- Stocks Jump as OPEC Splits Markets; Indian Assets Drop on Attack (BBG)
- In U-Turn, Saudis Choose Higher Prices Over Free Oil Markets (BBG)
- Congress Passes Spending Bill to Keep Government Running (WSJ)
- Wells Fargo chief Stumpf heads to Hill with pressure mounting (Reuters)
- Lawmakers Won’t Let Wells Fargo Forget Its Scandal Anytime Soon (BBG)
- In escalation, India says launches strikes on militants in Pakistan (Reuters)
- U.S. weighs tougher response to Russia over Syria crisis (Reuters)
- Trump Tries to Reclaim His Pre-Debate Swagger (BBG)
- Clinton enlists former foe Sanders in appeal for youth votes in U.S. presidential race (Reuters)
- Och-Ziff to Pay $400 Million to Settle U.S. Foreign Bribery Probe (WSJ)
- Obama Says Backing Third-Party Candidate Is ‘a Vote for Trump’ (BBG)
- Russia says U.S. Syria statement shows Washington supports terrorism (Reuters)
- Russia Says It Would Support 48-Hour Cease-Fire in Aleppo to Allow in Aid (WSJ)
- Hot Mess: How Goldman Sachs Lost $1.2 Billion of Libya’s Money (BBG)
- Hillary Clinton’s Key Aide Huma Abedin Is a Lightning Rod for Attacks (WSJ)
- China armed forces warn Japan against South China sea patrols (Reuters)
- How the IRS Helps the Rich Get Richer (BBG)
- As Chicago Staunches Fiscal Bleed, Schools Are Awash in Red Ink (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– National Amusements Inc is set to urge the boards of the companies it controls – CBS Corp and Viacom Inc – to explore a merger. http://on.wsj.com/2dsYdnK
– Takata Corp is negotiating with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve allegations of wrongdoing over its faulty air bags. http://on.wsj.com/2dsYUx8
– Anheuser Busch InBev won approval for the $100 billion plus takeover of rival SABMiller Plc, after shareholders from both companies voted in favour of the merger. http://on.wsj.com/2dsZuee
– Blackberry Ltd said on Wednesday it would stop making its smartphone devices and would outsource the development of the devices to focus on its software business. http://on.wsj.com/2dsZzia
– Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it was in discussions with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to address potential safety issues of some of its top-load washing machines manufactured between March 2011 and April 2016. http://on.wsj.com/2dt0qQ5
– Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC will pay more than $400 million to settle charges that it paid bribes to African government officials, while its unit will plead guilty to criminal charges. http://on.wsj.com/2dsZtqU
FT
Oil prices settled up nearly 6 percent on Wednesday after OPEC struck a deal to limit crude output at its policy meeting in November, its first agreement to cut production since 2008 and after the market crashed on oversupply.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi rejected German criticism that sub-zero interest rates were impoverishing savers and straining top lender Deutsche Bank AG, saying its monetary policy was a necessity to get the euro zone back on the path to growth and revive inflation.
French financial regulators offered on Wednesday to speed up the process of registering financial firms leaving London for France by handling their files in English.
Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover’s strategy director said in a speech ahead of the Paris Motor Show that any new tariffs introduced after Britain leaves the European Union will make its business uncompetitive and put jobs at risk.
NYT
– Ronald Stanton, a refugee from Nazi Germany who made a fortune in petrochemicals and then gave or pledged more than $300 million to various charities, most of them in New York, died at his home in Manhattan. He was 88. http://nyti.ms/2dF4lYV
– House lawmakers questioned Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, on Wednesday about the handling of the Wells Fargo accounts scandal, with some calling for tougher punishment of the biggest banks and their senior managers when they violate the law. http://nyti.ms/2dgd5SK
– Maurice Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc, clashed with a New York State prosecutor on Wednesday over the extent of his role in a transaction at the center of his civil accounting fraud trial. http://nyti.ms/2dsY2Zu
– OPEC’s 14 oil-producing nations agreed to modestly cut their collective oil output later this year in an effort to bolster sagging prices, according to a cartel official. http://nyti.ms/2dgdIvM
Britain
The Times
BlackBerry Ltd said that it would no longer develop its own hardware, outsourcing the work to Indonesia. The announcement marked the end for a device that sparked a revolution in mobile working. (http://bit.ly/2dsDbRl)
Deutsche Post DHL unwrapped a £242.7 million ($316.38 million) deal for UK Mail yesterday and thereby greatly expanded the German company’s British network. (http://bit.ly/2dsDDiH)
The Guardian
Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Credit Suisse, said the banking sector is “not really investable” and warned about the problems plaguing the sector as the focus remained on Deutsche Bank’s battle to reduce a $14billion penalty from U.S. authorities. (http://bit.ly/2d81clL)
Apple Inc is planning to move its UK headquarters to Battersea power station in a major boost for the £8bn regeneration of the Grade II-listed building. (http://bit.ly/2d82g8V)
The Telegraph
Bidders for National Grid’s £11 billion ($14.34 billion)regional gas networks business may be preparing to overpay based on mistaken assumptions about the returns that will be on offer in future years, energy regulator Ofgem has warned. (http://bit.ly/2d83W2a)
The London Stock Exchange is exploring plans to sell the French wing of its clearing house in order to soothe the concerns of Europe’s competition watchdog, which has launched an investigation into its planned merger with Deutsche Boerse . (http://bit.ly/2d830eq)
Sky News
The Treasury is lining up bankers to steer it through the latest crisis to engulf Royal Bank of Scotland’s efforts to offload a network of 300 branches. (http://bit.ly/2d83yRi)
The Independent Minouche Shafik, a deputy governor of the Bank of England, has said she thinks it likely the central bank will cut interest rates still further to help the UK economy cope with the impact of the Brexit vote. (http://ind.pn/2d85UzB)
Just a month after the final store closed, Al Mana Group, which bought the international and online operation, said it had retained UK staff and suppliers to begin sales via a new web platform. (http://bit.ly/2d86U6U)
via http://ift.tt/2dmXvql Tyler Durden