http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/lombardhttp://www.ft.com/rss/comment/columnist/lombardFT.com - Lombarden© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.support@ft.comThu, 3 Jul 2008 16:52 BSTFri, 04 Jul 2008 21:06:28 BSTNewspapers60http://news.ft.com/cms/d1f3ce1a-6bbe-11da-bb53-0000779e2340.gifhttp://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/lombard(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.ft.com/" r (SS~~000 1))http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/123c16d4-4917-11dd-9a5f-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/123c16d4-4917-11dd-9a5f-000077b07658.htmlOn taste grounds alone, you might think ScS Upholstery deserved to be put out of its misery. (It sells a particularly horrid sofa-and-pouffe combo called The Harmony that seems to have landed from the 1970s)Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:52 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/918c18d8-486a-11dd-a851-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/918c18d8-486a-11dd-a851-000077b07658.htmlSurprise used to be one of activist investors' main weapons. Now it's the regulator that is using shock tactics to prosecute its campaign for greater disclosureWed, 2 Jul 2008 20:27 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a30af20-4850-11dd-a851-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a30af20-4850-11dd-a851-000077b07658.htmlThe regulator plans to require investors to disclose long positions of more than 3% built up using contracts for difference, a type of derivativeWed, 2 Jul 2008 17:19 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/378915dc-4781-11dd-93ca-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/378915dc-4781-11dd-93ca-000077b07658.htmlEnodis squeezed a 328p a share bid out of Manitowoc of the US, more than two years after the catering equipment group was first put in play.Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:46 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0ec0b3c-46d9-11dd-876a-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0ec0b3c-46d9-11dd-876a-0000779fd2ac.htmlSouthern Cross is a wake-up call on the perils of operational leverage. It will not be the last company that gets floored by the impact of falling revenues on a fixed cost base as the economy turnsMon, 30 Jun 2008 20:38 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e09d6ccc-447f-11dd-b151-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e09d6ccc-447f-11dd-b151-0000779fd2ac.htmlBy slamming the door on Resolution, Bradford & Bingley's chairman Rod Kent has unnecessarily vexed owners of the companyFri, 27 Jun 2008 20:49 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8d19b1ca-4397-11dd-842e-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8d19b1ca-4397-11dd-842e-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe London Stock Exchange's new pan-European trading joint venture with Lehman Brothers is a welcome response to the competitive threatThu, 26 Jun 2008 23:57 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9d7ce6ca-42ef-11dd-81d0-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9d7ce6ca-42ef-11dd-81d0-0000779fd2ac.htmlAfter the scarring experiences of Bradford & Bingley's capital-raising and the HBOS cash call, comes the relative balm of Barclays' long-awaited share issueWed, 25 Jun 2008 22:40 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f1fd3352-420a-11dd-a5e8-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f1fd3352-420a-11dd-a5e8-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe LSE might have thought itself the natural commercial partner for the Qatar Investment Authority, but NYSE Euronext's acquisition of a quarter of the Doha Securities Market has sent a chill through LondonTue, 24 Jun 2008 23:19 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61a2db74-4186-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61a2db74-4186-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.htmlImagine Nasdaq had bought the London Stock Exchange in 2006. US senators start to fret about "speculators" using the LSE to manipulate share prices to the detriment of...Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:00 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/640034f0-415b-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/640034f0-415b-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe Resolution chief's Monday statement was framed as an invitation from B&B investors to Resolution to help them improve on the capital-raising now on the tableMon, 23 Jun 2008 20:46 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/193aa90a-4138-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/193aa90a-4138-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe US parent of ICE Futures Europe, the London energy exchange, has agreed position limits for speculative traders of crude oil futures contracts Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:30 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af975f94-3f01-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af975f94-3f01-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.htmlLike it or not, the HBOS rights issue has become, for many, the critical test of the market's appetite for capital raising on the traditional City model. The bank's share price again briefly dipped below the rights issue price, dividing observers into two main camps – Machiavellians and straight-shootersFri, 20 Jun 2008 20:53 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4072860c-3e43-11dd-b16d-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4072860c-3e43-11dd-b16d-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe fact that the furniture retailer came close to collapse is a useful reminder that even companies without huge debts or inept management can come close to failure in an economic downturnThu, 19 Jun 2008 22:09 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b4c26bc-3d6c-11dd-bbb5-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b4c26bc-3d6c-11dd-bbb5-0000779fd2ac.htmlSupermarkets' trading statements should break down like-for-like sales data into inflationary and volume growth otherwise they say little about profit marginsWed, 18 Jun 2008 21:01 BST