Bloomberg:
- Russia to reject conditions to end sanctions after Ukraine talks. Russia’s foreign minister said his country will refuse to accept conditions to end sanctions after talks in Italy failed to produce a breakthrough to bolster a truce in the eastern Ukrainian conflict. Russia has been told to comply with various criteria before the U.S. and its allies revoke the limitations, Sergei Lavrov said in the transcript of an NTV interview posted on the ministry’s website yesterday. Explosions in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk were heard throughout the day after shelling had killed four people and wounded nine others earlier, the local authorities said on its website.
- Russia Rating Cut by Moody’s on Sluggish Economic Growth. Russia’s credit rating was cut to the second-lowest investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited sluggish growth prospects worsened by the crisis in Ukraine and international sanctions. Moody’s downgraded the government one level to Baa2 from Baa1 and kept a negative outlook on the country’s rating. It is in line with Fitch Ratings Ltd.’s credit grade and one notch above that at Standard & Poor’s, whichlowered Russia to BBB- in April. The extra yield investors demand to own Russia’s dollar-denominated government bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries was 3.23 percentage points yesterday, the highest premium since June 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The spread has almost doubled from 169 basis points at the end of 2013 as the U.S. and its allies accused Russia of inciting the rebellion in eastern Ukraine, an allegation Putin denies.
- Ebola Front-Line Doctors at Breaking Point. At 3:30 a.m. in the world’s biggest Ebola treatment center, Daniel Lucey found the outbreak reduced to its essentials: patients lying on mattresses on the floor and vomiting in the dark, visible only by the wavering flashlight beam of a single volunteer doctor. “I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Lucey, a physician and professor from Georgetown University who is halfway through a five-week tour in Liberia with Medecins Sans Frontieres, the medical charity known in English as Doctors Without Borders. “The epidemic is still getting worse,” he said by phone between shifts.
- Saudi Arabia Warns Against Incursions as Houthis Seize Post. Saudi Arabia warned against any breach of its border after Shiite Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen seized a crossing point into the kingdom. “If anyone comes into the border area, we are ready to engage them,” General Mohammed al-Ghamdi, spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s border guards, said in a phone interview yesterday. “We are always on alert because of the situation on the border.” The swift gains by the Houthis have raised concerns among Gulf Cooperation Council nations that Shiite-led Iran is extending its influence through the well-armed fighters. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal cautioned last month about a “circle of violence” in Yemen.
- Europe Company Earnings Foreshadow Uncertainty Gripping Region. As investors prepare for some of the busiest earnings days this week, companies from Unilever NV to BASF SE (BAS) will seek to explain the downward trend that’s kept a lock on corporate Europe in the third quarter. Among companies reporting in the region are SAP AG (SAP), Philips Electronics NV (PHIA), Electrolux AB (ELUXB) and drugmaker GlaxoSmithkline Plc. (GSK) Analysts have already responded to a string of negative news, cutting earnings estimates for companies on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index. They project profit of 218.82 euros a share for 2014, down from 237.38 at the beginning of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Asia Stocks Follow U.S. Rally as Topix Jumps on Yen, GPIF. Asian stocks rose, with the benchmark index rebounding from an almost seven-month low, after U.S. equities rallied. Japan’s Topix (TPX) index surged amid optimism the nation’s $1.2 trillion pension fund will buy more shares. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker by market value, jumped 4.1 percent in Tokyo as the yen extended its loss. NEC Corp., a Japanese maker of computers, increased 5.6 percent on a report first-half operating profit rose. Transfield Services Ltd. soared 29 percent in Sydney after the provider of outsourcing services entered into talks with Ferrovial SA after turning down a preliminary offer. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) climbed 1.3 percent to 135.44 as of 9:15 a.m. in Tokyo, buoyed by a 2.8 percent jump for the Topix.
- Iron Ore Risks Extending Collapse on Supplies, Moody’s Says. The collapse in iron ore prices may have further to run as global supply increases and steel-demand growth slows, according to Moody’s Investors Service, which said it may reduce ratings on producers. About 300 million metric tons of new and expanded supply will come on stream over the next few years, analysts including Carol Cowan said in an e-mailed report received today. Global steel-production growth in 2014 remains muted with China, the key driver of consumption, continuing to slow, Moody’s said.
- Hedge Funds Cut Bullish Bets on Crude as Prices Tumble. Plunging oil prices spurred hedge funds to cut bullish wagers by the most in six weeks, losing confidence in the willingness of producers to constrict supply. Money managers cut net-long positions in West Texas Intermediate by 8.1 percent in the week ended Oct. 14. Short positions jumped to the highest level in 22 months, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.
