Supermum has started her Christmas festivities early but will return early in
the New Year with her Weekly Chart View feature.

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

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

Saturday

The national debt has burst through the 60pc of gross domestic product level for the first time in post-war history, in the latest blow to the Government's fiscal credibility.
National Debt hits post-war peak as tax receipts slide

Michael Spencer's Icap has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) $25m (15.5m) after the American regulator found that the world's biggest inter-dealer broker was displaying "fictitious" trades on its screens to "attract customer attention".
Icap to pay $25m over 'fictitious' trades

Sunday

Stronger construction data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) should have boosted Britains gross domestic product, and expectations are that the third-quarter GDP decline will be revised down to 0.1%. Some expect a flat figure. Economists are unanimous that GDP figures for the fourth quarter, out next month, will show a return to growth.
Office for National Statistics data suggests recession already over

Europes biggest banks may have to raise as much as 400 billion over the next two years to meet stringent new capital rules being imposed on the sector, according to banking sources.
European banks face capital crisis

The "Glass-Steagall" firewall between commercial banks (that take deposits) and investment banks (that take big risks) was incrementally removed in the UK and US during the late 1980s and 90s. Since then, our financial markets have lurched from crisis to crisis.
George Osborne must not wait for US to reimpose Glass-Steagall bank firewall

Hundreds of bankers from all over the world will flood into Dubai tomorrow to meet high-level representatives of the struggling emirate and begin to establish what can be salvaged from the implosion of Dubai World, the government-controlled conglomerate.
Banks worldwide mull over Dubai bailout

If someone had told you in December 1999 that 10 years into the future the FTSE 100 would stand at around 5,200 your response would likely be one of incredulity.
This shares rally can't hide a lost decade

Monday

Prime minster Gordon Brown was given a helping hand today ahead of the forthcoming general election as a leading business organisation said that Britain's battered economy would finally exit recession by the end of the year. However, it cautioned that recovery would remain "sluggish" for at least two years.
Britain to emerge from the recession by the end of the year

Amid concerns that new regulations would cause an exodus of British insurers, Malcolm Tarling, ABI spokesman, said on Sunday that the directive "must be changed to a form that is right for the UK insurance market, to ensure it doesn't get to that stage".
EU Solvency II directive must change, says ABI

HSBC plans to become the first international company to list on the Shanghai stock exchange by launching a 5bn share offer to Chinese investors in a move that is rich in symbolism.
HSBC opens door into China with 5bn flotation

Londons position as the dominant world financial centre for the 75 billion carbon market could be lost to New York after the adoption of the US-brokered Copenhagen Accord at UN climate talks last week.
New York challenge for City carbon market crown

Williams claim ... Interxion flotation ... HSBC listing ...
Need to know

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

SENSEX

Good morning traders!

In Asia this morning, the Nikkei was up 53.58 points at 10,195.63, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning down 135.69 points at 21,040.19.

Crude oil traded at $73.30 a barrel on Nymex.

Gold settled at $1,113 an ounce.

Happy Monday!

G.

End-of-day Market Overview