Markets: Australian stocks advanced to fresh five-year highs, but sentiment in Greater China markets dimmed after new home price data showed efforts to cool the mainland property market have yet to have any tangible impact. (Financial Times)
In China, "new home prices climbed in 69 of the 70 cities the government tracked in September from a year earlier,: led by 20 percent increases in the southern business hubs of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement today. Prices in Beijing rose 16 percent and advanced 17 percent in Shanghai, the biggest gains since the government changed its methodology for the home data in 2011. " (Bloomberg)
Obama admits botched online healthcare launch: "Barack Obama, who forged his political career by harnessing the power of the internet, was forced to admit that the launch of the online exchanges at the heart of his signature healthcare reforms had been botched." (Financial Times) (WSJ)
SFO narrows Libor charges: Former employees of ICAP, Rabobank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank and UBS were among 22 names that the UK Serious Fraud Office included as alleged co-conspirators on a draft indictment against Tom Hayes, a former star trader at both UBS and Citigroup who is facing criminal charges stemming from a probe into alleged Libor manipulation. The SFO won a temporary injunction on Thursday, which was not renewed on Monday, against the Wall Street Journal, which published eight of the names reportedly included on the draft indictment. (Financial Times)
SEC criticizes management at Options Clearing Corp: "Regulators found flaws in the way that Chicago-based Options Clearing Corp. prepares for market freeze-ups and measures financial risks facing its members, according to the results of two-and-a-half years of examinations by federal market authorities. Options Clearing's board also failed to sufficiently supervise the clearinghouse's senior management and hasn't properly managed conflicts of interest, according to a letter sent by regulators to Options Clearing management, dated Sept 18." (WSJ)
JPM aimed to limit damage: "Under the terms of a tentative $13 billion deal that could be finalized in a matter of days, J.P. Morgan will pay roughly $2 billion in penalties that apply to its own conduct during the years before the financial crisis, and not any for problems it inherited from Bear Stearns or Washington Mutual according to people close to the talks." (WSJ)
"The CFTC has asked major currency-dealing banks—including Deutsche Bank and Citigroup — to trawl through their records as part of a global probe into possible currency-market manipulation and hand over any evidence of wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the matter." (WSJ)
Banker sues regulator over being identified in 'Whale' debacle: Achilles Macris, a former top JPMorgan Chase banker, filed a claim on Monday against the UK's Financial Conduct Authority alleging he was unfairly identified and criticised in settlement papers involving the "London Whale" trading debacle. Mr Macris was not identified by the FCA by name but his lawyers said that the findings in the FCA notice "clearly identify and criticise him", in violation of a 2000 law that says administrative agencies are required to give a party the chance to respond to criticisms before they were made public. (Financial Times)
Bundesbubble: The Bundesbank has warned that apartment prices in Germany's biggest cities could be overvalued by as much as 20 per cent, stepping up its concern about a real estate boom in the powerhouse of the European economy. The warning will feed into German concern that the European Central Bank's monetary policy is far too loose for the country. (Financial Times)
Italian police arrest 'fugitive' former UBS banker Raoul Weil: "A prominent Swiss asset manager is facing extradition to the US after being arrested while holidaying in Italy on charges he helped American clients with $20bn of assets to evade US taxes during his previous job at UBS." (Financial Times)
Consortium wins Brazil deepwater oilfield auction: A consortium led by Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, France's Total and PetroChina and its sister company Cnooc, won the bid for Brazil's Libra deepwater oilfield in an auction on Monday. The group, which also includes Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, was the sole bidder in the auction, the first of the country's giant, so-called pre-salt discoveries to be sold under a new regulatory regime. (Financial Times)
Netflix shares surged about 10 per cent in after-market trading as the film and television streaming service reported it had passed 40m global subscribers and tripled profits in the third quarter, beating analysts' estimates. (Financial Times)
Starbucks chief defends China coffee prices: John Culver, the Starbucks executive who oversees its China business, said the price of a Starbucks café latte in China was close to and in some cases lower than the prices of its competitors, and that its profitability in China was no higher than in the US. (Financial Times) And why this "rediculous war" is probably more about deflection. (Foreign Policy)
"Tri Pointe Homes, a homebuilder backed by Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Capital Group LLC, is in advanced talks to buy Weyerhaeuser Co's homebuilding division for about $2.7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter." (Reuters)
BHP up 1.7 per cent after it said it now expects to produce 212mn tonnes of iron ore this financial year against previous guidance of 207mn tonnes. (FastFT)
COMMENTS & CURIOS
Watch out for the rise of a European Tea Party (Financial Times)
On the last "clean" report on unemployment released this year. (NYT)
Bail-ins are no better than fool's gold (Financial Times)
'JR' at Grangemouth (Financial Times)
Bahrain: "moar tear gas, please" (Financial Times)
Commodities traders face increased competition from national companies (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +37.71 (+0.26%) at 14,731
Topix up +3.12 (+0.26%) at 1,215
Hang Seng down -116.77 (-0.50%) at 23,321
US markets
S&P 500 up +11.35 (+0.65%) at 1,745
DJIA down -7.45 (-0.05%) at 15,392
Nasdaq up +5.77 (+0.15%) at 3,920
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +3.39 (+0.27%) at 1,281
FTSE100 up +31.62 (+0.48%) at 6,654
CAC 40 unchanged 0.00 (0.00%) at 4,277
Dax unchanged 0.00 (0.00%) at 8,867
Currencies
€/$ 1.37 (1.37)
$/¥ 98.31 (98.18)
£/$ 1.61 (1.61)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.06 at 109.70
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.27 at 98.95
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -1.80 at 1,314
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.30
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.61%
UK 2.78%
Germany 1.85%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.53bps at 72.32bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +1.12bps at 86.18bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +3.14bps at 346.3bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
