Morning all. Market reports:
Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money
President Obama's call for urgent action to stem the economic crisis began to pay dividends last night when his $819bn stimulus bill gained approval from the House of Representatives at the start of its difficult passage through Congress.
US House of Representatives passes Obama's $819bn economic bill
The British economy will shrink by 2.8 per cent this year in the worst performance of any developed economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted today.
UK economy will shrink faster than rest of the developed world, IMF predicts
China has set itself a target of 8 per cent growth this year, despite admitting that the global crisis had hit it so hard that fulfilling it would be a tall order.
China sets itself growth target and says it can be met through hard work
Vladimir Putin. the Russian Prime Minister, launched a swingeing attack on Western financial rescue packages yesterday, calling for a new world order to reverse the financial crisis.
Vladimir Putin attacks Western rescue packages
Britain's banks are likely to receive a clean bill of health from their auditors at the approaching full-year results, the Treasury Select Committee heard yesterday, further helping restore confidence in the battered sector.
Auditors expected to give banks clean bill of health
Bank shares continued their astounding recovery with the largest one-day surge in four months after Citi upgraded Lloyds Banking Group and hopes gathered that President Barack Obama's plan to absorb toxic assets would stabilise lenders' balance sheets.
Short sellers burnt as banks surge
Royal Bank of Scotland faces a class-action lawsuit in the United States accusing the bank and its directors of misleading investors in its shares just before the credit crisis began.
RBS faces class action on $10bn share offering
Xstrata, the London-listed mining group, is set to launch a $6bn (4.2bn) capital raising as it looks to reduce its debt burden in the wake of the global commodities slump.
Xstrata in $6bn cash call
It has become a depressingly familiar tale. On Monday, the shoe chains Barratts and PriceLess filed for administration, as did Sofa Workshop and the gay retail chain CloneZone. Land of Leather and childrenswear retailer Adams, already in administration, announced a swathe of store closures. The high street is beginning to look like a smile with missing teeth.
Cheap debt junkies have to go cold turkey as supply dries up
Spanish police have arrested six men in connection with a suspected 360 million fraud in Langbar International, an AIM-listed cash shell that collapsed in 2005 leaving shareholders with big losses.
Six arrested in Langbar International fraud inquiry
Two executives of Pacific Continental Securities, a notorious stockbroking firm that fleeced more than 8,000 savers, were banned from the City yesterday. Steven Griggs, the former chief executive, and Charles Weston, the former finance director, were also heavily fined by the Financial Services Authority.
Two Pacific Continental Securities executives banned by FSA
I have to report the sad passing of the efficient market hypothesis. The theory was officially declared dead yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. There were no mourners. The announcement was made at a brainstorming session that involved many of the world's top economists, politicians and business leaders ... together with a few bankers wearing dark glasses and false beards.
Efficient market hypothesis is dead - for now