House and Senate leaders have laid out an ambitious schedule for drafting and releasing tax legislation over the next few weeks, aiming to achieve President Trump's goal of delivering major tax cuts by the end of the year. The House Ways and Means Committee will release its plan about seven days following this Thursday's scheduled vote on a budget resolution, meaning a bill text will be published on or before Friday, Nov. 3.

Economy

Meanwhile, President Trump pledged Monday to protect 401(k) programs, promising to leave them untouched in the forthcoming GOP plan to overhaul taxes. "This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!" he wrote on Twitter. The president also told reporters yesterday that he is "very, very close" to announcing his nominee for Fed Chair.

The Bank of Japan is weighing a small cut to its inflation projection for this year in a quarterly report to be released next week, Bloomberg reports. Lowering the forecast will reinforce the view the BOJ will carry on its easing program long after its global peers have moved in the opposite direction. The divergence could also trigger the yen to weaken around ¥120 vs. the dollar.

Stepping up a strategy to have Beijing help rein in Pyongyang, President Trump will urge President Xi Jinping to make good on his commitments to pressure North Korea when he visits China next month, a senior White House official told CNBC. China, North Korea's sole major ally, accounts for more than 90% of trade with the isolated country.

Venezuela has now missed $586M in payments tied to the debt of the government, state oil giant PDVSA and utility Electricidad de Caracas, just days before the first of two can't-miss debt deadlines. "I don't see how any person who's involved in Venezuelan debt can be anything except concerned, except for those who have credit default swaps," said Russ Dallen, managing partner at Caracas Capital Markets.

The kiwi took a sharp fall overnight, sliding from $0.7003 to a low of $0.6933, after New Zealand First and the Labour party formally signed a coalition agreement. The incoming government confirmed pledges to reform the Reserve Bank Act, which will likely see an expanded role for the country's central bank in forex rate controls, and has said it wants to add employment, alongside inflation, to the bank's mandate.

Theresa May has signaled that any Brexit transition agreement would be put together as part of a wider trade pact, potentially stripping companies of the time they need to prepare to leave the EU. Businesses have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks over fears that Britain could crash out of the world's biggest trading bloc without a deal, sending shockwaves through markets and supply chains.

Stocks

"Nothing has been decided," but Toshiba (OTCPK:TOSYY) is "considering potential measures" in case it cannot complete the $18B sale of its chip unit by the end of March, CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa said at an extraordinary general meeting. Besides a possible delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toshiba faces legal challenges from its chip joint venture partner Western Digital (NYSE:WDC), which opposes any deal without its consent.

Microsoft is dropping a lawsuit against the U.S. government after the DOJ changed data request rules on alerting internet users about agencies accessing their information. The new policy limits the use of secrecy orders and calls for such orders to be issued for defined periods, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said in a blog post.

Just how many proposals has Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) received for its second headquarters? 238, and that includes proposals from 54 "states, provinces, districts and territories" in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Amazon said only seven U.S. states don't have a location participating in the contest, but didn't say when it would come up with a short list of finalists.

Under Armour is mulling an exit from its smaller sports categories to combat slowing industry sales, and may say good-bye to tennis, outdoor gear and fishing, WSJ reports. At a retail conference last month, CEO Kevin Armour admitted that the apparel company "just can't do everything." Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) co-founder Kip Fulks also announced that he's taking a sabbatical from the company.

Toys R Us's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing won't stop Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) from selling its toys at the retailer this holiday season. "It's taken us a month to get a plan together and a new agreement with them which we've signed just a few days ago," CEO Brian Goldner told CNBC. "We've also grown our retail footprint."

Following through on plans from its recent earnings call, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has offered $1.6B in senior notes, with the debt largely funding its increasingly ambitious spending on content. It's the sixth time the company has issued senior notes since 2013. While Netflix anticipates releasing 80 films next year, in the quarter ending September 30, by comparison, it put out eight.

Sony is developing a robot dog with smart home capabilities and plans to announce it next month, WSJ reports. The device would be a spiritual successor to the AIBO series of robot dogs that Sony (NYSE:SNE) released in the late '90s and early 2000s. Details on its cost are unclear, but previous AIBO robots sold for as much as $2,500.

Monte dei Paschi shares will resume trading tomorrow after a failed attempt by the world's oldest bank to raise capital triggered a 10-month suspension. Weakened by mismanagement, a derivatives scandal and bad loans, BMPS (OTCPK:BMDPY) had to turn to Rome for help in December 2016 after failing to find buyers for a €5B share issue needed to keep it afloat.

Despite beating earnings estimates, Novartis (NYSE:NVS) -1.6% premarket after delaying a possible spin off of its eyecare division Alcon until the first half of 2019, amid signs of a turnaround in the ailing business. CEO Joe Jimenez credited the revenue growth to product launches and improved customer service, such as more sales representatives available to help eye surgeons use Alcon equipment.

Looking to further expand its portfolio, Aker BP (OTCPK:DETNF) has agreed to buy the Norwegian unit of Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) for $2B, and will raise $500M in new equity to help pay for the deal. "Aker BP has a clear ambition to be the leading independent offshore E&P company. This transaction is an important step in that direction," CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said in a statement.

Volkswagen's plan for fixes to more than 38,000 diesel-powered vehicles rigged to dupe emissions tests has been approved by the EPA and California Air Resources Board, avoiding a more expensive undertaking to repurchase them from customers. VW (OTCPK:VLKAY) is "pleased that it has received regulatory approval... and is working closely with our regulators to develop approved solutions for the remaining vehicles as quickly as possible."

Monday's Key Earnings

Arconic (NYSE:ARNC) -10.4% missing earnings, new CEO.
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) -2.5% warning of slower growth.
Kimberly Clark (NYSE:KMB) -0.8% on mixed results.
Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) +12.6% seeing signs of a turnaround.
Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) -7.4% AH cutting its guidance.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan +0.5%. Hong Kong -0.5%. China +0.2%. India +0.3%.
In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris +0.3%. Frankfurt +0.1%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +0.8% to $52.31. Gold -0.1% to $1279.80.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +2 bps to 2.4%

Today's Economic Calendar

8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:45 PMI Composite Flash
10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg.
1:00 PM Results of $26B, 2-Year Note Auction