Jon Nazca/Reuters
Good Morning! Here's what you need to know on Monday.
1. Monarch Airlines has ceased trading and all future bookings have been cancelled, the Civil Aviation Authority said on Monday. Monarch is the UK's fifth biggest airline and has been struggling financially in recent months. Around 110,000 passengers booked on Monarch flights are currently abroad, and the government is believed to have asked the CAA to charter aircraft to ensure those people can get home.
2. Prime Minister Theresa May told the BBC on Sunday that her government is drawing up plans in case there is "no deal" post-Brexit when the Article 50 negotiating period comes to an end in March 2019. "We are recognizing …. government is working on what it would need to put in place if there was no deal, what we're also working on is ensuring we get a deal, that we get the right deal, for the United Kingdom," she said on the Andrew Marr Show.
3. Hundreds of people were injured during ugly scenes in Catalonia as the region's citizens tried to vote in an independence referendum on Sunday. The Spanish government regarded the vote as an illegal act and ordered its Guardia Civil to shut down polling stations early on Sunday.
4. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont declared late on Sunday evening that Catalonia has won the right to independence, regardless of the violence witnessed earlier in the day. "With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form a republic," he said in a televised address. 90% of those who voted, voted for independence, officials said.
5. The euro has slipped significantly on the developments around the referendum. The single took a knock in Asian trade as investors kept an anxious eye on an independence vote in Spain's Catalonia, although surprisingly strong economic news out of China offered support to equities and commodities. As of 6.50 a.m. BST (1.50 a.m. ET) the euro is lower by close to 0.5% to trade at $1.1763.
6. President Donald Trump reportedly instructed his staff to portray him as "crazy" to get more out of trade negotiations with South Korea. Trump gave the advice to his top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, during an Oval Office meeting with top officials in September, according to an Axios report on Sunday that cited people familiar with the conversation.
7. Apple is investigating reports of its new iPhone bursting open, days after the flagship device went on sale. Pictures on social media showed an iPhone 8 Plus handset that appeared to have split alongside the side. Apple confirmed it was "looking into" two reports of the issue but declined to comment further.
8. The lack of price volatility in markets has investors mired in a sea of complacency, which has them ignoring potential risks, says Societe Generale. "Compare that with dancing on the rim of a volcano," a group of SocGen strategists led by Alain Bokobza, the firm's head of global asset allocation, wrote in a client note. "If there is a sudden eruption (of volatility) you get badly burned."
9. Facebook said it plans on Monday to turn over to the U.S. Congress copies of some 3,000 ads that the social network says were bought on Facebook likely by people in Russia in the months before and after the 2016 U.S. election. Last month, in response to calls from U.S. lawmakers, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged to hand over the ads to congressional investigators who are looking into alleged Russian involvement in the U.S. presidential election
10. Oil prices edged lower on Monday in early Asian trading, pausing for breath after posting gains of as much as 20% in the third quarter, after a survey pointed to a slight increase in OPEC production in September. The U.S. benchmark on Friday posted its strongest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2016 and the longest streak of weekly gains since January.
And finally … JPMorgan is teaching underprivileged kids about entrepreneurialism to create the next generation of bankers. On Friday the bank launched the second year of its Schools Challenge, a programme designed to help teach kids from underprivileged areas about business and entrepreneurialism, with the hope that some will end up working for the bank.