Unable to find a fit with a partner in an industry where technology has outstripped its traditional role, NYSE Euronext — headquartered in Wall Street's New York Stock Exchange building — has agreed to an $8.2-billion acquisition by an Atlanta-based commodity-trading outfit, InterContinental Exchange (ICE).

The deal would create a derivatives giant, as Reuters noted. It also gives a 12-year-old startup control of the most iconic symbol of U.S. capitalism, with a two-century history of serving as the very hub of company-building. While the exchange still features traders squawking in bright-colored jackets to make orders, digital technology and the rise of private trading venues have made it less and less relevant.

NYSE, which refreshed its branding earlier this year, handles only about 20 percent of equities traded in the United States on a given day, an expert told the U.K.'s Guardian, down from a peak of 60 percent to 70 percent.Continue reading...

A snapshot of how Hurricane Sandy is impacting the U.S. today, as states shut down transit systems and schools, and many businesses are closed or letting employees work from home as the northeast is in lockdown mode: 

• An estimated 7,500 flights have been cancelled
• Chase and Citibank are waiving fees for customers in Sandy's path
• Google cancelled NYC Nexus launch event
• YouTube is live-streaming the Weather Channel's coverage
• Insurance industry braces for (potentially) billions of dollars in losses
• NFL and other sports impacted
• NYSE and NASDAQ cease trading as European stocks hit by knock-on
• New York Broadway shows and other performances go dark
• Oil prices are falling as gasoline climbs
• Starbucks has closed locations
• HMS Bounty movie ship sinks, as crew rescued by Coast Guard (update: two still missing)

US Eastern Seaboard braces for Hurricane Sandy, as NYSE (for first time since 9/11) and NASDAQ halt trading on Monday and thousands of flights are cancelled.

San Francisco Giants beat Detroit Tigers to win baseball's World Series.

GM tests magnesium to produce lighter cars.

NBC wins Premier League broadcast rights.

Toyota misfires with Chinese buyers.

Apple masters art of planned obsolescence, while Steve Jobs' yacht finally revealed.

EDF Energy in UK raising prices 10.8%.

IBM reports nanotube chip breakthrough.

McDonald's leans more on Dollar Menu.

News Corp. bids for Penguin books, owned by Pearson.

Univision to launch UVideos digital network spin-off.

Vodafone restructuring to result in "massive" job losses.

& British police arrest pop star Gary Glitter as more arrests are expected in Jimmy Savile scandal.

A once-in-a-decade occurrence in China, the overlap of Chinese National Day and the Mid-Autumn Lunar Festival, is giving Chinese consumers a rare eight-day period with no work or family obligations. As a result, Chinese tourists are traveling in China and flocking to other areas, including Hong Kong (now in mourning following a ferry crash that killed 38 holiday revelers) and Europe.

While less than three percent of the Chinese have a passport, that number is rising 20 percent each year, according to Reuters. That means the current travel period is likely to be dwarfed by long-term prospects for Chinese tourism. It's true that China's economy has slowed along with the domestic appetite for luxury, but a segment of the population is decidedly well-heeled, and they still love to travel and shop.

It's certainly not stopping brands from pushing ahead in China — Louis Vuitton recently opened a flagship in Shanghai, and Ralph Lauren just opened five stores in China in the past two weeks, as David Lauren, the brand's EVP of Advertising, Marketing & Corporate Communications, told the New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin in a discussion at the Interbrand/New York Stock Exchange 2012 Executive Marketing Summit on Tuesday.Continue reading...

Major League Bseball today released a new public affairs campaign, titled Baseball Believes, featuring a pair of amusing spots starring Steve Carell, Ken Jeong & Colin Hanks re-creating "signature moments in baseball history that led fans across the nation to believe that anything was possible." (Watch the longer version below.)

According to MLB's press release, the campaign was filmed at Boston's historic Fenway Park as part of a longstanding collaboration between Major League Baseball, its 30 Clubs and Stand Up To Cancer — a non-profit initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation that rang the opening bell at the NYSE this morning.Continue reading...

Procter & Gamble had a good thing going with its mom-focused global campaign heading into the London Summer Olympics, and so like the world-class marketers they are, the company is trying to extend the string of positive impressions throughout the Games.

To that end, P&G CEO Bob McDonald and Global Brand Building Officer Marc Pritchard joined the mothers of several Olympic athletes and other P&G executives to virtually "ring" the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange "remotely" — from the P&G Family Home pavilion in London.Continue reading...

Apple will use Baidu search engine on phones in China and gets on fast track in court to block Samsung Galaxy phone as iPhone 5 speculation mounts ahead of WWDC, while marketing head Steve Schiller gets a Bloomberg Businessweek profile. Also, Apple will pay $2.5 million to settle false advertising suit in Australia over 4G iPad claims. 

Audi plant expansion tests ability to maintain quality.

Boeing hits milestone on 787 Dreamliner.

Burger King plans to expand in Russia.

Cannes Lions to honor Dan Weiden of Weiden+Kennedy.

Carnival Cruise loyalty program members are up in arms.

CBS chief Les Moonves says "partisanship" is part of journalism now.Continue reading...

It’s a good thing Mad Men’s Don Draper lived in the 1960’s, when Madison Avenue executives were thriving and “style, confidence, debauchery, lust and action” defined the job (as the Emmy Award-winning AMC series would have us believe).

Today, of course, it's not quite so swinging: "the job market is pretty rotten. Opportunities are limited. Agencies aren't doing the same kind of hiring they were five years ago, and there's no denying that those closer to 55 are going to have a harder time,” Nancee Martin, director-talent at Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide, commented to Ad Age. "In the past, advertising spoke to the audience, now it's more of a conversation. There are a lot of great Don Drapers out there today, and the really great ones are the ones who've learned to add to their game and keep their eye on the prize," observed Robert Manni, president of Agent16, to the Guardian.

Indeed, Ad Age estimates that agencies accounted for 189,700 jobs in pre-recession 2007, but by January 2010, that number was down by 30,000 jobs. As of November 2011, agencies had regained 17,000 jobs, but not the same jobs, and the majority were being filled by younger digital talent. As the fifth season of Mad Men kicks off with a two-hour special on AMC on Sunday night, what is thriving is the marketing of products related to the franchise and the concomitant glamorization of that era.Continue reading...