North America

After GM's stock surged over 35% in the past two months, Goldman finally decided they had seen enough this morning and downgraded the stock to sell with a $32 price target. 

On October 11, we reported that the now defunct Sears Canada announced plans to liquidate its remaining 150 stores instead of restructuring, the latest admission of brick and mortar defeat in the war with Amazon, with the result some 12,000 job losses in the coming weeks. The Canadian version of Sears is the latest victim of department-store decline that’s swept North America as shoppers gravitate online. While the retailer has dabbled in pop-up stores and e-commerce, its distribution centers aren’t as automated as Amazon.com Inc.

Update (0920ET): A Spanish government spokesman has responded to Puigdemont's address, saying that "Spain will not comment on comments by Puigdemont who is out of a job."

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As we detailed earlier, in a pre-record message this morning, Catalan separtist leader Carles Puigdemont urged Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's formal takeover of the region's affairs.

More than nine months after the DOJ and a handful of Congressional committees launched probes into Russia's efforts to influence the election, President Donald Trump is finally pushing back by aiding Congressional Republicans' efforts to investigate the Clinton's Russia ties, which are as extensive than Trump's, if not more so.

Shares of Mattel, the world's biggest toymaker, cratered as much as 24% after hours after the company announced it would suspend its quarterly dividend starting in Q4, and instead use the cash to shore up its faltering business after a big hit following the bankruptcy of its largest retailer Toys‘R‘Us. A quarter of Mattel's market cap was wiped out after earnings, which were disappointing even without the dividend news.  The suspension of its quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share is expected to save Mattel a modest $50 million per quarter.