It could have come from a John le Carré novel. This week, a 35-page dossier emerged, alleging that Russia has damaging information about US President-elect Donald Trump’s business interests and extremely compromising material relating to a prior visit to Moscow.
The alleged author of the dossier is a former MI6 officer who now runs a London-based private consultancy. Russia decried the allegations as "pulp fiction" while Trump said the report was based on "phony facts".
Brexit backtrack
Brexit continued to hog the headlines. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, was forced into a U-turn on his dire predictions for the economic impact of the UK’s ‘out’ vote. Britain will now grow faster than expected, Carney said, and the European Union has more to lose than the UK.
UK investors were in similarly optimistic mood this week. By Thursday’s close, the FTSE All-Share index was up 0.9%, outshining its global peers. The S&P 500 index declined by 0.3%, with the main European and Japanese indices also down over the week.
Eurozone accelerates
Europe may be turning a corner, economically at least. Industrial production in Germany, the Eurozone’s largest economy, rose in November, while unemployment fell to 9.8% – its lowest level since July 2009. Business sentiment surveys support the stronger economic data, and purchasing managers’ indices suggest the fastest pace of growth in almost six years.
The news will comfort the region’s policymakers after a year marked by political shocks, including the Brexit vote, Trump’s election and the resignation of Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi. The data is the latest signal that political upheaval has yet to dent confidence in the recovery.
Supermarket sweep
January is traditionally a nervous time for British retailers as they anxiously await their Christmas trading figures. But this time, the UK’s supermarkets have enjoyed a bumper Christmas. Sainsbury’s reported seasonal sales of over £1 billion, significantly ahead of analysts’ expectations. Morrison’s reported its strongest Christmas sales for seven years while Tesco posted a 0.7% rise in like-for-like UK sales, driven by toys and clothes. Discount retailers Aldi and Lidl also performed well.
It wasn’t just the food retailers that had a merry Christmas. Marks & Spencer delivered a 2.3% increase in like-for-like sales, thanks to “better ranges, better availability and better prices”, according to CEO Steve Rowe. The results will give comfort to Rowe, who presided over job cuts and the closure of several international stores after a protracted slowdown in clothing sales. Debenhams, Primark and JD Sports also had a good Christmas, but John Lewis had a distinctly cooler Yule, announcing cuts to staff bonuses because of the rising cost of imports after the Brexit vote.
And finally…
Has the calendar got you cowering under the covers? Today, after all, is Friday 13th – a day that traditionally spells bad luck.
The origins of the superstition are unknown. But there’s scant evidence that it’s any less lucky than other days – unless, that is, you’re a medieval warrior-monk. Apollo 13’s oxygen tank may have exploded on Friday 13th April 1970, but the astronauts made it back safe and sound. Not so the Knights Templar, who were arrested and sent to the stake on Friday 13th October 1307.
If it’s just the number 13 that bothers you, you’re merely triskaidekaphobic. But if the day and number that combine to give you the willies, you’ve got full-blown paraskevidekatriaphobia, or – somewhat more strikingly – friggastriskaidekaphobia.
Fear of long words, by the way, is sesquipedalophobia. Or, if you’re feeling fancy, hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Whatever you call it, that’s an altogether more understandable concern – especially for Tweeters.
