Today's Market Take:
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Lower
- Sector Performance: Mixed
- Volume: Slightly Below Average
- Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
Equity Investor Angst:
- ISE Sentiment Index 143.0 -16.9%
- Total Put/Call .87 +3.57%
Credit Investor Angst:
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 92.93 -.75%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 151.75 +.32%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 111.0 bps -2.63%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 210.44 bps -1.77%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 11.0 -.25 bp
- 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -22.0 +1.0 bp
Economic Gauges:
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .07% unch.
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $125.0/Metric Tonne +.08%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index 48.5 +.5 point
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.50 +1 bp
Overseas Futures:
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating +89 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating -9 open in Germany
Portfolio:
- Slightly Higher: On gains in index hedges
- Disclosed Trades: Added to my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
- Market Exposure: Moved to 25% Net Long
Bloomberg:
- Boehner Says ‘We’ve Got Some Serious Differences’ on Budget Plan. Republicans
in Congress hardened their resistance to President Barack Obama’s
proposed higher taxes for top earners and called on him to propose
spending cuts. Obama’s budget plan is “mainly tax hikes,” House Speaker
John Boehner told reporters today in Washington. “We’ve got some serious
differences,” he said. During a phone call yesterday, Boehner said, he
and the president were “frank” about “how far apart we are.”
- Fed Expands Asset Buying, Links Rates to Joblessness.
The Federal Reserve said it will buy $45 billion a month of Treasury
securities starting in January, expanding its asset-purchase program,
and for the first time linked the outlook for its main interest rate to
unemployment and inflation. “The committee remains concerned
that, without sufficient policy
accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate
sustained improvement in labor-market conditions,” the Federal Open
Market Committee said today at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in
Washington. The Fed said interest rates will stay low “at least as long”
as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5 percent and if inflation
“between one and two years ahead” is projected to be no more than 2.5
percent. The committee “views these thresholds as consistent with its
earlier date-based guidance.” The Fed dropped its earlier pledge to hold
interest rates near zero “at least through mid-2015.”
- Greece Plans to Retire $41.5 Billion of Debt in Buyback. Greece plans to repurchase
government bonds with a face value of 31.9 billion euros ($41.5
billion) from private investors including its own banks to free
up aid for the cash-strapped country. Greece will pay an average weighted price of 33.8 percent
of face value for government bonds maturing from 2023 to 2042
after agreeing to pay the maximum price from the range it had
indicated for each bond, the Athens-based Public Debt Management
Agency said in a statement on its website today. The buyback
offer began Dec. 3 and ran until noon London time yesterday. The buyback was part of a package
of measures approved by euro-area finance ministers to cut the
nation’s debt to 124 percent of gross domestic product in 2020
from a projected 190 percent in 2014.
- EU Lawmakers Seek Greek Swap Details After ECB Bars Files. Lawmakers
in Italy and Germany are urging their governments to demand greater
transparency from the European Central Bank after a court upheld its
decision to keep documents secret that show what the central bank knew
about Greece’s finances before its bailout. “Technocracies and kleptocracies cannot prevail over
politics and democracy,” Senator Elio Lannutti, a member of the
Italian Values party, said in a phone interview today. “The ECB
is impermeable to transparency.”
- Spanish Repossessed Property Prices Tumble 65% in Credit Crunch.Prices of repossessed Spanish homes
offloaded by lenders this year tumbled 65 percent as a million
new properties remain unsold and buyers find it more difficult
to get mortgages, according to Fitch Ratings. The price decline is relative to the value of the property
when the loans were made and is more than double the drop in
real estate values recorded in government data. That compares
with a 45 percent slump in Portuguese repossessed house values.
- London’s Dominance in Shipping Seen Threatened by EU Regulation. The Baltic Exchange, the London-
based bourse whose data are used to set freight rates for about
75 percent of seaborne trade, said European moves to tighten
controls over financial benchmarks may drive business abroad.
- Unilever CEO Polman Says Europe Faces 10-Year Economic Slump.
