Current Account: Time for spread better Delta Index to change its direct mail leaflet. The current version - which popped through the letter box the other day - lauded the virtues of its product, which it points out has "No tax. No commission. No stamp duty. No fees."
It gives, as an example, taking a punt on Anglo Irish shares in May at €13.60 per share and netting yourself a tax free profit of €12,000 some time later ("it could be minutes or it could be months") when the shares have risen to €14.80. The figure is based on getting €100 for every one cent rise in the share price.
One suspects it could be something more in the region of years before such profits are reaped. Based on Anglo's closing price of €11.27 last night, you would actually be sitting on a loss of €23,300 had you taken the punt suggested by Delta.
This possibility was not alluded to in the Delta leaflet, perhaps because along with "No Tax" etc, also comes "No Regulation".
Swedish wages not relatively expensive
Given the fact that the cost of living is considered to be relatively high in Sweden one could be forgiven for assuming that wages were relatively high too. Maybe so but not, it seems, when compared to Ireland.
It appears that Lundin Mining, which owns the Galmoy zinc mine in Co Kilkenny as well as two mines in Sweden, is not only struggling with higher extraction costs at its Irish site, but also with a higher wage bill.
It's not surprising when the mining staff in Ireland are paid the same monthly wage as the management at its sister mines in Sweden.
Current Account knows where it would rather be.
Power's eye on odds
Current Account was enjoying a quiet pint on Saturday evening while keeping a weather eye on that day's racing at the Curragh, when one of our spies (they're everywhere) told us they had just spotted the Paddy Power of Paddy Power plc walking into a nearby Ladbrokes outlet to back a horse called - wait for it - Lady Power which was running in the next race.
The horse was running in the colours of Mrs S Power, and in fact belongs to the same Paddy Power's mother. Mum had obviously passed on the word, because the horse won rather nicely in the end.
And yes, Current Account got on, but we made a point of backing the horse in our local Paddy Power shop rather than with Ladbrokes.
However, we discovered later that Ladbrokes were offering 14 to 1 about the beast, while Paddy Power was a bit tighter at 12 to 1. Nonetheless, it gave us great pleasure to take a few euro off the quoted bookmaker, something we never tire of doing in these quarters. Thanks for the tip Paddy!
Students stretched
One must always commend academics who attempt to make their teaching more relevant to students. And, when setting exams, it is always a nice touch if some questions can also reflect current events.
In that context Current Account gives a big thumbs up to Professors Willie Seal and Peter Clarke in UCD's commerce department. They recently set a paper in advanced management accounting which certainly had a topical air. It involved drafting a memo outlining all the "classic mistakes" made in the PPARS project in the Department of Health. The students were asked to suggest how the whole sorry saga could have been avoided in the first place.
Considering the endless series of mistakes and missed warnings involved in the PPARS fiasco, students would surely have been stretched to the limit - the time allowed to finish the paper was only three hours.
