Wall Street index futures pointed to a sharply lower open Monday as investors react to a massive shake up among Wall Street investment banks.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. declared bankruptcy this morning after 158 years in business.

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Merrill Lynch & Co. has agreed to be taken over by Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank in terms of retail deposits. That deal is valued at US$50 billion in shares.

As well, American International Group Inc., the largest insurance company in the world, is asking the U.S. Federal Reserve for emergency funding as it works on a restructuring.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that national net worth rose 2% in the second quarter of 2008, as an increase in the value of non-financial assets was moderated by the rise in net foreign indebtedness.

Separately, StatsCan said that car dalerships sold 141,818 new vehicles in July, down 0.8% from June as a result of lower sales of overseas-built passenger cars.
The Canadian dollar opened at US93.14 cents, down 1.1¢ from Friday’s close amid worries about falling commodities prices.

Light sweet crude oil dropped $4.43 to US$96.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after damage to Gulf of Mexico oil infrastructure from Hurricane Ike was less than feared. Worries about a slower global economy also weighed on oil prices.

Markets in Tokyo and several other Asian money centers were closed for holidays, but India’s key market index fell 3.4%.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 was down 3.1% near midday in London, while Germany’s DAX index fell 4.4% and France’s CAC-40 tumbled 5.2%.

Toronto stocks were pushed up by rising prices for gold and oil on Friday, but it wasn’t enough of a boost to make up for losses throughout the rest of the week.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 156.82 points, or 1.24%, to finish at 12,769.58. For the week, the index was down 46.84 points.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 43.71 points, or 2.8%, at 1,607.53.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average finished down 11.72 points, or 0.1%, at 11,421.99. The S&P 500 was up 2.64 points, or 0.21%, at 1,251.69. The Nasdaq composite index was up 3.05 points, or 0.14%, at 2,261.27.

For the week, the Dow finished 1.8% higher while the S&P added 0.8% and the Nasdaq edged up 0.2%.

IE