Morning all. Friday's market reports:

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

Saturday

The depth of the downturn in Japan, the world's second-largest economy, emerged yesterday with industrial production showing a record 9.6 per cent decline last month and unemployment up by 0.5 per cent to a three-year high of 4.4per cent.
Record 9.6% fall in output sparks fear for Japan's future

Morgan Stanley's Jocahcim Fels and Spyros Andreopoulos look at the possibility of hyperinflation hitting the western shores of the UK, Europe and the US in their latest note. Their conclusion is a little scary.
Hyperinflation is a possibility, say Morgan Stanley

The International Monetary Fund is finalizing a $100 billion loan from Japan and is considering issuing bonds for the first time in its history, as part of an effort to double the financial resources it has to fight the deepening global recession.
The IMF runs out of cash

Financial markets are forcing banks to restrict lending, and thus making the recession more acute than it would otherwise be, according to the president of the European Central Bank.
Banks are forced to hoard capital, says ECB chief

Lending to companies slowed sharply in December, highlighting the threat of a worsening credit squeeze on businesses that would increase the impact of the recession.
Slowdown in lending threatens new squeeze on companies

The 8p-a-month mortgage is set to become a reality for thousands of borrowers next week because of over-generous loan terms offered by banks and building societies in the benign era just before the credit crunch hit.
Thousands poised for 8p-a-month mortgages as lenders caught out by base rate cuts

Sunday

President Barack Obama's fledgling administration was last night putting the finishing touches to a comprehensive financial recovery plan.
White House finalises financial rescue plan

A group of Cambridge entrepreneurs and businessmen are so outraged by the behaviour of the banks that they are setting up their own.
Entrepreneurs seek to set up new bank to bypass crisis

Rio Tinto is close to agreeing a capital injection worth up to $15bn (10.3bn) with the Chinese government as part of an ambitious plan to reduce its debt burden.
Rio close to 10bn Chinese capital injection

BARCLAYS has been reported to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over allegations connected to breaches of South Africas foreign-exchange controls.
Barclays in South Africa currency probe

Monday

The Bank of England's rate-setting committee will sit down this week to deliberate on interest rates, knowing that now it has an additional weapon in the armoury of tools it uses to target inflation.
Rates head for zero as Bank of England set to cut to 1%

In barely a year, Spain has gone from creating a third of Europe's new jobs to losing 40,000 a week as its decade-long housing bonanza collapsed at the same time as the global credit crisis
Few jobs and little hope as Spain faces growing crisis

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

Good morning traders!

In New York Friday, the DJIA closed down 148.15 points at 8,001 with the S&P500
off 19.26 points at 826 and the Nasdaq Composite 31.42 points lower at 1,476.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was down 120.07 points at 7,873.98 and the Hang Seng
was recently off 380.61 points at 12,897.6.

Happy Monday!

G.

G,
noticed the new charts as requested. many thanks and hope it wasn't too time consuming.
Alex

Some shareholders will be happy on getting some large pay out from the company 65p by next week,
the shares went XP today, so no share fall as that .........

WTO 37.50p -61.50p

Westmount Energy Limited
30 January 2009
Result of EGM and Return of Capital
At the Extraordinary General Meeting of Westmount Energy Limited ("Westmount")
held in Jersey today, the shareholders approved the proposed return of capital
to shareholders.
As set out in the Circular to Shareholders dated 19 December 2008, all enabling
resolutions were duly passed. Capital of the equivalent of 65 pence per Ordinary
Share (in aggregate approximately GBP4,500,000) will be returned to
shareholders.
The agreed return of 65 pence per B share is expected to be completed on 6
February 2009.

Robert - Thank our good friend Kyoto for the chart - he beat me to it (again!). :)

Midday Market Overview

        LUNCH TIME FUN

Some like it haute

Lavish embroidery, wedding dresses and corsets...
For the international super-rich who buy at the
Paris haute couture shows, it was business as usual.


All white now: Karl Lagerfeld at his show for Chanel in Paris

End-of-day Market Overview