Economy
President Barack Obama has authorized U.S. airstrikes in Syria and has asked Congress for $500M to train and arm Syrian rebels under a broad campaign to defeat ISIS. Highlighting the need to build an allied coalition against Islamic State, Obama has already sent John Kerry to the Middle East to meet with Gulf allies. Obama will also send another 475 American advisers to assist Iraqi forces, but underlined they would not engage in combat.

The U.S. and EU are said to be close to imposing the toughest round of energy sanctions yet, which would hit both Russia's energy industry and companies such as Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) that are working with Rosneft (OTC:RNFTF) and other state-controlled companies. The sanctions reportedly would ban U.S. and European companies from working with Russia on future oil exploration in the Russian Arctic, deep seas and shale rock formations.

Argentina's new plan to make local payments on its foreign-held bonds has sailed through its Congress. The U.N. General Assembly has also voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal. "If 124 countries in the United Nations support the Republic of Argentina, it means that Argentina is right in its claims," says Argentine Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich. Judge Thomas Griesa previously declared the plan as "lawless", but stopped short of finding the country in contempt of court.

Following a rise in fears over a Venezuelan default, President Nicolas Maduro says the country can meet all of its obligations to bondholders, including the $5B of foreign debt it's due to repay next month. "We're prepared to meet our international obligations in their entirety," declares Maduro. "Down to the last dollar." Venezuela is struggling with declining foreign reserves, shortages of basic goods as well as escalating inflation which hit a new six-year high of over 63% in August.

Stocks
Both Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds have confirmed that they will relocate to England, should Scottish independence be declared next week. RBS (NYSE:RBS) says independence will create uncertainties which could impact its ability to borrow. RBS and Lloyds (NYSE:LYG) will have at least 18 months after the vote to take whatever action they consider necessary while the terms of Scotland's exit from the U.K. is discussed.

MasterCard's appeal against an EU veto on its cross-border card fees has been rejected by Europe's highest court. MasterCard (NYSE:MA) sees the interchange fees as a lucrative source of revenue, despite being under scrutiny for more than a decade. Regulators say the fees are anti-competitive.

Bitcoin exchange Coinbase is expanding into 13 European countries, allowing users with European bank accounts to now buy and sell Bitcoins (COIN, OTCQB:BTCS) in exchange for euros. The move marks Bitcoin's accelerating adoption, and will add to the company's already 1.6M customer accounts. European purchases and sales will initially be limited to €500 a day, but will be increased in time. Coinbase allows U.S. users to buy and sell up to $50,000 a day in Bitcoin.

T-Mobile will provide in-home Wi-Fi antennas called T-Mobile (NYSE:TMUS) Personal CellSpots for free, enabling phones to now make calls and send texts over Wi-Fi. The new device is in response to many customer complaints of dropped calls in homes and buildings. Until recently, the carrier held very few low-frequency airwaves which are best for penetrating walls. Gogo (NASDAQ:GOGO) has also reached a partnership with T-Mobile to provide free texting and "visual voicemail" service using phones in airplane mode.

A rescue package to help save RadioShack is being worked on by UBS (NYSE:UBS) and Standard General, and would grant loans to the embattled electronics retailer as it tries to avert bankruptcy. The money raised would be used to refinance debt outstanding under a $535M asset-backed revolving credit line from GE (NYSE:GE) Capital. A rescue package would also help RadioShack (NYSE:RSH) stock up on inventory for the holiday sales season.

JDS Uniphase will split into two separate publicly traded entities to focus on different technology areas. One will be an optical components and commercial lasers company, while the other will be a network and service enablement company. The stock has climbed +12.7% premarket on the news. JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ:JDSU) also reaffirmed FQ1 (ending this month) guidance of non-GAAP revenue of $405M-$425M, and EPS of $0.08-$0.12.

McDonald's has applied for a trademark on the term McBrunch. Though the company hasn't disclosed any new late-morning plans, an expansion of breakfast hours could be up for discussion with the daypart seeing intense competition. Previous brunch promotions by fast food chains haven't fared particularly well due to limited grill space and consumer apathy. A McBrunch play by McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) could face the same hurdles.

Vitamin Shoppe says CEO Tony Truesdale plans to retire next June and its board will begin a search for his successor; he is expected to stay on in his capacity as CEO once a successor is appointed to help in the transition. Truesdale joined Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE:VSI) in 2006 as chief merchandising officer and has been CEO since 2011.

Continuing the crack down on foreign automakers in China, anti-monopoly regulators have fined a Chinese Volkswagen (OTCQX:VLKAY) joint venture $40.6M for fixing prices on vehicles and parts with dealers. A local arm of Fiat (OTCPK:FIATY) was also fined. The probes from Chinese antitrust officials are part of a broader investigation taking place across many industries in the country. China's regulators say the recent investigations will widen market access for foreign firms and increase transparency.

Toyota is looking at a couple of sites in Mexico as a potential location for a manufacturing plant, Bloomberg reports. The Japanese automaker is the last of the majors not to have a full assembly plant in the nation. Toyota's (NYSE:TM) move also follows three $1B factories announced since June, by Kia (OTC:KIMTF), BMW (OTCPK:BAMXY) and a Daimler (OTCPK:DDAIY)-Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY) venture.

Following Luca Cordero di Montezemolo's departure as chairman of Ferrari, he will receive a combined severance package of €27M ($34.8M). Fiat (OTCPK:FIATY) says Montezemolo will receive a lump sum of €13.3M by next February, in return for agreeing not to compete with Fiat until March 2017. As of Oct. 13, CEO Sergio Marchionne will become Ferrari's new chairman, and will guide the unit within the newly created Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group.

Today's economic calendar:

8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
10:00 Quarterly Services Report
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
1:00 PM Results of $13B, 30-Year Note Auction
2:00 PM Treasury Budget
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet

Notable earnings before today's open: FLWS, BRC, KR, LULU, RSH

Notable earnings after today's close: ULTA