Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 641.52 points at 13,118.97,
while the Nikkei was recently off 6.7% at 7,898.18, its first dip under 8,000 in over
five years.

US light crude for December delivery was trading up 66 cents at $68.50.

Happy Friday!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

The Far East has suffered another rout on the stock markets, as economic indicators brought back ugly reminders of the Asian Financial Crisis a decade ago.
Asia suffers further stock market slide

The world is going through a once in a century "credit tsunami" according to the man who presided over the US Federal reserve for 18 years.
Alan Greenspan warns of 'credit tsunami'

The former Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, has conceded that the global financial crisis has exposed a "mistake" in the free market ideology which guided his 18-year stewardship of US monetary policy.
Greenspan - I was wrong about the economy. Sort of

Emmanuel Roman, the co-chief executive of Europes biggest hedge fund GLG, has warned that thousands of hedge funds are on the brink of failure as the global economy contracts with unexpected severity.
GLG chief Emmanuel Roman warns thousands of hedge funds on brink of failure

Regulators could be forced to shut down markets for as long as a fortnight in order to stanch the panic beginning to beset the hedge fund industry, a leading expert predicted yesterday.
Panic over hedge funds 'could close markets'

The American sub-prime mortgage market plunged deeper into crisis during the third quarter as US foreclosure filings rocketed by 71 per cent to hit their highest number on record.
US mulls new bailout amid rising mortgage defaults

A senior executive at the European Central Bank has signalled that it is minded to cut interest rates across the Continent again in the short term to throw a lifeline to struggling businesses.
ECB signals further interest rate cuts

The International Monetary Fund is working on a package it hopes to approve by early November which would let several emerging market economies exchange local currencies for dollars to ease short-term credit strains.
IMF plans rescue of emerging nations

Russia's financial crisis is escalating with lightning speed as foreigners pull funds from the country and the debt markets start to price a serious risk of sovereign default.
Russian default risk tops Iceland as crisis deepens

Members of the Opec oil producers cartel began negotiations on Thursday on whether to cut ouput in a desperate bid to halt the slide in crude prices.
Opec wants to halt oil price slide but fears making financial crisis worse

Banks are continuing to hit small businesses with increased interest rates on their loans and overdrafts, often altering the terms of loan deals with little or no warning. In some cases, banks increasing their loan and overdraft fees even charged the companies an administration fee of as much as 250 for doing so.
Anger as banks inflict higher loan rates on small businesses

Investors who hold more than 3pc of a company's equity through contracts for difference (CFDs) will have to disclose their stakes under a crackdown being drawn up by the City watchdog.
FSA forces disclosure of contracts for difference

A sense of powerlessness, leading to depression and drug taking, is overcoming stock traders and investors, according to psychologists.
Fear is the new mindset in the irrational world of finance

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOREA KOSPI	VIX

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Oct 24

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Software AG seen up on strong Q3 results

US futures shed over 6 pct as global stocks slide

This may be relevant today:

Midday Market Overview

Precious Metals Summary - London AM FixingsSTOCKS NEWS EUROPE-DSG slides; Panmure sees no dividend

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-FTSE Small Cap Index down 4.7 pct at midday

Precious Metals Summary - London PM Fixings

STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Fidelity sees recovery by mid-2009 -report

End-of-day Market Overview

Have a great weekend all! Enjoy your extra hour of sleep.

G.