It’s Monday morning. The world economy is calling in sick. A Bloomberg report confirms last week’s news: the US economy lost more jobs last year than at any time since the end of WWII.. The jobless rate is now at a 16-year high.

“Global Demand for Oil to Plummet,” screams a recent Financial Times headline.   Huh?  No it won’t.  Who are they trying to kid?

Oil above $40 a barrel; geopolitical risk returns… Israeli air strikes go into third day… China to build up oil reserves while price is low

White House and Democrats tentatively agree to auto aid… Eastman Kodak, Electronic Arts warn on outlook… Energy shares could get lift from higher oil prices

The Feds try to reflate the world economy with $10 trillion but at what cost? As predicted in this space, the November payrolls were down a lot more than expected. Economists thought there would be 350,000 layoffs. Instead, the actual number was 200,000 more.

Gold surge fuelled by inflation fears… Deflation seen short-lived…  Platinum boosted, helped by auto sector optimism

Not much. The world keeps turning. And the world economy keeps falling apart. Here in Australia, shares of port and rail outfit Asciano (AIO) fell off the table after a Citigroup analyst changed his valuation of the company and moved it from “buy” to “sell.” Asciano is down 93% from its all time high and was down nearly 60% yesterday before going into a trading halt.

Federal Reserve policymakers yesterday (Wednesday) reduced the benchmark Federal Funds rate to 1.0%, an aggressive half-percentage-point cut that central bank Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s latest attempt to keep the widening financial crisis from tipping the world into a global recession.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Friday said it would cut oil production quotas by 1.5 million barrels a day in an attempt to put a floor under oil prices, which have plunged nearly 60% from their July record.

The bear market has taken its toll on hedge funds so far this year. In the first half of ‘08 average hedge fund performance was a negative .75%. This from Bloomberg: