Hello traders!

In the US tonight, the DJIA was up 187.72 points at 9,069, while the S&P500 was
22.22 points higher at 976.29 and the Nasdaq Composite ahead 47.22 points at
1,974.

Crude oil gained $1.63 at $67.24 a barrel on Nymex.

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

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was up 92.78 points at 9,885.72, while the Hang Seng
ended the morning up 92.25 points at 19,909.95.

Crude oil traded at $66.85 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

Ugly numbers out of Redmond on Thursday. Shares were slammed, falling 9 per cent in after-hours trading. Amazon.com Inc. reported a decline in second-quarter profit and lower revenue than analysts anticipated after the online retailer discounted products. The stock dropped 8.6 percent in late trading.
MSFTs soft numbers

American Express, the credit card issuer, reported an annual 84% drop in Q2 earnings per share on Thursday but expressed increased optimism for the rest of the year based on improved trends by delinquent credit card and loan holders.
Amex, Capital One, see earnings plunge

The US government is proposing large banks and other financial institutions pay into a super-fund that would bail-out institutions deemed "too big to fail". Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, wants major financial houses to annually deposit a small proportion of profits into the fund, which would provide a back-stop if one of them comes close to collapse
US proposal for 'too big to fail' safety fund

The worlds biggest banks could be penalised with onerous surcharges, forcing them to set aside proportionately far more capital than smaller rivals, Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, suggested yesterday.
Biggest banks may 'have to hold more capital'

Chinese retail investors have hurled themselves into a 1,800 billion yuan (160 billion) stampede for the shares of China State Construction Engineering (CSCE) the worlds biggest initial public offering since March 2008.
Pent-up Chinese put billions into new shares

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

AQP Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold
CGL Credit Suisse: upgraded to outperform from neutral
GFRM UBS: upgraded to buy from neutral, tp raised to 65 from 37
MNDI Merrill: upgraded to buy from neutral
NWG HSBC: downgraded to underweight from neutral
PNN HSBC: downgraded to neutral from overweight
SVT UBS: upgraded to buy from neutral, tp raised to 1145 from 1090
UU. UBS: upgraded to neutral from sell, tp raised to 500 from 470

Twitter Updates
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Kyoto:

You do a marvellous job, as always. Re your Asian input, I wonder if you could also put up the Mumbai Sensex chart, if possible!

DOUBLE HEADER?

WELL IS MONEY am


        JOKE OF THE DAY

Any Bugs?

Not on my mattress that I know

I was not asking that?

End-of-day Market Overview

Have a great weekend all!

G.