Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Europe’s Restive Regions Undeterred by Scotland’s ‘No’ Vote. Scotland’s decision to stick with the U.K. has thrilled European leaders without deterring independence movements across the European Union. While mainstream politicians expressed relief that Scottish voters rejected going it alone, leaders of the Flemish nationalists in Belgium, the Catalans in Spain and Italy’s Venetians said they still have momentum on their side.
• Putin Sanctions at Economic Tipping Point as Markets Fray. Russia’s ruble, bonds and stocks rallied on March 18, a day after the European Union announced sanctions against the nation as President Vladimir Putin prepared to annex Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Fast-forward six months and escalating EU and U.S. penalties and the ruble is at a record low, Russian banks pay the most on record to gain dollar funding and government bonds have suffered the biggest losses among emerging markets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Micex Index of stocks is down 6 percent from this year’s high on June 24. 
• Islamic State Advance Forces Thousands of Syrian Kurds to Flee. A rapid advance by Islamic State militants forced Turkey to open its border with Syria today to about 4,000 Kurdish refugees who had been denied entry for the past two days. Hundreds of refugees streamed across a border checkpoint near the Turkish town of Suruc amid gunfire and a mortar round striking a village on the Syrian side, live CNNTurk television footage showed. Islamic State are within two kilometers of the Turkish border, CNNTurk said.
• Ebola Worst-Case Scenario Has More Than 500,000 Cases. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa could spread to hundreds of thousands more people by the end of January, according to an estimate under development by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that puts one worst-case scenario at 550,000 or more infections. The report, scheduled to be released next week, was described by two people familiar with its contents, who asked to remain anonymous because it isn’t yet public.
• Dollar Heads for Longest Rally Since 1967 on Divergence. The dollar is poised for its longest stretch of gains since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House after the Federal Reserve signaled an end to unprecedented monetary stimulus measures next year. The U.S. Dollar Index gained for a 10th straight week, the longest since at least March 1967, when Johnson was in the fourth year of his presidency. The yen fell to a six-year low as the Bank of Japan pledged to maintain stimulus to stave off deflation, and the euro reached the weakest in 14 months as the European Central Bank offered a loan program. 
• Copper Drops as Dollar's Surge Erodes Commodity Demand. Copper futures fell for the third straight day as the dollar’s rally cut demand for raw materials as alternative assets. A measure of the greenback against six major currencies headed for the 10th straight weekly increase, the longest rally since at least March 1967. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials touched the lowest in more than five years, and a gauge of the six main metals traded in London dropped to a 12-week low.
• Fisher Says Alibaba IPO Selling Into ‘Rich’ Stock Market. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said Alibaba Group Holding Inc.’s record-large initial public offering today was tapping a stock market the U.S. central bank has helped reach an all-time high. “He is of course selling into a market that is very rich. We’ve helped make it so at the Federal Reserve,” Fisher told Fox Business Network, referring to Alibaba founder Jack Ma. 
• Lacker Says He Opposes Fed Plan to Hold Mortgage-Backed Assets. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said he couldn’t fully support the central bank’s revised exit strategy released this week because he opposes a measure to hold mortgage-backed securities. “I believe this approach unnecessarily prolongs our interference in the allocation of credit,” he said in a statement released on the Richmond Fed’s website today. Lacker will be a voting member next year on the Federal Open Market Committee.

ZeroHedge: 

• Did The Bottom Just Fall Out Of Commodities? (graph)
• Alibaba Breaks For Trading At $92.70, Rises Over $99.50, Hits Same Market Cap As Walmart, Drops. (graph)
• 3 Things Worth Thinking About. (graph)
• Caterpillar(CAT) Posts Record 21 Consecutive Months Of Declining Global Retail Sales, Worse Than Financial Crisis.
• One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other. (graph)
• Spanish Bond Risk Rises As Catalan Referendum "Dialog" Heats Up.

Business Insider:

• Warren Buffett's 'Single Best Indicator' Of Stock Market Value Hasn't Been This High Since The Dotcom Bubble.
• It's Not 2008 For Chinese Companies — It's Worse.
• Mercedes-Benz Just Unleashed It's First Plug-In Hybrid, And It's an S-Class.
• Estonian President: Europe's Security Architecture 'Has Collapsed'.
• Here's What Apple's Flagship NYC Store Looked Like This Morning. (video)

Reuters:

• Shanghai rebar slides to record low, more pressure on iron ore.

Financial Times:

• Iron ore sinks to fresh 5-year low.