Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14.81 points at
8,178.4, the S&P500 Index lost 1.47 points at 879.56 and the Nasdaq Composite
added a point at 1,747.1.

Crude oil slumped over $2 to trade at $60.08 a barrel on Nymex.

See you in the morning with the next exciting instalment.....

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was down 107.64 points at 9,313.11, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning 103.42 points lower at 17,617.65.

Crude traded at $60.73 a barrel on Nymex.

Happy trading!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) nations believe the global economy is still facing "significant risks" and may need further support, according to a draft document from the summit in the Italian mountain town of L'Aquila.
G8 leaders say risks remain for global economy

Britains recession will end this year with the economy returning to anaemic growth in 2010, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today as it upgraded its view of prospects for the UK and other leading economies.
UK recession will end this year, says IMF

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.5pc and to increase its programme of quantitative easing by 25bn to 150bn today.
MPC to hold interest rates, but increase QE

The US Treasury on Wednesday pushed ahead with scaled back plans for public- private partnerships to buy toxic assets, naming nine fund managers and allocating $30bn of public funds, but without securing any further backing from the Federal Reserve.
US Treasury pushes ahead with toxic asset plan

The developed world's demand for oil will not recover from the effects of global recession for another four years, the cartel of producing nations predicted yesterday. Consumption will rise slower than expected over the short- and medium-term, the 13-strong Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) says in a report.
Demand for oil in the OECD will not recover until 2013, says Opec

"High frequency trading is embroiled in an arms race. And arms races are negative sum games. The arms in this case are not tanks and jets, but computer chips and throughput. But like any arms race, the result is a cycle of spending which leaves everyone in the same relative position, only poorer."
The Cold War in high frequency trading

Remember the much-maligned fear barometer created by Credit Suisse? It was meant to be a measure of investor nervousness but moved practically inversely to the Vix.
Vix vs Vix challenger

Ross Mandell, a self-confessed "bad boy" from the era of drug-fuelled trading on Wall Street who was once briefly disbarred from acting as a securities dealer, used the two London-listed companies, Sky Capital Holdings and Sky Capital Enterprises, to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and to shower gifts on favoured employees, according to criminal and civil charges laid against him yesterday.
Companies listed in London 'used to defraud investors'

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

DEB Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp raised to 110 from 105
DSGI Citigroup: reiterated hold, tp cut to 23 from 26
FRES Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold
HOC Citigroup: upgraded to hold from sell
HOME Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold, tp raised to 310 from 265
KESA Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp raised to 180 from 150
MKS Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold, tp raised to 380 from 320
POG Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold
RRS Citigroup: downgraded to hold from buy
TLW Credit Suisse: downgraded to neutral from outperform, tp raised to 754 from 749

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End-of-day Market Overview