Financial Markets and Economy
Bond Yields From Finland to Germany Sink to Records on QE Wagers (Bloomberg)
European government bonds extended a rally, sending short-term yields from Belgium and Finland to France and Germany to record lows, in a signal that the market believes Mario Draghi when he hinted last week the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy further.
Apple CEO on China: I don't see any problems (Business Insider)
Apple CEO Tim Cook says China is doing just fine. At least, for Apple.
On the company's earnings call Tuesday afternoon, Cook was asked if he saw any slow down in China.
The short answer: No.
The Wall Street Journal: Ferrari profit jumps 62% (Market Watch)
Ferrari NV said Wednesday that its third-quarter net profit surged 62% as the Italian company boosted shipments of its luxury sports cars.
Net profit rose to €94 million (about $104 million) compared with €58 million in last year’s third quarter. Revenue rose 9.2% to €723 million helped in part by currency fluctuations.
Buy Bonds Is Signal From Atlanta Fed Model Showing Cooling GDP (Bloomberg)
Treasury bulls, take heart: Even as U.S. central bankers debate this week whether to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006, a model developed by a regional Federal Reserve bank says the economy is losing steam.
Hess posts third-quarter loss on crude price slump, beats expectations (Business Insider)
Oil producer Hess Corp
reported an adjusted quarterly loss on Wednesday but beat expectations as a sharp drop in capital spending and other cost cuts helped offset a 60 percent slump in crude prices in the past year.
British Bookmaker Doubles Probability of Exit From EU (Bloomberg)
The likely outcome remains that Britain will stay in the EU, but the outcome looks less certain.
Hacked? This is what the top 5 brokers will do for you (Market Watch)
Will your brokerage firm give you your money back after a hack attack?
The majority of firms have experienced a cyber-attack: 88% of broker-dealers and 74% of investment advisers, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission survey released earlier this year. Most don’t guarantee they’ll make clients whole after cyber-related losses.
Intercept Pharma is crashing (Business Insider)
Shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals fell more than 13% pre-market after the company reported mixed results of a drug trial.
Your 401(k)'s Comeback Underscores The Risks of Fed's Easy-Money Policy (Bloomberg)
Household financial assets have ballooned, far outstripping the growth of the economy since 2013, as the Federal Reserve's ultra-easy monetary policy fuels excesses in the markets.
Dollar wobbles as investors remain wary ahead of Fed call (Market Watch)
The U.S. dollar edged lower against the euro Wednesday as investors refrained from taking large bets ahead of long-awaited policy guidance from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed is expected to release its monetary policy statement at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Markets are 'eerily calm' ahead of the Fed (Business Insider)
Markets are sitting tight ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement on Wednesday afternoon.
The FOMC concludes its two-day meeting today and will release its policy statement.
Iron Ore Sinks Back Below $50 as China Demand Sags, Supply Jumps (Bloomberg)
Iron ore sank back below $50 a metric ton on speculation that a global glut will persist as China’s leading mills group said local steel demand was contracting at an unprecedented pace and supplies from the biggest miners were expected to climb.
Chocolate maker Hershey posts 31 percent drop in profit (Business Insider)
Chocolate maker Hershey Co reported a 31 percent slump in quarterly profit, hurt by weak demand for candy, mint and gum in North America.
Alibaba Revenue Up Sharply, Bolstered by Mobile Sales (NY Times)
Despite a slowdown in China, Alibaba, the Internet giant, experienced a surge in revenue in the latest quarter, driven by strong growth in mobile.
Given Alibaba’s dominance in online shopping, investors have been concerned that the trouble in the country’s economy could spill over into the company’s performance.
Charting the Markets: Investors Braced on Fed Day (Bloomberg)
Australia's dollar drops, Volkswagen defies profit warning, and Sweden's krona responds to QE.
Northrop third-quarter results beat forecasts, 2016 profit outlook raised (Business Insider)
Hours after winning a multibillion-dollar contract to build a new U.S. bomber, Northrop Grumman Corp <NOC.N> on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenues and earnings and increased its profit outlook for the full year.
Standard & Poor's Rattles the Hybrid Debt Market (Bloomberg)
Rating agency changes its mind on $20 billion worth of hybrid securities.
National Australia Bank to Sell 80% of Life Insurance Business to Nippon Life (NY Times)
National Australia Bank said Wednesday it would sell 80 percent of its life insurance business to the Nippon Life Insurance Company for 2.4 billion Australian dollars, or $1.7 billion.
This is what will happen if the Fed raises rates (Business Insider)
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard stopped by Business Insider to talk about the potential economic consequences of higher interest rates.
Why Is Silicon Valley Pouring Millions of Dollars Into Old Clothes? (Bloomberg)
VCs and Wall Street have pumped $400 million into the online clothing resale business to beat back eBay and Amazon.
Valeant's Future Sales Become a New Focus (Wall Street Journal)
When Valeant Phamaceuticals International Inc. defended its accounting and business practices to investors Monday, it said a pharmacy business comprised a relatively small portion of Valeant’s revenues. If Valeant and the pharmacy broke ties, Valeant’s growth may slow, but not “dramatically,” Valeant’s chief executive said.
