Dave trades Branson favour for Boris goolies-kick. ‘Sir’ Richard Branson having been granted a personal Cameron intervention in the West Coast fiasco/incompetence/backhander scenario, it obviously then behoved him to pay Cameldung back in kind. So today we read that Branson’s outgoing CEO has rubbished BoJo’s idea for a Thames Estuary airport.

I understand that London’s Mayor has been spewing forth expletives re this one: the gloves are off, it seems. One simply cannot imagine where it might end.
Franco-German divergence.  French bankers aren’t keen on selling any more of their foreign subsidiaries for one euro. But on the other hand, Frankfurt bankers are happy to see their Parisian counterparts squirm in the mire. So it is that word reaches me of a deepening permafrost between Francois Holland and Angela Merkel. Their dispute seems to revolve around the question of cutting the Greeks a little slack.

I am at a loss to understand why this might be. But one reliable source in the French capital points out that total German exposure to Spain is somewhat larger than that of France to Greece. However, I feel certain that this will all be sorted out because, when all’s said and done, we are all europeans now…n’est-ce pas/nicht wahr?

Creeping fear in the Obama White House.  The longterm Dow average for companies reporting to expectations is 62% (not great), and the picture looks even less appealing when you look at the big boys: a mere 38% of S&P 500 companies beat expectations on revenue in the past week. But over in Washington, the Black Dude’s natural calm is being more than slightly disturbed by the knowledge that 155 S&P 500 companies are due to release results over the next week….and few if any of them are likely to suggest an America in full-blown recovery.

Some gleeful GOP emails have been dropping into the Slog’s mailbox, suggesting that Mitt is ready and willing to take advantage of such a large sample of company results to give the President a comprehensive kicking. Despite the perceived victory for Obama in the second televised debate, the latest poll today (Sunday) has the two candidates neck and neck.

One is beginning to get that ol’ Carter feeling about this election.

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