Morning all. Friday's market reports:

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

Saturday

Ben Bernankes road to reappointment as Federal Reserve chairman got rockier today when two further US senators said that they would oppose the central bankers second term.
Anti-Bernanke sentiment grows in Senate

Banking industry lobbyists are preparing to do battle, buoyed by a landmark US Supreme Court ruling striking down limits on corporations political spending, against the ambitious and agressive plans laid on Thursday by President Obama.
Lobbyists prepare for battle with President Obama over bank fat cat curbs

Britain's banks yesterday urged the Government not to join Barack Obama's war against Wall Street amid a day of violent price swings on the world's stock markets.
Banks urge Britain not to join US crackdown

Gordon Brown plans to exploit Barack Obama's surprise crackdown on Wall Street banks to step up Britain's campaign for a new global transaction tax on financial products. The prime minister believes the dramatic US move to curb risky activities by major US banks indicates a new-found willingness on the part of Washington to contemplate radical reform of markets.
Gordon Brown to push for 'Tobin tax' after Wall Street crackdown

The Office for National Statistics dampened spirits on the high street yesterday when its official figures showed only a moderate increase in retail sales for the key Christmas trading period.
Retail undermined by shock Christmas data

It is only a matter of days before the last of Iraqs yet-to-be awarded oil contracts are due to be signed, bringing to a close a two-stage, seven-month process under which Western energy majors have gained access to a country with the planets third-largest oil reserves.
Iraqs production bonanza may fuel a slide in oil

As well as publishing proposals to license all off-exchange retail operators - which the industry broadly accepted as 'fair enough' - the regulator unexpectedly announced it wanted to curtail leverage extended to clients to 10:1. That's compared to a market norm of as much as 200:1.
More from the save our leverage coalition

Sunday

The President's attempt to reform US banks may have unintended consequences, as billions are wiped off their shares prices and opponents sharpen their knives.
Obama rips up the rule book

Banks are mobilising a smooth-running lobbying machine in Washington to battle Barack Obama's plans to limit the size and scope of Wall Street institutions, as financial services firms gear up to stop a shake-up that could slice away large chunks of their operations.
Wall Street's $26m lobbyists gear up to fight Obama banks reform

Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered, three of the Big Five UK banks, are planning to radically alter their bonus pools in an attempt to head off political attacks of the type seen in America. Last week President Barack Obama said he was "up for a fight" with the banks including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan and announced plans to break apart the sector in the US.
Fears of public outcry as UK banks prepare to announce 25bn profits

City economists expect figures published this week will confirm that Britain has pulled out of recession, with gross domestic product in the fourth quarter up by 0.3% on the previous three months.
Britain on the brink of leaving recession

Profit warnings fell sharply in 2009 and economists expect the recession to be declared over this week, but Ernst & Young has warned Britain's corporate sector of setbacks in the months ahead.
Profit alerts drop 37pc, but recovery to be 'bumpy'

A raft of large UK companies could follow Cadbury onto the takeover block as overseas predators cash in on the weakness of the pound and the UK's liberal markets, analysts warn.
UK firms face takeover onslaught as buyers take advantage of weak sterling

Monday

President Obama remains confident that Ben Bernanke will win Senate approval for a second term as Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, despite growing opposition to the nomination, a senior White House adviser said yesterday.
Obama urges Senate to stand by Ben Bernanke

"If everyone does their own thing it will achieve absolutely nothing. The banks are global. They are quite capable of organising themselves in such a way that if the regime is difficult in one country they will go to another one, and that doesn't do anyone any good."
Darling reveals frustration over Obama bank plan

Gordon Brown will anticipate the end of the deepest recession in Britain since the 1930s by outlining today how the Government will try to lock in the economys nascent recovery.
Brown prepares ground for end of recession tomorrow

The hottest commodity of 2010 could well be iron ore. That's why there is a great deal of uncertainty over pricing.
Commodities: China may be put on the spot over iron ore

Office results ... Saab sale ... Regal challenges ...
Need to know

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	HANG SENG	SHANGHAI COMPOSITE

KOSPI	SENSEX
NYMEX CRUDE	GOLD	VIX

ABF Bernstein: market perform, tp raised to 990 from 830
BT.A Citigroup: reiterated hold, tp raised to 155 from 150
LSE Merrill: reiterated underperform, tp cut to 650 from 710
MNDI Goldman: neutral, tp raised to 457 from 417
RB. Bernstein: market perform, tp raised to 3750 from 3200
REL Citigroup: downgraded to hold from buy
REX Goldman: buy, tp raised to 498 from 417
ULVR Bernstein: reiterated outperform, tp raised to 2300 from 2150
UU. Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold, tp raised to 600 from 425
VOD Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp cut to 158 from 180
WOS ING: sell, tp 1094

Twitter Updates
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Morning Kyoto, and thanks for the updates.
TT

Morning TT - no problem.

Was just looking at Supermum's suggestion and was completely confused as the current price was so high. Then noticed that the graph is not current! It is about the end of September.

Yes, I had some of "her" in my ISA and sold it last month. Apart from the fact it had had a good run, some politicians are suggesting that charging for credit checks was effectively an unfair tax on the poor - and although EXPN is about more than that - if such moves ever gather momentum the uncertainty could hurt the share price.

Wall Street not playing ball with a resurgent FTSE today. It's now lost all of its gains and now hovering around breakeven.