Bloomberg Italian consumer confidence unexpectedly fell this month as shoppers start to plan their Christmas gift expenditures. The household sentiment dropped to 114.3 from a revised 116.0 in October, statistics agency Istat said Monday in Rome. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts called for a November reading of 116.5. “It’s bad news ahead of Christmas,” said …

Bloomberg Cable companies are settling on a new strategy to combat streaming services like Netflix and Hulu: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc., the two biggest US cable operators, are in talks to offer Hulu’s on-demand service through their set-top boxes, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Comcast, the largest cable …

Bloomberg Germany’s political stalemate showed signs of easing as the Social Democrats started haggling over terms of a renewed coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc rather than outright blocking an alliance between Germany’s two biggest parties. The possibility of the SPD again joining a Merkel-led government in a “Grand Coalition” has unfolded quickly, with the party opening the door …