Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• Islamic State Expands Global Reach With Deadly Attacks in Paris. Ankara. Sinai. Beirut and now Paris. The attacks in the French capital join a growing list of places that have suffered deadly attacks in the past five weeks, and whose combined toll may exceed 500 people. Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for all of them, although some authorities have yet to conclude their investigations. "The message that Islamic State seems to be sending through the attacks is that its reach is global and that none of its enemies will be spared," said Lina Khatib, senior research associate at the Arab Reform Initiative in Paris. "Subsequent attacks can, unfortunately, happen almost anywhere" it has supporters, she said. As the attacks spread, so does their frequency. The Paris carnage came just a day after Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for killing more than 40 people in its first suicide bombing in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut. The group’s Sinai affiliate also said it was behind the downing of the Russian Metrojet plane that killed 224 people on Oct. 31. While Egypt says the cause of the crash is unknown, the U.S. and U.K. have said the plane was most likely brought down by a bomb.
• Hollande Blames Islamic State for ‘Act of War’ in Paris Killings. French President Francois Hollande called the attacks that left at least 127 people dead in Paris an “act of war” by Islamic State as officials start to investigate how the city could have fallen victim to another terror assault so soon after the Charlie Hebdo killings. Hollande mobilized the military, declared a national state of emergency and ordered cultural and tourist sites closed after seven locations were attacked Friday night in rapid succession by assailants armed with Kalashnikov rifles and suicide belts. Eight attackers died in the assault and police are currently pursuing others believed to have been involved, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing operation. One assailant who died had a Syrian passport, the person said. An Egyptian passport was found by the body of another, BFM TV reported. A third attacker was a French national known to police, news agency AFP said.
• Five Hours of Terror That Shook Paris: A Timeline.
• Merkel's Open-Arms Refugee Stance Tested as Europe Goes on Alert. European capitals went into high security alert after Paris was rocked by terrorist attacks that threaten to open up a new dilemma for Angela Merkel and other leaders advocating an open-door policy for refugees from war zones in the Middle East. With the French capital in shock, President Francois Hollande blamed Islamic State for the killing of at least 127 people in the city on Friday night in what could be further evidence of a shift in tactics by the Islamist terror group from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq to civilian targets in Europe. If borne out, that pivot to Europe may give fuel to critics of the German chancellor who argue that allowing free entry to refugees risks making it easier for extremists to slip through the security net. French police said a Syrian passport was found on the body of one suicide bomber in Paris, The Associated Press reported.
• Dollar Climbs as Cautious Consumers No Obstacle to Fed Rate Rise. The dollar rose on speculation that weaker-than-forecast U.S. economic reports won’t stop the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates in December. The currency strengthened against most of its major peers even as American consumer purchases were less than forecast last month and wholesale prices unexpectedly declined. The greenback gained earlier versus the euro as data showed economic growth in the currency bloc unexpectedly slowed in the third quarter, boosting expectations for further monetary easing from the European Central Bank. “With the Fed so anxious to get off zero, this isn’t a data set that’s really going to change things,” Greg Anderson, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at Bank of Montreal, said by phone from New York. “I expect the dollar to continue to grind a little bit higher.”  
• Chesapeake(CHK) Lenders Flee Debt as Oil Rout Pummels Reserves Value. Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s bonds have plunged to half their face value as lenders fret that tumbling energy prices are hurting their chances of getting paid on borrowings that are three times the current worth of the company’s oil and gas fields. The producer’s $1.5 billion of 4.875 percent notes due in April 2022 dropped 9.625 cents this week to 50.375 cents on the dollar, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The Oklahoma City-based company estimates the discounted value of its proven oil-and-gas reserves will fall to about $4.2 billion by the end of the year down from $22 billion last December.
• U.S. Steel(X) Yield Surges as Metal Rout Imperils Turnaround. U.S. Steel Corp. bonds plunged, sending yields to record highs, as slumping metal prices hinder its efforts to return to profitability after three consecutive quarters of losses. The Pittsburgh-based company’s $600 million in notes due 2020 capped a fifth straight weekly decline, pushing up yields to 20 percent. That’s a record 12 percentage points above an index of high-yield debt sold by materials companies. U.S. Steel is the index’s worst performer in the past month after Essar Steel Algoma, which filed for bankruptcy protection this week. “Folks are beginning to question the viability of the business, just given how weak steel fundamentals are,” Matt Vittorioso, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York, said by phone Friday.
• 10 Questions for Clinton After the Paris Massacre.

Wall Street Journal:

• Canadian Pacific(CP) Pitches Tie-Up With Norfolk Southern(NSC). Proposal from Canadian Pacific CEO for merger or other partnership was received coolly.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (EMR), (BHBK), (NVDA), (BBY), (CTXS), (MSFT), (TXN), (DO), (CBG) and (GWR).
• Had bearish commentary on China, US junk bonds, tech stocks and (COLB).

MarketWatch.com:

• Wall Street is underestimating Tesla(TSLA) cash burn: Barclays.

Fox News:

• Live blog: Terror attack in Paris. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• "War In Paris" - ISIS Claims Responsibility For Deadly Attacks Killing 127: The Full Summary.
• Passport Found Next To Paris Suicide Bomber Belongs To Syrian "Political Refugee" Who Entered Greece.
• France's Le Pen Calls For Nation To "Re-Arm Itself", Revoke Muslims' Passports, "Eradicate" Radical Islam.
• A Storm Of Bad "Incoming Data" Strikes As The World Economy Rolls Over.
• Has The Post-Crash Rally Run Its Course? (graph)
• Goldman's Clients Are Suddenly Very Worried About Collapsing Market Breadth. (graph)
• The Cost Of China's "Manipulated Market Stability" May Be Too High, BofAML Warns.
• French President Declares State Of Emergency, Enforces Curfew, Closes Borders, Reinforces Army.
• Paris Under Siege: French Military Deployed After Shootout, Explosions Leave 60 Dead, 100 Hostages Taken - Live Feed.
• The Buffet Backlash: Anger Builds At "Hypocrite" Billionaire Hiding Behind "Folksy" Facade.
• The First Amendment Is Dying.
• JPMorgan's(JPM) "Gandalf" Quant Nailed It Again.
• ECB Had 3 Accused Rate Manipulators In Crisis Focus Group.
• Will 92% Of Economists Be Wrong Again?
• It's Official: Barack Obama Wants To "Help" You Manage Your Retirement Savings.
• Weekend Reading: Will They, Or Won't They?
• Stocks, Commodities & Credit Collapse As Retail Rapture Wrecks Rate-Hike Hype. (graph)

Business Insider:

• PARIS ATTACKS: 129 dead, Brussels neighbourhood raided by police, one attacker was French extremist, 'act of war' says Hollande.
• ISIS is claiming responsibility for the Paris attacks.
• China is not responding.
• The Paris attacks are a major escalation in terrorist tactics.
• 9 charts that show a big global slowdown is on its way.
• French media revealed disturbing firsthand accounts from the deadly attacks that terrorized Paris.
• Horrifying images from a night of terror in Paris. (pic)
• Paris witness: 'There was blood everywhere — there were bodies everywhere'.

Financial Times:

• Global oil inventory stands at record level.

Telegraph:

• Shipping industry braced for storm to blow long and hard. The global maritime industry is enduring hardships likely to affect it for ever.

Business Standard:

• Thousands march in South Korean anti-government protest. Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in Seoul today in what police believed was the largest protest in the South Korean capital in nearly a decade. About 80,000 people were expected to turn up for the downtown rallies that were to stretch into the evening, according to an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who didn't want to be named, citing office rules.