Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei last up 343.74 points at 8,025.88, while the Hang Seng
remains closed for Chinese New Year.

Happy trading!

G

Morning all. Market reports:

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

The pound rose sharply to regain some ground against the dollar on Monday after falling to a 23-year low last week.
Pound strengthens against dollar

New US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has vowed to immediately start work to heal the faltering American economy, promising to do everything in his powers to get the country's economy back on track.
Tim Geithner vows to get US economy back on track

The depth of the global recession was glimpsed yesterday when almost 80,000 jobs were lost or put under threat in the UK, Europe and US, making it one of the bleakest days in recent memory.
Global recession costs 80,000 jobs a day

The head of the International Monetary Fund turned up the heat on China over its exchange rate policies yesterday, arguing that it was clear that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued.
IMF chief turns up heat on China over yuan

The German government is poised to do a U-turn and approve several "bad banks" to take over its banks' toxic assets for up to five years as the financial crisis and recession deepen.
Germany set to create 'bad banks'

Paulson & Co, one of the worlds biggest hedge funds, has made a profit of at least 270m betting on a fall in the share price of Royal Bank of Scotland over the past four months. New York-based Paulson, run by billionaire John Paulson, covered its short position in RBS on Friday, according to a regulatory filing, dropping below the 0.25 per cent disclosure limit.
Paulson reaps 270m shorting RBS

Police are under pressure to launch an investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland's 12bn rights issue after a complaint by a member of the Scottish parliament. The Lothian and Borders force confirmed yesterday it was conducting inquiries into whether the bank fraudulently sought investment from shareholders, many of them UK pension funds, knowing that the bank was insolvent.
Police asked to investigate RBS for mis-selling

Executives who oversaw the slump in the fortunes of Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS are to be summoned before MPs, The Times has learnt.
Treasury committee to grill chiefs who led banks to disaster

The staff and owners of Manchester tea-bag maker JR Crompton thought a sympathetic bank manager would rescue them in times of trouble; after all, the company had been around since 1856. What they didn't know was their future was in the hands of young, aggressive traders in a well-known investment bank in London. The traders had bought parts of the company's debt, gaining enough control to block a proposed restructuring. The company was pushed into administration and the assets sold. Crompton ceased to exist.
Meet the bankruptcy barons who turn bust into boom

More than 500,000 Post Office account holders have been sent letters telling them that their money is not now covered by Britain's savings protection scheme. Customers received letters earlier this month telling them that their money was no longer covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), with it instead now being covered only by the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme.
No UK safety net for Post Office savers

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX

I believe Shanghai, Hang Seng and the Kospi are still closed for the Lunar New Year.

End-of-day Market Overview