Today's Market Take:
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Slightly Higher
- Sector Performance: Mixed
- Volume: Below Average
- Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
Equity Investor Angst:
- VIX 18.35 -.97%
- ISE Sentiment Index 101.0 +44.3%
- Total Put/Call 1.15 +2.68%
- NYSE Arms .77 -52.82%
Credit Investor Angst:
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 106.90 bps +2.32%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 179.03 bps +2.16%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 113.39 bps +.71%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 239.98 bps +2.28%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 11.75 +.25 basis point
- TED Spread 21.75 -.5 basis point
- 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -26.75 -1.0 basis point
Economic Gauges:
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .09% unch.
- Yield Curve 135.0 -1 basis point
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $122.10/Metric Tonne +.58%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index 60.70 +1.1 points
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.43 -3 basis points
Overseas Futures:
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating -23 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating -17 open in Germany
Portfolio:
- Slightly Higher: On gains in my tech, biotech and medical sector longs
- Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
- Market Exposure: Moved to 50% Net Long
Bloomberg:
- French Recession Looms as Industrial Production Slumps. French
industrial production slumped
and confidence among factory executives held near the lowest in almost
three years, prompting the Bank of France to indicate that Europe’s
second-largest economy may be tipping into recession. Production fell
2.7 percent in September from August, Paris-based statistics office
Insee said today. That’s the biggest drop since January 2009 and more
than the 1 percent decline forecast by economists in a Bloomberg News
survey. With sentiment among manufacturing executives unchanged at
92 in October, the Bank of France said the economy may shrink in the
fourth quarter. Previous surveys suggest it also contracted in the
third. “The latest French industrial data makes for particularly grim
reading,” said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign
Strategy in London. “The problem in France is the
perennial lack of growth.”
- EU Said to Tide Greece Past Bill Redemption as Aid Talks Drag On. European governments will find a way
of tiding Greece past next week’s bill redemption as the pieces
of an updated aid package take longer than planned to fall into
place, a European official said. While finance ministers on Nov. 12 are unlikely to sign off
on 31.5 billion euros ($40 billion) of fresh loans, the result
won’t be an “accidental default” for Greece when 5 billion
euros of bills mature on Nov. 16, the official told reporters in
Brussels today on condition of anonymity.
- Soros Says Euro Crisis Threatening Europe’s Cohesion, EU Ideals.
Billionaire investor George Soros said the euro zone’s debt crisis is
harming the forces that have held the currency bloc together as well as
the vision that led to the creation of the European Union. “The euro crisis is threatening Europe’s cohesion and the ideals behind the European Union,” Soros said at the
Martti Ahtisaari Day seminar in Helsinki today. “The attractive idea of
equal states being devoted to common goals is threatened, as there is a
division between countries. Investors and creditors are in charge,” he
said.
- Most European Stocks Drop Amid Concern on U.S. Economy. Most European stocks fell, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posting its biggest weekly
drop in a month, amid concern that automatic spending cuts and tax
increases may push the world’s largest economy into a recession. Credit Agricole sank 5.9 percent after posting a wider third-quarter loss than analysts had estimated.
- Muni Yields Plunge to 1967 Low as Obama’s Tax Plans Stoke Demand. U.S.
municipal-bond yields dropped to
the lowest in more than four decades as President Barack Obama’s
re-election fueled speculation that income-tax rates will increase,
boosting the appeal of tax-free debt. The interest rate on 20-year general-obligation bonds fell 0.12 percentage point to 3.55 percent in the week ended Nov. 8,
according to a Bond Buyer index. That beats this year’s previous
low of 3.6 percent and is the lowest since April 1967, when
Lyndon B. Johnson was president.
- Consumer Sentiment in U.S. Increases More Than Forecast. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 84.9, the fourth straight
increase and the highest since July 2007, from 82.6 in October.
Economists projected an initial reading of 82.9 for November,
according to the median estimate of 71 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg.
- Fed to Give Failing Stress Test Banks Second Chance.
