PLANET BUSINESS

Laura Slatteryperuses the week in business

48

- Annual percentage drop in the amount of stamp duty collected by the Government, according to exchequer returns data, as fewer "for sale" signs are erected in the State's front gardens.

60

- Number of jobs that O'Briens sandwich franchise founder Brody Sweeney says will be axed due to "double time" rules on Sunday overtime, which he says date from a time when "many employers used Dickensian tactics with their employees".

Quote of the week:

'We don't know if it's the end of the bear market yet, but it looks as though the bear has taken a nap.' 

Standard Poor's chief investment strategist Sam Stovall tentatively awaits the traditional post-election Wall Street bounce.

GOOD WEEK

 Joanna Murphy

The Apprenticecandidate appeared to have the last laugh after being fired for cheating. Treating a weekly electronic waste collection task with about as much respect it deserved - by getting her husband and his mates to raid a nearby waste site - Murphy gleefully dismissed the comical loudspeaker hustling efforts of her earnest, innocent team-mates on the streets of Naas for bringing in "only about five washing machines".

Gordon Brown 

The British PM is "worth his weight in gold" following his visit to the Gulf, according to his former arch nemesis Peter Mandelson. "Agent for change" Brown helped secure up to £1 billion for UK businesses on his diplomatic tour of the Middle East, with the British government acting as "godfather . . . or should that be midwife" to several large deals, says the British business secretary. With enemies like this, who needs friends?

BAD WEEK

Marks Spencer   

The services of the holy trinity of Twiggy, Take That and Myleene Klass on its advertising campaigns hasn't been enough to help the bellwether British retailer "defy gravity", said executive chairman Stuart Rose, as MS reported a 30 per cent decline in first-half profits. The performance points to a prudent Christmas ahead, as frugal food shoppers sample the delights of a Lidl turkey and Aldi mince pies instead.

Employment

Is Bono clicking his fingers again? Every three minutes, another person loses their job, says Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar. (Technically, every three minutes someone joins the seasonally adjusted live register of jobseekers' benefit claimants, but that doesn't look quite so catchy on the press release.) Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley . . . companies are announcing layoffs via the corporate blog. So not only do you lose your job, but you face the ignominy of Twitter-ites knowing about it first.