Under the counter

Material lossI for one read the news that Deutsche Börse has apparently given up on its bid to hook up with Euronext with great disappointment, if only because any kind of Franco-German alliance cannot fail to provide reams of material for a supposedly humorous columnist such as myself, although I suppose on balance there is just as much mileage in a French hook-up (I have been banned by the top brass at FOW from calling it a collaboration) with an American firm. In fact, now I come to think about it, there are cheap laughs available at the concept of a French firm doing a deal with pretty much anyone. Of course, as a dedicated Francophile (I love wine and am not averse to a cheese plate either) I sneer at these Daily Mail attitudes to our neighbours across the channel. Nonetheless, it has to be said that one of...