The Federal Reserve will give the 19 largest banks a preliminary result
of its capital stress test, offering institutions that fail a chance to
adjust their dividend and stock buyback policies. The change comes
after Citigroup Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) narrowly missed
meeting the 5 percent tier one common equity to risk-weighted assets
minimum capital ratio in the 2012 test at 4.9 percent and 4.8 percent
respectively. Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY) had a stressed ratio of 2.5
percent in the last test.
- Google(GOOG) Sees China-Traffic Drop, Web Monitor Cites Block. Google Inc. (GOOG) is reporting an unusual drop in traffic to its sites in China, and an Internet monitor
said the search engine’s services are being blocked in the
world’s most populous nation.
MarketWatch.com:
Reuters:
Telegraph:
Style Outperformer:
Sector Outperformers:
- 1) Gaming +1.73% 2) Biotech +1.70% 3) Coal +1.45%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
- AAPL, CRAY, BRKS, EGHT, MXWL, HK, IOC, HAFC, UCBI, KYAK, ACIW, ENR, LGF, FLT, IGT, UBNT, AFFY, COV, WPRT, PHH, THRX, PODD, EBIX, AL, WWWW, GHDX and VVUS
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
- 1) NIHD 2) ADSK 3) JCP 4) DIS 5) MET
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
- 1) IGT 2) SWKS 3) BA 4) CAT 5) INTC
Charts:
Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Draghi Makes OMT Policy Weapon of Choice as ECB Relegates Rates. Mario
Draghi’s bond-buying plan has become the European Central Bank’s weapon
of choice to reduce interest rates even before it has been activated.
ECB President Draghi yesterday praised the impact of the so-called OMT
program in lowering borrowing costs, while playing
down the prospect of further ECB rate cuts. “Market confidence
has visibly improved on the back of our decisions as regards
Outright Monetary Transactions,” he said. The announcement “by
itself produced an easing of financial-market conditions.”
- Euro Drops to Two-Month Low After Ministers Delay Aid to Greece. The
euro fell to a two-month low
versus the dollar after European Union finance ministers said
they will delay for “weeks” the decision to give Greece its next round
of aid. The single currency declined as European Central Bank President
Mario Draghi said economic growth was expected to remain weak. The
yen gained against all of its main peers as investors sought safer
assets amid concern re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama will struggle
to avert the fiscal cliff. South Africa’s rand tumbled as mining output
fell the most in
five months.
- Obama Victory Leads Wealthy to Make Quick Pre-2013 Moves. The race is on for wealthy Americans to save on taxes before Jan. 1. President
Barack Obama’s re-election means his administration will push to let
tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush era expire for high earners,
as scheduled, at year-end. Obama wants to increase the top federal
income tax rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent, boost rates on
long-term capital gains to as much as 23.8 percent, and shrink
exemptions from estate-and-gift taxes. “If you have to put a
movie title on what’s going to happen from now until the end of the year
it would be: ‘The Fast and the Furious,’” said Jeff Saccacio, a
personal financial services partner at New York-based
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. “The wise, smart people are preparing
themselves for a sunset of the Bush tax cuts.” Wealthy investors
have about a month and a half to examine their investment gains and
losses left over from previous years, as well as to consider ways to
move income into 2012 and transfer assets to heirs, Saccacio said. Now
is the time to start running the calculations, he said. “Acceleration
of investment income is clear,” said Elda Di Re, partner and personal
financial services area leader for Ernst & Young LLP in New York.
“If anyone was planning on realizing a gain in the next two to three
years on either securities or real estate, there’s a considerable amount
of money to be saved.”
- Gold Traders More Bullish After Obama’s Re-Election: Commodities. Gold traders are the most bullish in
11 weeks and investors accumulated record bullion holdings on
speculation U.S. policy makers will add to stimulus following
President Barack Obama’s re-election. Twenty-five of 33 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect
prices to rise next week and three were bearish. A further five
were neutral, making the proportion of bulls the highest since
Aug. 24. Investors boosted assets in gold-backed exchange-traded
products to an all-time high of 2,592 metric tons on Nov. 7,
valued at $143.1 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Palestinians Defy Obama With UN ‘Observer State’ Bid. Palestinians defied newly re-elected
U.S. President Barack Obama by pushing ahead with a second
statehood bid at the United Nations that will raise their
profile at the world body and highlight the stagnation of the
Mideast peace process. The Palestinian Authority yesterday circulated a resolution
to put the Palestine Liberation Organization on a par with the
Holy See, according to a draft that will be put to a vote in the
UN’s 193-member General Assembly, where the initiative has
enough support to pass and the U.S. lacks veto power. The latest steps by the Palestinians present Obama with his
first foreign-policy challenge three days after he won a second
term.
