Markets: Asian markets pushed higher after comments from the nominee for US Federal Reserve chairman suggested sustained monetary stimulus measures for the world's largest economy. (Financial Times)
Janet Yellen will say the US economy is performing "far short" of its potential at her confirmation hearing on Thursday in prepared remarks that justify continued monetary stimulus. Ms Yellen's remarks suggest she will strike a dovish tone before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday morning but they give away little about current policy or the specifics of how the Fed might act in the future. (Financial Times) (Original)
Japanese GDP growth halved in third quarter as weaker consumption and exports offset a big rise in property investment. The economy grew at an annualised rate of 1.9 per cent between July and September compared to the stimulus-boosted first half, when all three engines – consumption, investment and exports – fired simultaneously to produce quarter-on-quarter growth of 4.3 per cent in the first three months and 3.8 per cent in the second. (Financial Times)
OECD issues warning on French economy: In one of the most wide-ranging critiques by an international institution of France's competitive weaknesses, the 87-page report sent a clear message to President François Hollande's Socialist government that it has not done enough to overhaul Europe's second-largest economy. (Financial Times)
""Fairholme Capital Management said Wednesday it would like to buy parts of bailed-out mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the government in a recapitalization valued at $52 billion. The proposal faces very long odds, given recent statements of top Obama administration and regulatory officials. But it could raise the profile of the needed mortgage-market overhaul that has only recently begun to attract attention from Congress." (WSJ) (Alphaville)
Serco has over £4bn worth of contracts with the Ministry of Defence, according to figures seen by the Financial Times, showing how enmeshed the troubled outsourcing group is with its government paymasters. (Financial Times)
Severstal call for global steel agreement: Alexei Mordashov, chief executive and majority owner of London-listed Severstal, called for the industry's leading players and their respective governments to hammer out a global agreement dramatically to slash output and to reduce excess capacity. (Financial Times)
Cisco Systems warned its revenues could fall as much as 10 per cent in the current quarter, sparking fears that the US networking equipment company is losing ground amid big technology transitions in some of its markets and, says the company, blowback from NSA surveillance. (Financial Times)
"KKR and Google have struck a pact to invest about $400 million in six solar-power plants being built by Recurrent Energy in California and Arizona, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal, which could be announced as soon as Thursday, marks the second time the trio has tied up together." (WSJ)
Snapchat rejected Facebook: "In a sign of the fervor once again rising around Internet startups, the 23-year-old CEO of a two-year-old company with no revenue has rejected a $3 billion buyout offer." (WSJ)
Starbucks' latest income tax bill has been cut to zero by a $2.7bn compensation charge it was ordered to pay Kraft Foods over a contract dispute. (Financial Times)
JPMorgan feels the wrath of Twitter after attempting a Q&A with Jimmy Lee, one of the senior bankers that worked on Twitter's share sale using #AskJPM. (Financial Times)
COMMENTS & CURIOS
The Fed is debating a low-rate peg -- employment, deflationary threshold or some such (WSJ)
Radical state action is the answer to Britain's housing crisis (Financial Times)
China: the road to reform (Financial Times)
Policy changes spark signs of life in China insurance (Financial Times)
JPM's fruitful ties to a member of China's elite (NYT Dealbook)
It's not either-or but it's the first arrow of Abenomics that really matters (Financial Times)
One senator's war against climate change (Bloomberg Klein)
Hans-Werner Sinn on why Draghi was wrong to cut interest rates (Financial Times)
Miley Cyrus, Sir John Major, twerking and model rebranding (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +368.63 (+2.53%) at 14,936
Topix up +17.43 (+1.45%) at 1,222
Hang Seng up +196.61 (+0.88%) at 22,660
US markets
S&P 500 up +14.31 (+0.81%) at 1,782
DJIA up +70.96 (+0.45%) at 15,822
Nasdaq up +45.66 (+1.16%) at 3,966
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -7.25 (-0.56%) at 1,284
FTSE100 down -96.79 (-1.44%) at 6,630
CAC 40 down -23.84 (-0.56%) at 4,240
Dax down -21.65 (-0.24%) at 9,055
Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 99.63 (99.22)
£/$ 1.60 (1.61)
€/£ 0.84 (0.8396)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.18 at 107.30
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.08 at 93.96
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +11.90 at 1,280
Copper (Comex) at 3.16
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.72%
UK 2.80%
Germany 1.73%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.37bps at 64.84bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +0.25bps at 84.3bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +1.33bps at 350.4bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
