Job Creation Posts Jump But Rate Still Steady at 9.1% (CNBC)
The US jobs picture beat tepid expectations, with the economy creating a significantly better than expected 103,000 mew jobs in September that nonetheless was not enough to cut the unemployment rate from 9.1 percent. Economists had been looking for 60,000 total new nonfarm jobs, a month after the shock that the US had created a net of zero new jobs.

The Multibillion-Dollar Leak (WSJ)
The latest frenzy erupted late Wednesday when a website posted a 205-page draft of a memo, dated Sept. 30, that laid out critical elements of the proposed Volcker rule. The leak left regulators fuming and opened a new front in Wall Street’s battle to soften the blow of the proposed rule. The draft gave banking industry lobbyists several days to discuss it before Tuesday, when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is scheduled to consider issuing a version for public comment…Talk spread that the leak could prompt regulators to move more quickly to release an official version. A lobbyist for a large Wall Street bank assigned a staffer to continuously monitor the website of the Federal Reserve, which is helping draft the rule.

Romney Signing Up Wall Street Donors (NYT)
One of Mr. Romney’s latest and most high-profile recruits is James B. Lee Jr., vice chairman of the JPMorgan Chase and a Christie fan, according to two people with knowledge of Mr. Lee’s discussions with the Romney campaign…Mr. Romney has also picked up the support of two financiers who once supported President Obama: Daniel Loeb and Clifford Asness. Another top recruit is Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire who is one of the Republican Party’s most sought-after donors and supporters. Kenneth Griffin, a Chicago hedge fund manager who Mr. Romney has courted, remains undecided, a person close to him said on Thursday.

Geithner: Banks OK (NYP)
FYI: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said the nation’s financial firms have strengthened and there is “absolutely” no chance of another collapsing like Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Wall Street Protesters Gorge on ‘Occupie’ Pizza (Bloomberg)
Liberatos Pizza, a few blocks south, has been taking orders from supporters around the world to have its $15 “Occupie” delivered to the protesters. Owner Telly Liberatos said he’s sold hundreds of the 18-inch pies since Sept. 18. “I have nothing to do with the protest,” Liberatos said. “I don’t take sides. It was a very slow summer. I’m trying to run my business.”

Occupy Wall Street costing taxpayers $2 million in police overtime – and counting – NYPD says (NYDN)
The NYPD said Thursday that three weeks of anti-Wall Street demonstrations have cost the city $2 million in police overtime and defended the use of pepper spray and batons to control rowdy crowds…The group posted a YouTube video of a cop a block from the Stock Exchange saying Wednesday evening that he just couldn’t wait to beat up demonstrators. “My little nightstick’s gonna get a workout tonight,” the burly officer whose badge reads ‘Rodriguez’ says gleefully to a fellow cop as they wait by a metal barricade on Broad Street.

Germany, France Split On Bank Aid Before Summit (Reuters)
A German source said Paris wanted to tap the euro zone’s 440 billion rescue fund to recapitalize its own banks, which have the largest exposure to peripheral euro zone debt, while Berlin insisted the fund should be used only as a last resort when no national funds are available.

Berlusconi quips on new party name (AP)
“We will change the name of the People of Freedom party, because people no longer carry it in their hearts,” the 75-year-old told lawmakers from his ruling coalition on the sidelines of a series of meetings in parliament, Italian news media reported. “We will examine any suggestions,” he added. Berlusconi then joked: “I’m told the name that would have the biggest success is ‘Go Pussy!’” Continue reading »

Steven Paul Jobs, 1955-2011 (WSJ)
Those who knew Mr. Jobs say one reason why he was able to keep innovating was because he didn’t dwell on past accomplishments and demanded that employees do the same. Hitoshi Hokamura, a former Apple employee, recalls how an old Apple I that was displayed by the company cafeteria quietly disappeared after Mr. Jobs returned in the late 1990s. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose,” Mr. Jobs said in a commencement speech at Stanford University in June 2005, almost a year after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Fans Worldwide Mourn Passing Of Steve Jobs (Bloomberg)
Steve Somerstein, who says he met Jobs several times since 1986, recalled the time when he bumped into Jobs while apartment hunting in Palo Alto. “He was just a regular guy,” said Somerstein, who was at the Palo Alto Apple store last night. “I congratulated him on the company and hoped it was going to do well. I didn’t even own an Apple at that point. He was about 10 years younger than me and just a nice kid.” Ron Kent, a food-truck owner who was at the Palo Alto store, likened Jobs to Michelangelo, the renaissance-era artist who painted the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. “He’s the visionary of our time,” Kent said.

Twitter reaction to Steve Jobs’s death hits record (TheAge)
The death of Steve Jobs has provoked the biggest online reaction of any event in recent history, with social media monitoring firm SR7 expecting official Twitter figures to come in at 10,000 tweets per second. The huge reaction eclipses the previous biggest event, Beyonce’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, where it was revealed that she was pregnant, which generated a record 8868 tweets per second.

The Jobs Phone Calls (AllThingsD)
“I never knew Steve when he was first at Apple. I wasn’t covering technology then. And I only met him once, briefly, between his stints at the company. But, within days of his return, in 1997, he began calling my house, on Sunday nights, for four or five straight weekends. As a veteran reporter, I understood that part of this was an attempt to flatter me, to get me on the side of a teetering company whose products I had once recommended, but had, more recently, advised readers to avoid. Yet there was more to the calls than that. They turned into marathon, 90-minute, wide-ranging, off-the-record discussions that revealed to me the stunning breadth of the man. One minute he’d be talking about sweeping ideas for the digital revolution. The next about why Apple’s current products were awful, and how a color, or angle, or curve, or icon was embarrassing. After the second such call, my wife became annoyed at the intrusion he was making in our weekend. I didn’t.”

Morgan Stanley Stresses Its Safety (WSJ)
FYI: In late 2008, Morgan Stanley nearly collapsed because many of the hedge funds that used the company’s prime-brokerage business simultaneously wanted to take their money and run. That won’t happen again, Morgan Stanley is telling investors, despite swirling speculation that the New York investment bank is vulnerable to Europe’s woes.

Anti-Wall Street Protests Spread From New York (Bloomberg)
Larry Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock, said he understands the concerns of the protesters. “These are not lazy people sitting around looking for something to do,” Fink, 58, said yesterday during an event in Toronto. “We have people losing hope and they’re going into the street, whether it’s justified or not.” Continue reading »