SNAPSHOT - Financial Crisis - 2335 GMT

NEWS

- Obama assures Canada he will not pursue protectionist
trade policies, agrees with PM Harper to work on clean energy

- Stanford found in Virginia; FBI serves SEC complaint

- U.S., Latin American and European investigators widen
Stanford fraud probes; Venezuela, Ecuador seize assets

- Number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment benefits hits
record high in early February

- UK budget deficit hits record high; statisticians say
bank bailouts could raise total debt by 1.5 trillion pounds

- U.S. Federal Reserve can take more steps if needed -
Lockhart

- France's Lagarde wants bank executive pay reviewed at G20
summit

- Australia's Reserve Bank says still room for more rate
cuts but full effects of previous easing yet to be seen

- About 300,000 Russians lost their jobs in January

- Merkel says Germany ready to help Eastern Europe via IMF

- China says further interest rate cuts are risky

- U.S. asks court to press UBS for more records

MARKETS

- U.S. stocks end down, with Dow .DJI falling nearly 1.2
percent to more than six-year low. European stocks end flat.
Asian shares look set for weak opening.

- Dollar falls against euro and yen drops to six-week low
against dollar.

- U.S. and euro zone government bonds fall.

- Oil prices top $39 after data shows unexpected fall in
U.S. crude stocks.

QUOTES

"U.S. data continues to get worse and worse, and is even
coming in below expectations" - Georgina Taylor, equity
strategist at Legal & General Investment Management

"If forecasts of improvement don't materialize, the Fed is
not without capacity to act, even with the fed funds rate at
its lower bound" - Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart

"Germany will not refuse to (financially) support the IMF
if necessary. But we should avoid talking down countries that
are not encountering difficulties because there are lots of
rumors circulating that can breed weakness" - German Chancellor
Angela Merkel

"The economy is worsening rapidly and is in a severe state"
- Japanese government's February report on the economy.

DIARY

(all times GMT)

FRIDAY, Feb 20

TOKYO - Bank of Japan publishes monthly report

BERLIN - Germany's Bundesrat upper house of parliament
votes on second stimulus package and supplementary budget
(Compiled by World Desk Americas, +1 202 789 8015)