DAVOS: This year’s Davos forum comes at a crossroads for the global economy. As I stood on this spot last year, markets and governments were dealing with the direct fallout of the crisis. Now, we must choose the right route to move forward – or so they keep telling us. To discuss further, I asked …

It is relatively easy to snigger at the plight facing Dubai. Words like hubris and phrases like “pride comes before a fall come to mind. After all, it is pretty humiliating for anyone to admit they can’t pay their bills, let alone a city which has built its reputation upon bring a braggart. There is …

This week saw the latest A380 go into service, the 20th in production. Air France became the first European airline commercially to fly the plane. It is using the mammoth aircraft on the Paris to New York route. AF joins Singapore, Emirates and Qantas in the exclusive club of airlines who have actually received their …

The decision to hold a G-20 finance ministers meeting on the Scottish coast in the middle of winter was an “interesting idea. When we arrived at St. Andrews there was all the November weather we could want; rain and wind a plenty. The prospect of spending the next couple of days stuck in a tent …

It’s a rum world when your definition of “getting better is “not getting any worse. That though is the cheering view of many CEOs from the world’s top airlines. “Some momentum off the bottom, sings Glenn Tilton from United Airlines. “A flattening out . whistles Jeff Smisek of Continental. I heard all of this at …

I have always wanted to see the fall foliage in New England; a chance to witness first hand the autumn leaves at their most majestic. The deep blood red color of the Maple leaf framed with golden browns and yellow of the Oaks and American Beech. It is sobering to remember such beauty actually signals …

Diwali, the festival of lights, is a wonderful colorful time of the year in India. Little clay pots full of oil and wick, called diyas are prepared and lit at homes across the country. Parties are being held where generous gifts will be exchanged. Diwali is joyous time; the season of return and renewal; the …

I am on the final leg of my NYLONKONG odyssey. Having been through Hong Kong and New York, I am back in London. Since London is home I need not look too far for the evidence of what is happening in the economy. But for this last NYLONKONG dispatch I can do better than just …

There is something extraordinary about flying from Asia to the US and crossing the international dateline. I left Hong Kong on Saturday morning, flew for 18 hours and arrived on the same day not far off when I left. I was curious: had the same magic of economic recovery that I experienced in Hong Kong …

Having spent the depths of the recession in moribund Europe it is a real surprise to find that it is not doom and dismay everywhere. I have just been in Hong Kong, part of my NYLONKONG three-city trip examining how these major financial capitals are faring, one year after the failure of Lehman brothers and …

You can spot them at cocktail parties. You can spot them on the golf course. You can spot them at restaurants around the globe. Standing, holding court to all who will listen. They pontificate about their sagacious reading of the stock market. They are the Smug Stock Bores! People who actually bought shares that had …

I have decided to forsake markets, economics and the great recession this week. It’s August, and the northern hemisphere is starting its month-long holiday, so I am turning my attention to matters of vacations. This week I noticed German airline Lufthansa has started selling holiday airfares that guarantee sunshine. Buying one of their special sunshine …

No one likes a recession, but not all companies are equally hit by its force and ferocity. When we get the quarterly earnings numbers it is easy to spot the industries really suffering and those holding their own. Automobile manufacturers and airlines for instance, instantly come to mind as those being hit hardest. Even the …

Have you ever watched a lady walking down the street on very high-heeled shoes that are clearly beyond her abilities? The tottering; the ungainly sway; the break of a spike; the twist of an ankle, and possibly a crashing fall to the floor. The stock market in recent weeks has been behaving in just such …

When asked why he robbed banks, the criminal Willie Sutton famously replied: “Because that’s where the money is. Willie wasn’t wrong. It’s less than a year after the threat of a general banking collapse and the latest numbers show the top banks making money hand over fist. Goldman Sachs has taken the market by storm …

As regularly as the seasons, four times a year the stock market regulators – who are concerned that investors should know exactly what is going on within the companies they invest in – demand global corporations show us what they ve got . No company with shareholders is immune so the range and breadth of …

Last week I was in Los Angeles as part of the CNN team covering of the death of Michael Jackson. It has been a startling insight into the world of celebrity in life and death; a world where fact is often stranger than fiction. There have been moments when I really thought you couldn t …

Dear valued colleague, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you are not being fired (yet!). The bad news is you are being invited to work for a month for free. It is voluntary but I need to tell you, the company is in bad shape and well, it’s all …

When Bill Gates speaks, I listen. Is it because I am really impressed that he has made that much money? Or that he started a company which is so important? Or perhaps it is because anyone who gives away tens of billions of dollars of their own money deserves to be heard? All I know …

Gossip, rumor and news. They are the fuel upon which the financial world thrives. And the murkier the details the more you can expect a market to give a knee-jerk reaction which may seem quite out of context within a few hours. So when North Korea detonated a nuclear test deep underground we were off …

There used to be an old saying, “Sell in May and go away. It was reflective of a much more gentle time in the markets when long lunches were the norm and a man’s word was “his bond. You could afford to take the long view. Today’s financial world is a lifetime away from those …

I have a confession to make. I don’t particularly follow football. I haven’t anything against the game. Like others, I take a pleasant interest from the side and I can certainly make light conversation about major games when needed but I can’t get all riled up about it. Perhaps I should be whispering this, because …

It should be simple to work out whether a company is doing well. Ask yourself, “Did it make a profit or loss? Was that profit or loss bigger or smaller than expected? If life were only that simple as we have discovered when we set out to create “The Q25! Since we are in the …

The customer can have any color he wants, so long as it’s black, Henry Ford said about his Model T in 1908. It was the car that gave birth to the mass produced automobile and is credited with putting America on the motorized road. Today car manufacturers around the world would more likely say, “The …

Yee Haa! The sight of the Wells Fargo Stage Coach was a welcome one across the American plains in the Wild West days of the 1800s. It took 20 days to get from St. Louis to San Francisco hopefully without encountering bandits or robbers! Wells Fargo stopped running the coaches when the iron road – …

There is a desperate wish, a deep seated willingness, to believe now all will be well. With G20 meetings over, President Obama heading back to the US this week, surely we can expect good economic times to start-a-rolling. I am afraid that is very far from the truth. The whole process is like building a …

I can’t remember a time when so many people were so familiar with something so obscure as the Group of 20. Leaders from these 20 countries will meet in London this week. Just about anyone who takes any interest in news knows this important group will be trying to breathe new life into the world …