Markets suffer global rout
Asian stocks slumped another day after the US market fell sharply, reported Bloomberg.com. "It's the end of the world" said a fund manager at CIMB-Principal Asset Management as the ongoing problems at Citigroup and concerns over US deflation spilled over into Asia. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 4.9 per cent, and is now only a point or so away from its five-year low, after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index collapsed 6.1 per cent in the US last night. In London the FTSE 100 Index opened down over one and a half per cent.
Alexander Cockburn: economic woes pile up for Barack Obama 
Lloyds investors back HBOS plan
Lloyds TSB shareholders have "overwhelmingly" backed the banking group's rescue plan for HBOS, reported the Financial Times. They also voted in favour of the raising of £5.5bn of new capital, despite "some shareholders voicing concerns". Investors gathered in Glasgow to hear Sir Victor Blank, the Lloyds chairman, say that the "landmark" deal would transform the bank, creating "value" for Lloyds shareholders. In the end the vote was backed by 96 per cent of investors. HBOS is holding a similar vote on December 12th.
People: Hornby cashes in on HBOS failure
Deflation concerns surface in US
The threat of deflation is returning to the US "five years after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke helped stamp out" the risk, said Bloomberg.com. Policy makers at the Fed now predict a contraction in the US economy until the middle of 2009 and official figures show that consumer prices excluding food and fuel fell "for the first time since 1982" last month. As a result, the Fed will have to face up to some tough decisions, like moving interest rates to zero or purchasing government debt, to avoid the deflation problems Japan has suffered.
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US car makers get poor reception
Bosses of the big three carmakers were "lambasted" as they arrived in Washington to plead for bail-outs, reported the Independent. Rick Wagoner of General Motors, Bob Nardelli of Chrysler and Ford’s Alan Mullaly attended hearings on Capitol Hill but met a "frosty reception" from committee members. Politicians "laid in" to the executives for taking big bonuses while their companies slumped towards bankruptcy and their use of corporate jets was attacked as an "extravagance". Shares in GM and Ford plunged again.
GM, Ford, Chrysler: a nationalisation too far?
Darling to support small companies
Chancellor Alistair Darling is set to throw Britain's small and medium-sized companies a "credit lifeline" next week, said the Financial Times. The move would be an "admission" that the £37bn bank bail-out has failed, so far, to increase lending to these businesses, and as a result the government will move to underwrite new loans. Darling is also likely to announce measures to help companies affected by the loss of insurance cover, and a "sharp increase" in funding for an existing government scheme for loans which are 75 per cent taxpayer guaranteed.
The Mole: Labour MPs call for VAT cut
Fund manager Fidelity to slash jobs
Fidelity International, one of the world's biggest fund management companies, managing £135bn for one million UK investors, is to axe one in seven staff, reported the Daily Telegraph. Falling sales and rising withdrawals have prompted the move, "just weeks" after the group wrote to investors advising them "not to panic" about falling stock markets. A spokesman for the company confirmed that "several hundred people will be made redundant", with most of those affected likely to be departing after Christmas.
After the credit crunch, what next for the world?
...in brief..................
Woolworths shares slump again and Deutsche prepares big job cuts
Shares in Woolworths fell to their lowest level ever, after it admitted it was in talks to sell its 800 stores to retail-restructurer Hilco for £1, said the Financial Times. However Iranian developer Ardeshir Naghshineh, who owns 10.2 per cent of the company, said the mooted deal was "unacceptable"…………
Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest airline, said that second quarter profit dropped 49 per cent as a result of higher fuel costs. However the company said it would make a profit for the full year, as the quarter suffered a poor comparison after an asset sale the year before............
California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest US public pension fund, is looking for stakes in private-equity funds, reported Bloomberg.com. Calpers sold 80 stakes in private-equity funds at the end of 2007 for $2bn and considers now is the right time to get back in…………
The boom times have come to "an abrupt halt" for Aim, London's market for smaller companies, reported the Financial Times. The market had drawn "envy" from rivals, as its light regulation attracted companies from around the globe, but now it has hit the skids as new fundraisings "dry up"…………
The decline in immigration is "starting to accelerate" as the effects of the recession take hold, reported the Guardian. The number of Poles and other east Europeans coming to the UK for work has fallen 36 per cent so far this year. The number is the lowest since Poland joined the EU in 2004…………
Deutsche Bank is preparing to cut 900 jobs, or almost one in seven traders in its Global Markets division, said the Independent. London and New York are set to suffer worst as the bank takes action to address the slowdown in trading that has affected it in the financial crisis
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