Hello traders!

In the US tonight, heading into the close, the Dow Jones was 278.89 points ahead
at 11,240.83, while the S&P500 was up 30.31 points at 1,245.22 and the Nasdaq
Composite 69.14 points better at 2,284.85.

See you in the morning with the latest.......

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng rose 545.08 points to end the morning at 21,768.58,
while the Nikkei was recently up 130.68 points at 12,891.48.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, rose 25
cents to $134.85 a barrel after closing Wednesday at $134.60, off $4.14, at the
end of US trading hours.

Happy day!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

Goldman Sachs, the most powerful investment bank on Wall Street, has found itself at the centre of a storm over the events that led to the collapse of Bear Stearns, as regulators issued subpoenas in the hunt for evidence of market manipulation. The heads of Bear Stearns and another beleaguered bank, Lehman Brothers, confronted the Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein with allegations that London-based traders were among those spreading rumours that were undermining confidence in their companies.
Goldman accused of spreading rumours about rivals

The FBI is investigating possible fraud at IndyMac, the California lender which was seized by regulators last Friday after America's biggest high street bank failure for two decades. Law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that the inquiry revolved around home loans made by IndyMac to risky borrowers and was focused on the bank itself, rather than on individuals who ran it.
FBI fraud inquiry after IndyMac collapse

The head of one of Arizona's biggest private lenders to the property industry is believed to have committed suicide after the company he controlled ran into severe funding difficulties.
Suicide suspected in death of Scott Coles, head of Mortgages Ltd

Merrill Lynch is expected to unveil its fourth quarterly loss in a row when it publishes its much-awaited results for the three months to June today. The results - which are being published on the first anniversary of the start of the credit crisis, when Bear Stearns' $6bn (3bn) hedge funds collapsed - are expected to show continued losses as the broker struggles to sell off sub-prime assets.
Merrill Lynch set to reveal another loss

The already struggling US economy took another turn for the worse after it emerged that American consumers are experiencing a period of "intense" inflation after prices soared at the fastest annual rate in 17 years on the back of the rising price of oil and food.
American consumers squeezed by surging inflation

The worst of the turmoil in the mortgage market could be over, experts have said, after one of the country's largest lenders cut its rates for the second time in as many weeks. Nationwide, the country's second-largest mortgage company, has dropped the rates on all its mainstream fixed-rate mortgages and some of its tracker deals for new customers.
Nationwide mortgage rate cuts suggest worst could be over

Hundreds of jobs were lost yesterday as the economy was rocked by the worst unemployment figures for 16 years and a public service strike led to rubbish piling up in the streets. The trail of jobs misery lengthened as two of Britain's biggest companies unveiled plans to cut hundreds of jobs.
Hundreds more jobs are lost as economy reels

The director of the Serious Fraud Office plans to spend less money prosecuting and investigating in order to pursue alternative "harm reduction" initiatives, including educating on fraud prevention, alerting potential victims and civil court actions to disrupt potential criminality
SFO boss plans to cut back on prosecutions and investigations

The London Stock Exchange has come under fire for refusing to name four Aim companies that it fined a total of 170,000 for misleading the market. The LSE revealed yesterday that it had privately censured four companies for breaches of the Aim rules, which varied from making "misleading and unrealistically optimistic statements" to delaying the publication of price sensitive information by up to two months.
Shareholders want LSE to name fined Aim firms

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

VIX

13:30 US Housing Starts June
13:30 US Initial Jobless Claims, Continuing Claims
15:00 US Philadelphia Fed July

London shares outlook - higher after strong gains on Wall Street, in Asia

Tokyo shares close higher on Wall Street rise, weaker yen

Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

First Day of Dealings on AIMUK smallcap opening - PAQ moves up on Suning Appliance dealTokyo shares close higher on Wall Street rise, weaker yen - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - Acta higher after encouraging update

London shares open up after strong gains on Wall Street, in Asia; banks higher

UK smallcap opening - TMN down as August Equity bid talks end

BROKERWATCH SG Secs shuffles European real estate recommendations

UK smallcap opening - IQE climbs on bullish update; Landsbanki repeats 'buy'

UK smallcap opening - Meldex advances on director's bid move

UK smallcap opening - Inland ticks up on in-line update

UK smallcap opening - AIM Resources off as Perkoa mine on 'care & maintenance'UK smallcap opening - Angel Biotechnology hardens on milestone payment

UK small caps open sharply higher; Meldex strong on bid approach

BROKERWATCH Persimmon, Bellway, Redrow upped to 'neutral' from 'sell' at UBS

London shares - mid-morning features