NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Wall Street tumbled on Monday and European
shares were on track for their largest one-day rout in three months, as
global efforts to limit the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley
Bank (SVB) failed to ease fears.

https://uk.investing.com/news/economy/stock-futures-rally-in-asia-as-us-acts-on-banks-2947225

The U.S. dollar slid and bond markets saw a gigantic repricing of rate
hike bets. Expectations rose for a pause in interest rate hikes in March,
with Wall Street heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) predicting
the U.S. Federal Reserve would no longer lift interest rates next week.

Gold prices rose on safe-haven buying.

Europe's bank index slumped over 6% having shed 3.8% on Friday. HSBC's
London listed dropped 1.45% after it said it would acquire the UK
subsidiary of stricken Silicon Valley Bank for the token amount of 1 pound
($1.21).

"When a step (is taken) this big, this quickly, your first thought is
crisis averted. But your second thought is, how big was that crisis, how
big were the risks that this step had to be taken?" said Rick Meckler,
partner at Cherry Lane Investments. [.N]

"We are seeing a classic flight to safety," said Tom Caddick managing
director at Nedgroup Investments. "Higher interest rates and a slowing
economy was always going to bite."

U.S. authorities have also taken over New York-based Signature Bank, the
second bank failure in a matter of days.

### - TWO banks gone pop now... any more? (quite likely!)

ALL banks losing some share-value today...

(getcha tickets for the dipper ride?)

meanwhile, in the midst of the financial crisis + nationwide strikes due
to inflation/low pay etc (e.g., starting today uk doctors are striking for
72 hours demanding a 35% pay increase! something the uk government has
said is completely: "unfordable") - they've just announced their intention
to spend an EXTRA £5-BILLION (iow: 5 times as much as it would cost to pay
the doctors) on reequipping + future-proofing its OWN army???

can see just where their 'priorities' really are then, duh...