Business

Here's an interesting snippet about how microfinance is being developed in the US - and not only used as a poverty reduction tool in developing countries. In the New York borough of Queens, people who do not qualify for credit cards or personal loans are able to get smaller sums without collateral, according to the New York Times.

The Times says the government's credibility on big transport projects is going to take a blow today from a report by MPs into the upgrade of the Thameslink train network. It points out that the project was originally called Thameslink 2000 because of the year when it was meant to be delivered, but that there are now unlikely to be any benefits to passengers until the 2020s.

What's the difference between a legal copyist and a forger? In this video you can meet the woman who is paid to reproduce art.

While latest updates say thousand of homes are still without power after a big storm swept across southern Britain yesterday, most reports suggest that because of plenty of warning and a school holiday, the economic impact will be pretty small.

On the BBC Business Facebook page, Benjamin Bradshaw posts: "If it's aimed at business people I find it strange that as technology allows us to conduct meetings of any value over services like skype... then this seems to be a complete waste of money. Invest in tech not knocking an hour off a journey."

I need to find a business news justification to share this video with you because it's so cool. It's someone using a helicopter to open a beer bottle. Let's see, good news for brewers? Boon for helicopter manufacturers? Write to us with your suggestions at bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk or tweet @BBCBusiness.

Swiss bank UBS has been told by regulators that it must increase its capital reserves by 50% to pay for litigation and compliance risks. Its shares were down more than 5% at last check.

blogs about whether Labour will oppose HS2: Do not expect a decision soon. Some say Labour will decide before the spring when legislation giving the government the legal authority to start building HS2 comes before parliament, just before the local and European elections. But I am told that Labour could make up its mind even later, closer to the election in 2015.

Much discussion around the business desk this morning about the headline for our story about the energy hearings. We started with "Stage set for heated energy debate" but it has been suggested that might be a pun. So now we're going with "Energy chiefs under fire on prices", but that might be seen as a pun too. Good job we haven't suggested anyone will get a grilling.

Get the background to the energy prices hearing later today, and hear more about Lloyds results by listening to this morning's business segment on the Today programme.

The financial services agency in Japan has said it will inspect three major banks, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which is the country's biggest lender, amid concerns that the bank has been doing business with yakuza mobsters. Yesterday, the chairman of Mizuho's banking unit resigned as a result of the loans-to-mobsters affair.

While we're wading through all these results, Deutsche Bank has released some figures earlier this morning, and reported a drop in profits of 94%. Net income in the three months ending in September declined to 41m euros ($56m, £35m) from 747m euros in the year-earlier period. A slump in debt trading was behind the drop.

Worth pointing out that while Lloyds reported a nine-month pre-tax profit of £1.7bn, it made a loss of £440m in the three months to the end of September, compared with a £151m loss in the same period last year. It blames that loss on the extra £750m provision for PPI claims and a £330m charge for the losses incurred in the sale of its German insurance business.

It's been a busy start to the day, with quarterly results out from Lloyds, which reported a pre-tax profit of £1.7bn and has set aside more money for mis-sold payment protection insurance. BP returned a profit too - of $3.2bn - and we're expecting to hear an update from the government on the cost and benefits of high speed rail.

It's been a busy period for Lloyds, which has rebranded a bunch of its high street outlets as TSB and the rest as Lloyds Bank (instead of Lloyds TSB). The chief executive said in his statement: "We were also pleased to see the UK government begin the process of returning the Group to full private ownership and getting taxpayer's money back at a profit through the sale of part of its shareholding in September."

BP reported $522m in non-operating costs, and said all payments relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were included in that figure. It also said oil spill costs totalled $39m for the quarter and $280m for the nine month period.

Oil giant BP has also put some results out. In the third quarter of the year it reported replacement cost profits of $3.2bn (£2bn) compared with $4.5bn a year ago. It also announced a quarterly dividend of 9.5 cents per ordinary share. It is due to be paid on 20 December.

