American Express

• Dallas County May Declare State of Disaster From Ebola Virus (BBG)
• Markets on edge after worst turmoil in four years (Reuters)
• Central bankers may have no quick fix as markets swoon, economy weakens (Reuters)
• Risk of Deflation Feeds Global Fears  (Hilsenrath)
• U.S. health official allowed new Ebola patient on plane with slight fever (Reuters)
• Texas Hospital Fights Allegations About Ebola Protocols (BBG)
• Treasuries Gain as Oil Drops Below $80 While Stocks Slide (BBG)
• Greek Bonds Slump on Bailout Concern as Spain Misses Sale Target (BBG)
• White House shifts into crisis mode on Ebola response (Reuters)
• Obama Confronts Slippery Slope as Islamic State Advances (BBG)

For the fourth consecutive night, futures attempted to storm higher, and were halted in their tracks when the USDJPY failed to rebound from the recalibrated 107 tractor beam, following a statement by the BOJ's former chief economist and executive director (until March 2013) who said that now is the time for the Bank of Japan to begin tapering. Needless to say, there could be no worse news to bailout and liquidity-addicted equities as the last thing a global rigged market can sustain now that QE is about to end in two weeks, is the BOJ also reducing its liquidity injections in the fungible world. This promptly took away spring in the ES' overnight bounce. Not helping matters is the continuing selloff in oil, which as we reported first yesterday, has hit the most oversold levels ever, is not helping and we can only imagine the margin calls the likes of Andy Hall and other commodity funds (ahem Bridgewater -3% in September due to "commodities") are suffering. But the nail in the coffin of the latest attempt by algos to bounce back was the news which hit two hours ago that a second Ebola case has been confirmed in Texas, and just as fears that the worst is over, had started to dissipate.

And so Carl Icahn wins again, this time with his demand that eBay spin off PayPal. As a reminder, eBay swore up and down it would never spin off its best performing asset, then swore again, and swore some more. And then 3 minutes ago, revealed it was only kidding, because eBay just reported PayPal will be spun off in a move that will cost CEO John Donahoe his job: "Neither Donahoe nor Swan will have an executive management role in the new eBay and PayPal companies. But to provide continuity, they each expect to serve on one or both of the boards of the two companies. Oh, and another winner: "Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Allen & Company LLC are serving as financial advisors to eBay Inc."

These days, central banks have become so intertwined with the economy and capital markets that every word uttered by just about any senior Federal Reserve official is endlessly scrutinized to gauge what their next step might be. But it wasn’t always like this. There were times when the Fed actively defended the strict independence of monetary policy, as well as the role of free markets in creating prosperity and even preserving civil liberties. And those were the days of William McChesney Martin, Jr.

On the day when Apple unveils "Apple Pay," enabling hackers to now get access not only to actor selfies but to their credit card numbers too; following smaller online retailers' lead - such as Overstock - the world's biggest marketplace, Ebay, has announced its PayPal unit will begin accepting bitcoin for payments. As Bloomberg reports, Ebay said at TechCrunch's Disrupt conference, "over the coming months we’ll allow our merchants to accept bitcoin. On the consumer side it will be a sleek experience." As we previously noted, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne's comments that "once we and some other major guys start accepting it things could change very quickly," and Ebay seems to agree, adding "we're at the right time for this, and to see how to propel it forward." Bitcoin prices have not reacted to this news as the virtual currency has become considerably more stable in recent months.

Here we go... Icahn's been adding and everyone's excited about a bigger screen (like Samsung), an iWatch (like Motorola and Samsung), payments (like NFC on Samsung phones), Health (like Samsung), or whatever magic Tim Cook and his 'innovators' have in store. Apple's launch of iPhone 6 et al. will take place shortly...

• Fed Decision-Day Guide: QE Tapering to Inflation Debate (BBG)
• Obama says strains over Ukraine not leading to new Cold War with Russia (Reuters)
• Siemens to BP Prepare for Downward Russia Business Spiral (BBG)
• Paying Ransoms, Europe Bankrolls Qaeda Terror (NYT)
• Argentina Banks Preparing Bid to Help Argentina Avoid Default (WSJ)
• Obama Weighs Fewer Deportations of Illegal Immigrants Living in U.S. (WSJ)
• India Warships Off Japan Show Rising Lure as China Counterweight (BBG)
• Hong Kong Popping Housing Bubbles London Can’t Handle (BBG)
• Carnage at U.N. school as Israel pounds Gaza refugee camp (Reuters)

Overnight markets have been a continuation of the relative peace observed yesterday before the onslaught of key data later in the week, with the biggest mover standing out as the USDJPY, which briefly touched 102 before sliding lower then recouping losses. This sent the Nikkei 225 up 0.57% despite absolutely atrocious Japanese household spending data, coupled with a major deterioration in employment: at this rate if Abenomics doesn't fix the economy it just may destroy it. Aside from that the last 24 hours could be summed as having a lot of noise but not a lot of excitement. This was best illustrated by the S&P500’s (+0.03%) performance which was the second smallest gain YTD. And while the SHCOMP is starting to fade its recent euphoria and China was up only 0.24%, Europe continues to cower in the shade of Russian sanctions as both German Bund yields rose to record highs, and Portugal's BES tumbled by 10% once again to 1 week lows. Today Europe is expected to formally reveal its latest Russian sanctions, which should in turn push Europe's already teetering economy back over the edge.

