- U.S. Economy Expected to Show Momentum, Despite Storms (WSJ)
- As Trump tax comes to floor, failure could spell stocks selloff (Reuters)
- Washington’s Biggest Mystery: What’s in the Republican Tax Plan? (BBG)
- Spain set to impose direct rule in Catalonia as crisis spirals (Reuters)
- Catalans Send Emissary to Madrid to Plead for a Deal (BBG)
- Catalan Leader Runs Out of Options as Streets Demand Secession (BBG)
- Trump releases some JFK files, blocks others under pressure (Reuters)
- Fed Candidate Taylor Calls for Reforms That Echo Trump Agenda (BBG)
- It’s Going to Stay a Yellen Fed No Matter Who Gets the Job (BBG)
- CVS, Aetna in Talks Over $66 Billion Tie-Up Deal (WSJ)
- Energy, not tech or finance, in CEO line-up for Trump's China visit (Reuters)
- Bond Managers Who Can Go Anywhere May End Up Lost (BBG)
- Sinclair’s Washington Winning Streak Has Democrats Crying Foul (BBG)
- U.S. probes Ford Fusion cars for potential detached steering wheels (Reuters)
- Weinstein Sues Former Firm, Seeking Access to Documents (WSJ)
- Hackers’ Latest Move: Using Your Computer to Mine Bitcoin (BBG)
- Activist investors scupper $20 billion Clariant-Huntsman merger (Reuters)
- Americans Will Have to Wait Five Weeks to Get an iPhone X (BBG)
- On North Korea Border, Mattis Says Kim Is Threatening ‘Catastrophe’ (BBG)
- ECB, Fed Are Growing Apart, Moving Markets (WSJ)
- Barclays and U.S. Renew Talks Over Toxic Mortgages Lawsuit (BBG)
- Mattis talks diplomacy on North Korea ahead of Trump's Asia tour (Reuters)
- Tennessee Towns Heighten Security Ahead of White Nationalist Rallies (WSJ)
- Norway’s $1 Trillion Wealth Fund Gains 3.2% as Stocks Soar (BBG)
- After $6 Billion Wipeout, Wine County Fires Still Imperil PG&E (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
- CVS Health Corp is in talks to buy Aetna Inc for more than $66 billion as the drugstore giant scrambles to fortify itself against looming competition from Amazon.com Inc amid a continuing reordering of the health-care industry. on.wsj.com/2yQe3iK
- Billionaire pharmaceuticals entrepreneur John Kapoor was arrested by federal agents at his Phoenix home and charged with leading a nationwide criminal conspiracy to illegally distribute an addictive prescription painkiller - the highest ranking former executive of Insys Therapeutics Inc to be charged in a long-running investigation. on.wsj.com/2yRsGCw
- General Electric Co is exploring options for the GE Transportation division, according to people familiar with the matter, as a major part of Chief Executive John Flannery's plans to divest more than $20 billion worth of assets in the next two years. on.wsj.com/2yTOFKZ
- Harvey Weinstein has sued his former employer, demanding access to documents he claims could help with his potential defense against civil and criminal claims as well as a potential claim of wrongful termination against the studio. Weinstein, who was fired from Weinstein Co Oct. 8, said in a complaint that the studio has declined to provide him with emails he sent and received via his work account and his personnel file. on.wsj.com/2yVFOIT
- Twitter Inc on Thursday said it overstated its number of users for the past three years and committed to take advertising off its site from two Russian media outlets, while reporting modest user growth for the third quarter. on.wsj.com/2yW2lVO
FT
The cyber attack that caused disruption at the National Health Service in May was far larger than previously appreciated, according to a report by spending watchdog National Audit Office that lays bare the health service’s poor preparation to cope with such a threat.
UK “may have erred on the side of caution” when putting regulations into practice for the insurance industry, the Treasury select committee said in a report published on Friday on the EU’s Solvency II insurance rules.
Former HSBC Holdings Plc currency trader Stuart Scott can be extradited to face fraud charges in New York, a UK court has ruled, without deliberating on whether he was guilty or not of the 11 wire-fraud charges he faces and which he strongly denies.
