Officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico are gathering in Mexico City today for the fifth round of NAFTA renegotiations. Discussions have already grown contentious with the Trump administration seeking radical changes, including a sunset clause that would end the trade agreement after five years unless all three countries agree to extend it. The talks, which began in August, are scheduled to last until the end of March 2018.

Economy

Brexit Secretary David Davis is warning Theresa May not to promise too much money to Brussels ahead of a crucial EU summit in December, saying cash must be held in reserve to help negotiate a trade deal next year. May is expected to give more details of her thinking soon, with the implication that Britain would be prepared to significantly increase the €20B it has already put on the table.

ECB President Mario Draghi spoke today at the Frankfurt European Banking Congress, stating that despite the improved economic situation in the eurozone, the central bank needs to be "patient for inflation to return sustainably" when normalizing monetary policy. The ECB announced in October that it would cut the level of bonds it purchases every month, to €30B from €60B, starting in January.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has ruled that Venezuela and its state oil company PDVSA have defaulted on their debts. The decision will trigger credit-default swaps, with the details of how they will be settled to be determined by the committee on Nov. 20. President Nicolas Maduro has estimated the country's total debt is close to $150B.

Indian markets, including stocks, bonds and the rupee, rallied overnight after Moody's upgraded its ratings on the country's sovereign bonds for the first time since 2004, citing continued progress on economic and institutional reforms. Shot in the arm for Prime Minister Narendra Modi? The move comes just weeks after the World Bank moved India up 30 places in its annual ease of doing business rankings.

An unconfirmed report in the British press has claimed that Saudi Arabia's King Salman plans to abdicate the throne next week and hand power to his son. Salman, who some believe may be suffering from dementia, took the throne in 2015 following the death of his brother Abdullah. The move would cap a major shakeup in Riyadh as the royal family has attempted to consolidate power in the last several weeks.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would result in the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax system in 31 years. It would reduce the number of individual brackets, increase the child tax credit, abolish the estate tax by 2025, chop the corporate tax rate to 20% and make other tweaks aiming to make businesses more competitive. But there are warning signs as the focus in Washington turns to the Senate's companion bill.

President Trump is also considering naming Mick Mulvaney, currently the White House budget director, as interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Trump aims to remake the bureau as part of his effort to ease regulation in banking and business, and was a frequent critic of departing Richard Cordray, whose exit likely paves the way for a restructuring of the CFPB.

Stocks

Tesla +1.8% premarket after unveiling its electric semi truck, which will accelerate to 60 mph in twenty seconds with an 80K lbs load and boasts a 500-mile driving range. Production is scheduled to begin in 2019. With regard to expenses, Elon Musk said the big rig will cost $1.26/mile to operate vs. $1.51/mile for a diesel truck. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is also launching a next-gen Roadster, which maxes out at speeds over 250 mph.

Speaking of trucks... Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has quietly launched an app designed to help truck drivers get in and out of warehouses faster, permitting them to check in with a QR code instead of badging in through security. "Relay" will give the tech giant direct access to millions of truck drivers nationwide as Amazon reportedly works on another app that would match the drivers with cargo.

Additional investment? Volkswagen's (OTCPK:VLKAY) supervisory board is discussing a five-year spending plan totaling more than €70B to further transform the group into an electric car leader, Reuters reports. It's expected to sign off on the capital and development spending targets today, with the investments being made in 2018-2022.

Continuing to reduce government regulation, the FCC has voted to undo a 1975 ban on cross-ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, which ensured a diversity of views before online media. The most immediate beneficiary of the relaxed rules will be Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI), as some of the changes could smooth the way for its proposed acquisition of Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO).

Shares in Twenty-First Century Fox jumped in AH trading, climbing over 9%, as media vultures are reportedly circling the company to buy major assets. According to several sources, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is interested in the same set of entities that Disney (NYSE:DIS) approached Fox (FOX, FOXA) about earlier this year, and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is also looking to jump in the bidding race.

Flashing red light? Norway's $1T sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, is proposing to dump $35B of its oil and gas stocks, diversifying its stakes to guard against a drop in crude prices. Among its holdings: Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Statoil (NYSE:STO), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and other oil majors.

TransCanada has shut down part of its Keystone pipeline after 5K barrels of oil leaked in South Dakota and expects to close several parts of the system while it responds to the incident. TransCanada's (NYSE:TRP) spill comes just four days before the Nebraska Public Service Commission announces a decision on a Keystone expansion through the state.

"It was never something I approved," former General Electric (NYSE:GE) CEO Jeff Immelt told Axios's Mike Allen of the company's practice of having an spare jet follow him on trips, saying he stopped the protocol "as soon as I found out about it." When pressed about why he never noticed an extra plane, Immelt said he "never really thought about it... I was totally focused on the job."

It's the first trial involving thousands of similar claims. A California jury has ruled in favor of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a lawsuit by a woman who said she developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in the company's talc-based products. "Baby Powder has been around since 1894 and it does not contain asbestos or cause mesothelioma or ovarian cancer," J&J said in a statement.

Denying media reports, Toshiba (OTCPK:TOSYY) confirmed it has not entered into talks with Asus (OTC:AKCPF) or any company to sell its PC business as it races to bolster its balance sheet to avoid a possible delisting. Toshiba also said it wouldn't consider a separate investment in its memory chip unit by a member of a Bain Capital-led consortium that has agreed to buy the business for $18B.

Qualcomm may win EU approval for its bid to acquire NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg, after the U.S. chipmaker pledged not to acquire certain patents belonging to NXP. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) also recently rejected a $103B takeover bid from Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), saying the offer was undervalued and would face regulatory hurdles.

Volatility is the name of the game. Bitcoin came within touching distance of the $8,000 handle overnight, trading at $7,998, according to CoinDesk, but quickly pared gains to trade at $7,882. The cryptocurrency sold off heavily last weekend, falling to around $5,500, but has since risen from that low to Friday's high, marking an increase of 45%.

Thursday's Key Earnings

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) +1.8% AH issuing a strong outlook.
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) -3.6% as guidance fell short.
Gap (NYSE:GPS) +7.7% AH with strong same-store sales.
Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) +10.9% posting impressive U.S. revenues.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan +0.2%. Hong Kong +0.6%. China -0.5%. India +0.7%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris flat. Frankfurt flat.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.1%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +1.5% to $56.16. Gold +0.4% to $1283.40. Bitcoin +0.5% to $7882.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.36%

Today's Economic Calendar

8:30 Housing Starts
10:00 E-Commerce Retail Sales
11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count