Unilever Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman said Europe is facing 10
years of economic stagnation while the U.S. grapples with the rise of an
“emerging poor” class dependent on
government benefits.“We are in for at least 10
years of slow economic growth in Europe, and I don’t see that changing,”
Polman said yesterday in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New
York. “If you run a business like mine and don’t assume that, you are
fooling yourself. I hope for the benefit of Europe I am proven wrong,
but even then we are in a better position by taking that as our starting
point. The key thing is to see reality in the eye.” Polman said declining consumer confidence in the U.S. has “people
worried” and the recovery in the world’s largest economy will be muted,
with GDP growth of 2 percent “if you’re lucky.” With 46 million people
relying on government benefits to buy food, he said, “people scrape by
until the end of the month.”
- Swiss Feel Jobless Chill as Axe Falls on Alpine Idyll.For decades, the town of Visp at the foot of the Swiss Alps enjoyed
the steady stream of affluent skiers heading to Zermatt and the tax
income from chemicals maker Lonza Group AG. (LONN) Lately, the inflow of money has ebbed. Lonza
is making the deepest cuts in its 115-year history, as the
drug-additive maker seeks to eliminate 400 jobs out of 2,890 at its
complex in Visp. The plant employs about one in 10 of the valley’s
workers, and every third person depends on the site indirectly, facility
manager Stefan Troger said.
- Japan’s Abe Set to Inherit Deepest Manufacturing Gloom Since ‘10. When
Shinzo Abe was prime minister
in 2007, optimism among Japanese manufacturers such as Sony Corp. (6758)
was near a 16-year high. Now, as polls suggest Abe’s party will retake
power in elections on Dec. 16, the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey will
probably show tomorrow that large manufacturers are the most pessimistic
since the aftermath of the global recession. Sony hasn’t made a net
profit in four years.
- California Psychiatrists Paid $400,000 Shows Bidding War. The prisons raised pay to lure psychiatrists, the mental health
department followed suit to keep employees, and costs soared. Last year,
16 California psychiatrists, including Safi, made more than $400,000,
while only one did in the other 11 most populous states, according
to
data compiled by Bloomberg. The jockeying between agencies for the same
doctors demonstrates a payroll system run amok and chronic
mismanagement, said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at the
Yale University School of Management and
founder of a training institute for chief executive officers.
CNBC:
- 'Cliff' Talks at Standstill: 'It's Getting Worse, Not Better'. Talks to avoid the "fiscal cliff" showed little progress on
Wednesday, with Republicans publicly rebuking the Obama administration
and one House member saying "it's getting worse, not better." At a
morning briefing, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lashed out at
President Barack Obama, saying "let's stop playing games" and present a
proposal to cut entitlement spending. But House Democratic leader Nancy
Pelosi warned Republicans against raising the Medicare eligibility age
to 67. "Don't go there," she said.
- Italy’s Clown Prince: Monti ‘Needs to Disappear’. The anarchic comedian and blogger who leads one of Italy's most
rapidly-growing political parties has told CNBC that Prime Minister
Mario Monti is a mere "bankruptcy curator" who "needs to disappear."
Reuters:
- North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket. North Korea successfully
launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its
new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and
impoverished state poses to opponents.
- US CEOs' view of economy slips a tad amid cliff debate.
U.S. chief executives' view of the domestic economy drifted down to a
three-year low in the fourth quarter, with concerns about the fiscal
cliff undermining their confidence, a Business Roundtable survey found. The group's CEO Economic Outlook Index , released on
Wednesday, fell to 65.6 in the fourth quarter following a sharp
drop to 66 in the third quarter. Any reading above 50 indicates
forecast growth.
- U.S. governors plead for urgent online sales tax authority. U.S. governors are urgently
pressing Congress to pass Internet sales tax legislation in the
coming weeks, saying states cannot afford to wait to collect
billions of dollars from online retailers. Washington state Governor Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, and
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, a Republican, wrote to Senate
leaders on Tuesday urging them to pass legislation granting
states the authority to collect sales taxes from online
businesses. The letter was released on Wednesday.
Telegraph:
BBC:
- Conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson said UK voters need to be asked in a referendum whether they want to stay part of the European Union or not.
