In today's FT

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Tuesday Feb 03 2009 Financial Times - UK Homepage UBS held talks with M Stanley on broker Feb 02 2009 23:32 UBS signalled its willingness to take dramatic steps to overhaul its business in response to the financial crisis by holding talks late last year with Morgan Stanley over the sale of its US brokerage unit Read more » Business counts £1bn cost of 'snow day' Feb 02 2009 20:36 Transport across London and parts of England was in disarray after the heaviest snow in 18 years closed scores of schools, halted bus and rail services in the capital and made driving conditions treacherous Read more » European equity issues could raise €300bn Feb 02 2009 18:50 Funds raised in European equity issues could reach as much as €300bn in 2009, bankers and analysts are forecasting, as companies attempt to shore up their balance sheets in the face of the financial crisis Read more » Financial Times - US homepage UBS held talks with M Stanley on broker Feb 02 2009 23:32 UBS signalled its willingness to take dramatic steps to overhaul its business in response to the financial crisis by holding talks late last year with Morgan Stanley over the sale of its US brokerage unit Read more » Downturn causes 20m job losses in China Feb 02 2009 19:20 About 15.3 per cent of China's rural migrant workers have lost their jobs and returned home as a result of the economic crisis, raising the spectre of widespread unrest Read more » Holder confirmed as US attorney general Feb 03 2009 01:02 The Senate confirmed Eric Holder as US attorney general, putting him in position to oversee President Barack Obama's plans to overhaul US legal policy in the war on terrorism Read more » Financial Times - Europe homepage UBS held talks with M Stanley on broker Feb 02 2009 23:32 UBS signalled its willingness to take dramatic steps to overhaul its business in response to the financial crisis by holding talks late last year with Morgan Stanley over the sale of its US brokerage unit Read more » China to go on European spending spree Feb 02 2009 17:27 Wen Jiabao, premier, said in London that Beijing would set up 'procurement missions' to buy goods and technologies in Europe in an effort to stem protectionist sentiment Read more » O'Leary keeps throttle wide open Feb 02 2009 23:30 While rival EasyJet retrenches the chief executive of sector leader Ryanair sticks to his tried and tested formula of buying big during a downturn Read more » Financial Times - Asia homepage UBS held talks with M Stanley on broker Feb 02 2009 23:32 UBS signalled its willingness to take dramatic steps to overhaul its business in response to the financial crisis by holding talks late last year with Morgan Stanley over the sale of its US brokerage unit Read more » Australia unveils A$42bn second stimulus Feb 03 2009 03:31 The Australian government is to spend A$42bn on a fresh fiscal stimulus package to help boost the economy's flagging growth prospects as the global downturn threatens the nation with its first recession in close to 17 years Read more » Qantas shares placed in trading halt Feb 03 2009 00:53 The Australian airline has had its shares placed in a trading hold ahead of a 'material announcement in relation to capital management initiatives' Read more » FT.com - World Downturn causes 20m job losses in China Feb 02 2009 19:20 About 15.3 per cent of China's rural migrant workers have lost their jobs and returned home as a result of the economic crisis, raising the spectre of widespread unrest Read more » Business counts £1bn cost of 'snow day' Feb 02 2009 20:36 Transport across London and parts of England was in disarray after the heaviest snow in 18 years closed scores of schools, halted bus and rail services in the capital and made driving conditions treacherous Read more » Flaws emerge in global web of treaties Feb 02 2009 21:59 Economic nationalism is now more diverse and more subtle than in the 1930s – and, accordingly, can slip more easily through holes in the web of international treaties Read more » Khatami to mount reformist challenge Feb 02 2009 22:12 Mohammad Khatami, Iran's former president, is expected to announce he will contest the presidential elections in June, as pressure intensifies to unseat Ahmadi-Nejad Read more » PM asks Iceland central bank chiefs to quit Feb 02 2009 21:02 Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland's new prime minister, said she had written to the three governors