Financial Markets and Economy
Barclays’s 25% London Office Space Cut Signals Glut Threat (Bloomberg)
Barclays Plc’s decision to cut 25 percent of its London office space highlights the growing risk that tenants will be in short supply for developers of buildings being constructed.
European Stocks Fluctuate as Focus Swings Between Shell, Banks (Bloomberg)
European stocks fluctuated as traders swiveled between upbeat news from Royal Dutch Shell Plc and China, and disappointing results from Standard Chartered Plc and BP Plc.
OPEC Splits Prevent Deal With Other Producers to Curb Supply (Bloomberg)
OPEC’s internal disagreements over how to implement oil-supply cuts agreed to last month prevented a deal to secure the cooperation of other major suppliers.
Standard Chartered Shares Fall After Profit Misses Estimates (Bloomberg)
Standard Chartered Plc plunged the most since June after third-quarter profit missed analyst estimates on a drop in revenue at all four of its divisions, and executives said the economic environment remains challenging.
Oil ends at one-month low on OPEC doubts, expected record output (Reuters)
Oil prices settled at one-month lows on Monday after dropping over 3 percent on doubts about OPEC's ability to implement its planned production cuts, with the market further weighed by expectations that the cartel had record output in October.
The Australian dollar is climbing (Business Insider)
The Australian dollar is surging.
The currency is up by 0.9% at .7679 per dollar as of 7:40 a.m. ET. Earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia held its benchmark interest rate at 1.50%, as expected.
U.K. Factories Hail Pound Boost to Exports, Fret About Costs (Bloomberg)
U.K. manufacturers are continuing to benefit as the pound’s depreciation helps exports, though many are also taking a cost hit from the currency.
Oil dips on OPEC output-cut concerns, stocks shaky (Reuters)
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday to touch a one-month low on doubts about OPEC's ability to implement its planned production cut, while global equity prices were shaky as Wall Street struggled to build on a sentiment boost from a string of M&A deals.
Banks Are Hoarding $2.4 Trillion of Bonds (Bloomberg)
If the world’s biggest economy is really on the upswing, then why are America’s banks stockpiling a record amount of ultrasafe bonds?
After all, jobs are back, the Federal Reserve is close to raising interest rates again and growth has perked up after a sluggish first half.
There Are 5.6 Million Cheap Apartments in America. Not for Long (Bloomberg)
The Hidden Villa Apartments, a 61-unit complex in Beaverton, Ore., is the kind of property investors love and affordable-housing activists ignore.
China as Factory to World Mulls the Unthinkable: Price Hikes (Bloomberg)
China’s factories may be on the cusp of delivering a new shock to the global economy after years of undercutting rivals with cheaper costs. This time, increases in prices could reverberate around the world.
China Seeks to Export Power Amid Signs It Built Too Many Plants (Bloomberg)
China is seeking to build up export markets for its power amid signs the nation has invested too much in new generation plants.
Three Foreign Banks to Open in Iran, Central Bank Official Says (Bloomberg)
Three foreign banks are opening up representative offices in Iran as the country seeks to boost investment after reaching an international sanctions deal last year, a central bank official said.
Germany welcomes foreign takeovers, but wants fair conditions: Merkel spokesman (Reuters)
Germany welcomes foreign takeovers of its companies, including from China, but needs to ensure that its firms are protected from unfair competition, a government spokesman said on Monday.
Yellen Imitates Greenspan in Reversal of Mid-1990s Rookie Role (Bloomberg)
When Janet Yellen was a rookie policy maker in September 1996, she and fellow Federal Reserve Governor Laurence Meyer visited Alan Greenspan’s office to make a pitch for higher interest rates. With unemployment near 5 percent, they were worried about inflation kicking up if joblessness dropped much lower.
U.K. manufacturing expands, aided by pound weakness (The Wall Street Journal)
The U.K. manufacturing sector continued to expand at a brisk pace in October, as the weakened currency boosted exports, a survey showed Tuesday.
