CHICAGO, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama on Wednesday bemoaned the 'irrational despair' afflicting tumbling stock markets, and said President George W. Bush was too weak to fix the crisis.

OTTAWA, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The Toronto Stock Exchange plunged more than eight percent at its opening Monday, amid US-led worlwide financial woes and the prediction of a Canadian recession.

At 1520 GMT, the S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 867 points to 9,935.99 points, or 8.03 percent, led by a flight from resource stocks.

OTTAWA, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The Toronto Stock Exchange plunged more than 10 percent at its opening Monday, amid fears of deepening US-led worldwide economic woes and predictions of a recession in Canada.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 1,149 points to 9,654.61 points, or 10.63 percent, in early trading before bouncing back slightly.

Banks in Africa's biggest economy, South Africa, have so far been
sheltered from the US financial crisis but economists say they could
still suffer the fallout if the turmoil continues

WASHINGTON, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - The Federal Reserve announced a bolstering of efforts Monday to provide liquidity to strained financial markets in joint operations with central banks from Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia.

NEW YORK, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Global markets went into convulsions Monday after US lawmakers rejected a 700-billion-dollar rescue of the financial system, raising the prospect of deeper financial turmoil.

TOKYO, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - The Bank of Japan said Monday it was doubling a dollar swap to 120 billion dollars as part of the latest coordinated action by the world's central banks to contain a global market meltdown.

The Japanese central bank said it held an emergency policy board meeting at which it agreed to pour up to 120 billion US dollars onto the money markets through April.

LONDON, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - Nine of the world's biggest investment banks on Monday formally launched Turquoise, a pan-European electronic trading platform to compete with established players such as the London Stock Exchange.

THE HAGUE, Sept 21, 2008 (AFP) - The Netherlands said Sunday it is to introduce a three-month ban on short-selling in financial shares, the Dutch stock exchange regulator said.

A spokeswoman for the Durtch Authority for the Financial Markets said the decision would affect shares in banking and insurance companies Fortis, ING bank and Aegon.

BERLIN, Sept 20, 2008 (AFP) - Germany on Saturday halted short-selling in financial shares, when investors borrow company stock to sell it, following the example of Britain and the United States.