London Shares Fall as Bail-out Euphoria Gives Way to Slowdown Fears
THE TELEGRAPH: Shares in London fell as a two-day global rally faltered as the euphoria surrounding a £2 trillion worldwide effort to bail out banks and reinvigorate lending was replaced by growing fears over corporate profits and the possibility of a recession.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares opened down 35 points - or around 1 per cent - at 4352 as grim reality hit stock markets following a week of rollercoaster boom and bust culminating in huge rises on Monday and Tuesday.

"After a bumper start to the week, the inevitable reversal for equity markets does seem to be underway but there's certainly no real belief so far that this will mark the end of the rally at least in the short term," said Matt Buckland, trader at CMC Markets.

Financial stock were the main risers with Lloyds TSB up 7.5pc, HBOS 3.9pc and Royal Bank of Scotland 1.1pc. Concerns of a global slowdown saw miners fall further.

Asia followed Wall Street down. Tokyo's Nikkei index, which was down 1.4 per cent before lunch follwing its record 14 per cent rise on Tuesday, perked up in the afternoon to trade up 1pc.

But Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 2 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.8 per cent, New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index 3.9pc, and South Korea's Kospi index 2 percent.

Overnight, the Dow Jones index in New York had fallen 76.6, or 0.8 percent, to 9,311, after a record gain on Monday in advance of President George W. Bush's announcement of a $250 billion bank bail-out package. London Shares Fall as Bail-out Euphoria Gives Way to Slowdown Fears >>> By Richard Spencer in Beijing and Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo | October 15, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Era of Self-regulation Is Over, European Commission Warns: The European Commission has warned the business community that the "ideology" of self-regulation is dead and that more rules are required at both the European and global level. >>> By Richard Tyler in Brussels | October 14, 2008

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All to Be Found on Capitol Hill: Lame Ducks, Dead Ducks, Crap Sandwiches, and Bums!
THE GUARDIAN: The controversy over the failure of the Bush administration's unpopular financial bail-out is infecting every aspect of government and the presidential election campaign.

Eminent reputations lie in ruins; the august institutions of Congress, the treasury, the Federal Reserve tremble; the presidency itself is shaken. In America's year of living dangerously, few will emerge unscathed.

The consensus view, if there is one in so divided a nation, is that the US has suffered a calamitous, across-the-board failure of leadership. The bankruptcy is political as well as economic. This conclusion is widely held among both supporters and opponents of the bail-out.

"Monday's crash and burn of the Paulson plan on Capitol Hill reveals a Washington elite that has earned every bit of the disdain that Americans have for it. This crowd can't even make sausage," snarled a Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday. Black Monday's shambles marked a "historic abdication".

Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives were excoriated for political cowardice, childish disputatiousness, and a selfish desire to get re-elected next month at any cost. It's clear, whatever they do next, the public simply does not trust them to do it right.

"A political establishment held in higher regard may have been able to hold together some kind of coalition of the willing," wrote Joel Achenbach in the Washington Post. "But distrust of the nation's leaders, from the leaders of Congress to the president, foreclosed that possibility." Congress Approval Rating Just 10% as Bush Goes from 'Lame to Dead Duck' >>> Simon Tisdall in Washington | October 1, 2008

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Bush Warning over Bailout Delay
George Bush says the cost of not acting will be higher than the $700 billion rescue deal >>>
BBC: US President George W Bush has warned the US economy is at a "critical moment", and vowed to get his Wall Street rescue plan through Congress.

He said the consequences would be "painful and lasting" if the $700bn (£380bn) deal rejected by the US House of Representatives was not passed.

He offered reassurances to citizens of the US and wider world that the current political deadlock would be resolved.

The New York stock market rallied strongly after Mr Bush's statement.

The Dow Jones index closed up 4.7%, recouping some losses from Monday's rout.

European stocks bounced up and down, while most Asian markets finished the day down.

The European Union earlier urged Washington to act and solve the credit crisis, amid fears America was lurching towards a financial crisis unmatched since the 1930s Great Depression. Bush Warning over Bail-out Delay >>> | September 30, 2008

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Ben Bernanke Demands Bail-out Action
Action by Congress is urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what otherwise could be very serious consequences for our financial markets and for our economy - Ben Bernanke, Chairman, Federal Reserve

BBC: The chairman of the US Federal Reserve has urged politicians to "act quickly" to support the proposed $700bn (£378bn) bail-out of the financial markets.

The US economy risked "very serious consequences" if measures were not taken, Ben Bernanke added.

Mr Bernanke said Congress must "address the grave threats to financial stability" which were being faced.

On Tuesday politicians expressed strong scepticism about the bail-out following a five-hour Senate hearing on the plan.

’Work together’

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had told already the banking panel that delaying the bail-out would put the entire US economy at risk.

The White House has called on Republicans and Democrats to work together to approve the plan, under which a federal fund could buy bad debt from financial institutions with "significant operations in the US".

The fund would aim to sell off these mortgage-related debts in the future when, the Treasury says, their value might have risen.

But congressmen from both sides said they wanted assurances that the plan would benefit ordinary American home-owners as well as Wall Street.

Some have gone further, calling the plan a potential waste of public money. Bernanke Demands Bail-out Action >>> | September 24, 2008

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