Michael Spencer, the chief executive of broking giant Icap, yesterday declared that "the last four years have been the worst time in financial markets and we are certainly not out of it yet".

Shoppers snapping up luxury looks while sitting on the sofa each evening have helped online fashion site Net-a-Porter match the sales growth of its stablemates like Cartier and Montblanc at designer brands giant Richemont.

Hedge funders were not the only market whiz-kids betting against JPMorgan's disastrous London Whale trading positions. Another part of his own bank was too.

Facebook has increased the size of its initial public offering by almost 25 per cent, and could raise as much as $16bn (£10bn) as strong investor demand for a share of the social network trumps debate about its long-term potential to make money.

Recession, higher inflation – but falling unemployment, very low pay rises and 100,000 more jobs. It does not quite hang together, does it? Yesterday saw two big chunks of new information about the British economy, the monthly labour statistics and the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report. So as a welcome relief from the anguish across the Channel, let's try to see what can sensibly be said about what seems to have been happening here.

The "pied piper" broking chief who lured 10 of his colleagues away from the broker Tullett Prebon to a rival, BGC partners, has been banned from working in the City ever again.

A entrepreneur who was forced to sack her mother and husband from her website-making business to save money has sold it to the Yellow Pages publisher Yell for up to £23m.

Land Securities' new chief executive yesterday stood up for the developer's under-fire chairman Alison Carnwath, who has been savaged by investors in this year's "shareholder spring".

Outlook A blow to Blackberry maker Research In Motion, as if it didn't have trouble enough. Tony Verrier was yesterday banned from the City because the Financial Services Authority thinks he is "not a fit and proper person due to concerns over his honesty, integrity and reputation".