Planet Business

Laura Slatteryperuses the week in business

The Numbers

1

– the number of pennies separating success and failure in Poole, Dorset, where price-conscious customers deserted a Pound World outlet when they realised the same products were on sale in the 99p Store across the road.

11

– the percentage rise in Channel Tunnel ticket sales last year, as London-bound French and Belgian consumers proved to be as canny cross-border shoppers as the Newry-headed Irish.

$1 million

– the value of jewellery posted by Bernard Madoff to a friend in a single package before Christmas, breaking a court order freezing his assets. Madoff will be allowed to remain on bail despite the violation.

€30 million

– the sum collected by the Revenue Commissioners following its inquiry into large deposits at banks and building societies.

$20.2 trillion

– the value of global trading in gold last year, up 60 per cent. Investors rushed to find a safe haven as equity markets were ravaged by the credit crunch and gold prices shone.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"There is a massacre about to happen in the IFSC that is going to make Dell look like a birthday party."– UCD economist Morgan Kelly predicts heavy job losses in the financial sector at an economic crisis conference in Dublin.

Good week

Carol Bartz

The Silicon Valley veteran – aged 60, apparently, not that you would know it from this photo – is the new chief executive of Yahoo, replacing the internet portal’s co-founder, Jerry Yang. Bartz, who pioneered a system known as “fail fast forward” designed to help companies overcome a fear of corporate failure, once told students that success sometimes depended on a dose of low self-esteem. So she should fit right in with Yahoo then.

Long ring-fingered traders

The most successful traders have long ring fingers in relation to their index fingers, claims new research. Exposure to male hormones in the womb, which is known to affect the relative length of the two digits, may lead to brains that are unusually sensitive to testosterone, which may make them more likely to be extra confident, persistent risk-takers with quick reactions, according to the study of 44 London City boys. Traders with long ring fingers make the most money and survive on the trading floor for longer.

Bad week

Mascara sales

Allergan, the company that turned a muscle paralyser for eyelid spasms into the wrinkle smoother known and loved (by some) as Botox, has now brought us Latisse, a US-approved prescription drug for growing longer, lusher lashes. But before smoky-eyed ladies ditch their mascara wands, it may be worth knowing that when it’s not being touted as a “gateway drug” that will bring the uninitiated to the world of cosmetic medicine, Latisse’s day job is to act as eye drops for glaucoma. Nice.

Timothy Geithner

Barack Obama’s new team suddenly seems human with news that the US president-elect’s choice of treasury secretary has been somewhat lax about paying his taxes, failing to cough up more than $34,000 (€26,000) in federal dues between 2001 and 2004 on income from his job at the IMF. He has since paid the taxes plus interest. Obama’s press secretary said Geithner’s service “should not be tarnished by honest mistakes”.