NYSE Euronext

• Cyprus works on Plan B to stave off bankruptcy (AP)
• Cyprus seeks Russian bailout aid, EU threatens cutoff (Reuters)
• Freddie Mac Sues Multiple Banks Over Libor Manipulation (BBG)
• Bernanke Seen Keeping Up Pace of QE Until Fourth Quarter (Bloomberg)
• Italian president seeks way out of political stalemate (Reuters)
• Chinese factories struggle to keep staff (FT)
• South Korean banks, media report network crash (CBC)
• BlackBerry Inventor Starts Fund to Make Star Trek Device Reality (Bloomberg)
• Osborne Should Be Fired, Voters Say in Pre-Budget Poll (Bloomberg)
• Obama Begins First Visit to Israel as President (WSJ)
• Anadarko finds ‘potentially giant’ oilfield (FT)
• Britain's Osborne boxed in by austerity on budget day (Reuters)
• MF Global reaches agreement with JPMorgan (FT)

• G20 struggles over forex, at odds over debts (Reuters)
• Alwaleed Sells Airbus A380 to Invest in Middle East Firms (BBG)
• GOP Stalls Vote on Pick for Pentagon (WSJ)
• ECB officials rebuff currency targeting as G20 meets (Reuters)
• Not good for the reflation effort: Muto leads as Japan PM close to choosing nominee for Bank of Japan chief (Reuters)
• M&A Surges as Confidence Spurs Deals in Computers to Consumer (BBG)
• JPMorgan’s head of equity prop trading Gulati to launch own fund (FT)
• Tiffany & Co. sues Costco over engagement rings labeled ‘Tiffany' (WaPo)
• JPMorgan Said to Fire Traders, Realign Pay Amid Slump (BBG)
• Broker draws Tullett into Libor scandal  (FT)
• Airbus drops Lithium-Ion batteries for A350 (Reuters)

• The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed (Esquire)
• G7 fires currency warning shot, Japan sanguine (Reuters)
• North Korea Confirms It Conducted 3rd Nuclear Test (NYT)
• Italian Police Arrest Finmeccanica CEO (WSJ)
• Legacy, political calendar frame Obama's State of the Union address (Reuters)
• China joins U.S., Japan, EU in condemning North Korea nuclear test (Reuters)
• Wall Street Fading as Emerging-Market Banks Gain Share (BBG)
• Berlin Conference 2.0: Drugmakers eye Africa's middle classes as next growth market (Reuters)
• Barclays to Cut 3,700 Jobs After Full-Year Loss (BBG)
• US Treasury comment triggers fall in yen (FT)
• ECB Ready to Offset Banks’ Accelerated LTRO Payback (BBG)
• Fed's Yellen Supports Stimulus to Spur Jobs (WSJ)
• Libor Scrutiny Turns to Middlemen (WSJ)
• Samsung Girds for Life After Apple in Disruption Devotion (BBG)

• Obama to meet with Goldman's Blankfein, other CEOs Tuesday (Reuters)
• Chinese Firms Shrug at Rising Debt (WSJ)
• McGraw-Hill, S&P Sued by U.S. Over Mortgage-Bond Ratings (BBG)... but not Moody's or Fitch
• Dime a Dozen: Dollar Stores Pinched by Rapid Expansion (WSJ)
• Dell Board Said to Vote Monday Night on $24 Billion LBO (BBG)
• BOJ Governor Shirakawa to step down on March 19 (Reuters)
• Alberta may offer more to smooth way for Keystone (Reuters)
• Facebook Is Said to Create Mobile Location-Tracking App (BBG)
• Barclays takes another $1.6 billion hit for mis-selling (Reuters)
• Apple App Advantage Eroded as Google Narrows IPhone Lead (BBG)
• Texas School-Finance System Unconstitutional, Judge Rules (BBG)
• World Risks ‘Perfect Storm’ on Capital Flows, Carstens Says (BBG)

• U.S. Wants Criminal Charges for RBS (WSJ)
• Bernanke Seen Buying $1.14 Trillion in Assets in 2014 (BBG)
• Irish banks at mercy of international paymasters (Reuters)
• Do badly, and we will let you do even worse: Rehn Signals EU May Ease Spain Budget Goal in Austerity Retreat (BBG)
• Too Soon to Celebrate for Europe's Banks (WSJ)
• Army says political strife taking Egypt to brink (Reuters)
• Media Firms Probed on Data Release (WSJ) - No Criminal Charges Seen
• Japan’s Government Proposes First Spending Cut in 7 Years (BBG)
• Nazi Goebbels’ Step-Grandchildren Are Hidden Billionaires (BBG)
• Goldman seeks to reduce China exposure (FT)
• More than 70% of Chinese airports generate losses (People's Daily)

