Mar. 2--NO CONFIDENCE: Business confidence is at rock bottom, says KPMG.

Its quarterly national business confidence survey revealed that 81pc of senior executives questioned now view the prospects for the economy as either "bad" or "very bad."

That represents a significant fall in confidence from the final quarter of 2008, when 60pc said that prospects were poor.

EQUITABLE LIFE CHIEF THOMSON RESIGNS: Equitable Life chief executive Charles Thomson is quitting eight years after being drafted in to save the troubled insurer.

The 60-year-old says he plans to seek new challenges following the abandonment of plans to sell Equitable.

He was appointed boss of the savings and pensions giant when it lost a legal battle in the House of Lords over the rights of its policyholders -- a landmark case that forced the company to close to new business. Thomson helped negotiate a compromise deal with the society's policyholders in 2002 which rid it of its liabilities to Guaranteed Annuity Rate policyholders.

He also helped broker the transfer of the group's £1.7bn with-profits annuity book to Prudential and sale of its £4.6bn non-profit annuity book to Canada Life in 2007.

BUFFET'S DUMB DECISIONS: Doh! Billionaire stock picker Warren Buffett stopped short of slapping his forehead. He did, however, admit to several Homer Simpson moments as he referred to some of his recent investments as "dumb."

The octogenarian, in his annual letter to investors in his Berkshire Hathaway vehicle, admitted the firm had its worst year on record -- its investments lost $11.5bn.

Chief among the bum picks was oil giant Conoco Philips, where Buffett bought shares just before the crude price fell 60pc. Never one to mince his words, Buffett gave a gloomy assessment of the year ahead: "(It) will be in a shambles throughout 2009 -- and for that matter, probably well beyond."

LLOYDS CLOSE TO LOAN DEAL: Protracted negotiations between Lloyds Banking Group and the government over plans to insure £250bn of problem loans are at an "advanced stage," according to sources close to the talks.

It is understood an impasse over bonuses has been resolved and talks are now centred on how much will go into the scheme and exactly what the bank will pay the authorities to ringfence these assets.

The two sides spent the weekend locked in talks, though the timing of any deal is still not certain.

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