The extra £750m that Lloyds has set aside to cover the cost of paying compensation to customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) takes the total provision to just over £8bn. Of that figure, about £1.7bn has been to cover its administration costs. These figures are mind-boggling. It explains why I keep getting those annoying phone calls...

We've also had through an interim management statement from Standard Chartered bank. "We delivered a resilient performance despite an uncertain macro environment," the bank said. It said single-digit growth was seen in the consumer banking sector, while wholesale banking was flat.

Lloyds Bank Group reports a nine month pre-tax profit of £1.7bn, compared with a loss of £607m in the same period last year. It's taken an additional charge of £750m for paying compensation to people mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).

You might be interested in a breakdown of Apple's results, which came in late yesterday. The firm reported a profit of $7.5bn (£4.6bn), and the good news is iPhone sales were up by 26%. But Apple did see its first decline in annual profits in 11 years and forward guidance from the company suggested profits may drop further.

Paul Chapman, director of HS2, tells Radio 5 live that if HS2 goes ahead, it could be brought in below budget and ahead of schedule. I think it's worth mentioning early on that we are not expecting there to be a national consensus today - the two sides are a long way apart.

David Hunter from Schneider Electric added that there may be other factors behind energy price hikes. "Actually, probably the greater reason for the increases we've just seen comes from other factors, like increasing grid costs... and the rapidly increasing cost of renewable green subsidies. And also, separately, the energy efficiency scheme... and the warm homes discount."

A report from the accountants KPMG said that HS2 would create benefits to the economy worth £15bn a year. But Thomas Crane from the HS2 Action Alliance (which opposes the project) told Radio 5 live: "The report was discredited - people didn't believe it once they started looking at the information behind it."

David Hunter from the energy management advisers Schneider Electric was talking to the Today programme a few minutes ago. He says it is very hard to know what the price of wholesale energy is, because most companies use a tactic called "hedging". In order to reduce the effects of price volatility, they may buy power several months or even a year in the future.

Did you know that originally only one of the energy companies up for questioning later was planning to send its chief executive to the hearing? That firm was E.ON. You can have a read here about who the big six energy bosses are.

A bit of background on HS2: it would be the country's second high speed rail link (the link to the Channel Tunnel was HS1). It's meant to cut London to Birmingham journeys by 35 minutes by 2026 and London to Manchester or Leeds times by an hour by 2033. At the moment, the price tag is just under £43bn.

David Buik at Panmure Gordon is on the Today programme this morning talking about Lloyds results, due in about half an hour. "We're expecting a slight profit - from a loss this time last year - so progress is being made," he says. They will also face a lot of scrutiny for their PPI (payment protection insurance) compensation scheme.

India's central bank has raised its key interest rate for the second month in row, putting it up from 7.5% to 7.75%. It warned that inflation was likely to stay high for the rest of the year and also cut back on a measure designed to support the currency.

On Wake up to Money on Radio 5 live, Richard Lloyd from Which? said: "We are, in fact, an experiment in the UK with a liberalised energy market. I think many people are now questioning whether that was wise to do and whether it's working properly."

Earlier on, we're going to be looking at high speed rail plans in the UK. The government is planning to release a report justifying the £42.6bn cost of the project, which we had a sneak preview of yesterday, and we're going to hear directly from Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.

As Anthony said, we're looking ahead to a packed day of news. In the afternoon, the heads of the six big energy companies will be grilled by MPs over recent price increases - four of them have put rates up by an average of 9.1%. We'll take you through the blow by blow of that questioning later.

Good morning. Between high speed rail, energy prices and banks, there's such a lot on today's agenda that for the first time this live page will be continuing all day. Fortunately, I won't be writing it all day, so stay with it.

Good morning and welcome. We'll be bringing you the day's business headlines, as well as company results, economic data and the best of the BBC's business stories as they happen. You can get in touch by emailing bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk or tweeting @BBCBusiness.