North Dakota Oil Pipeline Battle: Who’s Fighting and Why (NY Times)
For months, tensions have mounted between protesters and law enforcement officials over the fate of an oil pipeline not far from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Last week, they boiled over as officers tried to force the protesters out of an area of private land where they had moved one of their camps.
Companies
MGM Resorts ready to bet up to $10 billion on Japan casino, possibly via REIT (Reuters)
Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) could plow almost $10 billion into a Japanese casino via a publicly traded real estate investment trust, its chief executive said on Monday, as Tokyo inches closer to legalizing the industry.
World’s Biggest Shipping Company Wants More Mergers After Japan (Bloomberg)
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world’s largest container line, said mergers like the combination of its three main Japanese rivals provide relief to an ailing industry that has been characterized by over-capacity.
Shell, BP Earnings Benefit From Cost Cuts Amid Weak Oil Prices (The Wall Street Journal)
LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC posted better-than-expected third-quarter profits, joining other big oil companies in showing progress in efforts to adapt to a world of cheaper crude as prices rebounded from lows hit at the start of the year.
Technology
CenturyLink to buy Level 3 Communications for about $24 billion (Reuters)
CenturyLink Inc (CTL.N) said it would buy Level 3 Communications Inc (LVLT.N) in a deal valued at about $24 billion to expand its reach in the crowded market that provides communications services to businesses and compete with rivals like AT&T and Verizon.
Amazon to customers: Start shopping (CNN Money)
The online shopping service on Tuesday launched its Black Friday Deals Store, featuring sales on clothing, electronics, toys and other products. The site will feature new deals every day — sometimes as often as every five minutes — until December 22.
Alibaba’s Cloud Arm Set for Center Stage as E-Commerce Plateaus (Bloomberg)
It’s not the e-commerce business that’ll command the most attention when Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posts earnings Wednesday. It’s the nascent cloud computing division that investors will scrutinize instead.
How India's Fintech Hub Is Beating Hong Kong & Singapore (Forbes)
In two weeks, in November, two fintech events are taking place in the Asian region: Hong Kong Fintech Week (Nov. 7-11) and Singapore Fintech Festival (Nov. 14-18). Both cities have become well-known as active fintech hubs – but are they really? The first six months of 2016 were a record high for fintech investment – and Asia as a result has become the #1 market in terms of the amount invested.
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Google says it's 'so sorry' for late delivery of its new Pixel smartphones (Business Insider)
Google Pixel customers who ordered directly from the Google store will have to wait longer than they expected to get their hands on it. The company is giving affected customers $50 (£41) to spend on the Google Play Store.
The next victim of Samsung's Note 7 fiasco could be the environment (CNN Money)
Greenpeace is blasting Samsung for failing to detail how it will dispose of the millions of Note 7 smartphones it's recalling around the world. If the South Korean tech company chooses to dump them, it would create the equivalent of about 28 shipping containers of toxic waste, according to the environmental advocacy group.
You can now legally hack your own car or smart TV (Engadget)
Researchers can now probe connected devices, computers and cars for security vulnerabilities without risking a lawsuit. Last Friday, the FTC authorized changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that will allow Americans to do hack their own electronic devices.
The 2017 iPhone might get this long-awaited feature (Mashable Asia)
Whether the iPhone 8 actually gets wireless charging will depend on the yield rates of the modules, a source told the Nikkei. Poor yield rates could push Apple to scrap the feature.
Politics
Trump raises specter of crisis if Clinton wins the White House (Reuters)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called Democratic rival Hillary Clinton a threat to the country on Monday, saying that if she is elected a probe into her emails could shadow her entire term in office, as the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Clinton's lead narrowing slightly.
Once the hope candidate, Obama in his final days faces a hopeless electorate (The Washington Post)
LAS VEGAS — President Obama’s motorcade was still hurtling through Las Vegas traffic when the Rev. Anthony Harris took the microphone to deliver the opening prayer at a rally here for Hillary Clinton.
FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe (The Wall Street Journal)
The surprise disclosure that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are taking a new look at Hillary Clinton’s email use lays bare, just days before the election, tensions inside the bureau and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic presidential nominee.
