There was anger, frustration and the odd gloating 'I'm so glad I sold out of this share in August 2008' as RBS took the title of being the most bailed out bank in the world. 

It was ordered by the EU to offload 14% of its branch network along with its card payment business RBS Insurance and Global Merchant Services and its stake in commodities trader RBS Sempra Commodities.

Lloyds fared better as it announced plans to raise £21 billion to avoid taking part in the government's asset protection scheme but it will still have to sell at least 600 branches, which account for around 4.6% of the total market share of UK current accounts.

Adding to the drama, the Bank of England voted to inject a further £25 billion into its quantitative easing scheme in a desperate bid to rejuvenate the struggling economy. 

Markets were unsurprisingly on the charged side as the speculation finally came to a head. A strong performance from the miners set the tone for Monday before all eyes turned to the banking sector revamp and jitters got the better of the market. 

Retail results on Wednesday from Next and Marks & Spencer helped to get the market back on track but the fragile stability was not to last and the FTSE 100 see-sawed between positive and negative territory for the remainder of the week.

By Friday close, it had gained around 2% over the previous five sessions to close the week at 5143. The mining sector achieved the biggest gains, up more than 7% during the week followed by automobiles & parts and the general retailers.

At the other end of the spectrum, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies lost around 3%.

Across the Pond, the Dow Jones pushed back over the 10,000 mark towards the end of the week despite signs that the economic recovery is far from flourishing.

On Friday figures from the Labor Department showed the jobless rate soared above 10% for the first time since 1983 in October. The Federal Reserve said that interest rates would be likely to be held at near zero for an 'extended period' even though it is seeing signs of a pick-up in the US economy.

The action from Monday

-- Oil and gas player Dragon Oil (DGO) was on flying form after announcing that majority shareholder Emirates National Oil Company has made a formal offer to acquire it.
 
The Dubai state-controlled company will purchase the final 48% of Dragon Oil that it does not already own in a deal that values the London-listed company at £2.36 billion, five months after it first made its intentions known.
 
ENOC first approached the Turkmenistan-focused company on 3 June and said at the time that it was considering an offer that would "represent a modest premium to Dragon Oil's closing share price."

-- Shares in Yellow pages publisher Yell Group (YELL) soared by 13% on Monday after the troubled group announced the requisite 95% of lenders had agreed its refinancing plans for its £3.8 billion debt mountain.

The FTSE 250 group, which has been badly hit by the advertising downturn and the rise of online publishing, was last week waiting on two lenders to approve it proposals after it pushed the deadline back three times.

It wants to extend the repayment date on its current loan facilities to 2014 in return for raising the interest rate payable by 1%.

-- The Competition Commission is investigating ITV's (ITV) £25 million sale of Friends Reunited amid fears that new owner DC Thomson will dominate the online geneology market.

The Genes Reunited business would merge with Find My Past and give the company a market share of more than 50%.

'On the basis of the evidence it received, the OFT does not believe that the current competition in this market or the potential for future entry is sufficiently strong to prevent the merged firm from reducing the quality or range of its services, or possibly raising prices," said the OFT.

The action from Tuesday

-- The government today announced long-awaited plans to invest billions more pounds in the banks and sell-off large chunks of their assets. 

Royal Bank of Scotland is in for a further £25.5 billion injection - making it the most bailed out bank in the world - while Lloyds will receive another £5.7 billion.

Both banks will also have to make divestments of "significant parts of their businesses over the next four years" to meet the demands of the European Commission.

-- It's all change at the top at Barclays (BARC) as the banking giant looks to overhaul its structure and the responsibilities of its senior management team.
 
The surprise move sees the resignation of Frits Seegers, who is currently chief executive of Barclays' retail and commercial bank.

Barclays now intends to extract the bank's commercial operations from Seegars' former empire.

-- Oil and gas company Nighthawk Energy (HAWK) has announced its Xenia gas pipeline in the US is now fully operational and flowing at more than 650,000 cubic feet of gas per day.
 
The AIM-listed company said an initial eight wells have been brought into production with a further five currently in the process of being brought on stream, in a move that will continue to ramp up flow rates. A further 22 wells have also been permitted for future drilling.
 
