Canadian casino says it was hacked, data was stolen

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TORONTO A major Canadian casino has been hit by a cyber attack in which sensitive customer, employee and vendor data was stolen, its management said on Thursday, warning there is a risk the information will be published.

The Casino Rama Resort in Ontario said the hacker claimed to have stolen financial reports, patron credit inquiries, collection and debt information, payroll and other data in an intrusion it first became aware of on Friday.

It said the hacker claims the employee data included social insurance numbers and dated back to 2004, with some other stolen data dating back to 2007.

The casino sits on the Rama First Nation about two-hours drive north of Toronto and has about 3 million visitors a year. Its day-to-day operations are run by CHC Casinos Canada Limited, an indirect subsidiary of Penn National Gaming Inc, under license from the province's gaming operator.

Penn National did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The breach is at least the second time this year that a casino that sits on aboriginal land has fallen victim to a hack, following a breach at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Alberta in March.

Casino Rama has more 2,500 slot machines, more than 110 gaming tables, 8 restaurants and a 5,000 seat entertainment venue and an attached 300-room hotel.

The casino had gross gaming revenue of C$348.3 million ($259.3 million) in the fiscal year to end-March 2015, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation spokesman Tony Bitonti said. Casino resorts in Ontario brought in a total of C$1.16 billion in revenue in that period, he said.

Casino Rama said there was no evidence that the hacker was still inside its computer systems, and that it was working with provincial and federal police and private cyber security experts to investigate the breach. Thanks.

Volatility shorts cash in despite shock U.S. election

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NEW YORK Nov 10 Options traders who had bet that stock market volatility would plummet after the election made outsized gains even if Donald Trump's win seemed to take financial markets by surprise.

The CBOE Volatility Index, the most widely followed gauge of near-term investor anxiety, collapsed on Wednesday, in the largest one-day decline in more than five years.

While a drop in expectations for stock market volatility after a big news event is not unusual, the intensity of this pullback was.

"That's a truly remarkable turnaround in less than one full trading day," said Ophir Gottlieb, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Capital Market Laboratories.

VIX November futures contracts roared to a four-month high of 23.46 on Tuesday night as the results of the election began to favor Trump, counter to earlier expectations that the victor would be Democrat Hillary Clinton.

On Wednesday, the VIX closed down 23 percent at 14.38 and the November futures contracts fell 37 percent from their session peak.

The collapse in volatility was good news for options traders who went against the grain and bet on a decline in stock market volatility even as the options market grew more jittery as Election Day approached.

Even before Election Night, some traders were already betting that volatility would return to pre-election levels, strategists at BNP Paribas said in a note on Thursday.

On November 4, a record 769,214 VIX puts were traded, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Since the VIX usually moves inversely to the stock market and puts offer the opportunity to profit from a decline in the VIX, owning a VIX put is a bet on lower volatility.

The collapse in the VIX makes the value of these puts jump.

For instance, November VIX puts with a strike price of 17 traded as low as $1.05 on Friday. On Thursday, these contracts traded for as much as $3.

On Wednesday, these puts traded in heavy volume, including a large trade were a trader appeared to be selling 26,500 of the contracts for $2.25. While it is not clear when these contracts were bought, they traded for an average price of $1.66 in the two weeks before the election on November 8. Thanks.

Mexico cenbank, govt hold off new measures after Trump victory

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Nov 9 Mexico's central bank governor and finance minister held off announcing any new measures to protect the country's tumbling peso on Wednesday, after Donald Trump's victory sent it down by as much as ten percent.

Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade said in a news conference that uncertainty and volatility had increased since Trump's win, but that there was no immediate impact on trade rules between the two countries.

The central bank will hold a planned monetary policy meeting next week, Governor Agustin Carstens said. Thanks.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, Mexican peso advance ahead of U.S. election results

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NEW YORK Global equity markets climbed and the Mexican peso rallied on Tuesday as investors leaned toward the potential victory of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election.

Markets turned higher after treading water for the early portion of the session, although U.S. equities retreated from their session highs.

While the dollar strengthened slightly against a basket of currencies, the Mexican peso shot to a two-month high versus the greenback.

The Mexican currency has been a market proxy for sentiment over the U.S. election and has performed in inverse correlation with Republican candidate Donald Trump's perceived chances of winning the White House. The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF, touched its highest level since mid-August and was last up 2.2 percent.

Mexico is considered most vulnerable to Trump's planned trade policies as 80 percent of its exports go to the United States.

Market participants cited projections from data firm Votecastr, which showed Clinton in the lead in several battleground states.

"The Votecastr thing is absolutely helping the market move higher," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "Investors will take whatever data they can get, although I really don’t know how accurate the data is."

The market has been pricing in a win for Clinton, including a 2 percent jump in the S&P 500 on Monday after the FBI maintained its view that no criminal charges were warranted in a probe over her email practices.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.29 points, or 0.38 percent, to 18,329.89, the S&P 500 gained 6.1 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,137.62 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.03 points, or 0.39 percent, to 5,186.20.

