- Draghi Cuts ECB Rates to Combat ‘Prolonged’ Inflation Weakness. The European Central Bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low in a bid to prevent slowing inflation from taking hold in a still-fragile euro-area economy. With inflation at the weakest level in four years and less than half the ECB’s target, the Frankfurt-based bank halved its key refinancing rate to 0.25 percent in a shift anticipated by just three of 70 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. “Our monetary-policy stance will remain accommodative for as long as necessary,” ECB President Mario Draghi told reporters in Frankfurt. “We may experience a prolonged period of low inflation.”
- German Industrial Production Falls as Recovery Slows. German industrial production dropped in September, signaling that growth in Europe’s largest economy may have cooled in the third quarter. Output (GRIPIMOM), adjusted for seasonal swings, fell 0.9 percent from August, when it rose a revised 1.6 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast no change, according to the median of 36 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
- Russia Forecasts Losing Ground in Global Economy by 2030. Russia’s share of the world economy will probably shrink during the next 20 years as growth trails the global average, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said. Gross domestic product will rise at an average pace of 2.5 percent through 2030, less than the 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent global rate, according to the ministry’s updated forecasts. That would reduce Russia’s share of world economic output to 3.4 percent by 2030 from 4 percent last year, the ministry said.
- Most European Stocks Fall as ECB Lowers Benchmark Rate. Most stocks in Europe fell as an unexpected European Central Bank interest rate cut pointed to prolonged weak growth in the region and stronger U.S. economic data fueled speculation the Federal Reserve may reduce the pace of its bond buying in the coming meetings. HeidelbergCement AG dropped 3.8 percent after saying third-quarter profit fell 7 percent. Bureau Veritas SA lost 3.6 percent as quarterly sales missed analysts’ estimates. Siemens AG rose 3.4 percent after reporting better-than-forecast profit and saying it plans to buy back shares. Swiss Re Ltd. climbed 1.9 percent after third-quarter net income exceeded predictions. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost less than 0.1 percent to 323.23 at the close of trading, paring earlier gains of as much as 1.5 percent.
- Euro Falls on Unexpected Interest-Rate Cut; Czech Koruna Tumbles. The euro fell the most in two years versus the dollar after the European Central Bank unexpectedly cut its main refinancing rate to a record-low 0.25 percent to boost growth in the 17-member currency region. The euro fell 0.6 percent to $1.3431 at 2:26 p.m. New York time after slipping as much as 1.6 percent, the biggest drop since December 2011. It touched $1.3296, the weakest level since Sept. 16. The 17-nation shared currency slid 1.5 percent to 131.32 yen. Japan’s currency added 0.9 percent to 97.75 per dollar. The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index climbed 0.3 percent to 1,016.04 after touching 1,022.30, highest since Sept. 13. It gained as much as 0.9 percent, the most since Aug. 1.
- Brent Falls to Four-Month Low as Euro Falls on ECB Cut. Brent crude for December settlement fell $1.54, or 1.5 percent, to $103.70 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:23 p.m. in New York. The contract touched $103.52, the lowest intraday price since July 2. The volume of all futures traded was 47 percent above the 100-day average.
- Lew Said to Warn Banks of Tough Volcker Rule in Meetings. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew warned chief executive officers of top U.S. banks in a private meeting last month that the final Volcker rule ban on proprietary trading would be tougher than Wall Street expects.
- FDA Says Trans Fats Aren't Safe in Food. Determination Could Lead to Ban in Baked Goods, Other Foods. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ruled for the first time that trans fats aren't generally considered safe in foods, a sharp shift in policy that could lead to a ban on a substance blamed for contributing to heart attacks and strokes. The move capped a growing movement against trans fats that has included bans in New York City, Seattle and elsewhere. Major food makers and restaurant chains such as McDonald's Corp. have pledged in recent years to avoid trans fats, which are found in some baked goods, refrigerated dough products, frosting and other foods.
- White House website at odds with latest Obama statement. Millions of health insurance plans have been cancelled after ObamaCare went into effect, and President Obama backed away Monday from his previous oft-repeated statement that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.”
- Italian stocks erase ECB-fueled gains. Italian stocks erased earlier gains and turned lower in afternoon action on Thursday, with banks posting some of the biggest losses. The FTSE MIB index XX:FTSEMIB -2.07% dropped 1.6% to 18,960.56, after trading as high as 19,462.80 earlier in the day. In Italy, shares of Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl IT:PMI -4.99% dropped 3.6%, Mediobanca SpA IT:MB -2.80% fell 3% and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA IT:BMPS -3.49% dropped -2.9%.
- Obamacare odyssey: Month-long effort to log on to HealthCare.gov. He spent a month on an online Obamacare Odyssey. Since Oct. 2, Miami resident Nick Athanassiadis has spent several hours a day—nearly every day—on the Internet repeatedly trying to create an account on the federal Obamacare marketplace to see if insurance plans being sold there might be less expensive than his current coverage. But despite having a long background in digital and software companies, Athanassiadis was repeatedly thwarted by a head-spinning series of glitches, system outages, blank screens, error messages, broken or nonexistent Web links and other hurdles on the HealthCare.gov site that kept his goal out of reach for weeks. And even when he finally—finally—reached that goal, he didn't like what he saw.
ValueWalk:
Business Insider:
DailyFX:
The Economist:
- Sleepless nights. After a decade-long boom, emerging markets have flopped and then bounced in the past six months. The gyrations are not over yet.
- U.S. budget talks hit snag, Republican senator says. The panel of U.S. lawmakers seeking to craft a bipartisan budget deal is in a deadlock early in its deliberations, according to a Senate member, reinforcing fears that a Dec. 13 deadline could produce no agreement.
- Italy to join deflation club? (graph)
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