European shares slide 4 pct early as banks slump

Source: Reuters

Mon Oct 6, 2008 3:18am EDT

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - European shares plunged 4 percent in early trade on Monday, with concerns about the health of the financial sector intensifying over the weekend as more banks faced troubles.

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At 0713 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares fell 4.2 percent to 1,044.16 points. The benchmark index lost 1.4 percent last week and is down more than 30 percent so far this year.

Banks took the most points off the index, with BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 4.2 percent, Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 6 percent, Dexia (DEXI.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) slipping 12.8 percent and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shedding 6.9 percent.

Commerzbank (CBKG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) tumbled 15.7 percent on big volumes.

"It's a miserable state of affairs. And then you add to that the banking problems we've seen over the weekend," said Henk Potts, strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers. "There's the bailout plan, which is good news, but there's uncertainty over the price at which assets are going to be bought. And the reality is that it will take some time to see the benefit."

Concerns mounted that the rescue package alone might not stave off a U.S. recession.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCAL624192820081006?rpc=44

and it didn't even stop the bankers from whining for 24 hours.

It's the panic, of course, that does the damage.

"Everybody Freeze". ;)

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The credit crunch deepened in Europe as government leaders pledged to bail out troubled banks and protect depositors.

BNP Paribas SA will take control of Fortis's units in Belgium and Luxembourg after government efforts to ensure the company's stability failed, while Germany's government and financial institutions agreed on a 50 billion euro ($68 billion) rescue package for Hypo Real Estate Holding AG. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Britain is ``ready to do whatever it takes'' to help its banks.

The developments yesterday came a day after a summit in Paris where leaders of Europe's four biggest economies stopped short of a plan mirroring the $700 billion rescue in the U.S. to counter the worst financial crisis since World War II. Instead, they agreed to work together to limit the economic fallout, ease accounting rules, and seek tougher financial regulations.

``Until now the solutions have appeared to be uncoordinated, so perhaps it's time for a more coordinated approach globally,'' said Torsten Slok, an economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. ``It's not just the U.S. and Europe, it's banks in every part of the world.''

The euro slid to a 13-month low against the dollar and Treasuries rose as the credit crisis spread outside the U.S., prompting investors to opt for less risky investments. Asian stocks fell for a third day, led by financial companies.

`New World'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who convened the Oct. 4 meeting, called for a global summit ``as soon as possible'' to implement ``a real and complete reform of the international financial system.'' He said ``all actors'' must be supervised, including credit-rating firms and hedge funds. Executive-pay systems must also be reviewed, he said.

``We want a new world to come out of this,'' Sarkozy said. ``We want to set up the basis for a capitalism of entrepreneurs, not speculators.''

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a8RXc8P26uOc&refer=europe

Cooked books tell no tales...

But, it looks like that's what the politicos are going to decide to do, anyway...

Responsibly - to be 'clear'.

Liars & thieves "be gone".

still needs to be convinced.

Mr. Brown will try to fiddle and burn the books, US-style, I predict.

Mon Oct 6, 2008 3:41am EDT LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Interbank money markets essentially remained frozen on Monday in Europe with lending rates stubbornly eleveated again after a weekend that saw the the global financial crisis intensify in Europe.

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Three-month dollar and euro funding on the interbank market, which now extends over the illiquid year-end holiday period, was substantially higher than anticipated official policy rates, a key measure of financial market stress.

In early London trade on Monday the interbank cost of borrowing dollars for three months was indicated in the middle of a wide range between 3.5 and 5.0 percent <USD3MD=>.

Friday's fixing of three-month London interbank offered rates by the British Bankers Association was 4.33375 percent <USD3MFSR=>, and ICAP's three-month dollar New York Funding Rate was 4.7318 percent <USNYFR3M=>.

Rates for three-month euros <EUR3MD=> were last at 5.28 percent, pushing towards the upper end of a 5.2-5.3 percent trading range.

The closely-watched TED spread, or the difference between these market-based dollar rates and three-month U.S. government borrowing rates, was at the upper end of a range between 330 and 400 basis points.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINL662029120081006?rpc=44

Europe shares tumble as bank crisis fear mounts
Mon Oct 6, 2008 4:27am EDT LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) -

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At 0822 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares fell 5.1 percent to 1,033.62 points. The benchmark index lost 1.4 percent last week and is down more than 30 percent so far this year.

Banks took the most points off the index, with Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 7.7 percent, Dexia (DEXI.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) slipping 10.9 percent and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shedding 6.5 percent.

Commerzbank (CBKG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) tumbled 13.8 percent on big volumes.

Oil shares were also big losers, with BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) all down by around 5.5 percent as crude CLc1 slipped below $90 a barrel for the first time since February.

U.S. index futures SPc1 DJc1 NDc1 were down between 2.3 and 2.8 percent.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCAL627835920081006?rpc=44

Silence the truth?