♦ Bad day ahead? Stocks fell sharply in Europe and Asia overnight and ugly corporate earnings have investors worried. [MW]
♦ Wachovia, which is being acquired by Wells Fargo, reported a third-quarter loss of $23.9 billion. [Bloomberg]
♦ Yahoo says it will lay off 10 percent of its work force. [NYT]
♦ Federal prosecutors looking into the collapse of Lehman have subpoenaed other firms to find out if their analysts were misled by Lehman execs. [WSJ]

♦ Carl Icahn has doubled his stake in Lions Gate; he now owns 9.2 percent of the company. [WSJ]
♦ Samsung has withdrawn its $5.8 billion offer to acquire SanDisk. [WSJ]
♦ Merck reported a 28% drop in third-quarter earnings and said that it will cut 7,200 jobs by the end of 2011. [WSJ]
♦ A handful of real estate projects around town are in jeopardy since Lehman, which acted as lender, is now in bankruptcy. [NYP]
♦ Ultimately, was the Lehman bankruptcy such a bad thing? BreakingViews: "Lehman's bankruptcy may have been precisely the wake-up call that governments needed." [BV]
♦ Merrill Lynch is firing 10,000 people. So what was it doing recruiting at NYU yesterday? [Dealbreaker]
♦ The most exciting mortgage banking conference in history: A protester rushed the stage and tried to "arrest" Karl Rove during a speech. [NYT]