Times:
- German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the UK is leaving itself with "no voice in Europe," citing comments the minister made at a private dinner.
Style Outperformer:
Sector Outperformers:
- 1) Homebuilders +2.46% 2) Education +1.83% 3) Alt Energy +1.64%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
- DLB, NDAQ, FMC, AET and INFA
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
- 1) NWS 2) NRG 3) JDSU 4) ZQK 5) DLTR
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
- 1) DDD 2) FTI 3) CAT 4) PGR 5) IO
Charts:
Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- North Korea Launches Rocket in Defiance of Sanctions. North
Korea today launched a rocket that deployed a device into orbit,
defying international sanctions and indicating the totalitarian regime
is making
progress in its ballistic missile technology. The North America Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that it
detected the launch at 9:49 a.m. Korea time, after which the first stage
fell into the Yellow Sea and second stage dropped into the Philippine
Sea. The U.S. agency said the missile deployed an object that appeared
to achieve orbit, after North Korea’s official news agency said its
Unha-3 rocket had successfully put a satellite into space.
- Hong Kong at Risk of Property Price Correction, IMF Says. (video)
Hong Kong is at risk of an abrupt decline in property prices after gains
fueled by low interest rates and a limited supply of new housing, the
International Monetary Fund said. “The property sector is the main source of domestic economic risk,” the
IMF said in a report on the city released today. The odds of a slump
that has major economic and financial consequences is “fairly low in the
near term,” the fund said. The city should mantain its currency peg, it
said.
- Peugeot to Cut Added 1,500 Jobs as European Sales Plunge. PSA
Peugeot Citroen (UG), Europe’s second-largest carmaker, will eliminate
an additional 1,500 jobs by 2014, deepening its workforce reduction as
auto sales in the region plunge to a 17-year low. The cuts, which
come on top of 8,000 announced in July, will be made by not replacing
people who leave, Jonathan Goodman, a spokesman for the Paris-based
company, said in a telephone interview. Peugeot is also closing a
factory on the outskirts of Paris, selling assets and negotiating a
strategic alliance with General Motors Co. (GM) to reduce spending. Europe’s auto market is
on track to drop this year to the lowest sales volume since
1995, according to the ACEA trade group.
- Egypt Turmoil Puts IMF Cash at Risk as Mursi Halts Tax Rises. Mohamed Mursi’s focus on defusing a
resurgent protest movement in Egypt is starting to derail his
plans for help rescue the economy with a $4.8 billion
International Monetary Fund loan. Mursi’s decision to hold a Dec. 15 referendum on a new
constitution has polarized the country and sparked rival
demonstrations, most recently last night, that have sometimes
turned violent. Egypt’s government said yesterday it asked the
IMF to delay next week’s meeting to approve the loan, probably
until January. As protests escalated, Mursi suspended a raft of
tax increases aimed at meeting IMF concerns about the region’s
biggest budget deficit.
- U.S. Probe of SAC Trading Said to Be Linked to 2010 Case. A U.S. investigation of possible
insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors LP, the $14 billion
hedge fund run by Steven A. Cohen, is linked to a 2010
regulatory lawsuit over allegedly illegal trades in InterMune Inc. (ITMN), a person familiar with the matter said.
Wall Street Journal:
- Corporate Taxes on Table in Cliff Talks. The White House has told Republicans it would include an overhaul of
the corporate-tax code as part of any deal to reduce the deficit, people
familiar with the talks said, a move to court business groups as budget
negotiations intensify. Corporate taxes hadn't until now been part of budget talks aimed at
averting spending cuts and tax increases set for January. Much of the
focus has instead been on the expiring individual income-tax rates.
- Inside the Risky Bets of Central Banks. Every two months, more than a dozen bankers meet here on Sunday
evenings to talk and dine on the 18th floor of a cylindrical building
looking out on the Rhine. The dinner discussions on money and economics are more than academic.
At the table are the chiefs of the world's biggest central banks,
representing countries that annually produce more than $51 trillion of
gross domestic product, three-quarters of the world's economic output.
