Quote of the Week

"Why should I have this guy running down the country? Who the *&^% is he?
How the hell are they [Starbucks] doing?"

Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary overhead at a New York drinks reception in response to Starbucks chief Howard Schulz claims the UK economy was in a spiral of decline

"The c-word (it's cheap) - promoting the UK’s new affordability"

Visit Britain’s Executive Chairman Christopher Rodrigues called 2009 a defining moment this week, when he announced the April launch of a £16.5 million international campaign to promote the UK as a tourism destination.
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Facts of the week

A glimmer of hope?

• Investor confidence is rising, according to the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index for February 2009.
• The index found global investor confidence increased by 12.7 points to 72.9 from January's level of 60.2. The increase was mainly driven by North American institutional investors, whose confidence climbed 13 points to 64.5.
• There is evidence that institutional investors appear to have "left behind the extreme gloom that characterised their outlook towards the end of 2008," concluded the report.
• However, the investors outside North America are not so confident. The European index declined 3.2 points to 69.8 and a decline in the Asian index was down 2.7 points to 83.8.

http://www.hedgefundsreview.com/public/showPage.html?page=840989

From Madoff to Stanford
- the second biggest fraud investigation of the current crisis:

• Charged on Tuesday with defrauding investors of $9.2 billion
• He donated funds to President Obama’s election campaign and sponsored the annual charity polo day at Sandhurst, hosted by the Prince of Wales.
• Michael Owen, the Newcastle United and England striker, is a global ambassador for the Stanford Financial Group. Tennis, golf and basketball tournaments and teams have benefited from his millions, not to mention cricket in England and the Caribbean. Mr Stanford became known across the world after sponsoring the Twenty20 cricket match in the West Indies last year, with a prize pot of $1 million per winning player.
• Allen’s Group was said to have customers in over 140 countries and $50 billion worth of assets
• The FBI believes the two frauds currently being investigated are just the tip of the iceberg

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5762670.ece

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