Hello friends and Fortune readers.
Wall Street stock futures are lower this morning after a fresh set of depressing inflation data from China that have revived fears about it exporting deflation to the rest of the world. Producer price inflation stayed stuck at a painful -5.9% on the year in October, while consumer prices fell a worse-than-expected 0.3%. Crude oil futures are at just over $44/barrel, after the International Energy Agency forecast prices would stay in the doldrums through 2020.
Today’s must-read story is by Fortune’s Claire Zillman on why bankers are likely to get smaller bonuses this year, the first drop in four years. Bonuses could slip as much as 5% to 10%, according to a recent report.
Here’s what else you need to know today.
1. IEA says oil prices will take five years to recover
Prices for crude oil, the world economy’s most essential commodity, will need until 2020 to recover from the price war unleashed last year by Saudi Arabia, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday in its annual outlook for the global energy market.
2. Valeant tries to stem the bleeding.
Valeant CEO Michael Pearson and other company leaders will host an investor conference call to address business concerns amid a nearly 51% drop in the value of its stock over the past month. The drugmaker’s stock hit a two-and-a-half year low last week as it faces mounting criticism from lawmakers on high prices for its treatments. Valeant (VRX) will also provide an update on its transition plan from specialty pharmacy Philidor, which many accused the company of using to falsely inflate sales.
3. Diageo talks liquor.
The world’s largest spirits company holds its annual investor conference in New York today. Diageo (DEO) will discuss its recent asset sales and how it plans to boost global sales amid it recent rocky results. The company most recently sold its Argentina wine business to Grupo Penaflor for an undisclosed amount, and earlier this year, speculation of a potential takeover by billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann gave Diageo a nice share boost.
4. U.S. housing is holding strong.
Sales of newly built homes have been up this year despite a soft September showing and home builders have been profiting from the gains. D.R. Horton (DHI), the top U.S. homebuilder, will report its fiscal year end results today and is expected to post earnings-per-share of 62 cents, a nearly 38% gain year-over-year. The earnings jump is a credit to higher home sales, but investors will be looking for word on how the homebuilder is managing labor shortages and possible construction delays.
5. More economic updates.
Other economic data to be released today includes an update on import and export prices from the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. ET. Import prices likely dropped 0.1% last month. U.S. wholesale inventory data for September will be announced at 10 a.m. ET, and the National Federation of Independent Business will reveal its Small Business Optimism Index for last month at 6 a.m. ET.
Additional reporting contributed by Reuters.