- Fed Puts Deal Freeze on Big Banks. The Federal Reserve is pushing large U.S. banks to forget about all
but the smallest acquisitions for a while amid a raging debate over the
risk big lenders pose to the financial system. The Fed this year
told Capital One Financial Corp. not to pursue more major deals in the
near term after its $9 billion purchase of ING Groep NV's U.S.
online-banking business, said people familiar with the conversations.
The deal made Capital One, McLean, Va., the nation's fifth-largest bank
by deposits, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
CNBC:
- Hedge Funds Stride the Stage of World Affairs. With the right idea at the right time, and with the requisite financial
firepower, hedge fund investors can exert significant political and
economic influence. That may even prompt political scientists and
economists to consider analyzing hedge funds the way they do trade
unions and political parties.
- Obama Says U.S. Will Recognize Syrian Rebels. President Obama said Tuesday that the United States would formally
recognize a coalition of Syrian opposition groups as that country’s
legitimate representative, intensifying the pressure on President Bashar
al-Assad to give up his bloody struggle to stay in power.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Forbes:
CNN:
- U.S. oil prices could sink to $50. U.S. oil prices could sink to $50 a barrel at some point over the
next two years, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
- The real debt problem: What will eat the tax dollars. Often missing from the hyper-politicized debate over spending cuts
and tax increases is a central point: Why the federal budget is on an
unsustainable course. Today, the United States spends about 71 cents
of every federal tax dollar it collects on the Big 4: Medicare,
Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the debt.
Politico:
- Cliff chaos: Hundreds of billions apart. The bellowing on Capitol Hill about which side has offered more
“specifics” to resolve the fiscal cliff showdown masks a larger problem
for Washington: The two sides are still hundreds of billions of
dollars
apart on revenue and entitlement cuts. Not to mention, Republicans and
Democrats are also light-years apart on policy details that back up
those budget targets. That’s why there’s increasing skepticism in Washington that a deal
actually can be reached before Jan. 1, and the country will go over the
fiscal cliff.
Reuters:
- DuPont(DD) boosts forecast; to buy back $1 billion in shares. DuPont boosted its 2012 forecast
and announced a $1 billion stock buy back on Tuesday. The
chemical company now expects profit this year to be at
the high end of its forecast to earn $3.25 to $3.30 per share. Analysts
expect earnings of $3.29 per share, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
Shares of DuPont rose 2.2 percent to $44.65 in after-hours
trading.
- Compromise emerges in global talks on Internet oversight. Hopes
rose on Tuesday for a
compromise agreement that would keep intrusive government
regulation of the Internet from being enshrined in a global
treaty. As a 12-day conference of the
International Telecommunication Union drew near its Friday closing, the
chairman of the gathering in Dubai circulated a draft that sidelined
proposals from Russia, China and other countries that have been seeking
the right to know where each piece of Internet traffic comes from. "The United States believes it is the basis for any further
progress toward reaching an agreement at this conference," said
U.S. Ambassador Terry Kramer, who had led Western opposition to
the earlier proposals.
Evening Recommendations
Janney:
- Rated (DECK) Buy, target $50.
- Rated (TRIP) Buy, target $49.
Night Trading
- Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 111.0 -3.0 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 85.75 -.5 basis point.
- NASDAQ 100 futures -.05%.
Morning Preview Links
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Import Price Index for November is estimated to fall -.5% versus a +.5% gain in October.
10:30 am EST
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -2,500,000 barrels versus a -2,357,000 barrel decline the prior week.
Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +2,000,000 barrels versus a
+7,860,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are
estimated to rise by +1,100,000 barrels versus a +3,027,000 barrel gain
the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated unch. versus a +2.0% gain the prior week.
12:30 pm EST
- The FOMC is expected to leave the benchmark fed funds rate at .25%.
2:00 pm EST
- The Monthly Budget Deficit for November is estimated to widen to -$170.0B versus -$137.3B in October.
