US stock markets remained closed on Tuesday as the Sandy clean-up began on the East Coast. NYSE, Nasdaq and BATS announced that their stock, options and derivatives markets would reopen for business on Wednesday. Sifma has recommended that US bond markets also reopen on Wednesday (Financial Times, Wall Street Journal). Early equity volume is expected to be strong as investors make end-of-month portfolio adjustments. The storm's toll: at least 30 deaths across eight states, and six million people left without power. Some 750,000 are without power in New York City (Full updates: New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal). Larry Leibowitz, NYSE Euronext's chief operating officer, warned of continued market infrastructure problems. "We are shooting hard to open tomorrow and fully expect to do so, but lots of firms are going to have either connectivity problems, or other things, so we are urging all firms to get out there and test their back-up," Leibowitz said (Reuters). From the Fed, OCC and FDIC: Ready to work with banks over delays to reporting requirements, and to expedite requests for temporary banking facilities in areas hit by the storm (Federal Reserve). The New York subway system has suffered severe damage which may take weeks to fully rectify. Seven out of 10 East River tunnels were flooded during the storm. Joseph Lhota, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief, told WNYC radio that he was working to restore the system "as quickly as I possibly can" but did not give a timetable (Financial Times). Telecoms disruptions remain widespread across the Northeast (Reuters). Disney has agreed to buy Lucasfilm, the guardian of the Star Wars films, for $4bn. A seventh Star Wars film is planned for 2015 under the deal. The transaction - half in cash and half in stock - will add Stars Wars and the Indiana Jones franchise to Disney's roster of cultural properties, including Marvel comics, Pixar and ESPN (Financial Times). It also gives Disney access to Lucasfilm's portfolio of entertainment and audiovisual technologies, including Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. Further Star Wars films after the seventh are also slated for release (Wall Street Journal). Apple ousted Tim Forstall, its head of mobile software, after he refused to sign a letter of apology for flaws in its new maps technology. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, signed the letter instead, bringing tensions to a head after Forstall's unit built a poorly-received alternative to Google Maps (Wall Street Journal). The NY Fed looks at... sovereign CDS infecting corporate CDS. Deus Ex Macchiato translates the UBS job cuts into regulatory capital terms. Does the Sandy shutdown show the death of exchanges as utilities?