US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures down 0.4% at 2,960.00

Brent futures down 1.9% to $59.36/bbl

Gold spot up 0.4% to $1,494.27

US Dollar Index up 0.2% to 98.46

 

GLOBAL NEWS:

Sophos bought back. The Thoma Bravo fund will buy Sophos at USD 7.40 per share in cash, or GBP 5.88, representing a 37% premium on the last closing price and an enterprise value of GBP3.11 billion. The Sophos Board of Directors supports the project.

Mercedes is calling it back. Daimler announced the recall of hundreds of thousands of Mercedes vehicles, including Sprinter pickup trucks, as part of the diesel engine emissions scandal. The exact number of recalls is not known, as the manufacturer simply refers to a "median six-digit number", i.e. around 500 000 vehicles.

Lamborghini on the stock market? Volkswagen is considering the future of Lamborghini, which could be sold or listed on the stock exchange, according to information obtained by Bloomberg. A valuation of $11 billion had been circulated for the sports vehicle brand during the summer. An identical operation carried out by Fiat Chrysler with Ferrari resulted in a great financial success.

Total in India. Total announced the acquisition of 37.4% of the Indian Adani Gas, one of the country's four main gas distributors. The two groups have thus planned to strengthen their partnership. Total will initially launch a takeover bid to acquire up to 25.2% of the capital and will then purchase the additional shares directly from Adani.

Faurecia takes over SAS in full. The equipment manufacturer will acquire Continental's 50% stake in their SAS joint venture, whose 2019 revenues are expected to reach €700 million. The transaction would amount to €225 million excluding cash for Faurecia. The finalization could take place at the beginning of 2020.

Bic warns again. Bic is revising its 2019 objectives downwards. The group now expects sales to stagnate at best this year, while its normalized operating margin should be at the bottom of the initial range, around 16.5%. The company is facing further deterioration in the lighter market in the United States and underperformance in the stationery sector, particularly in the United States and India.

We are not fighting the central banks. Facebook's Libra is recording new defections, in particular eBay and Stripe, after PayPal, Mastercard and Visa. These companies have all displayed very convoluted explanations, but it seems that these defections are dictated by the fear of the regulators' reaction, after the project triggered the outcry.

Boeing is on the move. In the Boeing 737 MAX case, a panel of international regulators strongly criticizes their American counterpart the FAA in its certification process. The industrialist took the decision on Friday to split the role of president and CEO. David Calhoun will be chairing an executive, while Dennis Muilenburg will focus on operational tasks.

In other news. General Motors and its unions have not yet reached an agreement, while tens of thousands of employees are still on strike. About a hundred Nyrstar small shareholders are going on the offensive by seeking to have assets recovered by Trafigura repatriated, failing which they will ask for €1.5 billion in compensation. ARAMCO expects to have regained full possession of its capabilities by the end of November, following the attack on its facilities in Saudi Arabia. Santos will acquire ConocoPhilips' North Australian assets for $1.39 billion. Roche has obtained encouraging results in Phase III against pemphigus vulgaris.