Plenty of reports about infighting at the ESB, where the board has rejected a proposal to float the company. This followed a testy letter from unions, who questioned management's ability to bring it to the stock exchange.

But at least the power is still on. In California, rocketing prices and frequent power cuts prompted the declaration of a state of emergency.

The Margin is fairly sure a senior Intel figure who spoke of "mood lighting" in Silicon Valley was not joking.