Safety play gold weakened, down 0.3 percent to $1,276.65 an ounce and yields on U.S. Treasuries touched a one-week high.

At the end of a bruising election campaign, the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave Clinton a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and said she was on track to win 303 Electoral College votes out of 270 needed, to Trump's 235.

Europe's index of 300 leading shares, which posted its biggest gain in two months on Monday, closed 0.3 percent higher. MSCI's all-country world index was up 0.4 percent after notching its best day since late June on Monday.

Clinton, generally seen as a known quantity, has been the preferred candidate for investors over political wild card Trump. But markets remained wary, noting Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union had caught investors and pollsters off guard.

"I’d be a little hesitant to waive the all clear signal at this point," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell 11/32 in price to yield 1.8672 percent after touching a high of 1.876 percent, up from Monday's 1.828 percent. Thanks.

US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs as investors bet on Clinton victory

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U.S. stocks rose for a second straight session on Tuesday, helped by early voter turnout estimates favoring Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election.

Wall Street sees the former secretary of state as lending greater clarity and stability to the markets, while Republican candidate Donald Trump's stance on foreign policy, trade and immigration is less certain.

Data company VoteCastr, which is providing real-time election information through news outlets, including Slate, showed Clinton with an early lead among voters in Florida, a must-win state for Trump.

Several investors said VoteCastr's data had pushed stock prices higher, although they were cautious about its accuracy.

"We were dramatically oversold. People were nervous Trump would win," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "There's likely to be additional volatility in both directions between now and the end of the day."

Shortly after 2:30 pm ET, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 73.24 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,332.84, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 6.46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,137.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 20.96 points, or 0.41 percent, to 5,187.13.

The CBOE Volatility index .VIX, dubbed Wall Street's "fear gauge," reversed an early increase and dipped 0.75 after having notched its biggest one-day drop since late June on Monday.

The iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (EWW.P), known of late as the "Trump ETF," rose 1.75 percent. The ETF is viewed as a barometer of Trump's chances of winning the election since his policies are considered negative for Mexico.

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower, then turned positive and extended the morning's gains.

Clinton has a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump, according to the final Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll released on Monday.

She was on track to win 303 votes in the electoral college to Trump's 235, clearing the 270 needed for victory. She also leads Trump by about 44 percent to 39 percent in the popular vote, according to the poll.

The S&P 500 has surged 2.7 percent since the FBI said on Sunday it would not press criminal charges against Clinton over her use of a private email server, an announcement seen as improving her chances at the polls.

Shares of Smith & Wesson Holding (SWHC.O) and Sturm Ruger & Co (RGR.N) both rose over 1.5 percent. Their sales have benefited in the past from fears among gun owners of increased gun control.

Aetna (AET.N) and Anthem (ANTM.N) jumped more than 2 percent. Both health insurers have gained from the Affordable Care Act, which Clinton has vowed to extend.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 22 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 66 new lows. Thanks.

UPDATE 1-U.S. SEC probing banks over possible mismanagement of ADRs - WSJ

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether big banks have been mishandling securities in the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) market, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The SEC has sent subpoenas to four banks over the issue - Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) (DB.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the Journal reported, citing people close to the matter. (on.wsj.com/2eFTBJ4)

The probe, which is looking at whether the banks have broken controls designed to prevent market abuse and tax fraud, will not necessarily result in enforcement action, the report said.

A major focus of the SEC inquiry is the "pre-release" of ADRs, where banks issue depositary receipts to investors without first having the underlying shares in their custody, the Journal reported.

That means the shares could be sold short without actually having them - a practice known as "naked short selling", which is illegal.

ADRs represent shares of foreign companies that are held in custody by U.S. banks. Trading in ADRs rather than the underlying shares reduces administration and trading costs, both for companies and for investors.

Deutsche Bank and Citigroup declined to comment on the report, while the other two banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thanks.

UPDATE 1-UK privacy watchdog says Facebook agrees to suspend using WhatsApp users

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BRUSSELS Britain's privacy watchdog said on Monday that Facebook (FB.O) has agreed to suspend using data from UK users of its WhatsApp messaging app after the watchdog said consumers weren't properly protected.

The watchdog said the social media giant faces action if it uses such data without valid consent.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) had said in August that it would monitor WhatsApp's new privacy policy, after WhatsApp, acquired by Facebook in 2014, said it would share user data with its parent company.

"We're pleased that they've agreed to pause using data from UK WhatsApp users for advertisements or product improvement purposes," the head of ICO, Elizabeth Denham, said in a statement.

"If Facebook starts using the data without valid consent, they may face enforcement action from my office," she said.

The regulator said it had also asked Facebook and WhatsApp to sign an undertaking committing to better explaining to customers how their data would be used and to give them ongoing control over the information.

However, the companies have so far not agreed.

"We think consumers deserve a greater level of information and protection, but so far Facebook hasn't agreed," Denham said.

