News Links: Yuan Limit Down for Ninth Straight Session

The yuan hit its lowest permitted level on the mainland Monday for the ninth consecutive session, as investors continue to expect slowing appreciation amid global economic uncertainty.

Carrier IQ’s working with the FBI came to light due to a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing from MuckRock. While the FBI didn’t say exactly what kinds of information it gets from Carrier IQ, it revealed that such information is "located in an investigative file which is exempt from disclosure" and that "the records responsive to your request are law enforcement records" involved in a pending proceeding.

Confidence fades in latest eurozone fix as all of Italy’s unions strike over where €20bn cuts will fall, France faces rating cut and fears grow that Germany’s Commerzbank might need a bailout

For a long time German life expectancy moved in just one direction: People were living longer and longer. But this trend has reversed — at least for those on a low income. Their life expectancy has gradually declined over the past 10 years, a newspaper report said on Monday.

The French president has said that there are now clearly "two Europes", following last week’s summit in which the UK vetoed EU treaty changes.

India’s industrial output slowed more than expected in October, dropping for the first time in more than two years.

Angela Merkel’s summit has sealed a 1930s outcome for Europe, further entrenching Germany’s misguided and contractionary policies without offering any viable way out of the crisis at hand.

Americans’ concerns about the threat of big government continue to dwarf those about big business and big labor, and by an even larger margin now than in March 2009. The 64% of Americans who say big government will be the biggest threat to the country is just one percentage point shy of the record high, while the 26% who say big business is down from the 32% recorded during the recession. Relatively few name big labor as the greatest threat.

If MF Global moved their US client assets to their UK subsidiary (added: moved legally with client approval), and then followed the UK rules on rehypothecated assets – the client money is gone and nothing illegal happened. That would be the worst possible outcome.

A legal loophole in international brokerage regulations means that few, if any, clients of MF Global are likely to get their money back. Although details of the drama are still unfolding, it appears that MF Global and some of its Wall Street counterparts have been actively and aggressively circumventing U.S. securities rules at the expense (quite literally) of their clients.

Gerüchte über Probleme bei der Swedbank und anderen Banken in Lettland sorgten für panikartige Abhebungen.

In einer feierlichen Zeremonie setzten Staatspräsident Ivo Josipovic und alle EU-Chefs ihre Unterschrift unter das Dokument.

Gerüchte über eine anstehende Bankenpleite führten in Lettland am Wochenende zu einem Sturm auf Bankautomaten. Vielerorts ist kein Geld mehr zu bekommen.

Mitten in der Krise der Eurozone blickt der Westen mit einer Mischung aus Hoffnung und Angst auf die Konjunkturdaten aus China. Doch stimmen diese tatsächlich?

Das Land muss im neuen Jahr mehr als die Hälfte aller Schulden der Eurozone zurückzahlen. Dass von den USA Geld kommt, um den Euroländern zu helfen, wird zudem immer unwahrscheinlicher.

So the European summit came and went. I am still struggling to see a credible transition plan from the Europe I see today to the new one that the "fiscal compact" speaks off.  The imbalances in Europe exist today as they did yesterday and although I keep reading they have achieved a fiscal union-ship, the truth is what has been agreed to is anything but. There is certainly nothing resembling a usable mechanism to support re-balancing of differences in economic competitiveness.

it would be insane for the UK to sign up for any austerity, fiscal pact. As we’ve pointed out, the UK’s fiscal situation bears no resemblance to those of the cash-strapped European nations. Despite massive debts, the UK has no problem funding itself, as it controls its own currency. Agreeing to Merkel’s budget rules would be a suicidal decision. So really there was no choice at all.