Meltup, and meltdown

Total nightmare. At least Flash had the sense to buy some gold this morning. And is Citibank safe?

Reuters has this:

NEWS
- G20 leaders head to U.S. for summit to address worst financial crisis in 80 years
- Euro zone data shows bloc went into recession in Q3, first time since common European currency formed
- U.S. retail sales suffer record decline in October
- Citigroup Inc to shed 10 pct of global workforce. Sun Microsystems Inc cutting 5,000 to 6,000 jobs
- GM's Opel seeks 1 billion euros in German state aid, Western Europe car sales plunge 15.5 percent in October
- Freddie Mac reports record $25 billion quarterly loss, draws on $100 billion Treasury Department lifeline
- U.S. Fed Chairman Bernanke says central banks worldwide ready to do more to support faltering growth - U.S. Senate to take up auto bailout bill, unemployment on Monday
- U.S. banking regulator unveils plan to prevent about 1.5 million foreclosures, breaks ranks with Bush administration
- Pakistan asks International Monetary Fund for $9 billion bailout
MARKETS
- U.S. stocks fall, Dow <.DJI> slides 337.94 points, or 3.82 percent. Dow slides 5 percent for the week
- European stocks close higher as oil shares storm ahead
- Stock markets up in Asia <.N225>, but pare sharp gains by half
- Oil drops 2 percent as Euro zone enters recession
- Interbank lending rates for dollars up for second day
- Dollar rises against a basket of major currencies, falls against the yen
- Gold futures up more than 5 percent in heavy buying ahead of G20 summit
QUOTES
"By working together, I'm confident that with time we can overcome this crisis and return our economies to the path of growth and vitality." - U.S. President Bush in his weekly radio address to air on Saturday.
"The funds and guarantees that may be required would be invested in product development and manufacturing sites in Germany and would by no means be spent outside of Europe." - Opel statement.
"You'd have to be a brave investor to be a bargain hunter now. There are bargains out there, but you'd have to be prepared to hold them for a considerable amount of time." - Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank in London.
"People are going to wait on the sidelines and see what comes out of (the G20 meeting) before they start to take a view with respect to what's going on next week." - Robert Blake, senior currency strategist at State Street Global Markets in Boston.
"Frankly, we at Dow are looking at an '09 that looks like a pretty protracted global recession, probably going into 2010." - Andrew Liveris, chief executive of Dow Chemical Co , the largest U.S. chemical maker.
EVENTS
Saturday, Nov 15
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are expected to meet world leaders at an international financial summit of G20 nations to examine ways to overhaul the financial system (Compiled by World Desk, Washington, +1 202 898 8457) Keywords: FINANCIAL/SNAPSHOT