Facebook and WhatsApp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The two companies have also come under scrutiny from the wider group of the EU's 28 data protection authorities, who last month requested that the popular messaging service pause sharing users' data with its parent company until the appropriate legal protections could be assured.

Denham said she did not think users had been given enough information about what Facebook would do with their data and that WhatsApp had not obtained valid consent.

Enforcement action could ultimately lead to fines. Such fines are small compared to the revenues of the companies concerned. However, a new EU-wide data protection law coming into force in 2018 would change that with fines of up to 4 percent of global turnover.

Denham said she would keep pushing the issue along with other privacy watchdogs, notably the Irish authority which has the most sway over Facebook since the U.S. company's European headquarters are in Ireland. Thanks.

U.S. regulator found another cheat device in Audi car - report

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FRANKFURT A U.S. regulator found software in some Audi vehicles that lowered their carbon dioxide emissions if it detected they were being used under test conditions, Bild am Sonntag reported.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) discovered the software in an automatic transmission Audi last summer, the German weekly newspaper said, without citing any sources.

CARB had no immediate comment and Audi was not immediately available for comment on Sunday's Bild am Sonntag report.

The paper said the device, which was not the same as the one which triggered last year's diesel emissions scandal at Audi parent Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), was also used in diesel and gasoline-powered cars in Europe.

VW's admission that it had installed software that deactivated pollution controls on more than 11 million diesel vehicles sold worldwide, triggered the deepest business crisis in the German carmaker's history.

Audi (NSUG.DE), the main contributor to VW group profit, has also admitted its 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine was fitted with emissions-control software.

Bild am Sonntag said the software discovered by CARB, which was installed in vehicles with certain automatic transmissions, detected whether a car's steering wheel was turned.

If it was not, indicating laboratory testing conditions, the software turned on a gear-shifting program which produced less carbon dioxide than in normal road driving. If the wheel was turned in any direction by more than 15 degrees, the program was switched off, the paper said.

Audi stopped using the software in May 2016, just before CARB discovered the manipulation in an older model, the paper said, adding that the carmaker had suspended several engineers in connection with the matter.

Bild am Sonntag said a spokesman for Audi had declined to comment, citing ongoing talks with U.S. and California regulators on a proposed fix for cars with 3.0 liter engines. Thanks.

UPDATE 1-GE alerts airlines about engine part after American Airlines fire

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General Electric Co is seeking to remove an engine part from service after an American Airlines jet erupted in flames last week, it told air carriers in a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday.

The manufacturer has identified a “limited number” of parts closely related to one used by American that had a "material anomaly," according to the letter sent on Friday.

All but one of the parts are now out of service, GE said in the letter. It added that it was working with the single airline with an aircraft still equipped with the part to ensure its removal from service.

GE did not name the airline. A company spokesman, Rick Kennedy, confirmed that GE had sent the letter and said it was still in the early stage of an "intense investigation."

On Oct. 28, American Airlines Flight 383 from Chicago to Miami aborted takeoff following an "uncontained" engine failure, a rare event in which components spew from an engine and can tear through the aircraft cabin or rupture fuel tanks in the wings. The airline was flying a Boeing Co 767 aircraft with CF6-80C2 engines made by GE.

In this instance, the failure caused a fuel leak that resulted in a fire, though no one aboard was seriously injured.

An American Airlines spokesman said none of the company's aircraft in operation had the additional parts that GE referred to in the letter. The spokesman added that American was turning over a part from an engine not in operation to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for further examination.

U.S. investigators have yet to assign blame for last week's incident. However, they said on Friday that a so-called stage 2 disk in the engine showed what appeared to be cracking. 

The disk's corrupted material likely indicated a manufacturing defect, either by the parts or metal maker, said Jim Hall, a former NTSB chairman.

In its letter, GE stressed the reliability of its CF6 engines which it said had flown more than 400 million hours since the 1970s.

GE will update engine operators if action is later required, the letter said.

Bloomberg earlier reported news of the letter from GE. Thanks.

UPDATE 1-Shots fired at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, two men detained - TV

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ISTANBUL Turkish authorities briefly barred cars from entering and leaving Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Sunday after police fired shots when a motorcycle refused an order to stop, CNN Turk said.

One of two men aboard the motorcycle was wounded and detained and the second was apprehended by police after a pursuit, the private broadcaster reported. No police or civilians were reported hurt.

In June, suicide bombers suspected of belonging to Islamic State killed 41 people and wounded some 240 others with gunfire and explosives at the airport.

The latest incident did not affect flights at Ataturk, Europe's third-busiest airport, the channel reported. Ataturk is the hub of state-run carrier Turkish Airlines.

It was not immediately clear why the police ordered the men to stop.

On Friday, a car bomb detonated in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, killing 11 people and wounding at least 100. Officials blamed the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), although Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the group's Amaq news agency.

Kurdish militants, Islamic State radicals and far leftists have all staged attacks on civilians in Turkey in recent years. Thanks.