Planet Business

Court dateWall Street hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, former head of Galleon Group, faces up to 19 and a half years in prison when he is sentenced on July 29th following his conviction this week in a Manhattan court for 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy.

The seven-week trial - the biggest insider trading case since the 1980s - was the culmination of a US authorities campaign to root out corruption. John Coffee, a Columbia University law professor, told Bloomberg that the use of wiretap evidence against Rajaratnam makes the risks of sharing illegal stock tips clear to traders: “Quite frankly, professionals learn what is legal and illegal based not on the law but on who goes to prison for what.”

Social smokers:US firm Blu is to launch "smart packs" of electronic cigarettes with sensors that let users know when other e-smokers are nearby, so they can swap odourless vapours.

Ad slump: Advertising is "like a faulty shower, it either blows too hot or too cold", said ITV chairman Archie Norman, as he rued his company's dependency on oscillating revenues.

Cloud music:Google plans to introduce a cloud-based music player called Music Beta that will allow users to spend hours uploading their music collections for online storage.

18,000– number of demonstrators who took to the streets in Greece to protest against government cuts.

The Question

How is the transport sector coping with higher oil prices?

A spate of earnings updates from airlines and tour operators  this week put the spotlight on the margin-hurting, price-pressuring effect of higher crude oil prices. EasyJet said fuel costs accounted for £43 million of its £153 million first-half losses, which had doubled compared to the previous period. According to EasyJet, higher fuel costs will have the effect of driving capacity out of the market. Long-haul specialists Emirates, which reported a 52 per cent rise in annual profits, is shrugging off the impact of the oil price rise for now, though both it and the loss-making Scandinavian airline SAS have declared high fuel prices a challenge.

Meanwhile, Thomas Cook declared its margins were under pressure because fuel prices were higher, yet low consumer confidence meant it would be difficult to pass on the costs to consumers – still, the average cost of a holiday will go up by 2-3 per cent if fuel prices remain close to recent highs, according to chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa.

Motorists are suffering too. Yesterday’s Consumer Price Index from the Central Statistics Office shows that petrol prices are up almost 14 per cent since year-on-year, while diesel prices have increased a massive 18 per cent. Overall transport costs increased 1 per cent in April and are up 3.8 per cent in the year to April – that’s on top of a 4.4 per cent increase in the previous 12-month period. The good news for drivers, airline passengers and public transport users alike is that several forecasters have said they expect oil prices to ease in the second half of the year.

Dictionary corner: 'Thought wheel'

Like dislocated hamsters, staff of the BBC set to be relocated from London to the new £189 million BBC North headquarters in Salford can comfort themselves that once they settle into their gleaming, colourful new home, they can develop their creative musings under the hood of a “thought wheel”, also dubbed a “collaboration pod”, where two people can sit beneath curved lime and magenta structures and crouch over a table barely big enough for a couple of MacBooks. There are no offices though and the BBC claims everyone at MediaCityUK will be hot-desking – an ambition that is sure to last about three days before territorial claims are laid. Next week: the Feedback Mezzanine.