Intercontinental Exchange Said in Talks to Buy NYSE

“IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), the 12-year-old energy and commodity futures bourse, is in talks to buy NYSE Euronext, the owner of the world’s biggest stock market, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal.

The cash-and-stock proposal for NYSE Euronext, which has a market capitalization of $5.8 billion, may be announced as soon as this week, said the person, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. Last year, the U.S. Justice Department blocked a joint hostile bid by ICE and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) for the owner of the New York Stock Exchange on concern the combination would dominate U.S. stock listings…”

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Initial Claims: Prior 343k, Market Expects 345k, Actual 361k

Q3 GDP Prior 2.7, Market Expects 2,7, Actual 3.1%

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“UBS (UBSN) AG, which will pay $1.5 billion to settle charges with U.S. and U.K. regulators for manipulating Libor, is under scrutiny in Hong Kong for possible misconduct linked to the benchmark rate set in the city.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has started an investigation to see if there was wrongdoing by the Swiss bank in its submission of data for setting the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, according to a statement from the de-facto central bank today. The HKMA is also reviewing whether the potential misconduct may have had a material impact on the rate…”

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“New Zealand’s economic growth slowed more than economists forecast last quarter amid a drop in manufacturing and farm output, sending the currency toward its steepest weekly decline since May.

Gross domestic product rose 0.2 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 from the previous quarter, when it expanded a revised 0.3 percent, Statistics New Zealand said in a report released today in Wellington. Growth matched the central bank’s 0.2 percent forecast and was half the 0.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists…”

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“The Bank of Japan (8301) expanded its asset-purchase program for the third time in four months, and will reconsider its objectives for inflation as incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urges more action to end price declines.

The central bank increased the asset-purchase fund to 76 trillion yen ($906 billion) from 66 trillion yen, according to a statement released in Tokyo today. The BOJ kept its credit lending program unchanged at 25 trillion yen…”

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“Hong Kong’s overheated property market is increasingly disconnected from the rest of the economy and poses “macro-financial risks,” the city’s monetary authority said.

Loose global monetary conditions and low interest rates may fuel mortgage borrowing that intensifies “the disconnect between property prices and economic fundamentals,” the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said yesterday in a quarterly report….”

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“The yen strengthened as the Bank of Japan (8301) maintained its inflation goal at 1 percent after newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a doubling of the target. Commodities declined, while Treasuries and German bunds advanced on concern U.S. budget talks are faltering…”

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“Most emerging-market stocks fell, pushing the benchmark index from an eight-month high, as signs of an impasse in U.S. budget negotiations dragged down technology companies.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330), which got 59 percent of its revenue from America in 2011, slid to a three- week low. OAO Novatek, Russia’s non-state gas producer, headed for the highest close since Oct. 24 after a report that Russian ministries support its bid to end OAO Gazprom’s liquefied natural gas export monopoly. Adani Enterprises Ltd. (ADE), India’s biggest coal importer, tumbled 7.1 percent in Mumbai, the steepest decline in the developing-nation gauge, ahead of a share sale by the company’s founders tomorrow.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) fell less than 1 percent to 1,052.56 as of 12:30 p.m. in London, snapping a two-day advance. Officials from U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration told leaders of business and financial services groups that negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner have deteriorated in the past 24 hours, a person familiar with the meeting said. Obama and Republicans are seeking to avert more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start on Jan. 1.

“The U.S. budget negotiations are on top of everybody’s mind and that will have a bearing on the near-term outlook for equities,” Aneesh Srivastava, who oversees $470 million as the chief investment officer at IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co. in Mumbai, said by phone. “A deal would definitely be reached. But until such time, investors are going to remain cautious.”

The 21 nations in MSCI’s developing-nations gauge send about 17 percent of their exports to the U.S. on average, data compiled by the World Trade Organization show…”

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World Markets

Currencies

Commodities

USD Libor

Euribor

Yields for Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

 

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The Bank of Japan (8301) expanded its asset-purchase program for the third time in four months, and will reconsider its objectives for inflation as incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urges more action to end price declines.

The central bank expanded its asset-purchase fund to 76 trillion yen ($906 billion) from 66 trillion yen, according to a statement released in Tokyo today. The bank kept its credit lending program unchanged at 25 trillion yen.