Yet, the question of how important the pharmacy, Philidor Rx Services LLC, is to the Canadian drug maker’s growth persisted Tuesday, with one ratings firm revising its outlook on Valeant bonds, citing Valeant’s growth prospects in light of the controversy around Philidor.
AB InBev, SABMiller extend takeover deadline to Nov 4 (Business Insider)
Brewer SABMiller Plc <SAB.L> has extended the deadline for rival Anheuser-Busch InBev <ABI.BR> to make a formal $100 billion-plus takeover offer by a week.
SABMiller said in a statement on Wednesday that it had asked London's Panel on Takeovers and Mergers to push back the deadline to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4.
Buffett Rail Boost Puts Farmers on Fast Track as Oil Prices Drop (Bloomberg)
Last year, grain handlers like Roger Krueger had no kind words for Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway Co. After record U.S. harvests, crops piled up all across the Midwest, with few rail cars available to get them to buyers because they were being used to ship more oil and coal.
Asia stocks slip on weaker Wall Street, Fed awaited (Business Insider)
Asian stocks slipped early on Wednesday, taking cues from an overnight decline on Wall Street while a wait-and-see mood prevailed ahead of a policy statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve due later in the day.
The One Chart to Watch For The Next Euro Leg Lower: Analysis (Bloomberg)
The inverse link between FX and stocks in Europe.
U.S. Index Futures Rise Before Fed Announcement; Apple Advances (Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks advanced before the Federal Reserve’s policy statement this afternoon with the central bank expected to hold interest rates near zero, while Apple Inc. rose following its earnings report.
‘Old’ tech companies give start-ups a run for their money (Market Watch)
Investors tend to think of technology companies as “new,” or at least breaking new ground, in their attempt to stay relevant.
But Apple Inc. AAPL, +1.45% for example, is almost 40 years old, and was able to boost fiscal fourth-quarter sales 22% and earnings per share 38%.
Politics
Freedom Still Awaits (The Atlantic)
The Civil War and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution that were ratified in its wake created a new America as imaginative and fraught with controversy as the country founded after the Revolutionary War. It is no exaggeration, therefore, to describe this period as America’s “Second Founding.” But neither the enduring power of the Second Founding nor its limitations can be fully understood without an examination of the Third Founding—the civil-rights movement of the mid-20th century.
Donald Trump asks Iowa: ‘What the hell are you people doing to me?’ (Market Watch)
Donald Trump did something Tuesday night that he rarely does. He begged.
“Iowa, will you get your numbers up, please?” Trump said at an event in Sioux City. “Will you get these numbers up? I promise you: I will do such a good job,” Trump said, according to the Washington Post. “What the hell are you people doing to me?” he demanded at one point. Trump, who debates the other Republican presidential candidates Wednesday night, has seen his solid lead in Iowa evaporate as four new polls showed retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson surge to the top.
Russia to China: What's a Few Dozen Basis Points Among Friends? (Bloomberg)
Cornered by sanctions, Russia is preparing a costly alternative venue to sell debt: China.
Vladimir Putin’s government, which set a $3 billion cap on foreign borrowing in 2016 and hasn’t sold Eurobonds in two years, is preparing a “pilot issue” of medium-maturity yuan notes on China’s mainland market, according to Konstantin Vyshkovsky, the head of the Finance Ministry’s debt department.
Technology
Toyota's radical Kikai concept is the anti-connected car (The Verge)
If you've been keeping up with concept cars lately, you might have noticed a trend. From Mercedes Benz's "chill-out" Vision Tokyo to Nissan's deranged Teatro for Dayz — you could even throw Google's self-driving car in the mix — carmakers seem intent on capturing the hearts of young people by stripping out basically anything recognizable from an automobile in favor of flashy screens and high-tech features.
You Can Charge Your iPhone 6s Wirelessly, But Is It Worth It? (Popular Science)
With the help of Fone Salesman's Qi patch, the iPhone can be retro-fitted with wireless charging. Similar to what comes with the Apple Watch charger by default.
September's iPhone 6S release added many features to take on the competition. A 12-megapixel camera, faster fingerprint sensor and 3D Touch impressed during our iPhone 6S review. But what wasn’t included in the body of the now-unbendable Apple phone is a feature found in the latest Samsung Galaxy S6 and other Android devices: wireless charging.
Health and Life Sciences
Chronic Heartburn Drugs Tied to Higher Risk of Kidney Disease (Medicine Net)
A common type of heartburn medication called proton pump inhibitors(PPIs) seem to be linked with increased risk of chronic kidney disease, two new studies suggest.
Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid belong to this class of drugs, which treat heartburn and acid reflux by lowering the amount of acid produced by the stomach.
Disturbing New Study Finds Medication Errors In Half Of All Surgeries (Forbes)
A disturbing new study, published in the October 2015 issue of Anesthesiology, found that medication errors occurred in nearly half of all surgical procedures. Additionally, the study found that one-third of all errors resulted in adverse drug events or harm to patients.
Life on the Home Planet
‘Blebs’ of magma say super-eruptions form quickly (Futurity)
Repeatedly throughout Earth’s history, giant pools of magma greater than 100 cubic miles in volume have formed a few miles below the surface.
