Markets see further sharp falls
Markets across the world continued their slump as investors factored in the negative effects of the global recession. In New York yesterday the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 4.7 per cent to its lowest close for over 12 years, although in Asia today there was an improvement, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index losing just 0.3 per cent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell to its lowest level in over three months after EU leaders rejected bail-out calls from Eastern Europe. Shares in London opened 1.3 per cent higher after a 5.3 per cent fall yesterday.
What Britain could have bought with the £1.3tr banking bail-out 
Toyota seeks government aid
After forecasting its first loss for 59 years, Toyota is set to go the Japanese government for support, reported Bloomberg.com. The carmaker is expecting a net loss of Y350bn after sales in the US "plunged" 31 per cent in the last quarter. Last month its sales in Japan fell 32 per cent and as a result it has shut down factories and cut jobs. The company's finance arm is looking for Y200bn ($2bn) in loans from the Japanese government, pubic broadcaster NHK reported today, as private investors demand "up to 50 per cent more in interest".
GM, Chrysler and Ford: a bail-out too far?
Renationalisation can cure other British failures
HSBC shares plunge after rights call
HSBC launched a British record £12.5bn rights issue to "shore up" its balance sheet yesterday and saw its shares plunge 19 per cent as a result, reported the Independent. The bank finally admitted its £11bn acquisition of sub-prime lender Household in the US was a "mistake", having defended it until now. The rights issue beats RBS's previous record £12bn share sale last year and will offer shareholders five new shares at 254p for every 12 they own. The level is a 47.5 per cent to Friday’s closing price, helping the shares lose ground.
What Britain could have bought with the £1.3tr bail-out
Savers make £8bn raid in January
As the recession in the UK intensified, companies and households launched an "£8bn raid" on their savings in January, reported the Independent. According to the Bank of England the withdrawals from bank and building society accounts followed a seasonal pattern but to a much larger degree than usual. In January 2008, the equivalent figure was just £1.3bn. The numbers offer the "strongest evidence" yet of financial hardship, with banks unwilling or unable to lend and average rates of return on instant access accounts collapsing to 1.14 per cent.
Network Rail urged on secret report
Network Rail was urged yesterday to publish a "secret report" accusing the company of tolerating "systematic weaknesses", reported theGuardian. The company has been attacked after it was revealed that it is refusing to publish the report from PricewaterhouseCoopers into its corporate governance, in the wake of the disruption in its west coast mainline last year. The report, which it is suppressing, reveals that it regarded the service disruption as a "trivial" matter that should not have led to a fine.
China burned by falling markets
The Chinese government "more than tripled" its investment in the US stock market months before the financial crisis began, reported the Daily Telegraph. Chinese investments rose to $99.5bn by June 2008, up from $29bn in 2007 and only $4bn in 2006, figures from the US Treasury department showed. The latest figures suggest China may have bought as much as $150bn of equities across the globe, accounting for seven per cent of its foreign exchange reserves. However it will have been "badly burned" by falling markets.
...in brief..................
Pearson bucks downtrend and JPMorgan Chase makes $5bn profit
Pearson, owner of the Financial Times and Penguin Books has bucked the negative trend in the publishing sector by raising its dividend, reported the Independent. The group saw "strong performance" in 2008, with revenues up eight per cent and operating profits rising 11 per cent…………
Buy-out company Terra Firma, run by financier Guy Hands, has been forced to write off half its €2.6bn investment in EMI, reported theFinancial Times. One of the most "eye-catching" deals of the credit bubble now looks likely to result in losses for the group…………
Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of RBS, has been awarded £1.5m of share options, reported the Financial Times. The options are in addition to the £750,000 salary paid to him by the bank, which is majority-owned by the UK taxpayer and in the spotlight as a result of the Goodwin pension row…………
Bank bail-out: what Britain could have done with £1.3tr
Mosaic Fashions, owner of fashion retailers Oasis and Karen Millenamong others, has been bought by its management and renamed Aurora, said the Daily Telegraph. The group has severed all links with former ownerBaugur and its bank Kaupthing has taken control in a "pre-pack" administration…………
Credit Suisse analyst Tony Shiret yesterday called for a "revamp" atMarks & Spencer, reported the Guardian. He said the chain had become "too reliant" on older customers and had to make efforts to attract the younger generation. He was also "scathing" about the lack of progress in Stuart Rose's reign…………
JPMorgan Chase managed to make $5bn of profit during the "worst year in Wall Street history" last year, said Bloomberg.com. It reported $5.6bn of total profit for 2008 by trading fixed-income derivatives, according to insiders, leaving it "unscathed" by the financial crisis…………
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