Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Week of Earnings Beats Can’t Jolt U.S. Stocks From 30-Day Rut. U.S. corporations are reporting annual profit growth for the first time in six quarters, but investors don’t seem too excited about it. The 116 companies in the S&P 500 Index that have reported third-quarter results grew profits by an average 3.8 percent over the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts now expect year-over-year profit will be flat once the June-to-September reporting is finished, likely bringing an end to the longest earnings recession since the financial crisis. The benchmark for American equity barely budged in the week, finishing 0.4 percent higher at 2,141.16, as it careened within a rut it’s carved over the past month.
• Russia’s Rising Oil-Output Forecasts Give Leverage in OPEC Talks. As Russia gets ready for talks on cooperation with OPEC on Monday, it’s using the playbooks of Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to gain leverage. Just days before Energy Minister Alexander Novak heads to Vienna for discussions that could include output curbs, Russian officials emphasized the nation’s ability to keep increasing record output to even loftier heights. They were echoing several other OPEC member that claim the group is underestimating their own production -- a strategy that could secure them advantageous terms in any supply deal.
• Why Corporate America’s Debt Is a ‘Major Risk’. Things may be all right for now, but the future doesn’t look bright.
• Fed’s Williams Sees a Rate Hike This Year and a ‘Few’ in 2017. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said he’d support one interest-rate increase in 2016 and a few more next year, though he added that he’d be unperturbed if inflation rose above the Fed’s 2 percent goal. “The U.S. economy is well-positioned to raise interest rates,” Williams told reporters in San Francisco on Friday. Having “a rate increase this year makes sense, having a few rate increases next year makes sense, in the context of how the economy has been performing and continues to perform.”
• 50 Companies to Watch in 2017.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (HRI), (UHAL), (AGN), (AMAT), (NXPI), (CLS), (NOMD) and (MSCC).

MarketWatch.com:

• How the left plans to become a thorn in White House’s side if Clinton is elected.

Fox News:

• Clinton, Trump rooted in battlegrounds Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia with time expiring. (video) The campaigns for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Saturday hunkered down in the handful of states that will likely decide their presidential race -- with Trump again improvising in Pennsylvania ahead of Clinton’s swing through the state’s two big Democratic strongholds.

Zero Hedge:

• Wikileaks Releases Part 15 Of The Podesta Files, Bringing Total To 26,095 Emails.
• Over 60% Of Americans Fear "Corruption Of Government Officials" Above Anything Else.
• The United States Of Refugees.
• AT&T Agrees To Buy Time Warner For $80 Billion In Biggest Media Mega-Merger In Years.
• Universities Ban Politically-Incorrect Halloween Costumes.
• Obama Warned Of Rigged Elections Back In 2008: "It Helps We Got Democrats In Charge Of Machines".
• Trump Lays Out His Plan For First 100 Days In Office: Here Are The Highlights.
• Chinese Home Prices Surge Most On Record, Ignore "Cooling" Measures. (graph)
• New Reuters Poll Shows That 70% Of Republicans Think The Election Is Rigged.
• 'Philanthropist' George Soros Set To Make A Killing From Europe's 'Forced Migration'.
• "Make A Wish List" Russia Tells Duterte, As New Asian Axis Forms.
•  "The Outcome Is Undeniable" - Global Debt Investors Face Reality Of A World Devoid Of Options.
• Steve Wynn Slams Obamacare, Warns Government "Is Degrading The Living Standards Of Every Person In America".
• "Prepare For More Volatility As Yield 'Hunger Games' Comes To An End".
• Third Wave Of Internet Cyber Attacks Lauched, Dyn Warns.
• Weekend Reading: Time To Be A Contrarian?
• "It's Really Broken" - Divergences & Decouplings Dominate Week In Stocks, Bonds, FX. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Trump vows to weaken U.S. media 'power structure' if elected.
• We checked the prices and it turns out Costco(COST) is much cheaper than Amazon(AMZN) Prime.
• Restaurants are facing a problem they haven't seen since the recession.
• The least educated people in the world are in denial about how robots will take over their jobs.
• AT&T(T) 'near an agreement' to buy Time Warner for about $110 per share.
• 'It's easy to lose your mind here': A Syrian from Aleppo explains how he survives amid food shortages and airstrikes.