British MPs have criticised the UK tax authority for failing to investigate Uber Technologies Inc’s approach to value added tax on its rides, which the ride-hailing firms claims is not its obligation because it only acts as an agent for self-employed drivers, even as a 2016 ruling found that Uber’s drivers in London are workers, rather than self-employed contractors.
NYT
- U.S. pharmacy operator CVS Health Corp, is in talks to buy U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc in a deal that could be worth more than $60 billion based on Aetna's current market value, according to people briefed on the talks. nyti.ms/2gHYJN0
- The Department of Homeland Security unveiled several border wall prototypes on Thursday, which the agency said was the first step in carrying out U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a barrier along the nearly 2,000-mile border that the U.S. shares with Mexico. nyti.ms/2z9Hpvl
- Reddit, the online internet forum, has started to implement a new policy to ban content that glorifies and incites violence, and among the first to go were forums for Nazi, racist and white supremacist groups. nyti.ms/2hcAhnx
- U.S. Republicans are planning to release their tax bill next week, and the budget measure will allow the overhaul to pass Congress without any Democratic votes. nyti.ms/2zTnE8E
Canada
** A unit of Brookfield Asset Management Inc has bought the Sheraton hotel in downtown Toronto from Marriott International Inc in a blockbuster C$335 million ($260 million) deal that is the largest transaction for a single hotel in Canada. tgam.ca/2yXv9xn
** China Communications Construction Co Ltd a Chinese state-owned firm that is buying Canada's Aecon Group Inc helped Beijing assert sovereignty over the disputed South China Sea by building artificial islands there, and was barred until recently from bidding on World Bank projects because of an acquisition's "fraudulent practices." tgam.ca/2yV15SN
** Shaw Communications Inc has finally struck a deal with Apple Inc to sell the iPhone directly to customers as it looks to capitalize on a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to expand the reach of its fledgling wireless business Freedom Mobile. tgam.ca/2yWharh
NATIONAL POST
** Lawyers representing Sears Canada employees and retirees have made a priority claim against the liquidating retailer for their C$270 million pension deficit and any unpaid special payments to the plan. bit.ly/2yUq1tP
** Canadian oil giant Suncor Energy Inc reported Thursday its strongest results since oil was at $100 a barrel – a profit of nearly C$1.3 billion in the third quarter – with help from a war on costs it says is re-positioning its oilsands as a low cost, low carbon, globally competitive business. bit.ly/2yV1QLD
Britain
The Times
- Carelessness in preparing tax returns is costing the UK Treasury about 6 billion pounds ($7.88 billion) a year and is the biggest contributor to the UK's tax gap as figures from Revenue & Customs show that 34 billion pounds of tax revenue went uncollected between 2015 and 2016. bit.ly/2xsxH2R
- Britain's newspaper and magazine wholesaler Connect Group Plc said the job losses planned over the next year equated to 6 percent, or 340 jobs, of its total workforce. bit.ly/2xpyOA9
The Guardian
- Lloyds Pharmacy has announced it will close nearly 200 stores across England because of changes in government policy. bit.ly/2xqhj2B
- Carsten Kengeter , the chief executive of Germany's stock exchange Deutsche Boerse AG has resigned to avoid distractions caused by allegations that he has been involved in insider dealing. bit.ly/2xqHQgx
The Telegraph
- HSBC Holdings Plc's former head of currency trading in London, Stuart Scott, will be extradited to the US to face fraud charges, a UK court has ruled. bit.ly/2xrT04q
- The administrators of defunct Monarch airlines are entering a legal battle in a bid to prevent it being stripped of the carrier's valuable takeoff and landing slots at Gatwick Airport. The value of these is estimated at 60 million pounds ($78.77 million). bit.ly/2xrkSWp
Sky News
- Bombardier Inc is to cut 280 jobs at its Belfast operations as the company's trade row with US rival Boeing Co continues to simmer. bit.ly/2xsuqR7
- EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Britain is being investigated by the EU over the legality of a tax exemption scheme for multinational companies. bit.ly/2xqqi4a
The Independent
- The European Central Bank has announced that it will start scaling back its massive 60 billion euros ($69.84 billion) per-month asset buying programme in the new year, setting the scene for an eventual interest rate hike and underscoring the extent to which the bloc's economy has recovered since the financial crisis. ind.pn/2xrFRbS