HIGHLIGHTS

08-05-2008 Welcome to a world of diminished expectations When the British prime minister announced 'the end of boom and bust', Jove must have checked his thunderbolts, writes Willem Buiter 08-05-2008 Michael Page climbs on Adecco approach Adecco, the world's biggest temporary staffing group, confirmed an unsolicited approach for its smaller UK counterpart, in an apparently opportunistic effort to go further upmarket 08-05-2008 L&G takes issue with EU over annuities Tim Breedon, chief executive, attacked sweeping new European regulations that could force some insurers to hold much more capital, as the life assurer reported better than expected interim results, sending its shares up 12 per cent 08-05-2008 Rock falls to £585m loss as arrears mount The stricken UK mortgage said the deteriorating UK housing market had put increased pressure on its loan book, with the number of loans more than three months behind more than doubling to 1.18% 08-05-2008 MUFG reports 66% slide in quarterly profits Profit plunge highlighting the deteriorating business environment facing Japanese banks amid a slowing economy and weak capital markets