Evening Leaders – Fairholme’s Charles M. Fernandez Steps Down, Brownstein Pled Guilty

Verizon Communications Inc.’s third-quarter profit more than doubled as the carrier’s growth in contract wireless subscribers outpaced rivals. The company added 882,000 wireless contracts, a 51% improvement from a year earlier. Including prepaid and other customers, the carrier added 1.3 million wireless users, compared with rival AT&T Inc.’s 2.1 million.

Federal Reserve officials are starting to build a case for a new program of buying mortgage-backed securities to boost the ailing economy, though they appear unlikely to move swiftly. The idea would be to target any new efforts by the central bank at the parts of the economy that are most severely impeding a recovery—the housing and mortgage markets—by working to push down mortgage rates.

Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, didn’t used to do many media appearances. But a series of big magazine profiles that focused on the intense culture of his Connecticut-based hedge fund seem to have eased the billionaire out of his shell. On Thursday, Mr. Dalio appeared on Charlie Rose’s program on PBS to talk about the economy, and to address the accusations that Bridgewater — which is governed by a set of rules laid out in Mr. Dalio’s business manifesto, “Principles” — is a cult of personality.

Groupon Inc. set a Nov. 4 date for its long-anticipated IPO, saying it seeks to raise as much as $621 million, valuing the company at up to $11.4 billion. It’s a scaling back of the daily deals company’s earlier plans. Groupon once sought to raise about $750 million to close to $1 billion at a valuation of more than $15 billion. It’s only planning to offer 5% of its shares to the public, a very small percentage that tends to increase the volatility.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded its credit rating on Ford Motor Co. two notches, moving it closer to investment-grade territory and citing the company’s new labor contract with union workers and expectations of a strong margin and operating cash flow from its global automotive operations. The rating unit of McGraw-Hill & Co. is the second ratings firm to boost its view on Ford in two days, raised its credit rating on the auto maker to double-B-plus, one level below investment grade, from double-B-minus. The firm also removed Ford from credit watch.

Opportunistic hedge funds are picking up bargains in corporate bonds after a sharp sell-off this summer, preferring the sector to pricey-looking government debt. A number of managers believe credit markets are now pricing in too-deep an economic slowdown and default rates that are too high, and are picking up high-yield bonds in the United States and Europe, often favouring short maturities, as well as senior secured bonds.

SunTrust Banks Inc.’s third-quarter earnings rose 41%, as the regional bank increased its loans portfolio and shrank the amount it set aside to cover weaker loans. The Atlanta-based lender, which serves an area that had been hard hit by the real-estate bust, has continued to see its credit quality improve. SunTrust reported a profit of $215 million, or 39 cents a share, up from $153 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 5.1% to $2.2 billion.