Bloomberg:
CNBC:
- Belgium Warns of Paris-Style Attack as Brussels Enters Lockdown. Brussels faces an imminent threat of a Paris-style Islamic State terrorist attack, authorities warned, as the city shut down its metro system and shopping malls, canceled sporting and cultural events and told people to avoid gathering in large groups. The government raised the Belgian capital’s terror alert to its highest level late Friday, signaling a very serious threat as armored vehicles rolled through the streets and police searched the home of one of the suspects arrested in connection with the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. “We have precise information that outlines the risk of an attack similar to the one that unfolded in Paris,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told a press conference Saturday morning in Brussels. “It is a threat based on the theory that it would take place with arms and explosives, maybe even in several places and at the same time.”
- Terror in Mali. The attack and hostage-taking in Mali on Friday offer a grim reminder that terrorism is often rooted in local grievance. That's why fighting it requires not just military action, but broader efforts to bolster the legitimacy and effectiveness of weak states under siege. Consider the string of events that brought terrorists to the now-bloodied doors of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali's capital. In 2011, the chaos of Libya's civil war propelled an influx of arms and fighters to bolster separatists in Mali's north.
- Global Oil Job Cuts Top 250,000. The number of jobs gutted from oil and gas companies around the world has now passed the 250,000 mark, with still more to come, according to industry consultant Graves & Co. "I was surprised it’s gotten this far," John Graves, whose Houston firm assists in oil and gas deals with audits and due diligence, said Friday in a phone interview. The industry has idled more than 1,000 rigs and slashed more than $100 billion in spending this year to cope with oil prices that have fallen by more than half since 2014. Oil services, drilling and supply companies are bearing the brunt of the downturn, having accounted for 79 percent of the layoffs, according to Graves.
- Hedge Funds Increase Bullish Bets on Dollar by Most Since 2014. A busy few days await dollar traders after hedge funds ramped up wagers on the currency’s strength by the most since August 2014. Large speculators increased bets that benefit from greenback appreciation by a net 92,293 contracts in the week through Nov. 17, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed Friday. A spate of economic updates scheduled before the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday on Nov. 26 may encourage further positions, as the Federal Reserve scrutinizes data for signs it should raise interest rates in December. The dollar gained 0.1 percent this week versus a basket of 10 major peers, after reaching a seven-month high versus the euro on Nov. 18.
- Iran Sees OPEC Keeping Oil Output Cap Unchanged at Next Meeting. OPEC probably will maintain its current crude output ceiling at 30 million barrels a day, including a planned production increase by Iran, when the producers’ ministers meet next month in Vienna, according to Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. Iran has asked the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to accommodate Iran’s return to its previous production level once international sanctions are lifted, Zanganeh told reporters in Tehran. Iran plans to add 1 million barrels a day within five to six months after the curbs are removed, and that increase should be within OPEC’s production ceiling, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy minister for commerce & international affairs, told reporters in Tehran on Saturday. “I don’t expect to receive any new agreement” at OPEC’s meeting on Dec. 4, Zanganeh said. “OPEC is producing more than its approved ceiling and I asked them to reduce production and to respect the ceiling, but it doesn’t mean we won’t produce more because it is our right to return to the market.”
- The War on Islamic State. To prevail, the West must settle on military tactics, cut off oil money, counter propaganda, strategists say. The Paris attacks and the downing of a Russian airliner have heightened determination in Moscow, Paris and Washington to defeat Islamic State, a challenge easier said than done. Many strategists say military advances will show little progress unless more work is done to eliminate the militant group’s financing, counter its propaganda and cut a diplomatic deal among world powers on Syrian rule. For military planners, destroying the terrorist group’s headquarters and crippling its fighting force is a relatively simple assignment, say strategists: It would require some 40,000 troops, air support and two months of fighting.
- Al Qaeda Allies Claim Responsibility for Mali Hostage Crisis. Groups tied to Mokhtar Belmokhtar say they wanted to force Mali’s government to release prisoners.
- U.S. to Press 65 Nations to Increase Pressure on Islamic State. Flurry of diplomatic action on Islamic State set to unfold. Vice President Joe Biden will meet with ambassadors from the 65 nations collaborating in the fight against Islamic State on Monday here in Washington, part of a flurry of diplomatic action next week, a top administration counterterrorism official said.
