Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
  • Losses Accelerate for Europe Stocks on Earnings Disappointments. (video) European shares slid for a third day on growing worries about the health of the region’s companies as energy producers suffered from declines in oil prices. Losses worsened in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, which dropped the most in more than a week, as firms from Bayer AG to builder Vinci SA reported disappointing earnings. Antofagasta Plc led miners down after forecasting a slide in copper production next year, while energy producers including BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc slipped with oil. Real estate companies fell the most since Oct. 6, and other bond proxies suffered, as debt yields climbed. Most industry groups in the Stoxx 600 fell, with the gauge dropping as much as 0.9 percent before closing down 0.4 percent as oil pared its losses.
  • Oil Retreats Below $50 on OPEC Output Deal Concerns. (video)
  • Big Oil Braces for Profit Pain as Refining Safety Net Slips. The world’s biggest oil companies, supported during crude’s collapse by a buoyant refining business, have lost that buffer as brimming fuel stockpiles swamp demand. Profits from turning oil into gasoline and diesel contracted 42 percent last quarter from a year earlier to an average $11.60 a barrel, the weakest for the time of year since 2010, industry data from BP Plc show. The impact of that will be apparent as earnings for the period roll in over the coming weeks.
  • Wall Street CEO Could Become Unwanted Job If Watchdog Gets Way. If a U.S. government watchdog has her way, Wall Street banks could find it very difficult to persuade anyone to sit in the chief executive officer’s chair. Christy Goldsmith Romero, the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, wants Congress to require chiefs of the largest U.S. banks to sign an annual pledge promising that no criminal or civil fraud has occurred under their watch. If after learning about fraud at their banks CEOs still sign the pledge, they could more easily face consequences such as going to prison. That pledge would ostensibly eliminate protections that top executives typically enjoy because they may not know what happens at lower levels of the bank, and would make it easier for law enforcement to prove criminal intent when misconduct occurs, according to Romero’s proposal. It’s unlikely a divided Congress would approve such an aggressive approach.
Wall Street Journal:
Fox News:
  • 'Bill Clinton Inc.': Email details how top aides helped make ex-president rich. (video) One of Bill Clinton’s closest confidants outlined in a lengthy 2011 memo how he and another aide helped secure at least $50 million in speaking fees and other ventures for the former president – in addition to raising “the bulk” of funds for the controversial Clinton Foundation. The 12-page memo from Doug Band, released Wednesday by WikiLeaks, was designed to highlight the crucial role he – and his global strategy company Teneo – played in procuring money for the ex-president and Clinton’s namesake foundation.
Zero Hedge:

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