- Priceline(PCLN) Buys Kayak for $1.8 Billion Expanding in Travel. Priceline.com
Inc. (PCLN), the most valuable online-travel agency, is buying Kayak
Software Corp. (KYAK) for $1.8 billion in cash and stock, adding
profitable search tools to its reservation services.
Wall Street Journal:
- Pressure Rises on Fiscal Crisis. White House, Lawmakers Try to Push Ahead Amid New Warnings Over Inaction. The White House and Republican lawmakers faced pressure to reach a
solution to the looming budget crisis after a nonpartisan agency
detailed Thursday how inaction would push the U.S. economy back into
recession next year, and skittish investors continued to drive stocks
lower. Economists from the Congressional Budget Office detailed
new warnings of an economy speeding toward a so-called fiscal cliff
created by a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases
set to take effect Jan. 1.
- Heartland Draws Hispanics to Help Revive Small Towns.
- Battle Plan Shifts on Dodd-Frank. Many bankers and investors who supported Mitt Romney hoped the
Republican's election would pave the way for a paring back of the 2010
Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. But while President Barack Obama's victory means the law will stand,
the finance industry could yet trim some parts of the law because
changes now are politically less risky for the administration and
Democrats in Congress. "The door is open for modifications that can produce economic
growth," said Jaret Seiberg, Washington analyst with Guggenheim
Securities.
- China Village Hits Democracy Limits. A Year After Promises to Return Land, Progress Is Slow; Liberalization Hopes Turn to a Party Pushed by Web-Savvy Public.
- California's Liberal Supermajority. Taxpayers are going to get all the government they ever wanted.
MarketWatch.com:
- Australia central bank cuts growth forecasts. Australia's central bank trimmed its growth forecasts
on the back of cooling investment in the nation's mining sector and a
softer global outlook. It comes as a number of major mining companies, including BHP Billiton
Ltd. (BHP), have shelved expansion plans and shed staff in recent months
amid weaker prices for industrial commodities. In a quarterly outlook released Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia,
or RBA, said it now expected growth to average 3.0% in the current
fiscal year, compared with an August forecast for growth of between 3.0%
and 3.5%.
- Fed policy may be easier than understood: Bullard.
- Groupon(GRPN) punished on third-quarter miss. Shares fall hard as European weakness hurts sales growth.
CNBC:
- El-Erian: Really Depressing Numbers Out of Greece. The jobless rate for 15- to 24-year-olds is 58% – 58%! And there
is reason to believe future employment reports will be even worse. This is a distressingly sad
situation.
- Stock Market Gets More Manic as Fiscal Cliff Fears Escalate. Stocks are breaking key technical levels, a possible sign of more
selling, as anxiety builds about Washington’s handling of the 'fiscal
cliff.
- Tax Hike ‘Not Going to Happen’: GOP Official. A top congressional Republican on Thursday
expressed hope that a budget deal would be reached that gives both
parties some of what they want — unless it involves a tax increase. House
Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam made overtures toward avoiding the
so-called “fiscal cliff,” which would trigger automatic federal spending
cuts and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. Although
Obama had campaigned on a platform of raising marginal tax rates,
Roskim dismissed such talk as “flowery rhetoric that he used to pump up
his base.” “I
predict he will do it again, simply because the House is not going to
pass a tax hike,” he said. “It’s just not going to happen.”
- Disney(DIS) Earnings Meet Expectations, Revenue Misses. Walt Disney reported quarterly earnings on Thursday that matched analysts' expectations, while revenue fell short.
