09Nov2015 Pre-Market Commentary: European Stocks Down, US Futures Down, WTI Oil Down, Moday Is Not Looking Good Right Now

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are mixed to lower. Shares in France are off as the CAC 40 drops 0.51%. The DAX is down 0.20% while the FTSE 100 in London is unchanged.

G20 finalizes tools for ending ‘too big to fail’ banks

LONDON (Reuters) – Global regulators set out their “final tools” on Monday for ending the phenomenon of “too big to fail” banks, seeking to draw a line under a period of intensive rule making after a financial crisis that tarnished the sector and weighed heavily on taxpayers.

Apple’s iPad Pro to go on sale Wednesday

(Reuters) – Apple Inc said its iPad Pro will be available for ordering online on Wednesday and will arrive at stores later this week.

Valeant to give an update on operations in conference call on Tuesday

(Reuters) – Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc said on Monday it will hold a conference call on Tuesday to give an update on its operations and plans to transition from specialty pharmacy, Philidor.

Emirates signs $16 billion engine deal with GE for 777x fleet

DUBAI (Reuters) – Dubai’s Emirates airlines [EMIRA.UL] on Monday said it signed a $16 billion service contract with GE’s aviation unit for engines powering the airline’s 777x fleet.

Stock futures lower after weak Chinese trade data

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Monday after weak Chinese trade data for October rekindled concerns about slowing global economic growth.

Dish Network reports quarterly profit above estimates

(Reuters) – Dish Network Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher revenue per user from its core pay-TV business.

Dollar sits pretty, bond yields rise as Fed bets firm

LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar took a breather on Monday having surged to a seven-month high, while emerging, commodity and bond markets had a nervy feel after strong U.S. jobs data boosted bets on a December Federal Reserve rate hike.

HSBC hopes to leapfrog rivals with new China partnership

HONG KONG (Reuters) – HSBC is seeking to overtake Western rivals in the race for a slice of China’s $4 trillion onshore bond market thanks to an investment banking partnership with a state-owned investor it announced last week.

Wall Street Braces For Drop In Bonuses, In Some Cases Up To 60%, For The First Time Since 2011

While 2015 has seen its share of market tribulations, from repeated “flash crashes” in various asset classes, to the “summer of the Greek referendum”, to the late summer EM/China devaluation market swoon, it has managed to rebound once again with the S&P practically back to all time highs, as central banks have once again thrown the kitchen sink at stocks. However, not all is well on Wall Street, where when one cuts all the noise, just one thing matters: the year-end bonus. It is here that as WSJ reports citing the latest survey from Johnson Associates, bonuses are expected to see a broad drop for the first time in four years.

The reason: “chaotic global markets harmed the returns of many money managers and delayed companies’ plans to go public, affecting pay for asset-management employees and investment bankers charged with underwriting initial public offerings. Bonuses for fixed-income traders are also expected to drop for a fifth year in a row as large banks continue to wrestle with new regulations that rein in risk-taking.”

That, and much less rigging of course, in everything from FX, to stocks, to bonds, to gold, to commodities, etc.

Not surprisingly, the last time year-end bonus payouts dropped across the industry was 2011, when the market – just like in 2015 – was poised for virtually no gains.

“It’s a disappointment,†said Alan Johnson, managing director at New York-based Johnson Associates. “It’s been such an uncertain year, a stressful year. Pay is down moderately, but it feels …

Black Swan Lands In Portugal As Socialists Move To Overthrow Government

Late last month we highlighted to reappointment of Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho, noting that, in the words of Communist leader Jerónimo de Sousa, the President’s move to ignore the left’s attempt to form a government in the wake of largely inconclusive elections may be a “manifest waste of time.â€

As FT put it a few weeks back, “no government on the left or right [can] hope to survive without support from the PS, which won 32.3 per cent [in October]†which means President Anibal Cavaco Silva might have made a mistake in propping up Coelho as the PM’s restoration will only serve to embolden an already angry left coalition.

Well sure enough, socialist leader Antonio Costa has now “formalized†plans to unite with the Left Bloc and Communists in order to reject the Coelho government. Here’s Bloomberg:

Portugal’s Socialists approved a plan to join forces with three other parties and oust Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s administration, raising the prospect of a new government committed to speeding the reversal of spending cuts tied to the country’s international bailout.

The Socialist-led program “is clearly less market-friendly than the one of the incumbent government,†analysts at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London, including Clement Mary-Dauphin, said.

The Coelho government will fall if the Socialists and …

Takeover Loans Have Few Takers on Wall Street

Wall Street banks are struggling to sell billions of dollars of buyout loans, a sign that investor appetite for riskier debt remains muted despite a robust autumn rally in other financial markets.

Hedge-Fund Prodigy Takes a $300 Million Hit

Star money manager Nehal Chopra’s Tiger Ratan Capital Fund LP has fallen about 33% in three months, one of the swiftest and most severe money-losing streaks in a bruising year for hedge funds.

Big Banks Could Be Forced to Raise Up to $1.19 Trillion

Global financial regulators published new rules to stop banks from becoming “too big to fail,†which could force the world’s largest lenders to raise as much as $1.19 trillion by 2022 in debt or other securities that can be written off when winding down failing banks.

Economic Preview: Whew! U.S. economy hasn’t gone off the rails

Seems the economy is doing fine after all. The U.S. added a whopping 271,000 jobs in October and apparently a lot of them are parents. Day-care employment hit a record high.