News review

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Friday Dec 19 2008 The week in review Dec 12-18 2008 The most read stories from the past week. WORLD 1. Chinese flag up anti-pirate fleet 2. Dollar falls sharply in wake of Fed move 3. Manila reports Ebola virus in pigs 4. Fed slashes rates to near zero 5. Detroit reels as $14bn rescue fails 6. Saudis call for record cut in Opec output 7. Inflation stays above target in spite of fall 8. Madoff faces securities fraud charge 9. German bank bail-out has failed, say MPs 10. Chu appointment delights energy campaigners COMPANIES 1. Madoff fall-out spreads worldwide 2. US bank shares plunge after Dimon warning 3. Goldman Sachs reports $2.12bn loss 4. PartyGaming founder to pay out $300m 5. Supertankers store 50m barrels of oil 6. Citi set to merge two key divisions 7. Apple chief's withdrawal fuels health fears 8. Australian lawyer serves papers via Facebook 9. GM shares plunge in European trade 10. Google takes Chrome browser out of beta MARKETS 1. Sterling tumbles towards parity with euro 2. Pound creeps closer to parity with euro 3. Crude dips after carmakers' rescue plan stalls 4. Economic uncertainty sends London tumbling 5. Markets tumble as auto bail-out collapses 6. Sons told the grim details of scheme 7. Ultra-low US rates undermine Repo market 8. View of the day: The inevitable decline of sterling 9. Oil nears $50 ahead of OPEC meeting 10. FTSE rises on thin trade 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 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.

Lunch Wrap

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On FT Alphaville this morning, - Recession in space. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50629/recession-in-space/ - Contrarians are cool. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50631/contrarians-are-cool/ - Anglo Irish piggy bank. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50637/anglo-irish-piggy-bank/ - The hypothetical downside scenario. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50632/the-hypothetical-downside-scenario/ - Fox News does a Bloomberg. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50633/fox-news-does-a-bloomberg/ - Rate yourself. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50639/rate-yourself/ - Ponzi in the pub. http://v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50635/ponzi-in-the-pub/ - Discussing the mining rout on Markets Live. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/12/19/50638/markets-live/ On FT.com, - Anglo Irish chairman quits over loans. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b7f2a0b4-cda8-11dd-8b30-000077b07658.html - John Lewis sales continue to suffer. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d6897e88-cda0-11dd-8b30-000077b07658.html - Sterling index touches fresh lows. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16282130-cdb4-11dd-8b30-000077b07658.html - Miners take heavy toll on FTSE.

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Markets morning briefing

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Friday Dec 19 2008 FT.com - Financial Markets News Miners take toll on FTSE Dec 19 2008 08:51 Resource stocks were the heaviest fallers on London's equity market on Friday. There was also further insight into the impact of the economic slowdown on companies exposed to discretionary spending after a profit warning from Lookers Read more » Asia markets mixed ahead of BoJ decision Dec 19 2008 04:51 Asia-Pacific markets were mixed ahead of a decision by the Bank of Japan on whether to cut interest rates, with commodity-related shares receiving further pressure after oil dropped below $40 per barrel again Read more » Wall St slips lower on struggling oil stocks Dec 18 2008 21:50 General Electric sparked a sharp afternoon sell-off as Standard & Poor's negative credit rating outlook led investors to question which other companies could be vulnerable Read more » Deutsche Bank faces buyer strike over bond move Dec 18 2008 23:31 The German bank is facing the prospect of a buyers' strike against its own debt as investors protest against the bank's decision not to redeem a bond deal this week Read more » DTCC to launch European settlement service Dec 18 2008 23:22 The US clearer and settlement system plans to expand its service for processing and settling mutual fund orders into Europe, challenging its rivals Euroclear and Clearstream 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 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.

UK Notebook

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Friday Dec 19 2008 FT.com - Columnists, Notebook The backlash against posh Dec 18 2008 19:45 Is posh passé? It has been described by Sir Max Hastings and Sir John Tusa as the reason Ed Stourton was sacked from Radio 4, writes Emma Jacobs 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 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.

European view from FT.com

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Friday Dec 19 2008 FT.com - European View European industry gets lesson in Italian diplomacy Dec 18 2008 19:59 Emma Marcegaglia took charge of Italy's employers association Confindustria barely eight months ago and so far her approach seems to be delivering surprisingly successful results 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 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.

FT's daily Most Read

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Friday Dec 19 2008 FT.com - Most read Chinese flag up anti-pirate fleet Dec 17 2008 20:01 Ministry of defence could move to fight pirates based in Somalia, in what would be the country's first significant long-range naval combat mission since the 15th century Read more » Dollar falls sharply in wake of Fed move Dec 17 2008 21:58 The dollar plunged and government bond yields in the US and Europe fell to multi-decade lows as investors tried to digest the implications of the Federal Reserve's new near-zero interest rate policy. Read more » Pound creeps closer to parity with euro Dec 17 2008 22:45 Sterling falls to record low against euro after minutes of Bank of England's December meeting excite speculation that it will cut rates aggressively in January Read more » Biggest Madoff loser eyes legal move on PwC Dec 17 2008 23:40 The fund believed to be the biggest single loser in Bernard Madoff's alleged $50bn "Ponzi" scheme is considering suing PwC, its own accountants, for failing to detect the fraud, as victims start looking for deep-pocketed sources of compensation for their losses Read more » Where is Madoff's $50bn loss? Dec 18 2008 12:10 As Bernard Madoff's "Ponzi scheme" unravels, the victim list grows. This interactive feature looks at how much of his alleged $50bn loss has so far been accounted for Read more » Court imposes curfew on Madoff Dec 18 2008 01:45 Bernard Madoff, the New York broker accused of perpetrating an alleged $50bn fraud, was placed under home detention with electronic monitoring by a US judge Read more » Record oil cut fails to lift prices Dec 17 2008 17:48 The depth of the world's economic downturn was highlighted when the Opec oil cartel appeared powerless in its quest to drive up prices even after agreeing a record cut in its production Read more » Satyam in crisis after aborted takeover Dec 17 2008 20:17 One of India's most successful information technology companies faces a credibility crisis over an aborted attempt by the group to buy companies controlled by the chairman's family Read more » Deutsche Bank decides not to repay €1bn bond Dec 17 2008 19:30 Fears that other banks may follow example over 'hybrid-capital' instruments 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 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.

Comment from FT.com

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Friday Dec 19 2008 FT.com - Opinion Five ways to start the world economic recovery Dec 18 2008 19:27 Expectations about Barack Obama and his macro-economic team may have become excessive, writes George Magnus. But why not? Read more » How to give banks confidence to lend to businesses Dec 18 2008 19:26 The economy may get stuck in an inefficient credit freeze in which banks expect other banks to avoid lending, write Lucian Bebchuk and Itay Goldstein 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 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.