Week in pictures: January 25

Monday January 21: Global share prices crash, wiping £77bn off the value of the City's blue-chip stocks in the biggest one-day points fall in London's history. (Read the article) Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

Tuesday, January 22: markets reeled again as fears of a global recession sent shares into freefall from the open, only to recover sharply. David Buik of Cantor spreadfbetters said of the extreme volatility on the markets: 'I've been witnessing scenes on the trading floor today that I've not seen in 40 years.' (Read the article) Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

Further cuts in US interest rates looked a near certainty after figures showed the sales of new homes tumbled in January for the third successive month to a 13-year low and demand for durable goods also slumped. The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, acknowledged the persistent downside risks to growth. Read the article Photograph: Dennis Cook/AP

P is for Profit warnings: Companies across all sectors issued scores of profit warnings this year, adding to panic on financial markets. In November, a profit warning from BT sent its shares to their lowest since the telecoms company was floated by the Thatcher government in 1984. In December alone, Sony, Toyota, Electrolux, HBOS, Kodak, RIM and Electronic Arts all cut their profits forecasts Photograph: Frank May/EPA

Thursday January 24: world markets turn around after a last-minute rise on Wall Street on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 ended up nearly 5%. (Read the article) Photograph: Mauricio Lima/AFP

A rogue trader, Jerome Kerviel, has cost French bank Société Générale €4.9bn (£3.7bn) in the biggest fraud in financial history. (Read the article) Photograph: Public domain

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee cut interest rates by a quarter-point to 5% in an attempt to counteract the effects of the global credit crunch on mortgage markets. Read the article Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

George Soros, who famously bet against the Bank of England on Black Wednesday in 1992, warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Britain could follow the United States into recession. (Read the article) Photograph: Fabrice Coffini/AFP

Investment bank Merrill Lynch, which made millions of pounds bringing Sports Direct to the stockmarket, has publicly washed its hands of the discount sports chain and is urging investors to sell their shares. Read the article Photograph: David Sillitoe/Guardian

Britain's biggest property developer Land Securities has abandoned plans for a three way demerger because of adverse market conditions Photograph: Gabriel Szabo/Newscast

Party dresses and platform shoes helped Asos, the web-only retailer, to almost double its sales over the Christmas. (Read the article) Photograph: Gabriel Szabo/Newscast

Wm Morrison reported that sales hit record levels across its stores during December and the first week of January, and said profits for the current year would be at the top end of expectations (Read the article) Photograph: David Devins/Newscast