Mr. Morthens is a former fish industry worker turned rock singer who is now known as the Elvis of Iceland. Like many of his compatriots, he did well when Iceland was riding high, accumulating considerable wealth. Millions of pounds invested in troubled Icelandic banks by local authorities.

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European markets fell more than 10 percent at the opening, but came off their lows a bit later. In early afternoon trading in London, The FTSE 100 share index was down 8% at 3,964 points. It opened 9.8% lower at 3887 points, below the 4,000-point level for the first time in five years.

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“It was a horrible session in New York and a horrible session in Tokyo,” Jim Reid, head of fundamental credit strategy at Deutsche Bank in London, said. “The momentum is negative.” Another wave of relentless selling washed over global markets.

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Stocks Fall Sharply on Credit Concerns, Nothing safe including Oil and Properties. Markets around the world spiraled downward on Monday as the banking crisis tightened its grip on the global economy. For the time since 2004, the Dow was trading below 9,500, a psychological milestone of 10k was passed.

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With Europe and the United States deep in crisis, economists said, the rest of the world could not help but suffer. The immediate danger, economists say, are countries in Eastern and Central Europe, like Bulgaria and Estonia, which run steep trade deficits and are vulnerable to a sudden flight of foreign capital.

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President George W. Bush signed the biggest government intervention in the financial markets since the Great Depression after U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers wary of growing signs of the nation's economic distress voted Friday in favor of a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package.

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Single-family home prices in 20 cities fell 16.3% in July, the fastest pace on record - even before Wall Street woes shifted into high gear. And New York City was not immune. Metro-area prices fell 7.4% from July 2007, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index.

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Northern Rock is one of few financial institutions that has a 100% guarantee for the safety of customers' savings, as it is government-backed. The rush of consumers looking for safer places for their savings placed Northern in danger of exceeding a 1.5% cap on its share of UK retail deposits.

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House of Representatives voted 228-205 to reject a $700 billion rescue the financial industry. In a moment of historic drama in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted 228-205 to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry.

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After several hours of discussions with President George W Bush, a group of Republican members of Congress blocked the government plan. The proposal would have seen the government buy bad debts from US banks. Without a swift rescue package more finance companies are expected to collapse, causing more serious damage to the global economy.

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