Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the Dow Jones was down 281.4 points at 6,594.44 with the
S&P500 off 30.32 points at 682.55 and the Nasdaq Composite 54.15 points lower
at 1,299.59.

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

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was down 235.82 points at 7,197.67, while the Hang Seng
ended the morning down 155.25 points at 12,055.99.

Crude oil was up 26 cents at $43.87 a barrel on Nymex.

Happy Friday!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

The Bank of England has slashed interest rates to the lowest level on record and pledged to pump up to 150bn of new money into the economy as it embarks on a radical new policy to fight recession.
Bank of England embarks on radical plan to print money as it cuts interest rates to 0.5pc

Aviva reported its losses by using market consistent embedded value (MCEV) accounting principles. The group, which is the only mainstream insurer in Britain to use the standard, reported after-tax profits of 1.95 billion for 2007 under traditional international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Under MCEV, which is likely to become the European benchmark, insurance companies use the market's view of the risk of their investments defaulting rather than their internal projections.
Aviva ushers in new standards and leads big insurers in battering

Are life insurance companies the new banks? They seem to think so. Aviva, the largest British insurer, was blaming bear raids by short-sellers yesterday for the astonishing 33 per cent plunge in its share price. Investors seem inclined to agree, for other reasons, predicting that some of the big household name insurers, including Aviva, Legal & General and Prudential, will have to raise bucketloads of money from their shareholders.
Are hedge funds banking on insurance killing?

Citigroups crisis intensified on Thursday as its shares dipped below $1 amid growing concerns over the US governments decision to bail out the troubled bank by taking a stake of up to 36%.
Citi crisis widens as shares go below $1

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, has refused to back down over the 5pc increase in business rates that will be levied on retail companies next month.
Alistair Darling says no rates climbdown for retail chains

Ongoing market volatility and fears of predatory market bears have prompted Australias corporate regulator to extend its ban on the short selling of financial stocks by almost three months.
Australia extends shorting ban

More than three-quarters of the 42 countries surveyed recorded falls in the value of property in the final quarter of 2008, compared with just 27 per cent in 2007. Dubai was the strongest performer, with house prices soaring by nearly 60 per cent in 2008, but much of this gain is expected to be wiped out this year.
Britain has the world's biggest fall in property prices after only Latvia

Online broker E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC.O) will pay nearly $40 million after U.S. regulators ruled its unit was among six firms that improperly executed trades ahead of customer orders, known as front running, between 1999 and 2005.
U.S. SEC charges E*Trade, 5 others, for front running

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

Midday Market Overview

        TEA TIME FUN

Saudi Arabia woman driver arrest

A woman has been arrested in Mecca in Saudi Arabia for driving a car.

Police gave chase after she was spotted at the wheel of a 4x4 car.
She was arrested after hitting another car.

Women are prohibited from driving on all public roads in Saudi Arabia, a ban
that has triggered several high-profile protests by women's rights activists.

The spokesman said the woman driver was handed over to the Prosecution
and Investigation Commission for investigation.

End-of-day Market Overview