Updated throughout the day        

Updated  3.34 PM EST:  Consensus figures for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) earnings may be significantly too high (Barron’s)

Updated 1.14 PM EST:  The whisper number for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) is $1.47 EPS compared to the Wall St. consensus of $1.42  (WhisperNumber)

 Update  11.34 AM EST:  Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is substantially increasing the amount of original content it will run on its websites. (CNET)

Update 11.37 AM EST:   GE (NYSE:GE) and Vivendi are $500 million apart on their valuation of Vivendi’s 20% of NBCU (WSJ)

Kraft (NYSE:KFT) will increase its bid for Cadbury from 745 pence to 850 to 900 pence per share before a UK government deadline on November 3  (Reuters)

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) is having trouble raising money for its new $20 billion fund (NYPost).

US authorities are close to filing a number of other insider trading charges against hedge funds  (NYTimes).

The CME (NYSE:CME) may buy the CBOE  of $5 billion. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

PC makers may have over-built based on higher anticipated sales from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 7  (Barron’s)

Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) says that tens of millions of US PCs have scam security software  (Reuters)

Potash (NYSE:POT) could benefit from rising corn prices. (BusinessWeek)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone sales may disappoint investors when the company reports earnings (Fortune)

China’s GDP growth rate will be above 8% this year.  (Forbes)

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Douglas A. McIntyre

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