Poor old Compaq. The personal computer company has acknowledged that sales of its new handheld PCs have suffered from supply shortages. In fact, demand was 25 times what had been expected.

Chief executive, Michael Capellas, said there had been delivery problems with the iPAQ, as it's called, because of a shortage of high-resolution screens. Mr Capellas broke the news at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week - where coincidentally, every delegate got a free iPAQ. Around 2,200 delegates attended the forum.

Meanwhile, well-known speculator George Soros was doing his bit. He said the US was probably already in recession. "Well, he would, wouldn't he?" remarked one observer. "As a currency speculator its his job to talk things up and down!"