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CA-BUSINESS Summary

12/10/08

Scramble to save banks as IMF warns of meltdown

WASHINGTON/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Rich nations rushed to shore up the global financial system after the International Monetary Fund warned of meltdown, with Australia and New Zealand guaranteeing bank deposits and newspapers reporting plans for Britain's biggest retail bank rescue. The International Monetary Fund said it backed a Group of Seven plan to try to stabilize markets and urged "exceptional vigilance, coordination and readiness to take bold action" to contain a firestorm that pushed global stocks to five-year lows.

Finance leaders endorse G7 plan to calm markets

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finance leaders from the International Monetary Fund's 185 member countries on Saturday endorsed a plan by major economies to chart a course out of the credit crisis, hoping the broader support will calm markets. Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who chairs the IMF's policy-steering committee, said the fact that 185 countries, including emerging and developing economies, supported the Group of Seven plan should help restore confidence in financial markets.

Iran to study all factors before proposing oil cut

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran says the recent steep slide in oil prices and worsening global financial crisis will be studied carefully before it makes a proposal on output reductions for OPEC, the Islamic Republic's OPEC governor said on Sunday. "It is not fair to say so early. That is why we should consider all factors carefully and look at the supply-demand balance," Muhammad Ali Khatibi told Reuters.

Chrysler, GM have merger talks: sources

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC has had talks with General Motors Corp about a deal to combine the No. 1 and No. 3 American automakers at a time when both are struggling to cut costs and shore up cash, according to three people familiar with the matter. Talks between Chrysler's majority owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP , and GM began several weeks ago and were initiated by the private equity fund, according to the people familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sarkozy, Merkel prepare European crisis plan

COLOMBEY-LES-DEUX-EGLISES, France (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel paved the way on Saturday for European measures to tackle the global financial crisis but revealed little about their plans. Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union, has called an emergency meeting on Sunday of the 15 countries that have the euro as their currency, with a view to taking steps to stop the rot.

Bay Street pays little attention to election

TORONTO (Reuters) - (Reuters) - Bay Street, riveted by the sight of plunging markets and economies teetering on the edge of recession, has been paying precious little attention to the campaign leading to Canada's general election on Tuesday. "I don't think investors are really at all focused on the fact there is a Canadian election and what any potential policy change that may bring," said George Vasic, equity strategist at UBS Securities Canada. "Concerns are far greater than that in terms of the global financial crisis."

Canada banks cut prime rates on mortgage plan

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian banks moved to lower lending rates on Friday after learning they will be able to get a short-term break on funding costs by selling more of their mortgages to a federal housing agency. Bank of Nova Scotia was the second Canadian bank to trumpet a prime-rate cut, but it cut deeper than the front-runner, Toronto-Dominion Bank .

Toronto stocks swoon amid panic and commodities drop

TORONTO (Reuters) - The main index of the Toronto Stock Exchange tumbled almost 6 percent on Friday as the latest wave of panic swept through global equity markets, wiping billions of dollars more from investor portfolios and pushing commodity prices sharply lower. The size of the rout seen in recent weeks continues to balloon: the benchmark S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> has lost roughly C$440 billion in market value since the end of August.

Canada dollar has biggest one-day drop since 1971

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar closed at its lowest level since March 2007 against the U.S. dollar on Friday, taking its biggest one-day slide in nearly 38 years, as fears of a global recession and slumping commodity prices trumped some better than expected economic data. The currency hit a weak point of 82.40 U.S. cents, its lowest level since August 2005, before a slight recovery.

Oil drops 10 percent on demand, risk concerns

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped more than 10 percent on Friday and touched 13-month lows in a global flight from risk amid concerns of a worldwide recession and further signs of slumping energy demand. The International Energy Agency slashed its estimate of worldwide 2008 oil demand growth to its lowest rate since 1993, and lowered its 2009 growth forecast by 190,000 barrels per day.

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