The market has started the flat with the market down 5. It has been up 24 at its best and down 14 at its low. A huge performance from the resources has been offset by big fall in the banks as ANZ announces a bigger than expected provision of "credit impairment". The SFE Futures suggested a 39 point rise in the market this morning.

Dow Jones Index was down 17, although the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 1 and 8 respectively. At its worst the Dow was down 98 following the jobs report which included a rise in unemployment from 4.8% to 5.1% with payrolls down more than expected. A weak economy in other words. But the market recovered to reach a high of +62 before it finished the session down. The Dow rose 3.2% last week and the S&P500 4.1% in a strong start to the Q and following the 1st Q that was the worst performing quarter since 2002 down 10.2%, a considerable fall given the fact that the S&P rose only 3.5% in the entirety of 2007.

Financials led the way last week, rising 6.6% for the week as the market gained confidence from a spattering of significant announcements, including: Treasury Secretary Paulson's sweeping reforms to the financial system - major banks UBS and Lehmans (up 1.7% on the week) raising new cash and Merrills saying they didn't need capital, suggesting a bottoming of the credit market write-down experience.

Both BHP and RIO up in ADR form on Friday, 3.78% and 4.08% respectively. BHP flying at 11:30 am – 4.25% up, or 163c to 4021c and RIO up 3.5% or 458c to 13541c.

Metals all up on Friday – Zinc up 1.9%, Aluminium up 1.5% and Copper up 1.4%. Nickel up 0.7%. Zinifex up 21c to 1001c. Oil price up $2.17 to $106.09 - The Iranian President has urged OPEC members to form a joint bank and stop pricing oil trades in $US. Woodside up 91c to 5695c. Gold up $3.60 to $913.20. Newcrest up 127c to 3487c. US Bonds up with the 10 year yield down to 3.46% from 3.58%.