Business Comment

Hamish McRae: By 2020, could the world's richest country be a little closer to home than China and Russia?

We are slowly coming to appreciate that this downturn will have quite different characteristics to previous ones, with the biggest new element being the influence of the "Brics" (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

Inside Business Comment

Margareta Pagano: Financial experts are eating humble pie – as well as cheap risotto

Sunday, 6 July 2008

In these frugal days, buying Tesco's mushroom risotto for £1.99 rather than paying double at Marks & Spencer looks a good deal. Even the better-off are now going to cheaper shops to save on food now that petrol costs as much as gold. It's this change in behaviour that is hurting Marks & Spencer so badly and which prompted last week's profit warning. And it's why Sir Stuart Rose is going to have to pull off the performance of his life when he appears at the Royal Festival Hall this Wednesday.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: Texas Pacific proves a man of straw as magnificent four ride to the rescue

Saturday, 5 July 2008

Believe it or not, there are some positives to be drawn from the debacle that is Bradford & Bingley. One is that despite the lily-livered behaviour of Texas Pacific Group, an alternative recapitalisation on almost exactly the same terms has been quickly put in place in a manner which may prevent a repeat showing of the collapse in confidence that did for Northern Rock.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: Stock markets will eventually turn but we haven't seen the capitulation yet

Friday, 4 July 2008

London's FTSE 100 index briefly dipped into official bear market territory yesterday – defined as 20 per cent or more off the peak – and though it later came out of it again, few would bet on stocks staying out of trouble for long.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: Airlines enter consolidation end game

Friday, 4 July 2008

Few industries have been quite as badly hit by soaring fuel costs as airlines, which are collectively expected to chalk up billions of dollars in losses this year. Yet in any crisis, there is always opportunity. The present implosion looks set to be so serious that it may end up persuading national governments to remove the plethora of constraints that exist to stop cross-border consolidation.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: TNS: Sir Martin is still falling short

Friday, 4 July 2008

Taylor Nelson Sofres, the market research group, is right to reject Sir Martin Sorrell's latest takeover approach, despite the fact that in these markets, the mooted 260p a share might seem worth having. It's a big premium to where the shares were before the takeover spat began and to where they are likely to fall back to if Sir Martin decides to throw in the towel. Even capitalising the promised synergies, the board's preferred merger with GfK of Germany is in the short term unlikely to deliver as much value. So why do I say stick with TNS?

Hamish McRae: Unlike the 1970s, the world is now able to withstand the oil price shock

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Is it the 1970s all over again? In the past few days we have heard that refrain more and more often, including the version from the housebuilders that for them this is worse than the 1970s.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: Credit crunch makes mincemeat out of Marks & Spencer turnaround story

Thursday, 3 July 2008

This is not just a profits warning, this is an M&S; profits warning. Sir Stuart Rose says he has been forced to develop a thick skin in his four years at the helm of Marks & Spencer, and it is becoming thicker all the time.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: Why Captain Darling, Colonel King and Sergeant Sants are just fighting the last war

Wednesday, 2 July 2008

As the stock market yesterday took a further lurch into the abyss, and Nationwide published data which on some measures show a worse housing crisis than that of the early 1990s, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, was busy publishing his latest consultation document on financial stability and depositor protection.

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: BP faces showdown with Russian oligarchs

Wednesday, 2 July 2008

Once bitten, twice shy. BP would claim it was indeed following this salutary advice when it returned to Russia in 2003 to sign a joint venture agreement with the same oligarchs who had fleeced the company of its previous Russian involvement a few years earlier. This time there were to be cast-iron corporate governance arrangements which would safeguard BP's interest. Western standards of rule of law would be applied.