Inhalt:

Government spending will include $5 billion to make discount-rate mortgages available to homeowners and $4 billion to buy shares and subordinated debt from the country’s largest banks, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said today during a government meeting in the capital Astana.

Five-year Treasury CDS grew to 43.5 basis points versus 43.0 basis points late Friday, it said.

The risk premiums have nearly doubled from levels seen two months ago after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Prior to the financial crisis, default risk premiums on U.S. government debt had been running in the low-to-mid single digits.

And they are hearing from the Realtors they talk to that the re-default rate on a lot of these loan modifications are running at 50% - that is half those of modifications aren't working.

In the past month, at least five biotechnology businesses have sought bankruptcy protection, according to company news releases, and others may be heading toward a similar fate. Those at highest risk have experimental compounds moving into costly human research. Peptimmune Inc., a 6-year-old closely held firm, says it’s struggling to pay for clinical trials of its promising multiple sclerosis drug.

In addition, Treasury will invest $20 billion in Citigroup from the Troubled Asset Relief Program in exchange for preferred stock with an 8% dividend to the Treasury. Citigroup will comply with enhanced executive compensation restrictions and implement the FDIC’s mortgage modification program.

Executive Compensation: An executive compensation plan, including bonuses, that rewards longterm performance and profitability, with appropriate limitations, must be submitted to, and approved by, the USG.

Its shares fell almost 3 per cent on Friday to €18.80, compared with more than €90 a year ago.

The Swiss-born chief executive, who has run Deutsche since 2002, said the bank was cutting leverage, bolstering capital and reducing some of its most worrying exposures as “immediate measures” to address market concerns.

The people at Alternative Reproductive Resources say since the economic downturn they've been putting in a lot more phone time each and every day.

"If we got 50 to 60 calls before, it's probably 75 to 100 calls now," company president Robin von Halle said.

All from women -- inquiring about how they can help someone realize the dream of having a baby. They earn money in the process. A qualified egg donor is compensated $7,000; gestational surrogates receive $25,000.

The BoJ also explicitly pre-committed to maintain the quantitative easing regime at least until year-on-year changes in the consumer price index excluding fresh foods (the core CPI) became positive in a stable manner. With quantitative easing tied to the core CPI, the BoJ’s explicit commitment to its policy regime was much stronger than the Fed’s commitment to maintain easy monetary policy for a “considerable period” or its commitment to being “patient” in raising rates.

Hertfordshire county council has withdrawn a scheme that allowed
residents to recycle everyday items like yoghurt pots, margarine
tubs and other types of plastic packaging, because it has become
uneconomical to do so.

What’s happening in the stock markets doesn’t even come close to
the chaos in credit though. US corporate bond markets are
not just crashing, they’re failing. Just take a look at the
two graphs below, from Bank of America’s credit team. On the left,
spreads in the secondary market. On the right,
issuance.

As of Oct. 2008, serious delinquencies for Alt-A pools — including option ARMs — averaged 20.3 percent of current balance for the 2006 vintage and 17.5 percent for the 2007 vintage, up from 16.9 and 12.2 percent six months ago. At the same time, prepayment rates on these pools are at historical lows and are currently averaging in the mid to high single digits, Moody’s noted. Serious delinquencies refers to mortgages more than 60 days in arrears, in this case.

Meng Jianzhu, minister of public security, this week warned the police to be "fully aware of the challenges brought by the global financial crisis".

"If people see that economic growth can no longer be maintained, then the very basis of the government has been eroded," he said.

Panic about the credit markets instead. Interest rate on 3-month
Treasuries at 0.02%; interest rate on high-yield (junk) bonds over
20%.

This is an economic emergency.

Now Goldman is left with the ignomy of summarily abandoning the investors who listen to its research calls, telling them effectively that they’re on their own. On Thursday, Goldman said it was ”closing” its recommendations for oil trades. Meaning that in a perilous time when the traders who pay attention to Goldman’s recommendations could use some guidance the most, Goldman has opted to give them the least.