Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the Dow closed up 335.97 points at 13,739.39, while the S&P500
was 43.13 points higher at 1,519.78 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 70 points at
2,651.66.

See you in the morning with the next episode....

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Guardian
This is Money

The European Commission has requested information from the British authorities over the government bail-out of Northern Rock, concerned that it could violate EU state aid laws if support leads to distortion of the banking market.

Bank bail-out may breach EU competition laws

Northern Rock is poised to draw on the Bank of England's funding lifeline after bundling up 5bn worth of mortgages as collateral.

Northern Rock set to draw upon Bank of England lifeline

Pressure on Britain's banks eased slightly with the cost of overnight borrowing falling after the Bank of England injected a further 4.4bn into the pot for overnight lending. The move helped cut the London interbank offered rate (Libor) that banks charge each other for overnight loans by 33 basis points to 6.14pc.

Libor falls after BoE's 4.4bn boost

Spanish officials have furiously denied reports that the countrys property market is heading for a crash or that a clutch of banks may be in the same boat as Northern Rock.

Spain faces frightening parallels to Britain

The upward pressure on food prices ratcheted higher after the Australian government slashed its forecast for this year's harvest by more than 30pc. The sharp reduction on its last estimate made in June provided another boost to wheat futures, which have doubled in the past year.

Australia slashes its wheat forecast

The Government is working on an unprecedented overhaul of the laws surrounding collapsed banks in the wake of the Northern Rock fiasco. It will mean the effective abolition of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the current system which only returns up to 31,700 to savers if their bank collapses. This will be replaced by an insurance system similar to those in the US and Canada, which guarantee 100pc of savings up to a certain level.

New laws to protect savers' cash

Absolute Capital Management, a London-listed hedge fund with $3.2 billion (1.6 billion) of assets, went into freefall yesterday as Florian Homm, its co-founder and joint chief investment officer, quit amid a dispute with the board.

Absolute shares plunge 70% after director quits over spat with board

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning up 928.45 points (3.8%) at
25,505.30, just off a record high of 25,515.44.

The Nikkei was recently up 561.68 points (3.55%) at 16,363.48.

Crude oil for October delivery rose 67 cents to $82.18 a barrel in electronic
trading, after rising as high as $82.28 earlier in the session.

Happy trading!

G.

TFN economic and business calendarThomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Stocks, oil soar on Fed cut

Good morning

Should be an interesting day.

Show me your hands Greystone.

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for today

The Wednesday Press Roundup

London shares outlook - up, after Wall Street surge, Imperial Tobacco in focus

BROKERWATCH Kazakhmys tgt upped to 1,360p by Deutsche Bank, 'hold' maintainedThomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

Australian shares close sharply higher, BHP Billiton hits record

Tokyo shares close sharply higher as Fed's rate cut eases economic worries

Morning all. We should see a 3% rise in most shares today.

BROKERWATCH Kingfisher tgt price cut to 256p vs 265p by JP Morgan, 'overweight'UK smallcap opening - Motive Television edges up as H1 losses narrow

FTSE opens sharply higherUK smallcap opening - Twenty adrift on FY warning

UK smallcap opening - Cardinal Resources off as offer talks end; seeks equity

UK smallcap opening - Photo-Me slides as vending division sale aborted

Tokyo shares close higher as Fed's rate cut eases economic worries - UPDATEUK smallcap opening - Concurrent Technologies down as H1 profits dip 11 pctAustralian shares close sharply higher, BHP Billiton hits record - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - International Brand softens on lower HI operating profits

STOCKWATCH Europe's banking stocks rally, French, UK banks lead the sectorUK smallcap opening - Absolute Capital lower on suspension of some funds