The UK had feared whiplash from sanctions on Russian oligarchs but this 'boomerang' is too much to bear... As Bloomberg reports, “We’re seeing a lot less Russian surnames on the booking sheet," at London's Mahiki, a Polynesian-themed nightclub in upmarket Mayfair where a bottle of Cristal Champagne goes for $719 - and Russian customers are being supplanted by revelers from countries including China and Nigeria. “The Russian market was like a Champagne fountain,” notes on ereveler, "The money was coming into the top and flowing down..." but not so much anymore...

• Espirito Santo Financial Suspends Shares, Bonds on ESI Exposure (BBG)
• Europe Stocks Drop for Fifth Day as Espirito Santo Sinks (BBG)
• Espirito Santo Creditors Doubt Containment on Missed Payment (BBG)
• French Stocks Seen Extending Losses on Economy Concern (BBG)
• Stocks Slide With Portugal Bonds as Yen Gains; Oil Drops (BBG)
• U.S. Probes Hacking of Government Computers at Personnel Agency (WSJ)... finds terabytes of porn 
• It's Congress' fault: Obama rejects criticism over border crisis (Reuters)
• Israel Mobilizes 20,000 Troops for Possible Gaza Invasion (BBG)
• Chinese hackers pursue key data on U.S. workers (NYT)
• Donetsk Primed for Siege as Ukraine Army Hems In Rebels (BBG)

• Xi Says China Conflict With U.S. Would Be Disaster (BBG)
• Short selling drops to lowest level since Lehman (FT)
• Scoping the new subprime as watchdogs cry 'bubble' (Reuters)
• Carlos Slim to break up América Móvil empire (FT)
• Jury Acquits Rengan Rajaratnam in Insider-Trading Case (WSJ)
• Hamas rockets land deep in Israel as it bombards Gaza Strip (Reuters)
• Hong Kong Buyers Queue for New Homes After Prices Plunge (BBG)
• Rebel Stronghold in Ukraine Braces for Its Showdown (WSJ)
• Tiny Houses Big With U.S. Owners Seeking Economic Freedom (BBG)
• Chinese Cash-Bearing Buyers Drive U.S. Foreign Sales Jump (BBG)

• Obama to tout manufacturing gains, highlight economic progress (Reuters)
• Iraq Gunmen Attack North of Baghdad as Obama Weighs Plan (BBG)
• Chinese Regulators Block Shipping Alliance Abandoned Deal (WSJ)
• Russian $8.2 Trillion Oil Trove Locked Without U.S. Tech (BBG)
• Ukrainian forces, rebels clash near Russian border (Reuters)
• M&A talk lifts stocks, Iraq tensions ease slightly (Reuters)
• Wealthy Clintons Use Trusts to Limit Estate Tax They Back (BBG)
• Argentina vows to service debt despite new legal blow (Reuters)
• Allergan's Bitter Pill for Morgan Stanley (WSJ)
• Islamists kill 50 in Kenya, some during World Cup screening (Reuters)
• American Express Revs Up Pursuit of the Masses (WSJ)

• Iraq Army Tries to Roll Back Sunni Militants’ Advance (BBG)
• Starbucks to Subsidize Workers' Online Degrees (WSJ)
• ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Calls Rich to Tax-Free Tropical Paradise (BBG)
• Medtronic Is Biggest Firm Yet to Renounce U.S. Tax Status (BBG), Medtronic to buy Covidien for $42.9 billion, rebase in Ireland (Reuters)
• Oil Topping $116 Seen Possible as Iraq Conflict Widens (BBG)
• Putin Seeks Paris Landmark as Hollande’s Russia Ties Defy Obama (BBG)
• GM Says It Has a Shield From Some Liability (WSJ)
• BOJ’s Bond Paralysis Seen Spreading Across Markets (BBG)

As #MarginCompression creeps into one the fastest growing industries of the millenium...

If there was some confusion yesterday why in the first quarter, seemingly having no better capital allocation option S&P500 corporate CEOs spent a record $160 billion on stock buybacks, then the following report should explain it: According to a new study by the AP, the median pay package for a CEO rose above eight figures for the first time last year. The head of a typical large public company earned a record $10.5 million, an increase of 8.8 percent from $9.6 million in 2012, according to an Associated Press/Equilar pay study.