Business week in pictures

President Barack Obama shocked the financial world by targeting 'irresponsible' trading among Wall Street firms Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Photograph: Spencer Platt/guardian.co.uk The news came on the same day that Goldman Sachs claimed it had shown 'restraint' in paying out $16bn in bonuses to staff after a surge in profits Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters Photograph: Andrew Winning/guardian.co.uk Morgan Stanley said it had returned to the black with quarterly profits of $757m Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP Photograph: Mark Lennihan/guardian.co.uk Citigroup declared that it was making 'enormous progress' in clambering back to financial health despite losing $7.6bn (£4.6bn) in the final quarter of 2009 as it dug deep to pay back billions of dollars of emergency aid to American taxpayers Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Photograph: Mario Tama/guardian.co.uk Local campaigner Ray Egan dressed as John Bull gives out sweets as he joins workers in Bournville. Cadbury finally accepted defeat in its battle to stay independent by recommending a £12bn takeover from US rival Kraft Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Furlong/guardian.co.uk The chief executive of Cadbury, Todd Stitzer , stands to pocket cash and shares worth £12m from the company's £11.9bn sale in a deal that also hands fees of at least £250m to legions of City advisers Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Photograph: Anthony Devlin/guardian.co.uk But Warren Buffett, the world's most successful investor and Kraft's biggest shareholder , condemned the US conglomerate's £11.9bn acquisition of Cadbury as a 'bad deal' Photograph: Thomas Lohnes/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Thomas Lohnes/guardian.co.uk Kraft's proposed takeover of Cadbury also raised widespread fears that the US food group will abandon a landmark deal by the British confectioner to buy only Fairtrade cocoa beans for its Dairy Milk brand Photograph: Yusuf Ahmad/Reuters Photograph: Yusuf Ahmad/guardian.co.uk In Bournville, the chocolate brand's spiritual home , it felt a little bit like a death in the family. Just about everyone in this leafy model village on the edge of Birmingham has worked at the famous factory or has a relative who has done so. Even those few who had nothing at all to do with Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters Photograph: Darren Staples/guardian.co.uk Despite the billions of dollars changing hands, the political furore and the loss of one of the oldest names in British business, the question on many lips is simple: is it curtains for the Curly Wurly? Kraft was doing all it could to reassure consumers (among others) that it would respect Cadbury's heritage Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk In economic news, the Office for National Statistics said the broadest measure of unemployment fell by 7,000 to 2.458 million , the first quarterly decline since May 2008, leaving the jobless rate at 7.8% Photograph: David Sillitoe Photograph: David Sillitoe/guardian.co.uk The annual rate of consumer price inflation (CPI) jumped to 2.9% in December , up from 1.9% in November, a record monthly rise Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Photograph: Andy Rain/guardian.co.uk The armed forces may shrink by a fifth in the next six years as the government seeks to slash the country's budget deficit. Britain borrowed £15.7bn to balance the books last month , the highest December figure on record, as two-and-a-half years of financial crisis and recession took its toll of the public finances Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/guardian.co.uk In retail, supermarkets group Wm Morrison reported cracking Christmas sales , outstripping its larger rivals with a jump of 6.5% Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters Photograph: Darren Staples/guardian.co.uk Job losses at Lloyds Banking Group are on course to top 16,000 after the bank, which is 43%-owned by taxpayers, put another 685 jobs at risk Photograph: David Levene Photograph: guardian.co.uk Two men dressed in fake medieval armour march past at a shopping mall in Beijing, China. The Chinese economy returned to double digit growth in the fourth quarter , with a jump of 10.7% year-on-year, but inflation is creeping up again amid fears of overheating Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP Photograph: Ng Han Guan/guardian.co.uk As if Barack Obama didn't have enough to worry about, his well-appointed presidential home in the heart of Washington DC is apparently slipping in value thanks to America's dismal economy and lacklustre property market Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters Photograph: Jim Young/guardian.co.uk