NEWS

- Obama says economic measures starting to work, but "not

out of the woods yet"

- Obama says taking over banks would be costlier

- Recovery in U.S. GDP seen delayed to Oct -EIA

- Intel beats earnings forecasts, says thinks Q1 computer

sales hit bottom, but no Q2 revenue outlook sent shares

down 4.6 percent after-hours

- UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research)(UBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) client to plead guilty in U.S. tax

case as Swiss bank set to cut thousands more jobs

- U.S. retail sales fell sharply by 1.1 pct in March after

two months of gains

- U.S. March producer prices unexpectedly slip 1.2 pct

- Poland to ask IMF fpr $20.5 bln standby credit line

- Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) sells $5 billion in stock, aims to

repay TARP funds early

- Philips (PHG.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) posts disappointing earnings

- Russian finance minister says Moscow may borrow abroad
next year for the first time in a decade

- Singapore devalues currency SGD= after record GDP fall

- U.S. job losses, falling GDP ahead - White House adviser

- World 2009 oil demand seen 180,000 bpd less - EIA

- Germany's Merkel summons experts to assess downturn

- ECB's Orphanides says deflation risk has grown

- UAE economic growth to slow to 3.3 pct in 2009 - IMF

- South Korea's central bank to inject $2 bln into banks

- Indonesia finance minister sees 2010 GDP growth at 5 pct

- Australia business conditions better but jobs go

- J&J (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) profit beats forecast, shares jump

MARKETS

- Wall Street shares close down on U.S. sales data and
drops in financial stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI lost 137.63 points, or 1.71 percent, to close
unofficially at 7,920.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost
17.22 points, or 2.01 percent, to 841.51. The Nasdaq Composite
Index dropped 27.59 points, or 1.67 percent, to 1,625.72.

- Oil CLc1 was down 1.1 percent to around $49.50 a barrel
on forecasts for softer 2009 global petroleum demand and for a
weekly build in U.S. crude supplies

- The dollar and yen JPY= both gained after disappointing
retail sales and uncertainty about corporate earnings boosted
safe-haven flows

- Goldman Sachs shares dropped 11.6 percent to $115.11

QUOTES

"I want to update you on the progress we've made, and to be
honest about the pitfalls that may lie ahead. But from where we
stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see
glimmers of hope." ... "There is no doubt that times are still
tough. By no means are we out of the woods yet." - U.S.
President Barack Obama

"A leveling out of economic activity is the first step
toward recovery." - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said
in remarks prepared for a speech, referring to hopeful signs
that include the latest data on home sales, homebuilding and
consumer spending.

"We know the economy's still sick. We know we've got
several more months of job loss, for example. We know that the
numbers on GDP are almost surely going to be very bad for this
quarter and next." - White House economic adviser Christina
Romer/

"This morning's U.S. data came well below expectations and
doused the positive sentiment in the markets in the past couple
of weeks. The data shows that expectations that the U.S.
economy has bottomed were overdone." - Omer Esiner, U.S. market
analyst, Ruesch International, Washington.

"In the first quarter of 2009 we have seen a significant
further deterioration of our markets." - Philips' Chief
Executive Gerard Kleisterlee.

"For us, it will take several years to exit the crisis." -Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.

DIARY

(all times GMT)

WEDNESDAY, April 15

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve releases Beige Book survey of
U.S. economic conditions

(World Desk, Americas +1 202 898 8482)