Morning folks. Here’s your Week Just Gone, Week To Come and What The Papers Said bulletin.

THE WEEK JUST GONE
The small change on the week gave a false impression of the stomach churning 300-point move in FTSE and nearly 500-point move in the Dow. Low volumes allowed traders to push markets down ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and then back up towards the end of the week.

Risk aversion intensified as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England all played ‘let’s guess the eventual size of sub-prime write-offs’. Financial shares continued to fall as short-term money market rates in Europe, the US and the UK squeezed higher, though there was a relief rally to close the week.

Net moves on the week saw the Dax unchanged, FTSE –0.5%, Dow –1.5%, S&P –1.2% and Nikkei –1.8%.

Financial firms across markets saw massive falls as US stalwart Freddie Mac warned that it would need to raise capital, possibly by slashing its dividend. Its shares, and those of rivals Fannie Mae and Countrywide Financial fell by over 20%. The world’s largest insurer, Swiss Re , shocked markets with a Sw Fr 1.2 billion write down related to credit default swaps.

One company that continued to benefit from market volatility was inter-broker dealer ICAP where record trading in bonds, stocks and currencies provided a 34% half-year profits.

Takeover speculation sent Mitchells & Butlers and Vedanta Resources both 7% higher and RTZ also put on nearly 8% on talk that BHP Billiton would raise its offer.

The EURUSD briefly reached a new high of $1.4965, stopping short of the magic $1.50. The Euro also pushed ahead against Sterling, breaking the £0.72 level. Panicky markets saw the Yen strengthen to a 30-month high of $107.5 at one point.

A few oil traders had an uncomfortable time as profit taking kept the tempting $100 just out of reach. Brent Crude ended the week $4 higher at $95.76
Gold returned above the $800 level with a vengeance with Friday’s trade pushing it back up to $824, $34 higher on the week.

THE WEEK TO COME
After a strong finish to equity markets on Friday, attention will return to the effects of the credit crunch, with the banks’ reluctance to lend to one another causing money rates to continue rising. The European Central Bank has pledged to inject emergency funds into the money markets, until the end of the year if necessary.
Keep an eye on key confidence figures from the main economies as well as Home Sales and GDP numbers from the US.
In the UK Barclays and Bradford & Bingley release trading statements.

Traders will have another pop at $1.50 on the EURUSD and $100 on oil, and were last week’s gains in equities for real or several dead cats all bouncing together?

Monday
No Economic indicators today
Results
UK: Homeserve and Hyder Consulting interims, Tottenham Hotspur egm

Tuesday
Economic indicators
EU: 07.45 French INSEE Business Confidence and Production Outlook, 09.00 German CPI and IFO Business Climate
US: 15.00 Consumer Confidence
Results
UK: Topps Tiles finals, De La Rue, Severn Trent interims, Barclays trading statement, Barrett Development agm
IRE: Greencore Group finals
US: Staples

Wednesday
Economic indicators
EU: 07.00 German Gfk Consumer Confidence, 09.00 EU M3 Money Supply
US:13.30 Durable Goods Orders, 15.00 Existing Home Sales, 15.30 Oil Inventories, 19.00 Fed Beige Book survey
Results
UK: Compass Group and Sage finals, DSG and Johnson Matthey interims, Wolseley agm
IRE: Anglo Irish Bank finals

Thursday
Economic indicators
UK: 07.00 Nationwide House Prices 09.30 Money Supply and Lending, 11.00 CBI Distributive Trades Survey
EU: 07.45 French Consumer Confidence, 08.55 German Unemployment
US: 13.30 GDP Q3, Core PCE, Weekly Jobless, 15.00 New Home Sales, Help Wanted Index
Results
UK: Avon Rubber and Britvic finals, Mitchells & Butler, Pennon Group, United Utilities and FKI interims, Antofagasta quarterlies, JJB Sport and Kingfisher trading statements
US: Del Monte, Heinz, Dell and Sears Holdings

Friday
Economic indicators
UK: 10.30 Gfk Consumer Confidence
EU: 10.00 CPI, GDP and Consumer Confidence, German Retail Sales
US: 13.30 Personal Income & Consumption, 14.45 Chicago PMI, 15.00 Construction Spending
Results
UK: Marstens finals, Christian Salvesen interims, Bradford & Bingley trading statement
US: Kirklands and Tiffany

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
Most of the majors featured the merger speculation between Mitchells & Butlers and Punch Taverns. Whilst M&B sought to play down the story, the Sunday Telegraph expects the Takeover Panel to make the companies spell out just what is going on. Mitchells & Butler, which is 30% owned by hedge funds, has been under pressure for some time to extract more value out of its assets.

The Observer highlights the nervousness surrounding the forthcoming trading statement from Alliance & Leicester. The bank, whose share price has fallen 40% in the past 3 months, is thought to have £10 billion of funding due for renewal in the next 3 months and between £5-600 million of ‘toxic loans’ that need to be re-valued. The fact that the bank hasn’t announced a date for its trading statement, originally expected this week,suggests difficulties in valuing these loans.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that Debenhams has renegotiated the banking covenants that it was rumoured to be in danger of breaching. Debenhams has apparently been able to extend the maturity of its debt at the same rate of interest. This will take some of the pressure off the company, which is already finding trading tough ahead of Christmas.

If you’ve got time, and I recommend that you try, The Sunday Telegraph has a good piece on the demise of the Dollar. It gives a useful bigger picture view and concludes that the Dollar is destined to travel yet further down the toilet bringing with it political, as well as economic, worries. But you might prefer to buy Euro or Yen against the Dollar, as the Observer features a damning piece on Sterling. The pound is barely holding its own against the Dollar now and this is likely to worsen soon, the report says.

The Sunday Business Post reports that the long-running Bank of Ireland pensions dispute has finally been resolved, with staff voting to accept the offer.