Markets: Most Asian stocks rose as the President Barack Obama pulled the U.S. from the brink of a military strike against Syria. Energy producers led declines. (Bloomberg) (Financial Times)
Barack Obama has asked Congress to delay a vote authorising a strike on Syria while the US and its allies pursue a diplomatic initiative with Russia at the UN to force Damascus to give up its chemical weapons. He gave no indication of how long he would wait for a diplomatic solution to be worked out, with negotiations possibly being drawn out for weeks if not months, besides the difficulties of securing and removing Syria's chemical weapons. (Financial Times)
Verizon is on course to sell $49bn of bonds on Wednesday, the largest corporate debt sale in history, as the US telecoms group raises funds for its $130bn acquisition of the 45 per cent of Verizon Wireless it does not already own. As 11 banks marketed the securities on Tuesday, order books swelled from $30bn to close to $100bn, people familiar with the transaction said. The sale is expected to be nearly three times as large as Apple's $17bn issue in April, the previous record. (Financial Times)
Europe's plan for an expansive financial transaction tax hit a wall after an unusually blunt paper from the EU Council legal service concluded it exceeds national jurisdiction, "infringes" on EU treaties and "is discriminatory" to non-participating states. (Financial Times)
"The Russian billionaire who is the main shareholder in potash giant Uralkali is in talks to sell his stake in an effort to defuse a bitter conflict with Belarus, where authorities have jailed Uralkali's CEO, according to a person familiar with his thinking." (Wall Street Journal)
"China's broadest measure of new credit almost doubled in August from the previous month in a sign leaders are committed to meeting economic goals even at the cost of adding financial risks." (Bloomberg)
"An 8.3 billion pound ($13 billion) project to build a refinery and petrochemical plant in eastern China involving Royal Dutch Shell has been shelved after losing political support, the Telegraph newspaper reported, citing sources." (Reuters)
Apple introduced two new handsets at the same time: the 5s, which carries a fingerprint reader and comes in new silver and gold colours, and the cheaper 5c, sporting brightly coloured plastic casings. The iPhone 5c handset will be $549 in the US and $733 in China, still more expensive than rivals such as Xiaomi and Lenovo that have taken a larger portion of the market in countries such as China and India. (Financial Times)
Ivan Glasenberg shows the 'Glencore way' to cut Xstrata 'fat': The Switzerland-based commodity group said it expected synergies from the $44bn takeover to grow when it completes an operating review. (Financial Times)
US prosecutors are looking to seize New York property used by a Russian criminal organisation, whose members allegedly included corrupt Russian government officials, to launder funds derived from an elaborate $230m tax fraud. (Financial Times)
Barclays faces $10bn damages claim from Saudi businessman: Mohammed bin Issa al Jaber, chairman of MBI International and founder of the Jadawel property group, has demanded that White & Case hand over documents relating to a 10-year-old "confidential" settlement between Barclays, the firm's former client, and two Saudi Arabian ministries, according to court documents filed in New York last week. (Financial Times)
Intel on Tuesday laid out plans to leapfrog the smartphone era with a new family of tiny chips for devices designed to be worn, embedded in everyday objects or ingested. (Financial Times)
FT ALPHAVILLE
Repossessed at One Hyde Park: the Irish connection
Mercado Livre stock dances to a strange (earnings) beat
COMMENTS & CURIOS
America's economic growth is built on sand (Financial Times)
US Treasury keeps eye on bond market liquidity (Financial Times)
Volcker Rule "has proved fiendishly difficult to apply." (Wall Street Journal) "It's ridiculous," said Paul Volcker.
A referendum for Catalonia by Artur Mas (NYT)
"I want to make the Olympics a trigger for sweeping away 15 years of deflation and economic decline" (Financial Times)
Dow remix sign of struggle to be relevant (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS:
