Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 48.22 points at 7,368.16, while the
Hang Seng ended the morning up 291.26 points at 12,990.43.

Crude was up 55 cents at $40.28 a barrel on NYMEX.

Happy Monday!

G.

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

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

Saturday

Financial regulators have more powers to deal with failing banks under a new bill which comes into force today. The Banking Act 2009 enables the Tripartite authorities - the Bank of England, Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Treasury - to step in much more quickly to rescue troubled institutions, for instance through temporary nationalisation or selling it on to a rival.
New Banking Act comes into effect

Does the economy get worse from here or do the government programs recently signed into law increase confidence and start to put capital to work to create jobs and build businesses?In March, a number of actions will occur that will be critical to demonstrating whether the economic disaster will get much worse.
Why March Will Be the Recession's Tipping Point

Sunday

The Obama administration is promising to flesh out its plan to repair the US banking system this week as investors and Wall Street executives express concerns about the creeping nationalisation of their industry.
Obama set to detail bank recovery plans

NIGHT after night, the casualties of the new recession shuffle to their beds in makeshift shelters of cardboard boxes lining the steps of Tokyo station and the capitals parks.
Japan falls into spiral of despair

LSE economist Willem Buiter wants to create new banks - "Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's bank rescue -- the Financial Stability Plan (FSP) -- has been poorly received by the markets. My proposal last month to create brand new "good banks" with the limited taxpayer resources available is the best solution to the crisis."
'Good Banks' Are the Cost Effective Way Out of the Financial Crisis

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to be split into a good bank and bad bank in a dramatic rescue restructuring in which assets worth several hundred billion pounds will be put up for sale.
Radical revamp splits RBS in two

Two of Britain's largest banks have submitted plans to insure almost 500bn of assets as part of the Treasury's scheme to kick-start lending and halt the economy's slide towards a full-scale depression.
RBS and Lloyds close in on 500bn Treasury deal

Sources close to HSBC, Europes biggest bank, have refused to rule out tapping its investors for new capital, amid speculation that it is considering a $20bn (14bn) rights issue.
HSBC considers $20bn cash call from investors

Gordon Brown today signals the end of the 100% mortgage as he calls for high-street banks and building societies to encourage more "responsibility" in the housing market.
Brown signals an end to the excesses of 100% mortgages

Plans were being drawn up this weekend to transform Northern Rock into a "good bank" by injecting up to 10bn into the state-owned lender and hiving off its existing mortgage book.
Rock to be reborn as a 'good bank'

THE head of Tescos US operation, Fresh & Easy, has said its early market research was mistaken and it may make big changes to the stores.
Tesco admits: We got it wrong in US

Monday

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pleaded with China to continue buying US Treasury bonds amid mounting fears that Washington may struggle to finance bank bail-outs and ballooning deficits over the next two years.
Hillary Clinton pleads with China to buy US Treasuries as Japan looks on

European leaders yesterday agreed that an emergency IMF fund should be doubled to $500bn prevent the worldwide recession turning into a fullscale depression.
IMF emergency fund is doubled to $500bn in global rescue effort

European leaders have agreed on draconian measures to crack down on hedge funds, rating agencies and all financial instruments, going beyond proposals by Prime Minister Gordon Brown for soft regulation designed to avoid stifling free enterprise.
EU agrees hedge fund controls

Asian nations will form a $120 billion pool of foreign-exchange reserves that can be used by countries to defend their currencies in an expansion of efforts to battle fallout from the global financial crisis.
Asia Agrees on $120 Billion Currency Pool Amid Crisis

China is preparing to open a new phase in its race for the world's resources by using its huge currency reserves to buy foreign oil and gas companies.
China prepares to buy up foreign oil companies

Western bankers are increasingly anxious about Russian companies ability to repay $500bn in foreign corporate debt after the government said this month it was suspending a $50bn bail-out programme due to dwindling reserves.
Fears rise on Russian foreign debt

Citigroup is pressing for a new capital injection that would raise the US governments stake in the troubled bank to as much as 40% but stop short of outright nationalisation.
US eyes larger stake in Citi

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

End-of-day Market Overview