* Big Deal: Alleghany to buy Transatlantic for $3.4 billion

* Behind the scenes: Entire “supercommittee” hasn’t met in 3 weeks

* Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares slide and the Nikkei tumbles.

* Bill Simmons: Business vs. personal in the NBA

* Bruce Booth: Late-stage biotech VC isn’t less risky than early-stage

* Not a parade: Florida town holds funeral for itself

* Reid Hoffman: Groupon’s big advantage is big data

* Larry Summers: 3 ways to combat income inequality

* Bill Frezza: The price we pay for investment apartheid

* Get Term Sheet: Sign up for our daily email on deals and deal-makers

* Nate Silver: Economic indicators that best predict presidential elections

* Jesse Drucker: U.S. billionaires avoid reporting gains to the IRS

* Dr. Steven Greer: It’s tough to interview a breast cancer patient killed by Avastin

* Tweet of the Day: @MoRocca: Why doesn’t anyone name their daughter Solyndra anymore?