US-focused Nighthawk, which owns a 50% stake in the 26 kilometre pipeline, said gas is already flowing into the Bourbon County pipeline and being sold into the Southern Star Interstate transport line.

The action from Wednesday

-- Taylor Wimpey (TW-) and Redrow (RDW) today put the wind back into housebuilders' sails as they reported a welcome improvement in housing market conditions.
 
The FTSE 250-listed groups have seen firmer prices, stronger reservations and lower cancellation rates as the sector starts to emerge from one of the most severe downturns in decades.

-- High street stalwarts Marks & Spencer (MKS) and Next (NXT) today pointed to further signs of a retail revival following stronger trading in recent months.

M&S delivered pre-tax profits at the top end of expectations as tight cost and stock management paid off and food sales picked up.

Fashion retailer Next also reported better-than-expected third quarter sales, leading it to up its sales and profit guidance for the second half of the year.

-- Northern Rock says its financial performance is improving thanks to 'encouraging' economic trends, but has warned that the number of mortgage borrowers falling behind with repayments is rising.

The nationalised lender adds that although its performance in the second half of the year is expected to show a 'significant' improvement, it still anticipates making a loss for the year as a whole - driven by losses on loans.

Rising unemployment, the fragile economy and subdued housing market all give it cause for concern.

The action from Thursday

-- The Bank of England today pumped another £25 billion into its radical quantitative easing programme in a bid to support the fledgling economic recovery.

The latest move takes the total amount of new money created so far to £200 billion. 

Economists had been widely anticipating a further injection after the latest GDP figures revealed that the UK remained mired in recession in the third quarter when most other industrialised countries, including the US, have now returned to growth.  

-- Swiss banking giant UBS has been slapped with an £8 million fine for failing to stop four employees carrying out unauthorised transactions involving customer money. 

At least 39 accounts were affected by the unauthorised trading of foreign exchange and precious metals between January 2006 and December 2007 at UBS' London-based wealth management business.

The losses were then allocated to customers' accounts, the Financial Services Authority said. 

-- Broadcaster ITV (ITV) cheered investors with forecasts for a surprise rise in advertising revenue next month.
 
The FTSE 250 group is predicting a 4% rise in net advertising revenue (NAR) in December - the first monthly gain since the first half of 2008.
 
It put the improvement down to extending its lead over BBC1 in prime time viewing with shows including the X Factor and Doc Martin - allowing it to charge advertisers more.

The action from Friday

-- Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today revealed heavy third quarter losses with bad debts continuing to plague the part-nationalised bank.

Pre-tax losses stood at £2.1 billion for the three months to September compared to a profit of £1.9 billion in the same period in 2008 before it fell into the Government's arms.

Bad debts almost tripled in the period from the third quarter last year to £3.3 billion - but down from the £4.7 billion reported last quarter. Over the nine month period, write-offs on bad loans have risen to £10.8 billion from £2.7 billion in the same period last year. 

-- Struggling airline British Airways' (BAY) slumped to a record loss in the first half of the financial year as the recession continues to wreak havoc on the aviation industry.
 
The airline's losses before tax swelled to £292 million for the six month period ended 30 September, while its operating loss hit £111 million, in stark contrast to the £140 million profit it reported in 2008. 

The disappointing figures mark the first time BA has posted a loss during the first half of the financial year.

-- Perseverance paid off for London Mining on Friday when it made its highly-awaited debut on to the Alternative Investment Market, after embarking on an ambitious growth programme.
 
The London-headquartered iron ore and coal miner first made its intentions clear in July in a bid to expand its access to a global investment network. The company said it had been firmly focused on identifying, developing and operating scaleable mines to become a mid-tier supplier to the global steel industry.
 
The company, founded in 2005, added that its principle assets hold the potential for further expansion.
 

Sam Hart of Charles Stanley says: 'We forecast a small expansion in operating margin to 3.2% (first half 2008/9 3.13%), with the benefits of on-going efficiency savings and operational leverage partially offset by costs associated with accelerated growth in space.'

