Economy
European stocks fell for a second day as German imports and exports contracted in October, while Tesco (OTCPK:TSCDF, OTCPK:TSCDY) and energy companies plunged. German October imports slid 3.1% from a month earlier, while exports fell 0.5%. Snapping a world-beating rally, highly volatile Chinese stocks tumbled the most since August 2009, with the Shanghai Composite Index closing down 5.4% at 2,856.27 after earlier gains of as much as 2.4%.

An IMF mission will visit Kiev today to begin talks with the country's newly elected government over a $17B loan package that may need to be ramped up due to the separatist crisis in Ukraine's east. The IMF agreed in April to shore up Ukraine's depleted foreign currency reserves and economy, but had waited to disburse the next loan tranche, worth $2.7B, until a new government was formed and a 2015 budget was ratified.

The Greek government has moved forward a crucial presidential vote by two months, which will now take place on Dec. 17. Greece's Parliament will be dissolved and new elections called if Prime Minister Antonis Samaras fails to secure a majority for his candidate. The surprise decision came after euro zone finance ministers said they were in favor of granting Greece a two-month extension for its bailout program, which is deeply unpopular due to its austerity measures.

U.S. Representative Joe Barton will introduce a bill today to lift the 40-year ban on exports of crude oil, a ban enacted by Congress after the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s. The measure has a slim chance of passing due to lawmaker concerns about fuel prices and costs to refiners. A similar hearing later this week by the House of Representatives subcommittee on energy and power will discuss whether the export restriction makes sense amid the domestic drilling boom.

Stocks
Troubled U.K. supermarket chain Tesco has warned on full-year profit again, citing investments it is making in its business, fierce competition, and an accounting scandal which has plagued the retailer since September. The company now expects trading profit for the financial year ending in February to not exceed £1.4B ($2.2B), compared with analysts’ expectations of £1.94B. Tesco (OTCPK:TSCDF, OTCPK:TSCDY) shares are down 9.8% in London.

After expanding its recall in the U.S. last week to cover Takata (OTCPK:TKTDY) driver-side air bag inflators nationwide, Honda (NYSE:HMC) now says it will replace potentially lethal Takata inflators across the globe. The new move brings the total Takata-related recall tally of all brands to more than 19M since 2008. Takata's defective air bag inflators have been found to rupture and shoot shrapnel into the vehicle, and have so far been linked to five deaths.

Amazon plans to shift more of its drone testing and research abroad if it doesn’t get permission to test-fly in the U.S. soon. Outdoor testing is crucial to developing the "Prime Air" program, says Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which aims to use drones to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less. Meanwhile, Amazon has begun testing 1-hour delivery in Manhattan via bike messenger under a new project called Amazon Prime Now.

Petrobras would merit a junk grade without the support of Brazil's government and is proving a drag on the country’s own creditworthiness, says Moody's. Last week, the credit rating agency lowered Petrobras’s (NYSE:PBR) baseline credit assessment, which doesn’t take into account government support, to Ba1, one step below investment grade.

Repsol has revived talks with Talisman Energy in a bid to bolster its presence in North America, according to a Bloomberg report. The two are said to be discussing options including the sale of a selection of assets or the whole company. Repsol (OTCQX:REPYY), which is seeking to deploy about $10B in cash on acquisitions outside its home market, reportedly dropped a plan to buy all of Talisman (NYSE:TLM) in August.

Accusing Deutsche Bank of engaging in a shell game to avoid paying taxes on about a $100M taxable gain, Federal prosecutors are claiming the bank owes the IRS about $190M in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest. "We fully addressed the government’s concerns about this 14-year-old transaction in a 2009 agreement," said Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) spokeswoman Renee Calabro. "We plan to again defend vigorously against these claims."

Sumitomo Mitsui will announce an agreement to buy Citigroup's (NYSE:C) Japanese consumer-banking business as soon as next week, Bloomberg reports. Sumitomo Mitsui (NYSE:SMFG) will purchase the operations for about ¥40B ($330M). Citigroup is looking to exit 11 consumer-banking markets with poor returns, including Japan, where it wants to focus on corporate and investment banking, markets and transaction services.

The judge handling Cubist's infringement suit against Hospira (NYSE:HSP) over a generic version of Cubicin has ruled several of Cubist's (NASDAQ:CBST) patent claims are invalid. Merck (NYSE:MRK), which announced yesterday that it is buying Cubist for $9.5B, is down 1.3% premarket. Cubist -1.2% and Hospira +2.3%.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals is abandoning its growth-by-acquisitions strategy for the time being to try to reduce debt and boost its stock price, Reuters reports. The new strategy will be implemented for the next two to three quarters and follows the failed attempt of the Canadian drugmaker to acquire Botox-maker Allergan (NYSE:AGN) last month. Valeant (NYSE:VRX) has spent $19B on 40 acquisitions since 2008.

Despite a decline in oil prices, Siemens (OTCPK:SIEGY) Chief Executive Joe Kaeser announces he would "not even think about walking away" from September's $7.6B Dresser-Rand (NYSE:DRC) deal. Siemens also sees higher synergies from the Dresser-Rand purchase, and is now targeting 30% more savings from the acquisition. The group previously said it expected more than €150M in annual synergies by 2019.

BHP Billiton has sold its first cargo of processed condensate from the U.S., testing the waters of exporting the minimally processed oil without a permit. BHP (NYSE:BHP) sold a 650K-barrel cargo to U.S. firm Koch for delivery during the first half of January at a premium of about $2 a barrel to WTI.

Today's economic calendar:

7:30 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
10:00 Wholesale Trade
10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
1:00 PM Results of $30B, 3-Year Note Auction

Notable earnings before today's open: AZO, BURL, CONN, HDS, JW.A, PTRY, SAIC, UTIW

Notable earnings after today's close: KFY, KKD, NCS