• When the cash runs out: Nokia to Omit Dividend for First Time in 143 Years (BBG)
• Passing Debt Bill, GOP Pledges End to Deficits (WSJ)
• Japan logs record trade gap in 2012 as exports struggle (Reuters)
• so naturally... Yen at 100 Per Dollar Endorsed by Japan Government’s Nishimura (BBG)
• Japan rejects currency war fears (FT)
• In Amenas attack brings global jihad home to Algeria (Reuters)
• Investors grow cagey as Italy election nears (Reuters)
• Mafia Victim’s Son Holds Key to Bersani Winning Key Region (BBG)
• Bernanke Seen Pressing On With Stimulus Amid Debate on QE (BBG)
• U.S. to lift ban on women in front-line combat jobs (Reuters)
• Red flags revealed in filings of firm linked to Caterpillar fraud (Reuters)
• Apple Sales Gain Slowest Since ’09 as Competition Climbs (BBG)
• Spanish Jobless Rate Hits Record After Rajoy’s First Year (BBG)
• North Korea Threatens Nuclear Test to Derail U.S. Policies (BBG)

• White House delays 2014 budget after "fiscal cliff" standoff (Reuters) - And Senate will pass this... never?
• Amari Signals Limits to Abe’s Campaign to Weaken Yen (BBG)
• Draghi’s Bond Rally Masks Debt Doom Loop Trapping Spain (BBG)
• Obama backs gun limits, concedes tough fight ahead (AP)
• Bernanke to Weigh QE Costs as Fed Assets Approach Record (BBG)
• Japan to Sell Debt Worth 7.8 Trillion Yen to Pay for Stimulus (BBG)
• France more than doubles forces in Mali (FT) and yet...
• Malian Rebels Take Town and Vow to Avenge French Attack (NYT)
• China’s Li Calls for Patience as Government Works to Reduce Smog (BBG)
• EU berates China over steel subsidies (BBG)
• Number of working poor families grows as wealth gap widens (Reuters)

In the last days of 2012 we penned an article describing the current situation of the market as follows: "Margin Debt Soars To 2008 Levels As Everyone Is "All In", Levered, And Selling Vol." Today, Bloomberg catches up with this rather critical topic, and confirms that the buying power of the biggest marginal traders left in the market who do not recycled deposits into stocks - hedge funds - is nothing more than debt piled upon debt, as "Leverage among managers who speculate on rising and falling shares climbed to the highest level to start any year since at least 2004, according to data compiled by Morgan Stanley." BBG also recaps what our readers already know: "Margin debt at NYSE firms rose in November to the most since February 2008, data from NYSE Euronext show." In other words: everyone is all in and levered. And soon, in about two weeks, Bloomberg will figure out that everyone, or at least a central bank here or there, is, indeed, "selling vol."

Just about a year after the failed attemped by the Deutsche Bourse to acquire the NY Stock Exchange, we get a friendly reminder that stock trading is a dying business, and venues that engage in it must consolidate or die. Sure enough, moments ago the Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, announced it would acquire the NYSE for $33.12 or roughly $8.2 billion in stock and cash.

• ICE TO BUY NYSE EURONEXT FOR $33.12-SHR IN STOCK, CASH
• ICE PACT IS FOR ABOUT 67% SHRS, 33% CASH
• INTERCONTINENTALEXCHANGE TO ACQUIRE NYSE FOR ABOUT $8.2 BLN
• ICE TO FUND CASH IN DEAL WITH CASH ON HAND, EXISTING CREDIT
• NYSE EURONEXT HOLDERS TO OWN ABOUT 36% OF ICE SHRS POST DEAL
• ICE SAYS NIEDERAUER TO BE PRESIDENT COMBINED CO, CEO NYSE GROUP

It is unclear if the combined exchange will be called N-ICE.

