GM and Toyota to cut Thai output amid weak sales (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. car giant General Motors Corp announced a two-month shutdown at its Thai plant on Thursday, the latest move by global automakers seeking to slash costs in the face of weak sales and deepening economic gloom.

Global stocks hit 5-1/2 year lows (Reuters)

A trader talks on the phone on the floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange, which closed down 3.45 percent in today's trading, in Makati City, Manila, November 20, 2008. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)Reuters - A 6 percent fall in Asia pushed world stocks to their lowest in 5- years on Thursday, while oil fell below $53 and safe havens such as the yen gained on fears the global recession and a financial crisis will get uglier.


Japan stocks dive 6.9 percent after US sell-off (AP)

AP - Japanese stocks dived Thursday after a steep drop on Wall Street and government data showing that Japan's exports suffered a brutal drop in October.

Financials need at least $1 trillion: analyst (Reuters)

Pedestrians are reflected in the window of a Citibank branch in Hong Kong's financial Central District November 18, 2008. (Bobby Yip/Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. financial system still needs at least $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion of tangible common equity to restore confidence and improve liquidity in the credit markets, Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Paul Miller said.


Weak Japan exports pile on economic gloom (Reuters)

People are silhouetted at an underground passageway in Tokyo November 20, 2008. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)Reuters - Japan's exports to Asia fell in October for the first time since 2002, showing that the fallout from the credit crisis has spread to neighbors such as China and adding momentum to investors' flight to the safety of cash.


Asian markets extend world rout on recession fears (AP)

A man strolls past a securities' firm in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 315.93 points in early trade following Wall Street plunge. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)AP - Asian stock markets tumbled Thursday, with benchmarks in Japan and Hong Kong both losing more than 5 percent, after fears of a protracted recession sent Wall Street plunging to it lowest point in five years.


China Internet giant Baidu’s stock price dives amid allegations (AFP)

Commuters leave a subway train with an advertisement for the Chinese internet search engine, Baidu.com, on a pillar in Shanghai. Shares in the Nasdaq-listed web firm have dived more than a third amid allegations it gave unlicensed medical firms prominent exposure for money, without telling its customers.(AFP/File/Mark Ralston)AFP - Shares in China's Nasdaq-listed Internet giant Baidu have dived more than a third amid allegations it gave unlicensed medical firms prominent exposure for money, without telling its customers.