Russian President Vladir Putin has told G20 financial leaders that it's vital to charter a clear strategy on borrowing to end the global financial downturn. G20 finance ministers and the central banks are meeting in the Kremlin. The Russian leader addressed the delegates who are locked in difficult talks to find common language for a joint statement on currencies and borrowing.

 

 

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano says a free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union would ahser in a historic stage in trans-Atlantic relationships. The Napolitano made the comment during a meeting with the US President Barack Obama at the White House. The European Union has wanted such an agreement for years, but the US has only recently showed a serious interest. The United States and the European Union have the world's largest economic relationship worth more than 600 billion dollars annually.

 

 

Holden says government assistance is a fact of life for the automatic industry and isn't ruling out asking for help in future. At the launch of its new Commondore model in Adelaide, the carmaker said it gave its taxpayers a good return on the investment. Last year, Holden was given 275 million dollars from the Federal and State governments to secure the future for the next decade.  Holden claims the new model Commondore will inject more than 2 billion dollars worth of economic activity  for Australia.

 

 

When the markets closed in Europe just a couple of hours ago, London's FTSE 100 was slightly up, while the Euro and Dax were down. In the US, trading comes to close shortly and the Dow Jones is down, as is the S&P 500. 

 

 

And the Australian dollar is worth nearly 103 US this morning. It'll also buy you 66 British pence and one dollar 22 New Zealand.