• IMF Demands Partial Default for Cyprus (Spiegel)
• Boehner's 'Plan B' Gets Pushback (WSJ)
• Beijing criticises US ‘political checks’ (FT)
• White House Said to Tell Business Groups Talks Stall (BBG)
• NYSE tries to get hitched again: IntercontinentalExchange in talks to buy NYSE (Reuters) -> N-Ice coming?
• Greece faces ‘make or break’ year (FT)
• Fed rejects idea of consensus forecasts, "maybe forever": Fisher (Reuters)
• Rajoy Drives Spanish Revolution With Low-Cost Manufacture (BBG)
• Italian Senate Set for Budget Vote Before Monti Resigns (BBG)
• BOJ Loosens With Pledge to Review Inflation Objectives (BBG)
• Bowing To Abe, BOJ To Review Price Goal (WSJ)

UPDATE: *CBOE TO CLOSE EXCHANGES OCT. 29 BECAUSE OF HURRICANE SANDY

Late Updates - after a day of consultation and realization that if the algos were left alone to play then things could go a little pear-shaped - NYSE and NASDAQ will now be totally closed tomorrow:

*U.S. EQUITY MARKETS TO CLOSE ON OCT. 29 FOR STORM, SEC SAYS

The NYSE has just released a statement clarifying its hours tomorrow - due to the storm:

*NYSE TRADING FLOOR TO CLOSE TOMORROW; ALL TRADING TO BE ON ARCA

So, hold tight as all those low-lying humans will have left the building in the calm thoughtful hands of Johnny-5 and his friends.

• China May Forgo Easing as Economy Rebounds, Survey Shows (Bloomberg)... or as food and house inflation has never gone away
• China Edges Out U.S. as Top Foreign-Investment Draw Amid World Decline (WSJ)
• Fed to keep buying bonds despite firmer U.S. growth (Reuters)
• Bernanke Seen Attacking Jobless Rate With QE Until His Term Ends (Bloomberg)
• Mortgage applications plunge 12%, down for third week in a row (Dow Jones)
• Exchanges Retreat on Trading Tools - Fund Managers, Regulators Say Certain Orders Are Risky, Aid High-Speed Firms (WSJ)
• Europe Bank Chief to Defend Bond-Buying Plan (WSJ)
• Japan, China Envoys Met Last Week for Talks on Island Feud (Bloomberg)
• Goldman’s Pill Says ‘Guerrilla’ ECB to Impose Losses on Skeptics (BBG)
• Chance rise of an Obama defeat (FT)
• King Says BOE Is Ready to Add to QE If U.K. Recovery Fades (Bloomberg)
• Rajoy Sees Case for Slowing Spain’s Austerity as Economy Shrinks (BusinessWeek)
• Hong Kong Intervenes to Defend Peg as Upper Limit Tested (Bloomberg)

Last August, a 400 point move in the DJIA was the norm. This August, a 50+ point drop in the second coming of the "Balls to the Wall" DJIA was the green light for sheer market panic. While unknown if it is the cause, or effect, of this collapse in volatility, the NYSE just reported that August cash volumes imploded by exactly 50% from last year, one thing is certain: for banks, which no longer make money on net interest margin courtesy of ZNIRP, and $1.6 trillion in inert reserves, the bulk of which are used to buy TSYs, then promptly repo them back to the Fed and use the cash proceeds to buy 200x+ P/E stocks, imploding stock volumes mean only one thing - a collapse in revenues and profits, terminations of entire divisions, collapse in tax revenues for the US Treasury, an increase in deficit, the need for more debt issuance, and a green light for the Fed to monetizing even more supply. And just to avoid the noise from "unseasonal" Y/Y comparisons, in August total ADV dropped by 12.6% from July. ETF volume imploded by two thirds from last year, and 14% from last month. Cue the financial earnings forecast reductions ahead of Q3 results.

The 'what we lose in margin, we'll make up for in volume' strategy is failing. And for the NYSE it is failing large. The decision to 'enable' HFT - for its 'liquidity-provision', which after all has done nothing but expose the dismal reality of a market structure designed to nickel-and-dime retail til the last penny drops, has had the absolute opposite unintended consequence of driving the only real liquidity provider - the retail trader putting his real money to work - out of the market. As Securities Technology reports, the NYSE Euronext reports daily volume of trading stocks down 16.9% from a year ago (and down 17.8% YTD compared to last year) and down 9.9% from June alone. NYSE/Arca/MKT's share of trading in NYSE-listed stocks is down 34.3% from a year ago as the dark pools rise, and with volumes collapsing it is only likely that we will see far more 'incidents' such as Knight - where companies whose top-line explicitly stems from flow trading - increasingly find themselves redundant; whether or not this is due to a self-inflicted algo, or other, potentially more sinister, reasons.