- Why Inflation in China Will Raise Its Head Again. China’s October Inflation numbers came in below expectations, proving to
be of little concern to the country’s policymakers at the moment, but
economists warn the inflation rate could double by mid-2013 as growth in
the world’s second largest economy gains momentum.
- Eurozone Faces Brinkmanship on Greece. Eurozone leaders face a new round of brinkmanship over Greece’s €174bn
bailout after international lenders failed to bridge differences on how
to reduce Athens’ burgeoning debt levels, pushing the country perilously
close to defaulting on a €5bn debt payment due next week.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
NY Times:
- Debt Ceiling Complicates a Tax Shift. Come January, should Congress fail to act, the United States will face
more than immense tax increases and spending cuts. It will also run out
of room to finance its large running deficits.
Forbes:
Reuters:
- Exclusive: SEC left computers vulnerable to cyber attacks - sources.
Staffers at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission failed to
encrypt some of their computers containing highly sensitive information
from stock exchanges, leaving the data vulnerable to cyber attacks,
according to people familiar with the matter. While the computers were
unprotected, there was no evidence that hacking or spying on the SEC's
computers took place, these people said.
- CME Group(CME) sues to freeze CFTC swap reporting rules. Exchange operator CME Group
asked a U.S. court on Thursday to prevent the chief U.S.
derivatives regulator from enforcing swap reporting rules passed
after the 2008 financial crisis. Thursday's lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington
D.C., is the third industry challenge to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in its history.
- Wall St gadfly Warren stands good chance of Senate banking seat. The
chances are good, but not guaranteed, that Elizabeth Warren will secure
a highly coveted seat on the Senate Banking Committee, a move that
would dramatically elevate her campaign against Wall Street excess. Senior Senate Democratic aides, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said the Massachusetts senator-elect is a logical fit
for the committee, even though it is rare for a freshman senator
to get such a plum assignment. If she gets the slot, Warren's bully pulpit would be
replaced with real power.
-
China slaps anti-dumping tariffs on European, Japanese steel tubes.
China said it will impose five-year anti-dumping tariffs on
high-performance stainless steel tube imports from the European Union
and Japan, highlighting commercial tensions between Beijing and major
trading partners. The tariff will range from 9.2 percent to 14.4 percent and
will become effective on Friday, the Ministry of Commerce said
in a statement on its website on Thursday.
-
Nvidia(NVDA) eyes lower quarterly revenue, starts dividend. Nvidia forecast
revenue below expectations due to a slowdown in tablet-processor
shipments and a troubled PC market but shares of the graphics
chipmaker rose on the announcement of a quarterly dividend. With PC sales suffering from economic uncertainty and a
growing consumer preference for tablets, Nvidia has staked its
future on leveraging its graphics expertise to make
high-performance processors for mobile devices.
Telegraph:
Evening Recommendations
Night Trading
- Asian equity indices are -.50% to unch. on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 121.0 +2.0 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 87.25 -.25 basis point.
- FTSE-100 futures -.05%.
- S&P 500 futures +.39%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.44%.
Morning Preview Links
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (FSS)/.07
- (FWLT)/.44
- (JCP)/-.01
- (STRA)/.31
- (WCRX)/.77
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Import Price Index for October is estimated unch. versus a +1.1% gain in September.
9:55 am EST
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for November is estimated to rise to 83.0 versus 82.6 in October.
10:00 am EST
- Wholesale Inventories for September are estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.5% gain in August.
Upcoming Splits
Other Potential Market Movers
- The China retail sales/industrial production/fixed asset investment data and Eurozone CPI could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly mixed. The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the day.
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Lower
- Sector Performance: Most Sectors Declining
- Volume: Slightly Below Average
- Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming
Equity Investor Angst:
- VIX 18.17 -4.77%
- ISE Sentiment Index 70.0 -4.2%
- Total Put/Call 1.09 -9.92%
- NYSE Arms 1.09 -52.91%
Credit Investor Angst:
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 103.46 bps +3.23%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 175.03 bps +.28%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 112.59 bps +1.27%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 232.55 bps +.45%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 11.5 +1.25 basis points
- TED Spread 22.25 +.5 basis point
- 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -25.75 -.25 basis point
Economic Gauges:
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .09% unch.