CNBC:
- Paris and Mali attacks expose lethal Al Qaeda-ISIS rivalry. Before the hostage crisis at a Malian hotel was over, before
the gunmen had even been identified, admirers of Al Qaeda and the rival
Islamic State started jostling on social media over which of the
jihadist organizations was more righteous and more prominent.
- "It Looks Like A Warzone" - Army, APCs, Roadblocks Deployed In Brussels After Explosives, Chemical Weapons Found. (pic)
- European Governments Hold "Secret" Meeting To Dismantle Borderless Travel.
- Global Trade Just Snapped: Container Freight Rates Plummet 70% In 3 Weeks. (graph)
- What A Negative Swap Spread Really Means (Spoiler Alert: Nothing Good). (graph)
- What Hedge Fund Panic Looks Like. (graph)
- The 50 stocks that big hedge funds love most.
- When Wall Street Gets DeFANGed - Look Out Below! (graph)
- The End Of Obamaworld.
- MITT ROMNEY: Obama is among 'the very worst foreign-policy presidents in American history'.
- One crazy chart shows just how much London house prices have sky-rocketed since the recession. (graph)
- "Pets-Dot-Who?" (graph)
- Most Americans Hit "Peak Income" More Than 15 Years Ago. (map)
- Japan To Unleash Inflation... By Fabricating Data. (graph)
- Puerto Rico Faces "Public Unrest" As Cash Crunch May Leave Government Workers Unpaid.
- Weekend Reading: Differing Diatribes.
- Stocks Soar Most In 13 Months After Worst European Terrorist Attack In Over A Decade. (graph)
- Authorities in Belgium just raised the terror alert to its highest level because of a 'serious and imminent threat'.
- The last time we saw this happening in junk bonds things ended badly for the market. (graph)
- The Volkswagen cheating scandal is widening.
- Obamacare's bait and switch will leave consumers scrambling in 2016.
- At least one American is among the more than two-dozen people killed in a Mali hotel attack.
- Anonymous says ISIS planning attacks in US, Paris, elsewhere Sunday. The hacker collective Anonymous says the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is planning to launch attacks in the U.S., Paris, Indonesia, Italy and Lebanon on Sunday. OpParisIntel, the name of Anonymous’ mission against ISIS, released a statement Saturday saying it had uncovered information regarding new terror plots “on Paris and the world” scheduled for Nov. 22. “All proof was submitted to official authorities all around the globe days ago,” the statement said, as first reported by the International Business Times. “They have it and it is their responsibility to do something with it. But because they have not done anything with it yet and it’s almost the 22nd, we have matters into our own hands.” “We only take the responsibility of warning civilians (incase the authorities do not act well enough),” the statement added. Anonymous warned against attending events with large crowds, especially church services, but added that “the risk of any churches outside Paris/France being targeted is low." The group listed several events in Paris that it said “have been confirmed are at risk” and several events around the world that are not yet “100% confirmed,” including a major WWE pro wrestling event in Atlanta, Ga. “The goal is to make sure the whole world, or at least the people going to these events, know that there have been threats and that there is possibility of an attack to happen,” the statement continued. Anonymous told IBT that it has sent the information to U.K. intelligence agency MI5, as well as the CIA and the FBI in the U.S., but has refused to release proof of the attacks publicly.
- France will respect financial commitments - economy minister. France will keep its financial commitments, Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday, after Paris announced that increased security spending in light of the deadly Nov. 13 attacks would likely break European Union budget rules. In a speech on Monday, President Francois Hollande pledged to create 5,000 jobs in the security forces and avoid defence spending cuts until 2019, saying "the security pact prevails over the stability pact," referring to eurozone budget limits.
- China’s rich no longer putting on the Ritz. Brands rethink strategy as spending on high-end goods shrinks.
- Our obsession with global warming will cost us dear. Amber Rudd has set out a plan to switch from coal to gas generation, but first she has to persuade the industry to finance the huge cost.
- Oil prices to stay lower for longer. Saudi Arabia's call on oil production looks right in the long run, writes Tom Stevenson.
