Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the Dow closed up 22.28 points at 13,312, while the S&P500
was ahead just 0.7 at 1,469.72 and the Nasdaq Composite edged ahead 5.22
points to 2.668.13.

See you in the morning with the latest...

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has painted a stark picture of the British economy, warning of higher inflation and slowing growth.
BoE Governor's stark picture of UK economy

The Bank of England announced today that it will provide 10bn in emergency funds to the UK's commercial banks in an attempt to prevent a severe worsening of the credit crunch over the Christmas period.
King sets up 10bn credit crunch fund

Retailers expect tough year ahead despite unexpected rise in high street sales in November and a sharp hike in shop prices, a CBI survey showed today.
Retailers expect tough year despite sales boost

The economy will slow, but analysts are still forecasting growth of 2 per cent, and a fall in interest rates will ease mortgage costs.
Correction, not crash

A clutch of Europe's top economists have called on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates at its policy meeting next week, warning of severe downturn unless confidence is restored quickly to the banking system. The concerns came as one-month Euribor spiked violently by 60 basis points to 4.87pc today, the sharpest move ever recorded.
ECB rate cut pleas grow as Euribor goes mad

The US economy grew at its fastest pace in four years in the third quarter, but economists ignored the data and pointed to figures showing that the worlds largest economy had practically ground to a halt.
Fast-paced growth fails to hide US slowdown

Citigroup has been unable to syndicate any of the 2.5bn loan it made to Terra Firma in the summer for the private equity group's leveraged takeover of struggling music company EMI. The continuing risk aversion among nervous investors has left it sitting with the entire loan still on its books.
Loan strikes wrong note for Citigroup

Germany's IKB was bailed out again, while Terra Securities in Norway has been forced to file for bankruptcy.
Sub-prime crisis hits IKB and Terra

Ken Griffin, the Chicago hedge fund billionaire, has swooped in to rescue the tottering brokerage business E*Trade Financial, paying just $800m (390m) for assets that had been on the company's books for $3bn.
Hedge fund guru swoops on E*Trade

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning up 176.87 points at 28,659.41,
while the Nikkei reached the midpoint up 184.71 points at 15,698.45.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was up 2
cents at $91.03 a barrel from $91.01 in late US trades Thursday.

Happy Friday!

G.

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for todayAustralian shares close higher on expectations for another US rate cut - UPDATE

The Friday Press Roundup

London shares outlook - higher, extending recent gains, NY ends firmer

Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

First Day of Dealings

BROKERWATCH Sage lifted to 'overweight' vs 'equal-weight' by Morgan Stanley

BROKERWATCH Severn Trent downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' by Deutsche Bank

BROKERWATCH BSkyB, Sogecable cut to 'sell' in Goldman Sachs pay-TV reviewUK smallcap opening - DawMed Systems dips on 'significant loss' warning

UK smallcap opening - Clean Air Power runs back on fundraising move

London shares open higher, miners continue rise on sector consolidation hopes

UK smallcap opening - Premier Research adrift on revenue warning

UK smallcap opening - Hellenic Carriers post modest premium on AIM debut

STOCKWATCH Kazakhmys weak; Credit Suisse placing 11.7 mln shares - dealers

UK smallcap opening - Meldex up on regulatory filingUK smallcap opening - Creston gains as H1 profits more than double

BROKERWATCH Alliance & Leicester cut to 'underperform' by Bear Stearns

UK small caps open lower, with DawMed hard-hit by 'significant loss' warning