Morning all. Friday's market reports:

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

Saturday

Gordon Brown was yesterday warned that China could be the main stumbling block to his goal of tightening global financial rules at Londons of the Group of 20 key world economies summit next month.
Brown told China could be G20 stumbling block

The west's leading economic thinktank expects "very negative" growth this year, its head warned today. However, Angel Gurr, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, said in Beijing that China's gross domestic product would expand by 6-7% below last November's forecast of 8%.
China can't pull world out of recession, says OECD

Inflation will next week tumble into negative territory for the first time since 1960, fuelling fears that Britain's downward economic spiral is worsening.
'Deflation to start next week'

A&L said non-performing loans - bad debts - rose to 873m. That means 1.7% of A&L's lending has gone bad, against 0.7% before the financial crisis.
A&L dives 1.3bn into red as bad debts soar

Congress could pass legislation to tax bonuses at 100 per cent within days in a move that experts warned may wipe out what remains of Wall Street.
100% US bonus tax could be passed within days

In other words, it's AIG's rip-roaringly shitty business model writ almost inconceivably massive to echo Geithner, a huge, complex global company attached to a very complicated investment bank/hedge fund that's been allowed to build up without adult supervision. How much of what kinds of crap is actually on our balance sheet, and what did we pay for it? When exactly will the rent come due, when will the money run out? Does anyone know what the hell is going on?
The Big Takeover

Sunday

US President Barack Obama is poised within days to unveil a new trillion-dollar plan aimed at restoring America's crippled banking system to health, as anger over bonuses paid to executives at bailed-out institutions escalates.
Tim Geithner's US bank rescue may not go far enough, experts warn

AMERICA will this week unveil plans to flush $1 trillion of toxic assets out of the countrys financial system in President Barack Obamas latest attempt to kick-start the economy.
Barack Obamas $1 trillion detox

Timothy Geithner, the US treasury secretary, is poised to unveil a broad package of sweeping regulatory reforms this week in an effort to prevent further systemic breakdown of the type that led to the current economic crisis.
Geithner to unveil big reforms

A wave of social and political unrest could sweep through the world's poorest countries if G20 leaders fail to come to their aid, the World Bank warns today, as new research says the credit crunch will cost developing countries $750bn (520bn) in lost output and drive millions more into poverty.
G20 warned unrest will sweep globe

The Government must commit to spend up to 90bn on emergency measures to prevent the unemployment crisis from permanently denting the UK economy, a leading Bank of England policymaker will say this week.
Economy may need further 90bn boost , MPC member warns

Britain will be mired in a deflation trap for years despite the radical efforts of the Bank of England to pump extra cash into the economy, economists have warned.
UK to remain in deflation trap until 2012, economists warn

A group of private equity firms are vying for pole position in the race to snap up iShares, Barclays' exchange-traded-funds business, in a deal that is expected to be finalised within days.
Private equity firms jostle for piece of Barclays' iShares

Monday

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, will on Monday unveil details of a plan to take hundreds of billions of dollars of toxic assets off banks balance sheets.
White House to unveil assets plan

Obama administration officials worked Sunday to persuade reluctant private investors to buy as much as $1 trillion in troubled mortgages and related assets from banks, with government help.
U.S. Rounding Up Investors to Buy Bad Assets

Asian stocks rose strongly Monday ahead of a US announcement to buy up as much as $1 trillion (690bn) in toxic bank assets and as Japan signaled more stimulus measures to resuscitate the world's second-largest economy.
Asian shares boosted by US toxic asset plan

President Barack Obama has insisted he would refuse to accept the resignation of Tim Geithner, the embattled Treasury Secretary, and instead tell him: "Sorry buddy, you've still got the job".
Barack Obama will refuse to let Tim Geithner quit

Fears that Britain will slide into the grip of economically destructive Japanese-style deflation will mount tomorrow as inflation gauged by the retail prices index (RPI) is set to turn negative for the first time in almost half a century.
February figures set to fuel fears over UK deflation

With US money supply having doubled since September, and the Bank of England hosing money into our economy, it is surprising to read so much about the deflationary period we are entering, with stagnant or falling prices being a risk to be combated at all costs.
Quantitative easing is going to leave those in the know with a gilt complex

Copper stockpiling by a secretive Chinese state organisation has helped trigger a rally of 28% in the price of the metal this year.
China drives up copper prices

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

Midday Market Overview

apologies for misuse of this thread but i know it gets read.

i hold GIP and the following info came out on fri 20th mar
no NOMAD appointed and AIM admission cancelled wef 0700 monday morning.
does this mean my shares aren't worth the paper they are written on?
shares on the ASX suspended too vice awaiting 2008 figures.
anyone furnish me with an answer.[no response from GIP thread, prob only me using it]

thanks in advance
Alex

Alex - I don't think it's misuse of the thread. It's hard to misuse something with hardly gets used :-) And in theory it's here for non-subscribing members to discuss their stocks on an intraday basis.

I've no previous knowledge or experience with GIP, but I've taken a look over the situation in the last few minutes and I have to say that in my opinion it doesn't look good. A NOMAD resignation is often a bad sign, and GIP have lost their NOMAD and both joint brokers (albeit one of them was the NOMAD). The 11/02/09 statement states they'd been seeking an alternative for two months prior to the resignation, two weeks ago they said discussions were well advanced, but now they say they can't get one and have to effectively de-list. A placing of 4.5 million shares two weeks ago to raise a mere 45,000 makes it seem like they're struggling just to pay the wages/basic expenses, and their accounts are delayed. To my mind it looks like nobody will touch this, a bad sign.

I think you've got to prepare yourself for a write-off, but without further digging I don't know what their precise financial and business development situation is. They'll save between 250,000-400,000 a year on the cost of the AIM listing and UK advisors, so maybe that will help them survive if they get through their current crisis.

thanks Kyoto

End-of-day Market Overview

robertalexander: Please feel to use this thread for any investment related issues or
questions. There are a lot of wise heads out there who read the thread without
necessarily posting anything, and they are usually happy to help if they can.

Good luck with GIP.

G.