1. Twitter assumes position to sue Elon Musk, assembles legal team
Twitter Inc has hired the legal services of merger law heavyweight Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as it prepares to sue billionaire Elon Musk for walking away from his $US44 billion takeover bid for the social media company. Twitter is geared to file suit imminently.

“Musk has brought in Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP. The firm led his successful defense against a defamation claim in 2019 and is representing him as part of an ongoing shareholder lawsuit over his failed attempt to take Tesla Inc. private in 2018,” Bloomberg reports.

“In a regulatory filing after the official market closed Friday, Musk announced plans to walk away from his $54.20-a-share offer to buy Twitter, alleging that the company misrepresented user data.”

2. New York trade job given to John Barilaro as a gift, new testimony reveals
Former public servant and the person first offered the job as New York trade commissioner last year, Jenny West has testified in an upper house inquiry that she was told the job was intended as “a present for someone” when her offer was rescinded.

That someone being former deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro, despite West receiving confirmation from chief executive of Investment NSW, Amy Brown, and “a brief signed by the former premier Gladys Berejiklian noting her appointment on 12 August last year,” the Guardian reports.

“I was shocked,” she said. “In the space of four weeks I went from having been appointed to the role of [trade commissioner] to the Americas to potentially not having a job.”

West told the inquiry she had a meeting with Brown on 14 October in which she was told she would not be getting the job and cabinet had decided the position would become a “political appointment”.

“Ms Brown said the position, and this is a quote, ‘will be a present for someone’,” West said.

3. Business sector calls for 200k visas a year at Labor jobs summit
Employers have made their demands crystal clear at the Labor jobs summit in September, lobbying the government for an uptick in skilled migrants workers by increasing the two-year visa by 200,000 positions a year. The unions have also made themselves known on the matter, saying “they will fight for more safeguards to ensure temporary visa workers are not exploited,” the AFR reports.

“We’ve deliberately chosen to put this jobs and skills summit on before the October budget because there may be steps proposed and agreed at the summit which could be implemented quickly,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said. “There are long-term solutions that should be identified, but quick fixes are also critical.”

4. More pain for payments sector as EML boss steps down
EML Payments shares took a plunge on Monday on the news that chief executive Tom Cregan quit his role, with the newly appointed Emma Shand assuring shareholders her appointment was a succession well in the making.

“Tom has been at the helm of the company for 10 years. I imagine it’s something he’s been thinking about for some time,” Ms Shand said on Monday.

She said the EML board had been looking at succession planning and “mobilised very quickly towards that” by the end of Sunday.

“EML has of course had a few challenges but it’s also such an exciting business,” Ms Shand said.

“EML Payments shares plummeted another 20.7 per cent to $1.02 at 2pm AEST [on Monday], having sunk more than 60 per cent so far this year,” the AFR reports.

5. ASX to rise despite Wall St dip
ASX futures were up 22 points or 0.3% to 6525 near 6.45am AEST, with the AUD -1.8% to 67.35 US cents.

On Wall St: Dow -0.5% S&P 500 -1.2% Nasdaq -2.3%.

In Europe: Stoxx 50 -1% FTSE 0.0% CAC -0.6% DAX -1.4%.

Brent crude -0.2% to $US106.83 a barrel.

10-year yield: US 2.99% Australia 3.50%.