SUMMIT EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EURO ZONE DEBT CRISIS PLAN BUT NOT SOLUTION - The chance of a final deal to resolve the euro zone debt crisis at today's EU summit in Brussels looks unlikely, with deep disagreement remaining between leaders on critical aspects of the potential agreement, including how to give the region's bail-out fund - the EFSF - greater firepower. EU officials and European diplomats have lowered their expectations of a breakthrough when the 17 euro zone leaders meet later today. Antonio Garcia Pascual, chief European economist at Barclays, says he expects this evening's meeting will present the beginning of a potential solution but won't contain exact details. He is hoping for a plan which will point in the right direction and will cover the EFSF, bank recapitalisations and Greek debt crisis and how to avoid contagion. He says the most important element which should emerge from the meeting is how to boost the content of the EFSF and address the problems in Italy and Spain. He says the meeting is more about crisis management.
On Italy, Antonio Garcia Pascual says the problems facing the country are very big. Pointing out that Italy is the largest bond market in Europe - and the third largest in the world - he says it is vital the country takes the right measures to correct its economy - no matter how difficult and costly those measures are. While all the important decision makers will be at today's summit, Mr Garcia Pascual says they have to face their respective electorates back home, which could restrain their decisions. However, he says he expects at least a plan which could satisfy the markets.
On Ireland, the economist says that compared to the other periphery countries, we are doing well. He says any decision on the EFSF should be of benefit to us and he says the country should come out well from this latest crisis.
He says today's meeting should provide more advanced decisions on bank recapitalisations and a possible date for when that process should be achieved, if not a final total. He also says a plan on how to make use of the limited resources of the bail-out fund will be agreed, but adds that he is not sure a final Greek haircut figure will be arrived at. He says this will be the very last piece of the jigsaw.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Profits at the world's biggest online retailer Amazon have dropped 73% after the company invested heavily in the Kindle tablet computer. During the period it launched the Kindle "Fire" model, which runs apps and streams films and other non-text or book content. The company said its sales had grown by 44% and that last month, it had its "biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days".
*** The flight was three years late, but this morning the Boeing Dreamliner took off for its first commercial voyage. The All Nippon Airlines (ANA) flight took off from Tokyo, bound for Hong Kong. This morning's flight was a special charter, with normal services due to start next month. The Dreamliner had originally been scheduled for delivery in 2008, but Boeing has suffered setbacks. It now plans to make ten of the planes a month from 2013. Boeing says the Dreamliner is about 20% more fuel efficient than similarly sized models flying today.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.39 and 86.7 pence sterling.