Energy companies also have their moment in the spotlight with Scottish & Southern Energy as well as Centrica stepping up. The former has been increasingly turning its attentions to renewable energy of late and with the spotlight firmly on ways to tackle climate change ahead of Copenhagen's December meeting, the company is expected to do well when it posts its interim results on Wednesday. 

Following its acquisition of Venture Production, Centrica is also expected to show signs of improvement when it posts its interim results on Thursday. 

Finally, BT Group will release its second quarter results on Thursday. The telecommunication's weak performance earlier this year is thought to be although concerns over its pension deficit persist. Investors will be keen to see if the results shed some light on measures being taken to tackle the problem. 

On an economic front, things will really start to hot up on Wednesday when the Bank of England releases its inflation report. Widely regarded as a major event in the economic calendar, the report follows a period of conflicting data. While the manufacturing sector finally indicated that a recovery had begun, data from the ONS found the UK to still be in recession. 

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, commented: 'We expect the Quarterly Inflation Report to reveal that the Bank of England believes that the economy is now starting to recover but still faces serious obstacles to healthy, sustainable growth. The survey is also likely to modestly raise the consumer price inflation profile.'

On Tuesday the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors releases its monthly housing survey with hopes for a further rise in buyer enquiries and instructions to sell properties. The British Retail Consortium will also release its October retail sales, while ONS will provide UK trade update for September and its producer prices indices for October. 

Monday 9 November

Results: 

(Finals) Lok'n Store Group
(Interims) G4S, Advanced Computer software, Latchways, Victoria
(Quarterly) Immarsat

Trading statement:
Dignity

AGMs:
Hargreaves Services

Dividend Payment Date:
(Final) ECO Animal Health Group, System C Healthcare
(Interim) Morrison Supermarkets, WPP Group

Tuesday 10 November

Results:
(Finals) Imperial Tobacco Group
(Interims) Babcock International Group, Kewill, Northern Foods, Printing.com, Vodafone
(Quarterly) Barclays, HSBC, 888 Holdings, European Goldfields Limited, First Quantam Minerals

AGMs:
A&J Mucklow, Northamber, Strategic Equity Capital, Trikona Trinity Capital, VietNam Holding Ltd.

Dividend Payment Date:
(Final) Allianz Dresdner, Endowment Policy Trust 2010, Savile Group

Wednesday 11 November

Results:
(Finals) Fenner
(Interims) Great Portland Estates, Sainsbury, Scottish & Southern Energy
(Quarterly) Smurfitt Kappa Group

Trading statement:
Zetar

AGMs:
Allied Gold, Cadogan Petroleum, Crown Place VCT, Eurovestech, Hays

Dividend Payment Date:
(Final Ex Dividend) Acorn Income Fund Ltd., Air Partner, Asian Citrus, CPL Resources, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Downing Protected VCT 1, Edge Performance VCT D Shares, Edinburgh Dragon Trust, F&C Commercial Property Trust, JPMorgan Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Jupiter Dividend & Growth Trust, Stavert Zigomala, Swallowfield, World Careers Network
(Interim Ex Dividend) 3i Infrastructure, Aberdeen Income & Growth VCT, Anglo Pacific, Bunzl, Charles Stanley, Chloride Group, Cobham, Ferrexpo, Home Retail Group, JZ Capital Partners, Marks & Spencer Group, Noble AIM VCT, Pace, Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust, Wynnstay Properties
(Interim) Carillion, Centrica
(Quarterly Ex Dividend) BP, ING UK Real Estate Income Trust Ltd., Prodesse Investment Ltd.

Thursday 12 November

Results:
(Interim) Centrica
(Quarterly) BT Group

Trading statement:
Reed Elsevier

AGMs:
Dunelm Group, Eleco, Genus, Henderson EuroTrust, Henderson EuroTrust, International Ferro Metals, Nighthawk Energy, Thorp

Dividend Payment Date:
(Interim) All Leisure Group, Ashley (Laura) Holding, British American Inv Trust, Edge Performance VCT, Kingfisher, Melrose
(Quarterly) Merchants Trust

Friday 13 November

Results:
(Final) SatCom Group
(Interim) Electrocomponents, Hornby
(Quarterly) Bankers Petroleum Ltd., Nautilus Minerals Inc.

