Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was down 199.61 points at 9,065.41, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning session off 212.09 points at 16,578.61.

Crude oil traded at $56.52 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

The declaration was made as it emerged that Europe's biggest economy has now suffered a worse "lost decade" than Japan and is deeper in recession than any other major economy.
Europe in deepest recession since War as Germany suffers

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned the global downturn was not over and more financial shocks were likely.
IMF head says the global crisis is not over yet

The New York professor who predicted the credit crunch is in a less pessimistic mood these days. Recovery is not too far away, he tells Stephen Foley.
Dr Doom sees the gloom lifting

Ireland will never return to the boom days of the height of the Celtic Tiger, according to Irish government economic think-tank, the Economic Social and Research Institute (ERSI). Even with a world recovery in 2011, the Republic will suffer a permanent 10 per cent drop in its economic output. There will be continued higher emigration and lower employment into the future and the economy will only return to 2007 levels in about 2015.
Ireland's Celtic Tiger may be gone for good

They were supposed to be catching crooks but two lawyers working at the US's top financial watchdog stand suspected of the very act they were supposed to be policing.
FBI investigates SEC pair's share trading

Sunday

LEADING City forecasters are revising up their growth predictions for Britain, in spite of the Bank of Englands downbeat tone last week. In the first significant bout of upward revisions since 2007, some forecasters believe that growth next year will be higher than the Treasurys 1.25% prediction.
City predicts faster growth for Britain

The effective interest rate in the UK is currently -0.7pc and will head down towards -2.5pc by later this year, economists have calculated.
Interest rate slides on flood of cash

A RESCUE operation to save one of Britains biggest building societies is under way in the first of a new series of expected bailouts in the sector. West Bromwich building society, which celebrated its 160th anniversary this year, has a loan book worth almost 10 billion. It is being secretly offered to potential white-knight bidders by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City regulator.
Building society in rescue talks

Monday

Small and medium-sized US banks must raise some $24bn to meet the capital standards set by the government in its stress tests of large institutions, research conducted for the Financial Times by Sandler ONeill shows.
Smaller US banks need additional $24bn

If Washington is counting on Japan to act as last-resort buyer of US dollar bonds, it may have to think again. Masaharu Nakagawa, finance chief of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), told the BBC that his country should not purchase any more US debt unless issued in yen as "Samurai" bonds, akin to "Carter bonds" in 1978.
Asia will author its own destruction if it triggers a crisis over US bonds

West Bromwich building society tonight hit back at suggestions that fears about its balance sheet had led the Financial Services Authority to hold talks with a larger rival about rescuing it via a merger.
West Bromwich building society denies FSA is holding rescue talks with rival

Analysts buy and sell tips have almost no effect on share prices, according to research that confounds long-held beliefs over the influence of stock-pickers and calls into question investors and banks need to pay for their services, the FT reported.
Study finds analyst tips dont move prices

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

AXC Citigroup: reiterated hold, tp raised to 2000 from 1550
BLT Citigroup: reiterated hold, tp A$36
BT.A Morgan Stanley: upgraded to equalweight from underweight, tp raised to 130 from 110
FRES Citigroup: downgraded to hold from buy, tp raised to 620 from 450
HSBA Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp raised to 650 from 436
ITRK Jeffries: downgraded to hold from buy, tp raised to 1200 from 975
LAD Jeffries: downgraded to hold from buy
RDW UBS: downgraded to sell from neutral
RIO Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp A$81
RIO RBS: upgraded to hold from sell
SAB JPMorgan: reiterated overweight, tp raised to 1140 from 985
SSE Citigroup: buy, tp cut to 1380 from 1760
TRIL Morgan Stanley: upgraded to overweight from equalweight, tp reiterated 2000

End-of-day Market Overview