- Leveraged Money Spurs Selloff as Record Treasuries Trade. When markets are buckling and volatility is signaling a crisis, you sell what you can, not what you want. That’s what happened last week on Wall Street, where slowing economic growth in Europe, Ebola anxiety and escalating conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine tore through the calm with a force not seen in three years. Loath to find out what their record holdings of corporate bonds and leveraged loans were worth as liquidity thinned and markets slid, professional traders turned to stocks and Treasuries to defuse risk.
- Federal Reserve Holds Steady Amid Market Volatility. Bond Buying Set to End at October Meeting Despite Global Economic Uncertainties. Federal Reserve officials are taking a steady-as-she-goes stance as
they prepare for their policy meeting this month, even though market
volatility and uncertainties about the global economic outlook have
rattled investors in recent weeks and led to some mixed messages from
central bank officials.
The Fed is highly likely to end its bond-buying program on schedule at the Oct. 28-29 meeting, according to recent interviews with officials and their public statements. Officials also are preparing to debate whether to...
- Kobani Hit by Fresh Round of Islamic State Assaults. Militants Bombard Kurdish Militia With Mortar Shells, Set Off Car Bombs. Fresh clashes shook the Syrian city of Kobani on Sunday as militant group Islamic State fired repeated mortar shells at Kurdish militia following a brace of car bomb attacks.
- Pension Funds Eye Reducing Hedge-Fund Investments. Pension-fund managers across the U.S. are rethinking their investments in hedge funds in the wake of a retreat by the California Public Employees' Retirement System.
- U.S. Ebola Response Is Slammed by Lawmakers. Obama Considers Appointing Czar After Bipartisan Criticism Mounts. President Barack Obama , after a day of withering criticism over the government’s handling of the Ebola virus, said Thursday he may name a point person to oversee the administration’s response and is open to a travel ban but isn’t planning one.
- ObamaCare’s Failing Cost Control. The law’s ‘accountable care’ experiment is a bust so far. A major claim of ObamaCare’s political salesmen is that it will reduce U.S. health already evidence is accumulating that it isn't working.
CNBC:
- Oxfam issues stark call for more resources to fight Ebola: Report. The deadly Ebola epidemic ravaging west Africa and menacing Western economies has the potential to become "the definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation," Oxfam warned on Saturday, according to a report in The Guardian.
Business Insider:
- China Bans The Term '50 Cents' To Stop Discussion Of An Orwellian Propaganda Program. The Chinese government doesn't just censor its internet. It also pays people to leave fake comments that make the country and its communist regime look good. As detailed in "Blocked on Weibo" by Jason Q. Ng, one of the many phrases that gets censored in China is "50 cents." This term references a huge set of people hired by the government to post internet comments spinning the news in China's favor — people who are supposedly paid 50 cents of Renminbi for every post.
Reuters:
Nikkei:- U.S. hospitals gird for Ebola panic as flu season looms. A young woman complaining of abdominal pain and nausea who had traveled to Africa arrived at a Long Island hospital fearful that she had contracted Ebola. She did not have the virus, but the pregnancy test was positive.
- Blow to Japan PM as minister resigns over money scandal. Japan's high-profile and telegenic industry minister on Monday resigned over claims she misused political funds, including to buy both votes and make-up, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's proclaimed gender reform drive.
- Heavy borrowing to buy equities adds investors’ anxieties to skittish market. Investors borrowed a record amount of money to buy US equities during the bull run, a risky strategy now casting a shadow over the S&P 500 amid market turbulence. An upsurge in market volatility as US stocks dropped 6.2 per cent from last month’s record peak has put the spotlight on those investors that borrowed money – known as margin trading – to help boost returns.
- Japan to Downgrade Economic Assessment for October. Japan government to cut economic assessment for October, the second straight month of downgrade, saying weak production has been prolonged after sales tax increase in April.
- Asian indices are +.50% to +1.50% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 117.0 -9.0 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 73.75 -2.75 basis points.
- FTSE-100 futures +.41%.
- S&P 500 futures +.50%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.62%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (HAL)/1.10
- (GPC)/1.24
- (NVR)/20.60
- (GCI)/.55
- (HAS)/1.45
- (VFC)/1.10
- (BTU)/-.66
- (CMG)/3.83
- (TXN)/.71
- (IBM)/4.32
- (RCII)/.47
- (STLD)/.44
- (BXS)/.32
- (BRO)/.47
- (AAPL)/1.30
- (ILMN)/.56
- None of note
- None of note
- The German PPI and the China Retail Sales/Industrial Production/GDP reports could also impact trading today.
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