TOP STORIES
BAT OFFERS TO BUY REMAINING REYNOLDS STAKE FOR $47 BILLION
British American Tobacco said it has made a $47 billion takeover
offer for the roughly 58% of American peer Reynolds American that
it doesn't already own.
GE PROFIT FALLS AS REVENUE GROWTH LESS THAN EXPECTED
General Electric's oil and gas business continued to weigh on
revenue growth in the latest quarter, and the firm said it would
boost its stock-buyback program.
U.S. STOCKS DECLINE
U.S. stocks fell at the end of a choppy week for shares, with
the Dow Jones Industrial Average down around 100 points.
CYBERATTACK KNOCKS OUT ACCESS TO WEBSITES
Several websites including Twitter and Tumblr were unreachable
for many internet users Friday morning following an online
attack.
MICROSOFT SHARES HIT ALL-TIME HIGH
Shares of Microsoft jumped to an all-time high Friday in the
wake of a positive earnings report, nearly 17 years after setting
its previous high-water mark in the heyday of the dot-com boom.
HONEYWELL'S PROFIT FALLS AS ORGANIC SALES DECLINE
Honeywell International issued the downbeat earnings report it
had forecast earlier this month, saying an unexpectedly weak
September and lackluster performance in the aerospace segment hurt
profit.
MOODY'S SAYS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PREPARING COMPLAINT
Moody's said the Justice Department is readying a complaint
against the firm for ratings it issued just before the 2008
financial crisis.
MCDONALD'S EARNINGS TOP EXPECTATIONS
McDonald's reported better-than-expected earnings, helped in
part by the continued popularity of its all-day breakfast and the
introduction of new chicken nuggets.
VISA TAPS BLOCKCHAIN FOR CROSS-BORDER PAYMENT PLAN
Visa is putting a bitcoin-style network to work as it aims to
take on a new market, the large and complex cross-border payments
made between businesses.
U.K. GOVERNMENT BORROWING HIGHER THAN EXPECTED
The U.K. government ran a bigger deficit in September than it
did a year earlier and remains on track to borrow more than it had
anticipated in the full financial year, official data showed.
EXPENSES DIM PROFIT FOR SUNTRUST BANKS
SunTrust Banks said profit fell in its latest quarter on an
increase in expenses. Results topped Wall Street expectations.
PETROBRAS LOOKS TO SELL STAKE IN ETHANOL PRODUCER
Brazilian state-run oil company PetrĂ³ leo Brasileiro SA, or
Petrobras, on Friday said it is in talks to sell its stake in sugar
and ethanol producer Guarani SA to France's Tereos
Internacional.
US FOODS TO CUT JOBS AMID CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING
Food distributor US Foods Holding Corp. plans to eliminate
hundreds of jobs as part of a restructuring of its corporate
headquarters near Chicago, according to people familiar with the
company's plans.
OPPOSITION TO EU, CANADA DEAL DOESN'T BODE WELL FOR BREXIT
A region of southern Belgium continued to block a trade deal
between the European Union and Canada, raising questions about the
bloc's ability to negotiate and win approval for more complex and
difficult deals, such as a divorce agreement with Britain.
HANJIN IN TALKS TO SELL STAKE IN LONG BEACH TERMINAL
Hanjin is in talks with Mediterranean Shipping to sell its stake
in the Long Beach Terminal as part of a plan to dispose most of its
oversees assets after filing for bankruptcy protection in August,
people involved in the matter said Friday.
MAY WANTS BRITAIN, EU TO TRADE FREELY AFTER BREXIT
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.K. wants to
continue to trade freely in goods and services with the European
Union even after it leaves, ahead of the start of formal talks on
leaving the bloc.
VIDEOGAME VOICE ACTORS GO ON STRIKE
Thousands of voice-over actors have gone on strike against 11
videogame companies, including industry powerhouses Electronic Arts
Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., over a pay
dispute.
DOLLAR HITS FRESH HIGHS AGAINST EURO AND YUAN
The European Central Bank signaled overnight it could extend its
current easing policies, and markets are continuing to bet on a
U.S. interest-rate rise before year-end.
SAP RAISES FULL-YEAR GUIDANCE
SAP raised its guidance for 2016 to between $7.1 billion to $7.3
billion, even after third quarter net profit fell 19% on higher
share-based compensation expenses.
ECB SURVEY SEES WEAK INFLATION IN EUROZONE
An ECB survey has cut the inflation outlook for this year and
2018, suggesting that the bank will have to keep pushing hard to
lift inflation in the eurozone closer to 2%.
======= DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARIES =======
Election 2016
TRUMP RESERVES RIGHT TO CONTEST ELECTION OUTCOME
Donald Trump sought to explain his debate-stage suggestion that
he might not accept a loss in November's vote as legitimate, saying
at a rally he was simply affirming the ability of candidates to
question an election outcome.
Markets Main
CHINA TO SKEPTICS: CONSISTENT GDP RATE JUST A COINCIDENCE
To those who were skeptical of China's three straight quarters
with the same growth rate, the country's statistics bureau has
offered a response: It was just a fluke.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2016 10:31 ET (14:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.