Crisis, what crisis? An upbeat David Frost, director-general of the British Chamber of Commerce, reminds us there is commercial life beyond the hysterics of Canary Wharf trading screens.

U.S. stocks posted their biggest decline in two weeks early today (Friday) after an unexpected profit decline by General Electric Co. (GE) reignited worries that the credit crunch is causing more damage than investors realize.

The U.S. markets battled back from an early morning dip on news that unemployment has reached 5.1%.