Driven down

Does the failure of the bailout package for the US car industry mean we’re going see another of those apocalyptic days in the markets?  Things certainly aren’t looking great so far.  The Hang Seng index closed down 5.48 percent; the Nikkei was down 5.56 percent; and – at time of writing – our very own FTSE 100 index is down 2.63 percent.  So far as the FTSE’s concerned, the big losers are the banks. Lloyds TSB down 18.86 percent; HBOS down 17.81 percent; RBS Group down 13.01 percent; the list goes on.  It will be interesting to see what the Dow Jones looks like when it opens later today.  We’ll keep you up to speed with any major developments.