Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the Dow was ahead 101.45 points at 13,727Change, while the
S&P500 was up 11.3 points at 1,515.96 with the Nasdaq Composite 12.79 points
better at 2,718.95.

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

Fears of further multibillion-dollar writedowns from US sub-prime mortgage investments shook the City yesterday, as UBS took an additional $10 billion (4.9 billion) hit and analysts said that November had been the worst month yet for banks.
Fears of further writedowns send chill through the City

Bankers are steeling themselves for more sub-prime writedowns after UBS, Europe's largest investment bank, more than tripled its provision to $14.4bn (7bn) and warned of a "possible" full-year loss.
UBS moves to strengthen capital

Sub-prime might just be the financial world's equivalent of a hammy horror film. Just when the beast looks dead, up it gets... again and again and again. Sub-prime, to coin a clich catchphrase, is back with a vengeance. Yesterday's victim was UBS, Europe's largest bank, taking a $10bn (4.9bn) hit on top of the $4.4bn writedown disclosed in October. The question now is: where will sub-prime strike next?
Sub-prime monster pounces on UBS

Lloyds TSB regained some of its allure for investors yesterday as it gave an upbeat assessment of its prospects despite 200m of write-downs from the credit crunch. Britain's biggest bank for personal current accounts wrote down investments in collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) by 89m and took a 22m hit on debt issued by structured investment vehicles (SIVs). Its corporate markets business also took a 90m write-down on trading assets.
... but Lloyds TSB escapes comparatively unscathed

Banks throughout the City have frozen recruitment for middle office jobs as the full force of multi-billion pound writedowns are felt. Over the past month there have been few or no new posts for risk analysts, financial controllers, audit and treasury experts, in banks such as Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley, ABN Amro, Bank of America and Citi-group, City sources said.
Banks freeze recruitment as credit crisis bites

Hopes of further cuts in interest rates from the Bank of England were dampened yesterday after factory-gate inflation leapt to a 16-year high.
Hopes of more rate cuts from Bank hurt by rise in factory-gate inflation

Mr Paulson is right to be concerned. Aside from the troubles in the financial markets that we have seen in the past few months, the resetting of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) poses a truly torturous challenge for the American economy. In the next few years about $150 billion (73 billion) in sub-prime loans will reset, from their initially low teaser interest rates - fixed for two to five years - to a market rate that, in many cases, will be three or four percentage points higher.
Fed set to choose its weapon at dawn

Standard & Poors has downgraded the capital notes of all its rated structured investment vehicles, and said it did not expect the asset class to survive. It also put 18 of these off-balance sheet vehicles on ratings watch negative, meaning downgrades are likely in the near future.
Standard & Poors marks down SIVs

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 120.33 points at 16,044.72, while the
Hang Seng reached the midpoint ahead 308.72 points at 28,809.82.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was
29 cents higher at $88.15 a barrel after closing at $87.86 dollars in New York on
Monday.

Happy trading!

G.

OUTLOOK Cadbury to report strong momentum in H2 confectionery salesOUTLOOK Carpetright investors hoping for bid news with H1 resultsAustralian shares close higher on hopes for US rate cut - UPDATETFN economic and business calendarAustralian shares close higher on hopes for US rate cut

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for todayTokyo shares close higher ahead of Fed meeting, Nikkei tops 16,000

The Tuesday Press Roundup

*CADBURY SAYS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR 2008 'UNCERTAIN'London shares outlook - slightly higher; Whitbread, Cadbury in focus

UK smallcap opening - Felix Group down on administration moveUK smallcap opening - Inspace soars on bid approach

STOCKWATCH Cadbury higher as market welcomes revised guidance on sales, marginsSTOCKWATCH Lloyds TSB lower; cut to 'hold' from 'buy' at ABN AmroBROKERWATCH SkyePharma reiterated buy by Landsbanki after FDA Requip XL decision

UK small caps open higher; Inspace soars on bid approach

Metals - Gold steadies above 800 usd as investors await US Fed rate verdict

Metals - Copper turns sharply lower, lead falls to lowest since mid-June

Metals - Gold steadies above 800 usd as investors await Fed rate verdict UPDATE

London shares - mid-morning features

Metals - Copper turns sharply lower, lead falls to lowest since mid-June UPDATE

STOCKWATCH Scottish & Southern falls; Goldman adds to 'conviction sell' list

STOCKWATCH Heineken up after consortium 'reserves right' to raise bid for S&N

WALL STREET OUTLOOK Flat open seen ahead of Federal Reserve rate decision

London shares - midday features