Deutsche Bank solves Ryanair conundrum:

It's about a year since Ryanair imposed a ban on US investors buying ordinary shares in the airline to prevent its EU shareholder base falling below the 50 per cent required under EU law. Since then, a number of institutions, including Irish stockbrokers, have been looking at ways around the situation.

Deutsche Bank has become the first out of the traps with a solution of sorts. Earlier this week, the bank introduced a traded warrant on Ryanair ordinary shares, which will give non-EU investors exposure to the underlying stock without them having to buy it.

Each warrant gives the holder a right to buy an ordinary share in Ryanair by March, 2008 at a strike price of effectively zero.

The product is likely to appeal to US investors in particular who, given their positive experience with US low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines, retain a keen appetite for the stock but have been restricted to buying the company's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

This has resulted in a significant gap opening up between the price of the ADRs and the ordinary shares - the ADR premium has been as high as 17 per cent recently but analysts believe this will now narrow.

However, the new product will not resolve the issue for everybody. Many US fund managers are not allowed to hold derivative products, leaving them with no option but to stick with the ADRs if they are determined to hold the low-cost carrier.

Battle of the transport titans set to intensify:

The battle of wills between those long-standing foes, Aer Rianta boss Noel Hanlon and Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, shows no sign of abating as we approach the summer months.

It is likely to intensify as Brennan frames his proposals for Cabinet. They are certain to recommend the break-up of the airports company, but Hanlon has not given up the fight.

Attempts by trade union chiefs such as David Begg to bring the Taoiseach into the debate (at least on the issue of the consultation process) will give Hanlon a boost.

As an old political hand he knows that whatever plans Brennan may have up his sleeve are irrelevant without the backing of the Taoiseach.

So far, Taoiseach and Minister have hung together, but Hanlon and his team at Aer Rianta will be hoping the Minister has his wings clipped by his boss next month, when the real debate begins.

In the meantime, another issue is looming. When is the Minister going to fill the two vacancies on the Aer Rianta board? They have been vacant for several months and there is much talk in Aer Rianta about what the Minister may do.

One school of thought says the Minister will hold off because Aer Rianta, in its current form, has no future, so why make fresh appointments? The other school of thought says the Minister wants to appoint some heavy hitters from the airport management sector and there are not many of them roaming around the country.

Baby-Boom boosts DIY:

Bertie Ahern may have set his sights on the lack of competition in certain business segments and how it is holding back economy growth but, if a new report is to be believed, he need have no worries about Ireland's DIY providers.

Davy analyst Florence O'Donoghue, says DIY is one of the State's most dynamic and increasingly competitive sectors. He argues there is plenty of room for growth in the €400-€500 million market. Part of this is down to our rapid rise in housing stock and lifestyle changes but part is also down to demographics.

Simply put, the core market for DIY is the 35-44 year-old bracket and, while the portion of the population under 44 is declining as the baby-boom generation matures, the numbers within the 35-44 segment are growing - up by almost a quarter between 1996 and 2011.

That's good news for Grafton's DIY chain Woodies, Heiton's Atlantic Homecare and British operators B&Q and Homebase, which all operate in the Irish market.

In fact, as Mr O'Donoghue sees it, the outlook for DIY is almost universally positive, even in a slowing economy.

The trend to apartment building and house price inflation both boost spending on home improvement and refurbishment, he argues. Larger stores, Sunday opening and greater interest in DIY among women will also help grow the market, he believes.

"We believe the sector can continue to expand at above average rates over the next couple of years as per capita spend trends towards UK levels," he says.