Laura Slattery peruses the week
$100 billion
- the size of a new emergency kitty offered by an inundated International Monetary Fund, with chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn keen that the fund be seen as a "mason" to rebuild economies rather than a "fireman".
EUR60
- the new each-way cost of the Aer Lingus fuel surcharge on flights to New York and Boston, down just 20 per cent from €75 despite a substantially sharper fall in oil prices.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 1:
'I have hadge fund managers literally in tears on the phone'
- a London-based auto industry analyst relays the misery among "the hedgies" who got caught out to the tune of about £20 billion by a sudden spike and unexpected unavailability in Volkswagen shares, after it transpired that Porsche controlled rather more of VW than anyone had known.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 2:
'It's not an environment where one should be looking for return on capital, but for return of capital'
- getting your money back isn't so easy these days, says Citigroup's New York markets analyst Tom Fitzpatrick.
GOOD WEEK:
Cineworld
Never underestimate the power of a good singalong: cinema chain Cineworld has taken better than expected box office revenues thanks to the legions of Mamma Mia fans flocking to special lip synch versions of the much-loved film adaptation of the stage musical based on the songs of Abba. But retail sales barely grew at all, suggesting that recessionista cinema-goers are balking from spending half their monthly salary on a bucket of popcorn - well you can't sing with your mouth full.
Intellectual property
After years of scanning out-of-print books without permission, Google has joined the world of copyright, acknowledging that publishers' intellectual property rights don't just disappear in an online format. But it's not just publishers who won major advances this week: voodoo doll makers were given a seal of approval by a French judge who ruled that a doll of the French president Nicolas Sarkozy "falls within the authorised boundaries of freedom of expression and humour".
BAD WEEK:
The BBC
The broadcaster has lost one of the finest, most charismatic talents of his generation. But enough about David Tennant quitting Doctor Who, it was a case of Daily Mail group 1, BBC nil, as the tabloids stirred up a highly successful storm about bad taste messages left by comedian Russell Brand and presenter Jonathan Ross on the answering machine of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs. But it is Ross's £6 million a year salary - enough to make even bankers' blush - that was the real trigger for the outcry.
Japan
Prime minister Taro Aso was forced to unveil the country's second economic stimulus package in as many months, with a package that includes reduced household taxes, lower highway tolls, funding for the care of children and the elderly, supports for unemployed people and higher loan guarantees offered to small companies. Sounds good, doesn't it? But Japanese exports have been decimated by the strength of the yen, with electronics and entertainment stalwart Sony reporting a 72 per cent quarterly drop in profits.
