Blue chip European stocks and well-rated bonds have started the new year in pretty fine fettle. And they&rsquo;ve not turned turtle despite gloomy news from S&amp;P, and the Greek debt restructuring drama.

Buoyancy aids

Business Standard

The hunt is on. Many institutional investors fear developed-world governments will relieve their enormous debt burdens by allowing inflation to erode the real value of money. Inflation hedges, though, are not found easily. Agricultural property has attractions. But, ownership brings responsibilities, costs, and risks that need close management.

Plough shares

Euro bonds look like such a pleasant panacea. Overstretched sovereign borrowers in the periphery would love them, of course, but they might appeal to fixed income investors, too &mdash; at least superficially.

Poisoned panacea

Equity analysts are sharpening their red pencils. As Euro zone worries clog the wheels of global commerce, forecasts for corporate earnings are falling. Yet global investors may still be expecting too much from companies, at least in the near term.

Learnings from earnings

Barclays is in an ugly fix. The rate-rigging scandal has laid waste to the bank&rsquo;s senior leadership and trashed its reputation with regulators, politicians and customers. Barclays shares have slumped to barely half the average traded price over the last 12 months. There are plenty of reasons to be wary. But a &lsquo;normalised&rsquo; Barclays could offer investors some striking gains.

Situation abnormal

All eyes are drawn to the blurred, but unmistakably fleshy, image on the right-hand side of Britain's best selling tabloid front page. But the genuinely revealing bit was to the left. There, in headline-sized type, are the words: &quot;Pic of naked Harry you've already seen on the internet&quot;.

Robert Cole