Upcoming Splits
Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed's Bernanke speaking, Spanish 10Y bond auction, Eurozone inflation data, UK jobless rate, Eurozone Financial Minsters meeting, OPEC meeting, weekly MBA mortgage applications report, 10Y T-Note auction, Oppenheimer Healthcare Conference, (AKAM) analyst meeting, (TSO) analyst presentation, (ENR) investor conference, (AET) investor conference, (HI) investor day, (ABC) investor day, (EMN) investor day and the (BF/A) investor day could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by consumer
and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open
modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Higher
- Sector Performance: Most Sectors Rising
- Market Leading Stocks: Outperforming
Equity Investor Angst:
- ISE Sentiment Index 172.0 +51.0%
- Total Put/Call .81 -8.99%
Credit Investor Angst:
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 94.29 -1.29%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 151.32 -3.93%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 114.0 bps +.81%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 214.41 bps -1.11%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 11.25 -.5 bp
- 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -23.0 +1.5 bps
Economic Gauges:
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .07% -1 bp
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $124.90/Metric Tonne +1.22%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index 48.0 -1.7 points
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.49 unch.
Overseas Futures:
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating +39 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating -10 open in Germany
Portfolio:
- Higher: On gains in my tech, medical and biotech sector longs
- Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
- Market Exposure: Moved to 50% Net Long
Bloomberg:
- Boehner Says He’s Waiting for Obama’s Specific Spending Cuts. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner
reiterated his call for President Barack Obama to offer proposed
spending cuts as part of a deficit-reduction package. “Where are the president’s spending cuts?” Boehner, an
Ohio Republican, said on the House floor today in Washington. He
said he is still “hopeful” the parties can reach a budget
agreement before the end of the year. “The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the
closer” the economy gets to the so-called fiscal cliff of tax
increases and spending cuts set to begin in January, the speaker
said in his first public comments since meeting with Obama Dec.
9. “Right now the American people have to be scratching their
heads and wondering: When is the president going to be
serious?” Boehner said.
- Pimco Sees Global Growth Slowing After U.S. Tightening. Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s
largest mutual fund, said global growth will be hampered next year by a
slowdown in the U.S. economy. Global growth will slow to 1.3
percent to 1.8 percent from about 2 percent this year as the private
sector isn’t healthy enough to step in and extend credit amid
deleveraging, Saumil Parikh, a portfolio manager who leads Newport
Beach, California- based Pimco’s cyclical forum, said in a December
report being posted on the firm’s website today. Economists expect
growth of 2.5 percent in 2013, the average forecast in a Bloomberg
survey. “Central banks, while they are effective in boosting
asset prices, we think gradually they’re losing effectiveness in helping
the real economy,” Parikh said in a telephone interview before the
report was released. “The low growth rate of corporate profits and the
low rate of investment means a near stall speed of the global economy.” U.S.
economic growth will drop to 1.25 to 1.75 percent in 2013 from 2.2
percent in the four quarters ended Sept. 30 because of “a policy mix of
untimely fiscal tightening and increasingly ineffective monetary
easing,” Parikh said in the report.
- Portugal Considers Measures If Revenue Misses Budget Plan. The
Portuguese government is ready to implement additional measures in 2013
if there are slippages in meeting budget targets, the European
Commission said. Fiscal consolidation efforts are “in line” with the
budget-deficit targets of 5 percent and 4.5 percent of gross domestic
product for 2012 and 2013, respectively, the commission said in a report
obtained by Bloomberg News about the sixth review of the aid program it
conducted together with the International Monetary Fund and the
European Central Bank. The
program is “broadly on track,” it said.
- Oil Trades Near One-Month Low as Fuel Stockpiles Seen Rising. Oil
traded near the lowest close in
almost a month in New York on speculation that an Energy Department
report will show fuel stockpiles climbed in the U.S., the world’s
biggest crude consumer. Futures were little changed after dropping
for a fifth day yesterday, the longest losing streak since October.
Distillate supplies, including diesel and heating oil, are projected to
rise a second week while gasoline inventories may reach the highest
level since April, according to a Bloomberg News survey before the
government report tomorrow. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries is gathering in Vienna to determine the group’s targets for
crude production. “Crude is starting to feel the weight of softer
demand given lower refining activity expected in the first quarter,”
said Filip Petersson, a commodities strategist at SEB AB in Stockholm.
