INDEPENDENT childcare operators are eyeing several centres of the failed ABC Learning, which will likely be sold.

SURFWEAR giant Quiksilver has shed Australia-wide surfing sponsorships to tighten its belt as its US share price dipped below $US1 on Friday.

AUSTRALIA'S richest business people have seen $20bn stripped from their stock market wealth in the past six months.

THE board of directors of embattled US carmaker General Motors is considering "all options" including bankruptcy, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal website.

OZ Minerals' embattled directors snapped up cheap shares in the company yesterday in a bid to halt its plummeting share price.

WALL Street staged a strong late rally overnight as traders cheered reports New York Federal Reserve chief Timothy Geithner would be named the next Treasury secretary.

US shares swung higher at the opening on Friday, staging a modest rebound after two days of vicious selling that pushed the main indexes to multi-year lows.

THE ASX lost another 100 points this morning after global markets took a fresh hammering overnight.

HALF the value of the ASX has been wiped out in a year, and investors face more losses today after another plunge on Wall St.

MORE than $2.8 billion worth of investor funds controlled by Challenger Financial Services Group will remain indefinitely frozen as the company warns next year will bring yet more financial turmoil.