Planet Business

Image of the week: Death on the markets

Death has been in charge of the stock markets lately, according to this picture evidence from Frankfurt, Germany, where one trader took to wearing the Grim Reaper’s gown and contact lenses in order to disguise her very real horror at the sight of plummeting equities. She wasn’t just dressing up for the hell of it: Frankfurt’s bourse traders follow a long tradition of wearing carnival costumes on Shrove Tuesday and this week was no exception. Now if only share prices had been flat as a pancake... (Photograph: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach.)

In Numbers: Linked Out

44 The share price of LinkedIn closed down this much on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday, when it warned its 2016 revenue and earnings would fall short of estimates.

$11 billion Sum that was wiped off the value of the company over the course of that one day. Its chief financial officer, Steve Sordello, has admitted to being “pretty surprised” by the extent of the crash.

$1.2 billion LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman lost almost half of his $2.8 billion paper wealth on the day, based on his 11 per cent shareholding in the company he co-founded.

The Lexicon: Showgoggles

"Showgoggles", according to Netflix, is "a thing". First, some context: Love goggles are defined as blindness to criticism or objectivity directed at the unworthy recipient of your love. If the consumption of alcohol is involved, love goggles become "beer goggles". Now Netflix, citing "showgoggles", says 27 per cent of the 18-39-year-old subscribers think "show compatibility" is an important factor when dating, with 13 per cent saying they would ask someone out solely on this basis. Well, it's something to talk about, isn't it? Those who stream together, stay together, Netflix claims. And yet, somehow, there is not one mention in its Valentine's Day press release of the euphemistic phrase "Netflix and chill".

Getting to know: John Kasich

Amid Trump mania, casual observers of the US presidential primaries may not been paying too much attention to the name John Kasich. But the Ohio governor polled second on the Republican side in this week's New Hampshire race, taking 15.7 per cent of the vote and knocking Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush into third and fourth. This is not the first time he has run for president – the former Fox News host also tried his luck in 2000. Since then, he has been hanging out on Wall Street, where used to have "a fantastic time" working as an investment banker at, er, Lehman Brothers. "The light of a city on a hill cannot be hidden," he told voters. "America is that city and you are that light."

The list: Exceeding expectations

There have been plenty of casualties during the latest US earnings reporting season, but let’s take a look, for once, at the household-name companies that delivered the goods.

1 Walt Disney Company The revenue forces awakened for entertainment and media giant Disney thanks to Star Wars. Is it safe to talk about who dies yet?

2 Hasbro The toy corporation also "beat the Street". It holds Disney toy licences and shifted sleigh-loads of merchandise from a galaxy far, far away.

3 Coca-Cola The purveyors of soft drinks are diversifying into juices, teas, energy drinks, basically anything you’re having yourself.

4 Diageo Johnnie Walker whisky and Ciroc vodka were its global performers, while in Ireland, drinkers are soaking up Gordon's gin.

5 McDonald’s It turns out people quite like the idea of an all-day breakfast, especially after a night on the gin.