Snapshots of market doom and gloom

New lows in Dow

7,552.29 close

Oil dives below USD50.

• CMBS trading with yields around 13 percent, knocking them down to the same category as junk bonds, despite their top rating


• JPMorgan poised to cut investment banking staff


• HSBC trimming 500 staff in Asia


• Citigroup to shed 50,000 staff

INDONESIA

• Indonesian Rupiah down 23% this year against USD


• Indonesia changed its currency rules to make it more difficult to buy foreign exchange, requiring any purchases involving US$100,000 per month or more to support by transaction in goods or services. The measures, mostly affecting Indonesians rather than foreigners, would make speculative bets against rupiah depreciation more difficult.


• Oil and gas regulator, BPMigas, said it would order oil-and-gas contractors to use local banks to deposit the billions of dollars earmarked for energy.