The week could not go by without brief reference to the sparkling results from Anglo Irish Bank. Those results are reflected in the performance of Anglo's shares, which are up 38 per cent in the past month, with strong buying coming in from overseas institutions.

Since those interim figures, forecasts for the bank have been increased by an average of 5 per cent but even those revised forecasts put Anglo on a prospective p/e of little more than 10 - a 30 per cent discount to the euro-zone average and to the British bank sector.

It's difficult to justify that sort of discount for a bank with strong loan volumes, good asset quality and that operates in an economy that is still likely to grow 6 per cent this year.