Party kicks off with a flying tree

The festive season has finally taken a grip of the IFSC. It started with the arrival of the Christmas tree (the tallest in Ireland, we've been informed). There was a surreal moment last week when somebody showed me the photograph of it in The Irish Times as it was being transported by helicopter across the country, and when I looked up a second later it was actually being flown in front of the office window.

A string of lights has appeared around the dock area, which gives the whole place a very nautical feel. They've filled the dock with water again, which means that the reflection of the lights brighten up the place and generally improve the atmosphere.

Every time you walk outside the office you take the risk of being run over by a trailer with yet another Christmas tree delivery. Ours arrived on Monday and the reception area is now heavily scented with pine, while the cleaners are still trying to remove the needles from the carpet in front of the lifts. All we need now is a little snow machine blowing flakes around our toytown streets to make the scene complete.

On Tuesday evening there was the ceremonial switching on of the main Christmas tree lights, followed (for those of us with exclusive invitations) by a reception in Stack A.

Stack A is the listed building which runs along one side of the dock. It was originally some kind of warehouse and you can see why it's a preserved building because it does offer a reminder of the type of business that used to go on here. I was a bit wary of drinks in what looks like a building site, but in my role as intrepid reporter I boldly went where no-one had gone before. I think we should have been given festive yellow hard hats all the same!

There has been quite a bit of controversy (or animated discussion, I guess) about what will happen to Stack A. There has been a number of proposals, including the aquarium idea and a proposal for a science museum. At this point I'm not sure exactly what's on the agenda, but I know that most of the people around here would like to see some type of development taking place.

I know that there is a cultural aspect to developing the building, however, I still think that no matter what is finally decided, it will have to be linked to a retail development. Much as you'd love to think that we're all "culture vultures", only too willing to roam around an aesthetically pleasing building, I have a horrible feeling that shops are needed to draw in the punters on a regular basis.

As one of my colleagues put it the other day - "we're a shining light to capitalism down here and there's a virtual monopoly on retail outlets. There has to be something wrong!"

The shining lights of capitalism had their day last Friday when the US nonfarm payroll numbers came out. For the first time in a long while it was bond markets that were calling the shots - and the bond markets didn't like the fact that the number of people on the payroll was twice their expectations. "The worst numbers since February 1996", said one commentator, and, for the bond markets, they were. But it's horrible to say that these are "bad" numbers. I'm sure the extra 200,000 people working in the US don't think so. It's one of those rather nasty facts of life that bond markets react well to the idea of people being out of work. Not a very pleasant reaction, but one which is justifiable if you're a bond holder. All the same, you can't help feeling guilty when you moan that these numbers could be a disaster. Most of the jobs are probably seasonal Thanksgiving and Christmas contract work anyway.

The long bond took one look at them and decided that it would fall off a cliff. It recovered later on a comment by an (unnamed) Fed official that the Fed wouldn't be raising rates because it felt that the Asian crisis would take the steam out of the US economy by next year. The market liked that idea.

I thought I'd only mention Asia in passing this week, since the region has been attempting a little more by way of recovery and it should be left in peace for a while. Unfortunately, however, the Korean won is still struggling. Remember the authorities abandoned their attempt to hold 900 to the dollar? It has seen over 1450 since then.

Anyway, the Celtic Tiger continues to roar ahead. I went shopping for Christmas presents at the weekend - next year I am definitely going to do my shopping in October. I hate crowded streets and crowded shops and I lose my sense of humour when my legs are assaulted by Marks & Spencer bags with sharp objects sticking out. But if the crowds on the streets and the ringing of the tills are anything to go by, the credit numbers will be way up there and unemployment will be down again in Ireland. But the prospect of EMU has, so far, prevented our bond market from feeling bad about people working.

Finally, we had the first Christmas bash of the year last Friday when we held our annual ball. For the first time ever the taxi I ordered to take us to the hotel arrived (congratulations Clontarf Cabs!). Other years have seen me fuming in the hallway while eventually having to take the car and sip Ballygowan all evening. But not last Friday, as Saturday morning would testify. A good night was had by all, although I had to be careful not to sing the words of the songs that the band was playing. It was a 1970s tribute band, and it would have been too embarrassing to be seen to be word-perfect to Gilbert O'Sullivan or The Four Tops.

We're off to another party tonight. It's tough living life at the cutting edge.

Sheila O'Flanagan is a fixed-income specialist at NCB stockbrokers.