MAJOR PAPERS:

• In what may trump a GBP1.6B bid from a private-equity led consortium consisting of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (NYSE: GS) Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Candover Investment (OTC: CDRIF), and Alpinvest, Expro International Group (OTC: EXPRF) said it received a GBP1.71B bid proposal from Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), the Wall Street Journal reported. Expro said the proposal "does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer and is subject to certain preconditions."
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that the oil industry and some U.S. lawmakers are looking to end long-standing bans on domestic drilling put in place to protect areas that are environmentally-sensitive, fueled by concerns about global energy.
• In an interview with the Financial Times, Citigroup Incorporated's (NYSE: C) former chairman and CEO Sandy Weill acknowledged that choosing Chuck Prince as his successor in 2003 turned out not to be the "right thing" for the company and was flawed. Instead of handing the job to Prince, Weill said the board should have fostered competition among the bank's top managers for the job.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the Washington Post, MedImmune, a unit of drug giant AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN),settled with Genentech Inc (NYSE: DNA) a lawsuit over a patented component of its best-selling drug Synagis, which is aimed at preventing respiratory infections in infants. No details of the settlement were provided.

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) saw shares initially trade down with the broad market this morning, although shares have recovered and are now up over 1% at $39.87 in early trading. The oilfield services giant posted above-expectation earnings over the weekend. Now that Halliburton is beginning to be thought of more of an overseas-based operator, the company posted its actual earnings on Sunday.

Its net income for the quarter was $727 million, or $0.79 per diluted share. This compares to net income of $611 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2006. First Call estimates were $0.64 EPS. Included was a $0.15 per share favorable income tax impact from the ability to recognize United States foreign tax credits that were previously assumed would not be fully utilizable and $0.02 per share after-tax charges for additional reserves related to environmental matters. This would put the comparable number at $0.66 EPS versus the $0.64 estimate. Halliburton's consolidated revenues were $3.9 billion, compared to estimates of $3.87 billion. As a result of Halliburton's organizational restructuring during the third quarter of 2007, the company is now reporting two operating segments: the Completion and Production (C&P) segment and the Drilling and Evaluation (D&E) segment.

Tired of hearing about the elections yet? Not Jim Cramer. Tonight on his MAD MONEY show on CNBC, he decided to point out some ways the elections could make you money.

Boy, this sounds like 'deja vu' all over again.

Cramer said that, while corporations may have lost some of their stranglehold over the government, the markets rallied anyway. This, he explained, was the market "getting past the event." Cramer said that gridlock has been good for the economy but you can't like the market quite as much as you did yesterday. Why are you unable to like the market, you ask? According to Cramer, it's because the Democrats care more for the interests of consumers than those of corporate shareholders. If you're going to quantify this, just subtract one multiple point off your stock's P/E ratio. BUT....Cramer says you have to stay in the market and don't be put off on the headlines.

Cramer said the Dem's won't have the power to do much besides making the companies look like they are less of a corporatocracy (my word not his). Cramer said that even Waxman shouldn't keep you away from stocks. Cramer says you do have to pay attention to Washington, but he thinks Pelosi won't stop Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) from earning $15.00 next year. He also said to stop bashing Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) because it is done going down. He thinks the Democrats won't touch the credit card companies because deadbeats don't have lobbyists. Cramer still likes MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) and says that Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) will win. Cramer still thinks Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is going to $100 by year end and he thinks Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is still good to be in with it up huge after the report. In a call-in Cramer said to keep the ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and not sell it.