November 20, 2008 (LPAC)--After the farcical Nov. 15 summit of the Group of 20, the collapse of the world financial system has accelerated. What follows are some of the leading indicators of the carnage:

* Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory index fell to -39.3 in November from -37.5 in October, the fastest pace since Oct. 1990.

* The index of leading US economic indicators fell in Oct. for the third time in four months. The Conference Board's gauge dropped 0.8 percent after rising 0.1 percent in Sept.

* US initial jobless claims rose last week to the highest level since 1992. They increased by 27,000 to 542,000 in the week ended Nov. 15 from 515,000 the prior week. The number of people staying on benefit rolls the prior week rose to 4.012 million, the most since December 1982.

* Crude oil fell below $50 a barrel in New York Oil has dropped nearly $100 from its July record. On July 11 the price was $147.27 per barrel.

* Stock markets plunged once again globally. The Dow fell 445 pts. or 5.6%, the S&P 500 6.7%; the FTSE 3.3%; the CAC 3.5%; the DAX 3.1% the Nikkei 6.89%.

* JP Morgan & Chase fell 18% and announced 10,000 layoffs of its investment banking staff; Citigroup fell as much as 26%.

* Goldman Sachs dropped below $53 for the first time since it went public almost a decade ago in May 1999. Goldman has lost more than 75 percent of its market value this year.

* GMAC has applied for status as a bank holding company to gain access to the Treasury's bailout fund.

* GM stock value fell to $1.70 earlier in the day, which is its lowest since the 1930s, and Ford tumbled to a 28 year low, before rebounding on speculation of a bailout.

* Hedge Fund assets shrank 9% to $1.56 trillion last month after investors withdrew cash and stock markets declined. Investors pulled $40 billion from hedge funds in October, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc., while market losses cut hedge fund values by $116 billion. Investors withdrew $22 billion from funds of funds, which pool money to invest in hedge funds.