Morning Journal Let the Banks fail

News on Stocks in Our Portfolio--courtesy of Seeking Alpha

02:58 PM Russian oil services group Integra says it will merge its Schlumberger (SLB) JV with Russian seismic specialist Geotech and list the new firm on London's stock exchange. Integra will own 36% of the new firm, to be called IG Seismic Services, while SLB will hold 12%. Comment!

11:33 AM General Mills (GIS -0.9%) reaffirms its FY12 guidance for mid-single digit EPS growth after factoring out costs associated with the integration of Yoplait. The company has steered clear of some of the speed bumps that have hit rival Kellogg (K -1.1%) with shares now trading just a dollar off of their 52-week highs. Comment!

Economics

This Week’s Data

September wholesale inventories fell 0.1% versus expectations of a 0.5% increase; positively, wholesale sales rose 0.5%, suggesting businesses maintain a tight rein on operations.

Weekly jobless claims fell 7,000 versus estimates of a 1,000 increase.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/11/weekly-initial-unemployment-claims_10.html

The August trade deficit came in at $43.1 billion versus forecasts of $46.3 billion.

Other

Let the banks fail (medium):
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/11/key-lesson-from-iceland-crisis-%E2%80%9Clet-banks-fail%E2%80%9D/

Pulse of Commerce index (short):
http://advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/Pulse-of-Commerce-Index.php