Commodity watch

PLANET BUSINESS:Prices of up to $1,900 an ounce have sparked a new gold rush to the Yukon in Canada, where mining companies have staked 85,000 claims since January, compared to an average of 10,000 in most other years.

You just know that this has to end in tears. In the US, one of the last such rushes for the shiny metal beloved of central bankers and dentists was to the Black Hills in Dakota in the 1870s. That one sparked a war with the Sioux nation that led to the defeat of General Custer (pictured) and the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Office politics

UBS this week joined a host of other investment banks in announcing lay-offs. The Swiss giant is cutting 3,500 jobs to save two billion francs. Staff at its compatriot Credit Suisse recently arrived at work to be greeted by giant photos of workers bearing motivational legends such as “pro-active” and “partner”. Shortly afterwards, the bank tore down the posters and announced that it was axing 2,000 jobs.

"There's been o upturn in comsumer sentiment; the trend has continued from the end of last year. It's still a tough environment" Conor Whelan, managing director of Irish newsagent Eason & Son, on why it wants to cut pay and lay off some of its 1,200 staff

1.8mThe number of overseas visitors that the Central Statistics Office says visited the Republic from April to June, indicating a long-awaited boost for tourism.

STATUS UPDATE

Video games:New research shows that video games cut crime because offenders spend so much time in front of their consoles that they have less time to break the law – unless they're stealing X-Boxes.

Nanosecond trading:Some commentators are blaming high-frequency computer trading for increased volatility on US markets and want regulators to act to stop the whole system imploding (assuming it has not done so already).

THE QUESTION

Are boutique investment banks the new deal makers?

So-called “boutique” investment houses seem to be shouldering their bigger full-service rivals out of the MA advisory business these days. Google hired specialist advisers Qatalyst and Centerview Partners to advise on its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility last week.

Qatalyst also acted for Autonomy, which Hewlett-Packard bought last week for $11.7 billion, while Centerview is one of Kraft’s advisers on the food giant’s spin-off of part of its North American business.

Their pitch is simple: unlike their full-service brethren, they only sell advice and have no flimsy Chinese walls separating the advisers from proprietary trading arms whose job it is to trade stocks to make money for the bank. It all sounds rather old-fashioned, doesn’t it?