Friday's market reports:

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

Saturday

A further 80,000 Americans lost their jobs last month as the world's largest economy continued to slow, pushing the unemployment rate up to a three-year high of 5.1pc.
Further US job losses fuel fears of recession

New Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain said he saw no need for the US investment bank to raise fresh capital. He also said there were no plans to sell Merrill, which previously got an infusion of $12.8bn (6.4bn) from a Singapore sovereign wealth fund and elsewhere after sustaining massive losses in the sub-prime crisis.
Merrill Lynch doesn't need to raise more capital, insists chief

British banks will oppose any plan to create a team within government to deal with financial crises, the British Bankers' Association said yesterday, arguing existing structures need to be strengthened.
BBA opposes 'Cobra style' financial team

Lower-ranking creditors of Mainsail II have been told that they will lose all their cash after the $1.6 billion (800 million) structured investment vehicle (SIV-lite) managed by Solent Capital Partners went into the hands of receivers yesterday. Mainsail II was one of several SIV-lites structured by Barclays Capital and managed by banks and hedge funds that ran into trouble early in the credit crunch.
Solent's Mainsail II calls in the receivers

The City of London faces a severe recession and the UK economy is set to follow the US into a sharp downturn, according to a gloomy prognosis from the billionaire financier George Soros.
Soros predicts end of the road for cheap and easy borrowing

Halifax Bank is to raise interest rates for mortgage borrowers taking out larger home loans and stop doing business altogether with customers who cannot find deposits of at least 5 per cent.
Halifax joins mass exodus from risky end of mortgage market

Mortgage costs rose further yesterday as a building society became the first major lender to charge borrowers to take out a standard variable rate home loan. Skipton said customers will now have to pay 800 for its 6.7 per cent deal.
Skipton cashes in on financial crisis with 800 mortgage fee

Sunday

Analysts think that if the credit crunch worsens, there is a chance the IMF may be called upon to bail out Iceland in what would be the first rescue of a developed country since Britain had to call upon the fund in the 1970s. Some even think that if there is a genuine rout of the dollar, the IMF might have to pump cash into the US economy.
Fear of Iceland bail-out could signal new future for the IMF

Fears are mounting that Wall Street banks are relying too heavily on tens of billions of dollars in loans made available by the US Federal Reserve. Their borrowing levels have rocketed by almost 200 per cent to $38bn (19bn) a day in just three weeks.
Wall St banks 'hooked on emergency funds scheme'

The bail-out of Bear Stearns and a $4bn (2bn) fundraising by Lehman Brothers appear to have alleviated the immediate threat of a crisis among the big Wall Street banks, but analysts are concerned that an equally dangerous storm is brewing among thousands of the US's regional banks.
Analysts now anxiously await first-quarter results from US regional banks

American investment banks don't usually do politics. So things must be bad when one of the world's biggest securities houses, Merrill Lynch, starts talking about civil unrest, power blackouts and higher interest rates in the same breath.
Life on Mars: is Seventies stagflation on the way back?

The Bank of England will cut interest rates this week in a bid to bring mortgage rates back under control, leading economists said this weekend. Some Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members are even likely to argue in favour of a dramatic half a percentage point cut, amid growing evidence the credit crunch has gone from being a crisis in the financial markets to a full-blown economic problem.
Bank of England interest rate cut to control mortgage market

The credit crunch, which has been optimistically described as a financial sector problem, has hit home with a vengeance in the past few days, in the shape of a mortgage famine. Worried homebuyers have watched helplessly as attractive deals have been shut down because of huge demand, and at least 1.4 million people face the prospect of having to pay much more when their current cheap loans expire.
It's goodbye housing boom and hello sub-prime Britain

Sir Peter Burt, former chief executive of Bank of Scotland, this weekend becomes the latest senior banker to warn that the credit market freeze is so serious that Britain could slump into a recession.
Relax rules to avoid recession, warns Burt

In the past year, just a few FTSE100 members have seen their share prices rise. The problem for management is convincing shareholders they must move remuneration goalposts that netted directors millions in the good times so that they continue to catch the bonus ball now times are hard.
How to reward FTSE 100 bosses when share prices plunge

Some of the world's largest pension schemes could be barred from investing in any private equity company with links to Middle East sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) if a controversial US bill becomes law.
California battle over sovereign fund investments

Monday newspapers:

The City expects a further cut in the Bank rate, the third in five months, but adverse factors still weigh heavily with MPC.
Bank of England interest rate decision on knife-edge

Alistair Darling has failed to grasp the seriousness of the credit crunch and has based his growth forecasts on over-optimistic assumptions, an influential body of MPs has warned.
Alistair Darling under fire from Labour MPs

According to research published by advisory group Grant Thornton, the party is over. The numbers show that the good times on the AIM market have come to an end, with a combination of the credit crisis and turmoil in the equity markets kyboshing new listings.
Party on AIM is over, warns Grant Thornton

The continuing surge in the price of corn, which is punishing households with higher food prices, is cutting the profits of American ethanol producers and playing havoc with an industry that was blamed for causing the grain shortage.
Skyrocketing corn prices hit ethanol profits

As metal price rises fivefold in three years, thieves are attacking foreclosed American properties to steal copper wiring and pipes.
Copper thieves target empty American houses

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning session up 267.40 points at
24,532.03. The Nikkei was recently up 159.92 points at 13,453.14.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, rose 34 cents
to $106.57 per barrel.

Happy trading!

G.

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for todayThomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Stocks, oil higherTFN economic and business calendar to Friday April 18

Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide - weekend

The Monday Press Roundup

London shares outlook - Firmer after Asian gains, Wall Street mostly higherThomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

Tokyo shares close higher on short-covering after weak U.S. jobs report

Australian shares close slightly higher led by resources, banks weigh

UK smallcap opening - Angle leaps higher after indicative proposal at 60 pence

Tokyo shares close higher on short-covering after weak U.S. jobs report - UPDATE

BROKERWATCH Metals & Mining sector upped to 'attractive' at Goldman SachsAustralian shares close slightly higher led by resources, banks weigh - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - Griffin Mining higher on good news from new Chinese mine

London shares open firmer after Asian gains, NY mostly higher; miners rally

London shares open firmer

BROKERWATCH Aveva started as 'buy' at Goldman Sachs, ARM upped to 'buy'UK smallcap opening - Carr's Milling surges on 45 pct rise in H1 profit