TOP STORIES
GLOBAL MARKETS RALLY ON CHINA, DRAGHI
Global financial markets rallied after China's central bank cut
interest rates and the ECB's president reiterated the institution
was ready to expand its stimulus program. Dow Jones Industrial
Average up more than 160 points.
CHINA CUTS INTEREST RATES
China cut lending rates for the first time in more than two
years, in an acknowledgment that its piecemeal efforts to bolster
its flagging growth have failed.
ECB SIGNALS AGGRESSIVE ACTION ON INFLATION
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi sent a strong
signal that the central bank is ready to "step up the pressure" and
expand its asset-purchase programs if inflation fails to show signs
of quickly returning to the ECB's target.
U.S. ORDERS ELECTRIC UTILITIES TO SECURE SITES
Federal energy regulators ordered the nation's utilities to
protect important electrical equipment from potential attackers
trying to disrupt the U.S. electric grid.
SOTHEBY'S CEO RUPRECHT TO STEP DOWN
Chief Executive William Ruprecht is leaving Sotheby's, months
after hedge-fund activist Dan Loeb and several others joined the
auction house's board. The company said the departure was by mutual
agreement with the board. Sotheby's shares up 7%.
OIL PRICES RISE ON CHINA'S SURPRISE RATES CUTS
Crude oil prices jumped after China surprised the market by
cutting key interest rates. The Brent crude oil contract had been
close to neutral but rose sharply, by around 70 cents a barrel
after the announcement.
FOOT LOCKER PROFIT GROWS 15%, TOPS ESTIMATES
Foot Locker's 3Q profit grew a bigger-than-expected 15% to $120
million, or 82c a share, as sales surged to $1.73 billion, capping
a successful run at the helm of the specialty athletic retailer for
Chief Executive Ken Hicks.
JAPAN ATTEMPTS TO HALT YEN SLIDE
Japan's finance minister moved for the first time to get the
yen's rapid fall under control, the clearest sign yet that a weak
currency is beginning to complicate the country's aggressive
experiment to restore growth.
RUSSIAN GDP GROWTH BEATS EXPECTATIONS
Russia's economy expanded 0.8% in the first 10 months of the
year, beating expectations despite a fall in capital investment,
official data shows
FRANCE INVESTIGATING HSBC'S SWISS UNIT
French prosecutors said they are investigating the Swiss unit of
HSBC Holdings for allegedly laundering the proceeds of tax fraud,
marking the latest international probe into aiding of offshore-tax
evasion by Swiss banks.
BLACKSTONE TO BUY GE'S JAPAN PROPERTY BUSINESS
U.S. investment firm Blackstone Group said it had reached an
agreement to buy General Electric's residential real-estate
business in Japan for more than Yen190 billion ($1.6 billion).
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Money Talks
BRINGING ON THE CURRENCY WARS
Central bankers struggling against weak growth and falling
inflation have come up with a cunning plan: shift the problems onto
someone else. Alen Mattich explains.
Heard on the Street
CHINA RATE CUT SURPRISES, DOESN'T OVERWHELM
Beijing blinked. That doesn't mean the view of China's economy
has all of a sudden gotten much clearer.