• The US bank stress tests eventually appeared on Friday morning and, after a week of leaks and rumours, were relatively anti-climactic.  Out of 19 main banks the US authorities identified 10 of them will require an extra $US75 billion of capital, $34bn alone for Bank of America.
• Last week’s labour market figures showed employment fell 1.1% over the quarter (24,000 jobs), the largest percentage decline since 1989, and the unemployment rate continued its steady rise to reach 5%.
• In the US there are very tentative signs that the pace of job losses is slowing, with April Non-farm Payrolls registering a fall of ‘only’ 539k.

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