House prices are falling at their fastest rate since records began 30 years ago as the mortgage lending freeze continues to undermine the housing market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says today. Its latest report shows that prices fell by 1.9% in August, taking the annual rate of price deflation to 4.6%.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two independent investment banks on Wall Street, will transform themselves into bank holding companies subject to far greater regulation. The Federal Reserve said Sunday night, a move that fundamentally reshapes an era of high finance that defined the modern Gilded Age.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Lloyds TSB on Wednesday night agreed a £12bn rescue takeover of HBOS after the government brokered a deal to save the country’s largest mortgage lender from a crisis of confidence. This is a deal it described as a "unique opportunity".

[Read the rest of this article...]

More evidence that the house market in London is in terible state due to further annual fall of 10.9% in August reported by Halifax. Early in the year 32% had gone unsold for more than 3 months. This has increased to last month that figure was 51.2%.

[Read the rest of this article...]