According to a UBS poll, investor optimism about the outlook for U.S. financial markets fell this month to the lowest since September 2005 after concern grew that the world's biggest economy is headed into a recession. The Index of Investor Optimism dropped to 44 in November from 70 last month. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced it will conduct a series of term repurchase agreements that will extend into the New Year "in response to heightened pressure in money markets for funding through the year-end." The first operation will be arranged and settle on Nov. 28th and mature on Jan. 10th next year for an amount of about $8 billion. There are news reports that Citigroup (C), the top U.S. bank by assets, is planning major job cuts over the coming months. No exact number had yet been set, though some jobs were already being eliminated but it is estimated that the cuts could total anywhere between 17,000 and 45,000. Prospective buyers of online brokerage E*Trade Financial...