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 ...