Hillary Clinton Team Questions FBI Director’s Motive (The Wall Street Journal)
WILTON MANORS, Fla.—Hillary Clinton’s team worked Sunday to play down the news that an investigation of her email practices had been reactivated and sought to undermine the credibility of James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation director who disclosed the move last week.
After Blockbuster Election, CNN, Fox Plot Their Next Moves (Bloomberg)
On Nov. 9, America’s cable news networks will wake up with an election-year hangover unlike any before. Having eaten into Fox News’ once-insurmountable lead with the most-watched year in its 36-year history, CNN is hoping Anthony Bourdain will serve up the ratings equivalent of a bloody Mary.
Pirate Party Surge Falls Short as Icelanders Back Stability (Bloomberg)
The ruling Independence Party emerged as the winner in Iceland’s snap election, surviving a surge by the populist Pirate Party in a vote for stability as the nation emerges from eight years of economic turmoil.
The UK is becoming the nasty country, and our universities will suffer (The Guardian)
Banging on about Brexit five months after the referendum may be boring to Brexiters who have wrapped themselves in the red, white and blue flag of the “people’s will”. But it is such a threat to universities it can’t just be tidied away into a box labelled “summer madness.” The threat comes in three parts. The first can be managed, although with difficulty; the other two are more deadly.
Pro-Russian candidate to face second round in Moldova presidential vote (Reuters)
Moldova's presidential election will go to a second round, preliminary results showed early on Monday, after a pro-Russian socialist candidate fell short of winning sufficient support to achieve all-out victory.
Britain's focus on Islamic extremism is masking a prominent threat to national security — Russia (Business Insider)
Russia is a growing threat to the United Kingdom and is using an arsenal of sophisticated tools to covertly destabilise the country, according to MI5 chief Andrew Parker.
Health and Biotech
Man or mouse? Why drug research has taken the wrong turning (New Scientist)
“WE HAVE moved away from studying human disease in humans,” said Elias Zerhouni, the former director of the US National Institutes of Health, in 2013. The ability to knock out or insert specific genes in lab animals – mice in particular – has led ever more researchers to shift focus away from people.
Medicine Will Advance More in the Next 10 Years Than It Did in the Last 100 (Singularity Hub)
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, recently announced a $3 billion effort to cure all disease during the lifetime of their daughter, Max. Earlier this year, Silicon Valley billionaire Sean Parker donated $250 million to increase collaboration among researchers to develop immune therapies for cancer.
Life on the Home Planet
Iraqi forces resume offensive towards eastern Mosul (Reuters)
Iraqi troops resumed on Monday a coordinated offensive towards Mosul, the last major city held by Islamic State, targeting the eastern bank of the Tigris river that divides the city, military officials said.
Somalia remains the global capital of unsolved murders of journalists (Quartz)
With militant group al-Shabaab waging war and the government suppressing press freedom, being a journalist in Somalia is a difficult, and even life-threatening, job.
British murder accused Jutting 'sexually assaulted' at school (AFP)
The British banker accused of murdering two Indonesian women in his upscale Hong Kong apartment is a narcissistic sexual sadist who had been abused at school, a court heard Monday.
Miami baseball star Fernandez was drunk, had cocaine in system at fatal crash (Reuters)
Miami Marlins star Jose Fernandez, a dominant pro baseball pitcher and hero in Miami's Cuban community, was legally drunk and had cocaine in his system when he was killed in a boat crash in late September, an autopsy and toxicology report released on Saturday found.
Climate change will move tropical fish closer to the poles (Science Alert)
Researchers are investigating which tropical fish species are likely to leave their homes and establish new populations in cooler waters as the world heats up due to climate change – and they’ve found some clear winners and losers.
Vatican, China Consider Deal on Selection of Bishops After Decades of Division (The Wall Street Journal)
VATICAN CITY—Negotiators for the Vatican and Beijing reached a compromise on who selects Catholic bishops in China, said people familiar with the matter, potentially marking a major step toward ending six decades of estrangement.