- Yield Curve 136.0 -1 basis point
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $121.40/Metric Tonne -.16%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index 59.60 +9.1 points
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.46 -1 basis point
Overseas Futures:
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating -73 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating -1 open in Germany
Portfolio:
- Slightly Lower: On losses in my tech and retail sector longs
- Disclosed Trades: Added to my (AAPL) long, covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges, then added them back
- Market Exposure: 25% Net Long
Bloomberg:
- Greek Aid Payment Call Won’t Be Made Next Week, EU Official Says. Euro-area finance ministers may not
make a decision on unlocking funds for Greece until late November as they await a full report on the country’s compliance
with the terms of its bailout, a European Union official said.
Finance chiefs won’t make the call to release 31.5 billion
euros ($40.1 billion) of aid for Greece that has been frozen
since June when they meet in Brussels on Nov. 12, the official
said today on condition of anonymity because the deliberations
are private. Ministers will await a final report from the so-called
troika that oversees euro-area bailouts on Greece’s efforts to
meet the conditions of its second bailout since 2010 before
taking action, the official said. That report isn’t finished
yet, the official said, and while a preliminary version may be
available for the Nov. 12 meeting, that won’t be enough for
ministers to base their decision on.
- Weidmann Shapes ECB Even in Defeat as Spain Resists Rescue. Jens Weidmann might not be as defeated as it seems. While
the European Central Bank pushed ahead with its bond- purchase plan
over the Bundesbank president’s objections, the conditions attached are
giving Spain second thoughts about applying for the program.
Economists
and central bank officials say those conditions were partly a response
to Weidmann’s opposition, showing that even in his apparent isolation
on the ECB council, he is still shaping policy. Conditionality “was
devised to appease the traditional Bundesbank allies” like the
Netherlands, Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg, said former ECB chief
economist Juergen Stark. “So Weidmann’s influence may still be working
on a more subtle level.”
- ECB Holds Rates as Economy Worsens, Spain Resists Aid Request. The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold today
as the economic outlook worsens and Spain resists asking for a bailout
that would open the door to ECB bond purchases. Policy makers
meeting in Frankfurt left the benchmark rate at its historic low of 0.75
percent, as predicted by 62 of 63 economists in a Bloomberg News
survey. One forecast a cut to 0.5 percent. ECB President Mario Draghi
will brief reporters on the decision at 2:30 p.m.
- Greek Unemployment Rate Increases as Recession Deepens. Greece’s jobless rate climbed to more
than a quarter of the workforce in August, extending its record
high as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pushed through more
austerity measures linked to the country’s bailouts. The rate rose to 25.4 percent from a revised 24.8 percent
in July, the Athens-based Hellenic Statistical Authority said in
an e-mailed statement today. That’s the highest since the agency
began publishing monthly data in 2004. The recession and deepening labor slump have been
exacerbated by spending cuts and tax increases imposed to trim a
budget deficit that was more than five times the euro-area limit
in 2009. Violence flared outside the parliament yesterday after
more than 50,000 protesters ringed the building as lawmakers
debated an austerity bill, approved in the early hours of this
morning, with more measures needed to keep rescue loans from the
euro area and the International Monetary Fund flowing.
- European Stocks Drop as Carmakers Slide. European
(SXXP) stocks fell, extending yesterday’s biggest decline in two weeks,
as a selloff in auto manufacturers overshadowed results from Swiss Re
Ltd. and Hermes International (RMS) SCA that beat analysts’
estimates. PSA Peugeot Citroen SA (UG) and Valeo SA (FR) both lost more
than 4
percent as analysts downgraded their shares.
- U.S. Jobless Claims Fall as Storm Starts to Affect Data. Fewer Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment insurance
last week as the effects of Hurricane Sandy started to show up.