of the country's central bank about them departing soon Read more » FT.com - Companies UBS held talks with M Stanley on broker Feb 02 2009 23:32 UBS signalled its willingness to take dramatic steps to overhaul its business in response to the financial crisis by holding talks late last year with Morgan Stanley over the sale of its US brokerage unit Read more » Ryanair in talks to buy 400 aircraft Feb 02 2009 23:30 Six years after shrewdly buying 100 aircraft near the bottom of an aviation recession the Irish low-cost carrier now looks to take advantage of another downturn via an order for 300-400 jets Read more » Carmakers offer to buy out staff Feb 02 2009 23:51 GM and Chrysler have launched a fresh round of redundancies as part of the struggling Detroit ­carmakers' drive to bring their North American labour costs down to the level of non-union, foreign-owned plants. Read more » Rio investors reassured by Chinalco talks Feb 02 2009 22:17 Investors in Rio Tinto breath a sigh of relief after the heavily-indebted Anglo-Australian mining group confirmed it was in talks with Chinalco, the Chinese state-owned aluminium producer, about a cash injection Read more » Blow to John Lewis expansion Feb 02 2009 23:31 John Lewis is being forced to scale back its ambition to open at least half a dozen new department stores in the UK over the next few years as property developers shelve plans to build regional shopping centres Read more » FT.com - Financial Markets News Overview: Equities retreat on fears for US recovery package Feb 02 2009 22:26 Risk aversion remained at elevated levels amid concerns that the US recovery package could face stern opposition from Republicans Read more » S&P forecasts 200 defaults Feb 02 2009 17:46 Around 200 US junk-rated companies are likely to default this year, according to Standard & Poor's, affecting almost $350bn worth of debt and adding impetus to alternatives to bankruptcy Read more » German banks warn of market "distortion" Feb 02 2009 18:05 The banks behind Germany's covered bond market are warning of distortion if the government extends its guarantees to financial-sector bond issuers Read more » Corporate debt brings banks solace Feb 02 2009 20:23 Corporate debt issuance bought in more than 40 per cent of investment banking fees in January Read more » Wall Street downbeat on stimulus fears Feb 02 2009 21:40 Industrial stocks were among the hardest hit on Wall Street as the market struggled to mount a recovery from its worst January on record Read more » FT.com - Comment and analysis When globalisation goes into reverse Feb 02 2009 19:10 Intellectually, world leaders are convinced of the need to keep markets open. Politically, they are under pressure to respond to voters who are angry, frightened and demanding protection. Recent developments suggest angry citizens will take priority, writes Gideon Rachman Read more » Britain is a joy. Shame about the motorways Feb 02 2009 18:35 It is not the traffic that is the problem – that is bad almost everywhere. It is the litter-strewn slipways and grass verges, writes Michael Skapinker Read more » Beyond the age of leverage: new banks must arise Feb 02 2009 19:14 There is a better way to go – in the opposite direction. The aim must be not to increase debt but to reduce it, writes Niall Ferguson Read more » Averting a slump: it's the politics, stupid Feb 02 2009 19:27 We know what happened during the 1930s when tariffs were raised in response to similar calls to 'protect' British jobs, writes Philip Stephens Read more » Beware of promising too much on lending Feb 02 2009 17:55 It would be bold to assume that even removing toxic assets and injecting capital will result in more credit, writes Krishna Guha Read more » FT.com - Business Life Grounded by the recession Feb 02 2009 19:31 Private aircraft have become a symbol of excess, but they do have some benefits in terms of flexibility and productivity Read more » China's new wave heads west Feb 02 2009 19:31 As Chinese companies expand abroad, young go-betweens are in demand Read more » ABOUT THIS EMAIL You have received this email because you have signed up for this briefing on FT.com Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Change your email address Change whether you receive this email as HTML or plain text | Forward this email to a friend Privacy policy | Advertise | Contact © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. 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