After posting a €6B net loss for the third quarter and scrapping its dividend for the next two years, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) has announced plans to exit 10 countries and reduce its workforce by 35,000 employees. The moves follow a recent writedown at its investment bank and the removal of three of the bank's eight board members. A sanctions settlement may also be in the making. As early as next week, Deutsche is expected to pay at least $200M to resolve investigations into its dealings with countries like Iran and Syria. DB -6.6% premarket.

Economy

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its preliminary estimate of U.S. economic growth for the third quarter at 8:30 a.m. ET, at the same time as the weekly jobless claims report. Economists are looking for the economy to have grown at an annual rate of 1.6% during the period, well below the 3.9% rate recorded in the second quarter. The GDP data will follow yesterday's Fed meeting, which described the economy as expanding at a "moderate" pace and turned up the heat around a possible December rate hike.

German unemployment fell in October in a sign that companies in Europe's largest economy are weathering a slowdown in the emerging markets. Jobless claims declined a seasonally adjusted 5,000 to 2.788M, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.4%, the lowest level since German reunification. The Bundesbank said this month that economic momentum remains "quite strong" even though manufacturing is stagnating.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have confirmed they will attend international talks about the Syria crisis in Vienna on Friday, in what will be their first meeting to discuss the country's civil war. Although the conflict is now in its fifth year, the push for an end to the fighting has gained new urgency in recent months with a wave of refugees fleeing the country to head for Europe. Syria's economic output has shrunk by as much as 60% since the war began in 2011.

The yuan slipped back to fifth place in terms of usage for global payments in September, a setback that's forecast to be short-lived due to China's push for reserve-currency status. "There's no question that the yuan will regain the fourth ranking in the coming months," said Banny Lam, co-head of research at Agricultural Bank of China International Securities. According to SWIFT, the Chinese currency’s share of transactions declined to 2.45% last month from a record 2.79% in August, when it overtook the Japanese yen.

Stocks

Sony returned to profitability in the fiscal second-quarter on solid sales of its PlayStation 4 consoles, image sensors and strong revenue at its entertainment arm. Net profit rose to ¥33.6B ($278.2M) from a year-earlier loss of ¥104.2B (following the writedown of its smartphone business), though the company maintained its full-year outlook. The strong results indicate Sony's (NYSE:SNE) turnaround still has momentum, after years of restructuring at its consumer electronics operations.

Following a better-than-expected earnings report, Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) said it plans to buy back and cancel 11.3T won ($9.9B) of its stock over the next year in order to boost shareholder value. The tech giant's operating profit jumped 82% to 7.4% won ($6.5B) during the quarter, its first on-year profit growth in two years, boosted by a recovery at its mobile division and strong semiconductor sales.

Verizon's "Internet of Things" revenue has already hit $500M this year, and the company is planning more ways to ease adoption of the devices. Starting in the first quarter, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will offer options that use less overhead so gadgets can connect to the Web for less. "The current network was built around smartphones," CEO Mike Lanman explained. "By lowering the cost of the modules and providing an offer where network access is more affordable," the firm could compete with Wi-Fi and convince gadget makers to put lifetime cellular access into products themselves.

Volkswagen dealers across the country are offering hefty discounts on new gasoline models after the German automaker began more aggressive efforts to rebuild sales in the wake of its emissions scandal. According to an online survey, discounts of up to $7K are being offered on the Passat and Jetta, while gasoline-electric models such as the Jetta Hybrid have prices slashed by up to $6K. Volkswagen's (OTCQX:VLKAY) Indian division has also jumped into the recent recall frenzy, and will likely call back 100K vehicles.

Who is poised to become the dominant force of the Chinese aircraft market? It's still being battled out by the world's two largest planemakers, but Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY) just secured an $18B order from China Aviation for 30 A330s. Some background: Last month, Boeing (NYSE:BA) signed a cooperation document to build a 737 completion center in the country, mirroring Airbus' move to open an A330 completion facility in Tianjin. New plane demand for the Chinese market is expected to reach $1T over the next two decades.

United Auto Workers leaders have approved a proposed contract with General Motors (NYSE:GM) that promises raises, improvements in health care and a hefty signing bonus. Like a previous contract approved by Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU), GM's agreement will also eliminate a two-tier wage system over eight years. The four-year deal will now be sent to GM's 52,600 union workers for ratification.

Royal Dutch Shell swung to a third-quarter loss after taking a $7.9B write-down on big ticket projects including an exploration venture in the Alaskan Arctic and a major oil sands endeavor in Canada. The company, however, is still moving ahead with its $70B acquisition of BG Group (OTCQX:BRGYY), which remains a "springboard to focus into fewer and more profitable themes, especially deep water and integrated gas," CEO Ben van Beurden said. Shell's (RDS.A, RDS.B) quarterly loss on a current cost-of-supplies basis - a number similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report - came at $6.1B, down from a profit of $5.3B a year earlier.

Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Allergan are considering a merger, Dow Jones reports, stating that Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) recently approached Allergan (NYSE:AGN) about a deal. Price could be an obstacle, as well as other issues including the extent to which Pfizer would want to lay off employees, close facilities and the general makeup of a combined management team. A tie-up between the two would create an entity with a market cap greater than $300B, and would be the biggest takeover announced this year. PFE +1.5%; AGN +15.7% premarket.

Meanwhile, UnitedHealth is in advanced talks to buy Helios, a provider of workers compensation claim and pharmacy benefit management services, for as much as $1.7B. Helios, owned by P-E firms Kelso and Stone Point Capital was created by the 2013 merger of PMSI Group and Progressive Medical. Earlier this year, UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) struck a $12.8B deal to buy pharmacy benefits manager Catamaran.

Top antitrust lawmakers in the U.S. Senate are also calling for close scrutiny of Walgreens Boots Alliance's (NASDAQ:WBA) plan to buy Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD), another major healthcare consolidation following the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. The deal would unite two of the three largest U.S. drugstore chains, the other being CVS Health (NYSE:CVS). Walgreens Chief Executive Stefano Pessina said previously that the company had analyzed the antitrust aspect of the deal but did not speculate on the number of drugstores it might need to divest in order to win regulatory approval.

Wednesday's Key Earnings

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) +1.1% AH following a Q3 beat.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) +1.3% AH after topping estimates.
Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) -6.3% AH after disappointing results.
Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) -4.4% hit by pricing pressure and recalls.
GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) -14.8% AH on weak sales and guidance.
Mondelez (NASDAQ:MDLZ) -0.4% on foreign currency woes.
PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) -5.9% AH following a mixed Q3.
Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) +1.5% on rising refining profit.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) -10.7% on financing for its Rite Aid purchase.
Yelp (NYSE:YELP) +3.2% AH on increasing revenues.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan +0.2% to 18936. Hong Kong -0.6% to 22820. China +0.4% to 3387. India -0.8% to 26838.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.8%. Paris -0.4%. Frankfurt flat.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.4%. S&P -0.4%. Nasdaq -0.5%. Crude -1% to $45.49. Gold -1.5% to $1158.90.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.09%