- U.S.
Energy Puts at 18-Month Low. The cost of hedging against losses in U.S.
energy companies has fallen to an 18-month low. Puts protecting against
a 10% decline in the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund cost 5.57 points
more than calls betting on a 10% rally, the smallest gap since May 2011,
according to Bloomberg.
- $822,000 Worker Shows California Leads U.S. Pay Giveaway.
Nine years ago, California Democrat Gray Davis became the first U.S.
governor in 82 years to be recalled by voters. The state’s 20 million
taxpayers still bear the cost of his four years and 10 months on the
job. Davis escalated salaries and benefits for 164,000 state workers,
including a 34 percent raise for prison guards, the first of a series
of steps in which he and successors saddled California
with a legacy of dysfunction. Today, the state’s highest-paid employees
make far more than comparable workers elsewhere in almost all job and
wage categories, from public safety to health care, base pay to
overtime.
Wall Street Journal:
- Boehner Calls for Details From Obama. Speaker
John Boehner (R., Ohio) took to the House floor Tuesday to complain
about the status of tax and spending talks with President Barack Obama,
accusing the White House of "slow walking" the negotiations and calling
again for the administration to say more about how it would cut
spending.
CNBC:
- Stocks Pare Gains After Reid's 'Cliff' Remarks. Stocks eased off their best levels Tuesday after
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threw cold water on the ongoing
"fiscal cliff" negotiations. Reid said it will be hard to reach a
budget deal by Christmas, adding that Democrats aren't going to make an
offer on spending cuts for Republicans. Earlier, Wall Street shrugged
off Speaker John Boehner's negative comments on the ongoing "fiscal
cliff" negotiations.
- Why More States May Adopt Right-to-Work Laws. Michigan moved on Tuesday to become the 24th state to adopt a "right
to work" law—the controversial provision that prohibits unions from
forcing workers to join and pay dues. But while the issue is
politically charged—protesters marched in the capital of Lansing during
the voting—Michigan's move is partly a matter of economic survival,
some analysts say.
- Norquist: Still No Better Argument for Tax Hikes. A powerful anti-tax crusader said President Barack Obama doesn't have
a better argument for tax increases today than he did two years ago,
when he agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans.
"Raising taxes is always bad for the economy," Americans For Tax Reform
President Grover Norquist told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "Tax
increases are what's done instead of reforming government."
- Wholesale Inventories Hit Record as Sales Tumble. U.S. wholesale inventories rose more than expected in October as
sales fell for the first time in three months, according to a government
report on Tuesday that hinted at some piling up of goods in warehouses. The
Commerce Department said wholesale inventories increased 0.6 percent to
a record $497.1 billion after an unrevised 1.1 percent rise in
September.Economists polled by Reuters had expected stocks of unsold goods at U.S. wholesalers to rise 0.4 percent.
Zero Hedge:
- Berlusconi to Run Against Merkel. An outline of his strategy can be gleaned from the latest FT/Harris Poll: 83% of
Italians (surveyed) think that Germany has too much influence in the EU, up from
53% a year ago. Nearly three-quarters of Italians do not think Germany is doing
enough (55% of Germans think they are doing too much). Three-quarters also do
not have confidence that their government can handle the debt crisis. Two-thirds
of Italians think there has been too much austerity.
Reuters:
- Egypt army seeks national unity as crisis mounts. Egypt's army chief called for
talks on national unity to end the country's mounting political
crisis after a vital loan from the IMF was delayed and thousands
of pro- and anti-government demonstrators took to the streets. The meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was called in
response to an increasingly destabilising series of protests
that has unfolded since President Mohamed Mursi awarded himself
sweeping powers on Nov. 22 to push through a new constitution
shaped by his Islamist allies in a referendum on Saturday.
Telegraph:
La Stampa:
-
Political elections in February don't change much, European Union
President Herman Van Rompuy said in an interview. Hopes future govt will
continue on Monti's path; there's no alternative to having "solid
public finances and a competitive economy. They are the only remedy to
beat the recession and create jobs," Van Rompuy said.