Trading statement:
TUI Travel

Dividend Payment Date:
(Final) British Sky Broadcasting Group, Eaga, Galliford Try, Networkers International, Quayle Munro, Strategic Equity Capital, TR European Growth Trust, Wilmington Group
(Interim) Aberdeen Growth VCT 1, Amiad Filtration Systems, Corin Group, First Derivatives, Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 2, Northbridge Industrial Services, office2office, Public Service Properties Investments, Rightmove, Spectris
(Quarterly) British Land Co

Flying under the slogan 'Always great value', new chain Alworths promises to be everything Woolworths was, just minus the 'W'.

Exactly 100 years to the day of the opening of the first Woolworths store in Liverpool, Andy Latham, the brains behind the new chain of high street stores and ex Head of Store at Woolworths, said Alworths hailed the return of the family friendly mecca to the UK's high-street.

It was clear Latham wanted this launch to go with a bang and bang it certainly did when hoards of excitable children got their hands on the hundreds of deep purple balloons heralding its opening.

Standing at the site of the old Woolworths store and flanked by a loyal army of employees, with a backdrop of 'Let's celebrate' blasting from the speakers, Latham welcomed the hefty crowd with a promise to 'regenerate the high-street'.

As mothers, children and grandparents alike clamoured to get their first look of the new store, Latham said the grand opening is 'just the beginning of the Alworths journey.'

He received the keys to the old Woolworths store just 66 days ago and has since brought the spirit of Woolies back to life with the same eclectic range of household goods, music and DVDs and of course the popular pick n mix confectionary.

Didcot is the first in a blitz of five new store openings before Christmas, with a further 22 scheduled to open in the south of the country by next December - many in former Woolies stores.

Let's just hope they fare better than the role model. Woolworths went into administration last November after racking up debts of £385 million. Although administrator Deloitte attempted to sell the business, its efforts were thwarted by the recession.

Sweet-toothed children and thrifty shoppers up and down the country were forced to bid farewell when the last stores closed their doors back in January.

Since then around two thirds of its stores have been snapped up by discount chains such as Iceland and Poundland. The new Alworths has just turned the heat up on the competition.

Latham is up for the challenge. 'Of course there are competitors out there,' he says 'but they specialise in different areas. There was a big hole in the high street and parents were crying out for a family-focused store.'

Looking around, it's clear that Latham and his team of ex Woolies workers (half the store to be exact) have set out to capture a community feel. Every corner I turn a mother in the aisle is saying hello to another while Christmas has come early for the children torn between the colourful array of Disney costumes and abundant trays of pick n mix. Throw in the walking, talking Pudsey Bear and Snow White and the party atmosphere was in full flow. 

'We have built it for children,' Latham continues, 'but we also wanted to offer treats for the mums too.' I follow his eyes to the shelves stacked full of cookie jars and bright kitchen aprons. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not exactly what I imagine every mum hopes to find under the Christmas tree.

Latham's family friendly stance also extends to his staff. 'How can you be a family retailer if you demand that your employees work a 39-hour week? We make sure we offer flexible working hours as the majority of our staff are mums and dads too,' he says.

Staff member Samantha Crook (who used to work at Woolies) adds the happy family theme extends to the staff as much as the customers. 'We are like one big family here. Alworths tried as hard as it could to recruit ex-Woolies employees to capture that.'

The majority of eager shoppers, oohing over the 99p Christmas cards and ahhing over the £2.99 towels, said they were delighted to have their favourite one-stop shop back. One was ever so keen as to point out that the boys' toys were cheaper now than they were in the original Woolies.

'It takes me back to my school days when I used to fill my pockets full of sweets,' one smiley mum reminisced.

Under the bright shop lights, the fizzy cola bottles and Quality Street's finest shone among the rows of brightly coloured watering cans and Christmas crackers.

It's official: the ghost of Woolies past is back - and just in time for Christmas.

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