- Any release of copper
stockpiles from bonded warehouses in China due to rising financing
costs will probably be limited, Barclays Plc said. Some stockpiles in
the warehouses, which are effectively locked up to obtain
financing, may be released as exports because the domestic market is
weak and borrowers need to raise cash to repay banks, Sijin Cheng, a
Barclays analyst, said in a report today. Copper stockpiles in China's bonded warehouses climbed to a record 700,000 metric tons, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Imports of refined metal jumped 17% in September
from the month before, customs data show. A rise in bonded inventories
may indicate an increase in financing deals in addition to a weaker
Chinese market, according to Barclays.
- Goldman
Sachs(GS) is "increasingly cautious" about copper in the short term
because of the so-called fiscal cliff facing the U.S. "Our economists
believe the markets may be required to 'incentivize' a 'fiscal cliff' bargain," Max Layton, an analyst
at Goldman in London, said today. Refined copper was in surplus for the
past few weeks and copper stockpiles in bonded warehouses in China have
risen to a record high of 700,000 metric tons, according to the report.
- Obama Finds What’s Good for GM Not So Good for Taxpayers.
The bailout of General Motors Co. (GM) played an important role in the
re-election of President Barack Obama, who stumped on the issue in
Midwestern swing states. Now comes the hard part: unloading the
government’s stake, probably at a big loss. GM received $51 billion from the U.S. Treasury in 2009. Taxpayers have recouped $24 billion and
still own 32 percent of the company. The problem is that GM shares are
trading at less than half the price the government said it needs to
break even. Selling the shares was politically precarious before the
election because that would have locked in a loss -- $14 billion at
yesterday’s closing price. Now that the election is over, cutting the
stake could be good for GM’s image and its stock.\
- Iran to China Threaten Obama’s Second-Term Promises.
Barron's:
CNBC:
- Sandy-Torn Northeast Deals With 200,000 New Outages. Utility crews worked to restore power to an additional 200,000 customers
in the New York area after a nor'easter blasted the region that's still
trying to recover from Super Storm Sandy.
- Europe’s Paymaster Heading for Recession: Economists. A stream of weak economic figures from Germany is prompting economists
to predict that the country is fast approaching a recession — and the
vortex of the euro zone’s economic crisis. Figures released on
Thursday showed exports in September fell at their fastest pace since
December 2011 and on Tuesday, data revealed that manufacturing and
services activity shrunk for the sixth consecutive month in October.
Industrial production figures released on Wednesday revealed a 1.8
percent fall in September from August, well below expectations of a 0.7
percent decline.
- Europe’s New Austerity: Corporate Cutbacks. Earnings season in the euro zone has been marked with a raft of job cut
announcements, demonstrating how the sovereign debt crisis is affecting
the private sector and signaling more trouble ahead for the region.
- Two-Tier Global Housing Market Could Lead to Bubble: Goldman. A two-tier housing market amongst developed economies has sprung up as
some countries have rebounded faster from the global financial crisis
than others, according to new research by Goldman Sachs, which warns the
situation could lead to several bubbles.
CNN:
- First On CNN: Iranian Jets Fire on U.S. Drone. Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week, CNN has learned.
The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration
about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes. The
drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S.
officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance.
Although the drone was not hit, the Pentagon is concerned. Two U.S.
officials explained the jets were part of Iran's
Revolutionary Guard Corps force, which has been more confrontational
than regular Iranian military forces. The Obama administration did not disclose the incident, which
occurred just days before the presidential election on November 1, but
three senior officials confirmed the details to CNN.
Financial Times:
- Eurozone faces brinkmanship on Greece. Eurozone
leaders face a new round of brinkmanship over Greece’s €174bn
bailout after international lenders failed to bridge differences on how
to reduce Athens’ burgeoning debt levels, pushing the country perilously
close to defaulting on a €5bn debt payment due next week.
Telegraph:
Financial Times Deutschland:
- German Economy Ministry notes demand from Germany and from outside is weakening, citing an analysis by the ministry. The ministry sees a weaker economy in the "winter half year." The weaker economy is making itself increasingly felt at the job market, the ministry said.
Handelsblatt:
- The
UK Seeks Veto in European Banking Athority. The UK wants veto rights on
the European Banking Authority to ensure that the country won't be
overruled by the ECB on the EBA's board, citing EU diplomats.
