Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Advance of Islamist Terrorists Tests Obama’s Flat No on Ground Forces. President Barack Obama is facing the slippery-slope problem in Iraq and Syria that he’s sought to avoid, with some advisers concluding that limited airstrikes are insufficient to break Islamic State’s momentum. As airpower has failed to dislodge the extremists from the Syrian border town of Kobani or halt their offensive in Iraq, Obama’s appeals for strategic patience are being challenged by some U.S. military and intelligence officers and diplomats who say more needs to be done. 
• Greek Bond Rout Drags Down Markets From Ireland to France. Greece’s government debt is back in the spotlight and investors are looking for the exit. As the four-day rout in Greek bonds sent yields to the highest since January, the selloff started to infect nations from Ireland to Portugal and even larger countries such as France. In Spain, a debt auction fell short of the government’s maximum target, and European stocks extended their longest losing streak since 2003. German 10-year bunds fell for the first time in three days, pushing the yield on the euro region’s benchmark securities up from a record low. 
• Russia’s $50 Billion Repo Pledge Fails to Halt Ruble Drop on Oil. The ruble slid to a record as oil sank and a global market rout overshadowed the Bank of Russia’s pledge of $50 billion to ease a foreign-currency shortage. The currency slumped 1.3 percent to 46.1342 against the dollar-euro basket by 6 p.m. in Moscow, when the central bank ends its daily market operations. The ruble temporarily pared its drop after policy makers said they will offer as much as $1.5 billion of four-week repurchase agreements at its debut auction on Oct. 29.
• European Stocks Tumble to One-Year Low on Crisis Concern. (video) European stocks fell to this year’s low, with the benchmark index posting itslongest slump in 11 years, as concern grew that a financial crisis is returning to the region’s so-called peripheral nations. Even so, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index pared a decline of as much as 2.9 percent after St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said the Fed should consider delaying the end of its bond purchase program. The Stoxx 600 dropped 0.4 percent to 310.03 at the close, falling for an eighth day.
• Iron Ore Outlook Cut by UBS as Market Share Battle Picks Up. Global iron ore suppliers are locked in a battle for market share as a surplus expands, according to UBS AG, which cut price forecasts for 2015 and 2016 while sticking with a call for an end-of-year rally this quarter. The steel-making raw material will average $85 a metric ton in 2015 and $82 in 2016, analysts including Daniel Morgan said in a report received today. Previously, the outlook for both years was an average of about $103 a ton. Iron ore will rally toward $100 this quarter as mills restock, the bank said.
• Volckerized Wall Street Dumping Bonds With Rest of Herd. Corporate bond values are swinging the most in more than a year and here’s one reason why: Wall Street’s biggest banks are following the crowd and selling, too.Goldman Shares Fall on Bigger Trading Drop Than Rivals.
• Goldman(GS) Shares Fall on Bigger Trading Drop Than Rivals. (video) Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell as much as 3.4 percent after posting a bigger decline in trading revenue from the second quarter than competitors including JPMorgan Chase & Co. The shares slid 1.8 percent to $174.03 at 11:45 a.m. in New York, the fourth-largest drop in the 85-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index.

ZeroHedge: 

• Falling Oil Prices Could Push Venezuela Over The Edge.
• HFT Firm Athena Engaged In Massive Closing Price Manipulation, Called It "Gravy".
• Suddenly, We Have Problems.
• "Cavalry Won't Be Coming From The East" - China New Loans Jump But Not Nearly Enough, FX Reserves Drop Most On Record. (graph)
• Data Dependent Fed Ignores 'Data' - Bullard Joins Williams In Call For QE4.
• Homebuilder Sentiment Slides, Biggest Miss Since Feb As Buyer Traffic Plunges. (graph)
• 8 European Countries In Outright Deflation As Inflation Expectations Crash To Record Low. (graph)
• Sorry France, The Bond Market Has Spoken: You Are Not In The "Core" Anymore. (graph)
• Industrial Production Beats, Rises At Fastest Rate In 4 Years On Air-Conditioning Demand. (graph)
• WHO Shocked At 427 Ebola-Infected Healthcare Workers As Cases Top 9000, Deaths Exceed 4500.

Business Insider:

• APPLE(AAPL) ANNOUNCES NEW IPADS, NEW RETINA iMAC.
• China's Banks Are Getting Ready For A Debt Implosion.
• CDC Chief: Spread Of Ebola In Africa Could Imperil US Healthcare System.
• Sanjay Gupta Uses Chocolate Sauce To Show Us How Easy It Is To Get Ebola.
• FLECKENSTEIN: There's 'No Way On Earth' The S&P Stays Near 2,000 Without The Fed.

NBC:

• Obama May Send National Guard to Liberia to Fight Ebola: Sources. President Barack Obama is expected to issue an executive order Thursday paving the way for the deployment of National Guard forces to Liberia to help contain the Ebola outbreak there, sources told NBC News. The sources said that eight engineers and logistical specialists from the Guard, both active-duty and reservists, would probably be included in the first deployment. They are expected to help build 17 Ebola treatment centers, with 100 beds apiece. Defense Department officials said that the executive order was necessary to speed the deployments, and would allow the president to send additional forces as needed.

Reuters:

• BOJ to stand pat even as inflation stalls, global markets tumble -sources. Even as growth and deflation fears roil global markets and weak data casts a shadow over Japan's economy, the Bank of Japan appears set to resist pressure for more stimulus measures or to accept that its inflation target is unrealistically high. People familiar with its deliberations said the BOJ, which has failed for two decades to drag Japan's economy from the grip of no or zero inflation, is preparing to roughly halve its 1 percent economic growth forecast for this fiscal year, but stand pat on policy and its prediction that inflation will hit its 2 percent target in the year from next April.

Financial Times:

• Markets are parched for liquidity despite a flood of cash. This week’s price gyrations show that the degree to which assets can be traded matters hugely.

Format:

• ECB Nowotny Says Expectations of ABS Volumes Exaggerated. "There were exaggerated ideas about the purchasing volume," ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said in an interview. ECB shouldn't precommit on ABS purchase volumes, "quality is more important than quantity," Nowotny said.

al-Hayat:

• Saudis Represent 60% of Islamic State Suicide Bombers. 12 out of 21 suicide bombers for Islamic State in Iraq were Saudi citizens, citing announcements by Islamic State after each bombing since September.