The expanded purchases failed to halt gains in the yen, which reversed three days of declines today as investors sought a haven amid concerns at a stalemate in U.S. budget talks. Abe, whose party swept to victory in this week’s election, will have a chance to reshape the BOJ early next year when the terms of Governor Masaaki Shirakawa and his two deputies expire. He’s pressing for a 2 percent inflation target, compared with an existing 1 percent goal.

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Net purchases of Japanese stocks by Overseas investors rose last week to the highest since last year’s record earthquake and tsunami, according to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Foreign investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks last week for the fifth consecutive week, purchasing a total of 462.9 billion yen ($5.5 billion) more shares than they sold on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya bourses, the exchange said. That’s the most since the week ending March 18, 2011, when net purchases were 955.2 billion yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) has gained 16 percent since Nov. 14 when the previous government said they would call elections. The Liberal Democratic was returned to power in a Dec. 16 poll on pledges to boost government spending and press the Bank of Japan for more monetary stimulus.

“Foreign investors are starting to expect more aggressive policies and economic stimulus measures in Japan,” said Jun Yunoki, an equity analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. “Foreign investors’ risk tolerence is increasing and that’s being directed with capital inflows to Japanese stocks.”

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Hong Kong will ban high-polluting vehicles and offer subsidies to replace diesel-powered buses and trucks, after 15 years of clean-air measures failed to limit smog responsible for more than 3,000 premature deaths a year.

The government will introduce its new “carrot and stick” approach next month, Christine Loh, undersecretary for environment, said in an interview. She said past incentives weren’t big enough, declining to provide the size of the planned subsidies.

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Naturally, Cramer was a big fan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NXJHExu7dQ

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U.S. equities took a step back today with the DOW off by 98 bones.

S&P down 11

NASDAQ 10

Oil maintained its upside while gold went nowhere. More squabbling over the fiscal cliff probably gave traders an opportunity to schnitzel some recent gains.

The story

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPRh472pMtk 450 300]

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjZRAvsZf1g 450 300]

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jplh7uatr-E 450 300]

 

“Less than a month ago, rumors that celebrity news and gossip website TMZ was interested in obtaining a paparazzi drone prompted privacy concerns and public debate about the appropriate personal and commercial uses of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Now, a new online video poses a more troubling question: What if civilian drones are equipped to shoot more than just pictures?

Titled “Citizen Drone Warfare” and posted to YouTube last week by an anonymous man calling himself “Milo Danger,” the video shows a hobbyist drone equipped with a custom-mounted paintball pistol flying over a grassy field and peppering human-shaped shooting-range targets with pellets.

Following an attack pass by the drone, one of the targets sports three large red blotches on its head and neck area.

“I wanted to show an inevitability of what I think will happen with these drones,” said “Milo,” who lives on the West Coast and spoke to The Washington Times on condition of anonymity. “I’m not advocating bad activities. But I wanted to raise some of the ethical issues we need to think about with this new technology…”

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“WASHINGTON (AP) — Three State Department officials resigned under pressure Wednesday, less than a day after a damning report blamed management failures for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, where militants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans on Sept. 11.

The resignations came as lawmakers expressed anger and frustration over the findings of an independent review panel, and the State Department struggled to find a balance between protecting its diplomats while allowing them to do their jobs connecting with people in high-risk posts…”

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“(Reuters) – New York City’s pension funds may sell nearly $18 million worth of stock in four companies that manufacture guns and ammunition, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The city’s pension funds join a growing list of investors and corporations that are distancing themselves from the gun industry following a massacre at a school in Newport, Conn., last week that claimed the lives of 20 students who were 6 and 7 years old.

The city is reviewing its holdings and “aggressively exploring all options, including divestment,” said Matthew Sweeney, a spokesman for New York City Comptroller John Liu…”

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“Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN) has announced that it has accepted an offer of $5.50 per ordinary share ($27.50 per American Depositary Share) from firms that will be controlled by the company’s chairman and CEO, Jason Nanchun Jiang, immediately after the transaction. The offer represents a premium of 17.6% to the closing price of the company’s ADSes on August 10th, the last trading day prior to the company’s announcement that it had received the proposal to go private…”

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“Ally Financial has repaid $4.5 billion of debt owed to the government after it helped bail the company out during the 2008 banking industry meltdown.

Ally, which used to be called GMAC Financial Services, was the financial arm of automaker General Motors until GM sold its controlling stake in Ally in 2006. The government first invested in Ally in 2008, with the Treasury Department eventually gaining a 74 percent equity stake in Ally in December 2010.”

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