed Talks, China Manufacturing. European shares declined as a gauge of China manufacturing dropped more than forecast and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting signaled the U.S. may reduce stimulus in coming months. Atos (ATO) fell 4.1 percent after an investor cut its stake in the company. Intermediate Capital Group Plc (ICP) lost 3.4 percent after Numis Securities Ltd. lowered its rating on the money manager. Allianz SE (ALV) fell 1.3 percent after Europe’s biggest insurer was cut to neutral at Citigroup Inc. Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) climbed 3.8 percent after reporting a profit increase in the first half of the year. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2 percent to 322.42 at the close of trading.
- WTI Crude Advances. WTI for January delivery climbed $1.59, or 1.7 percent, to $95.44 a barrel at 1:11 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices settled at $93.03 on Nov. 18, the lowest settlement since May 31. The volume of all futures traded was 9.4 percent lower than the 100-day average.
- Highbridge's Dubin Says Commodity Supercycle May Be Over. Supercycle is over and market now trading on supply/demand characteristics: Highbridge's Glenn Dubin says on BTV. TXU, OGX has "dangerous mix" of volatility, leverage. "Hot new thing" is behind commodity markets.
- Stock Funds Lure Most Cash in 13 Years as Investors Chase Rally. Investors are pouring more money into stock mutual funds in the U.S. than they have in 13 years, attracted by a market near record highs and stung by bond losses that would deepen if interest rates keep rising. Stock funds won $172 billion in the year’s first 10 months, the largest amount since they got $272 billion in all of 2000, according to Morningstar Inc. estimates. Even with most of the cash going to international funds, domestic equity deposits are the highest since 2004. “The timing of retail investors tends to be terrible,” said Jonathan Pond, an independent financial adviser in Newton, Massachusetts, who oversees $200 million. The deposits may be a contrarian indicator of a market near a top, he said.
- Senate Dems weaken GOP power with major filibuster rule change. Senate Democrats bowled over Republicans on Thursday to win approval for a highly controversial rule change which would limit the GOP's ability to block nominees, in a move Republicans called a "raw power grab." "It's a sad day in the history of the Senate," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after the vote. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., moving quickly following days of speculation, used the so-called "nuclear option" to pass the change. Typically, major changes like this take 67 votes, but he did it with just a simple majority.
- Charles Schwab Warns "We Are In A Manipulated Market". (video) "There hasn't been a wholesale movement away from stocks," he goes on, busting myths asunder, adding that "investors want to see market-driven conditions, not Fed manipulated ones."
- Senate Passes Vote On "Nuclear Option". SENATE VOTES 52-48 TO CHANGE RULES ON PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES, and so the nuclear option has been enacted.
AL.com:
- Students released from Decatur elementary schools after suspicious device found on train carrying hazardous materials. Lt. John Crouch said police, Decatur firefighters, the Huntsville bomb squad and the FBI are on the scene at the plant at Alabama Highway 20. He did not say what type of hazardous material is in the train car. However, he said the estimated potential danger zone is 25 miles.
- Toyota sees U.S. industry growth slowing by half in 2014. The United States automotive industry will move into the slow lane in 2014 as fewer buyers replace aging vehicles and growth drops to half this year's rate, the head of Toyota Motor Corp's North American operations said on Wednesday.
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