Morning all. Friday's market reports:
Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money
Saturday
European banks need to raise up to 70bn if they are to bolster their finances and protect themselves from another round of credit woes, according to the investment bank Goldman Sachs.
European banks told they need to raise 70bn
The US private equity firm JC Flowers, which offered to buy Northern Rock last year, is looking closely at Britain's bombed-out banking sector with a view to swooping on weakened targets.
JC Flowers eyes bombed-out banks after Bradford & Bingley deal fails
It was late on Thursday and Bradford & Bingley once again had Britain's financial supervisors at the end of their tether. This time, though, they were having to deal with truculent and highly professional Americans who cared more about investment return than the stability of Britain's precarious financial system.
TPG's coldly calculated Bradford & Bingley move raises questions
If it were possible, the FSA would drum them out of town for the trouble they have caused. For the sake of just 180m, a comparatively small investment by Texas Pacific's standards, the private equity group has completely trashed its reputation.
Texas Pacific proves a man of straw as magnificent four ride to the rescue
City Lofts, the legendary property developer that brought us "loft living" has been put into administration.
City Lofts survival fight ends in administration
The EU's competition watchdog said that there were sufficient concerns about the integration of the world's largest and second-largest miners for further study to be needed. The EU has already examined the deal for two months and will now spend another six looking into the ramifications of BHP's offer.
BHP Billiton's bid for Rio Tinto investigated by EU
Sunday
BUSINESS has urged the Bank of England to keep interest rates on hold at 5% this week and be ready to cut them in the coming months to head off a recession.
Bank of England urged to hold interest rates
The threat of rising unemployment in Britain will be driven home this week by news that the number of permanent jobs available has fallen for the first time in five years. This is one of several findings in a survey of employment agencies that also reveals that the number of people looking for work rose in June and the growth in demand for temporary staff is easing.
Recession threat as UK jobs vanish
Figures calculated by broker Panmure Gordon on behalf of The Observer suggest that if, as expected, the housing market falls by 17.5 per cent - seen as a conservative estimate - land values will deteriorate by 3bn. 'It could easily be a billion more if the market turns down further,' says Panmure director Mark Hughes.
Homebuilders face disastrous 3bn landslide
According to Goldman Sachs, the richest country in terms of income per head will in another 12 years' time be, ahem, us richer even than the Americans.
By 2020, could the world's richest country be a little closer to home than China and Russia?
The rush to gamble on further falls in the shares of banks and financial institutions has led to a spike in the cost of short-selling their stock. The scramble by hedge funds to bet on further falls in the shares of troubled bank Bradford & Bingley means shareholders can now earn up to a 1,000 basis point, or 10 per cent, annual return for loaning their shares to short-sellers. The normal return for lending stock can be just 10 to 15 basis points.
Shareholders win as shorting costs escalate
Conventional wisdom has it that equities are a safe bet because, over the long term, they always go up. But the last 10 years seem to be proving the experts wrong.
Decline and fall of the cult of shares
Monday
The Bank of England is widely expected to hold interest rates at 5pc this week - despite speculation about a widening split within the Monetary Policy Committee. But with oil now trading at more than $145, some commentators are predicting a three-way split with votes cast for a cut, rise and no change - highlighting the dilemma the MPC now finds itself in.
Interest rates set to hold despite rumours of MPC split
Central London has seen a dramatic 50pc slump in commercial property transactions over the first half of the year. In the second quarter nearly half of the City of London turnover was generated by the sale of just one building - British Land's Willis building - to Middle Eastern investors for 400m.
City of London sees crash in commercial property deals
AN estimated 10,000 building-site job losses this summer could add a further 100m to the governments 500m cutbacks bill, economists warned yesterday.
Construction chief warns of 10,000 job losses
Three separate funds are being created to exploit investment opportunities in the battered aviation, hotels and property sectors, The Times has learnt, in a sign that some investors are calling the bottom of the market.
Virgin is among three funds created to fish for the bottom of the market
Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, believes the US housing market might finally be healing: "There are early and tentative signs that a bottom may be forming in some housing markets."
US housing shows signs of recovery
The great oil shock of 2008 is bad enough for us. It poses a mortal threat to the whole economic strategy of emerging Asia. The manufacturing revolution of China and her satellites has been built on cheap transport over the past decade. At a stroke, the trade model looks obsolete.
Oil price shock means China is at risk of blowing up