Banks get tough on. . . the mugs who bailed them out
Anyone notice how nice the financial institutions have been to residential mortgage holders since NAMA was first floated and how nasty they have become again?
While the Government was waving its (our) wad just out of reach, there is no doubt that the banks were incredibly understanding to punters who were meeting problems with loans, given the economic background.
Interest-only? Yes of course. Payment break? Why certainly. Backloading arrears? Shouldn't be a problem.
I'm afraid the banks are too cute to publish anything that reflects on them badly so "deniability" is easy but anecdotal evidence suggests that the banks are taking a much harder line since NAMA has been signed into law.
Institutions like Irish Nationwide have dumped their commercial book so now it's all about tarting up the residential book to provide some sort of equivalence with EBS as the two move inexorably together.
I know Brian Lenihan has a lot on his plate right now but he cannot permit Irish financial institutions to get high-handed with the mugs that have bailed them out of the consequences of their own greed.
Christie Hefner smart enough to resign as clapped-out cuddly 'Playboy' turns 50
'PLAYBOY' is the closest thing we have had to a "cuddly" pornography brand.
Now, as the magazine's mothership, Playboy Enterprises, lays off staff and struggles to hold a market valuation of less than $400m (€265m), it's becoming quite obvious that what we have here is an anachronism.
Playboy's masterstroke was to put Hugh Hefner's daughter Christie (right) in charge in 1988.
Throughout the 1990s the Playboy brand was feminised and it appealed to young women who were happy to bedeck their Clios, Polos and Toyota Starlets with bunny emblazoned seat covers.
For a while the bunny symbol kept the show on the road and took its place amongst other wholesome American icons like the Big Mac and Bud.
Now, however, the image is tired and corny and what online porno punter needs a John Updike short story to convince themselves they are using all of their organs?
Christie Hefner's resignation early this year was the proof that she was smart enough to quit while she was ahead and this week the magazine announced it was outsourcing all Playboy Enterprises activities apart from "editorial" for the heavily loss making eponymous magazine.
'Playboy' survived because of its logo but is now, 50 years on, nothing but a clapped out bunny.
Wilson Moore looks on the bright side
Estate agent Wilson Moore has certainly made a name for itself as the positive thinker of a traumatised industry since it was established a couple of years back.
Its principals, Christina Wilson and Richard Moore, both come from the Remax school of hard selling and, listening to Wilson, it's not hard to see how she was Remax's number one agent in Dublin and number three in Ireland.
That though, was when people liked property, but Wilson loves property and her evangelism has been one of the few bright sparks in the gloom. WM don't believe in subtle branding and any of their signs is likely to scream "Similar Required" or even the apparently hallucinatory message "We Urgently Require Properties in All Areas".
Final Word used to think Ken McDonald of Hooke McDonald talked a good game but you really have to go to wilsonmoore.ie and run the firm's latest corporate video, which is also being looped on David Harvey's City Channel.
If you still have a job and a desk go grab your "any roll plus bottle of water for €3" deal and give yourself a bit of light relief from the fog of death.
ICG is still keeping purchasers sweet
We said six weeks ago that at €12, ICG stock was "in a very sweet spot" and so it has proved.
A double digit gain has materialised since then, thanks to the overhang of Liam Carroll's stake being placed throughout institutional Dublin.
Those tempted to take profits now might bear in mind that recent purchasers are likely to have received significant comfort on the company's healthy dividend policy before buying in to the company. A little extrapolation suggests that very few holders are likely to sell ICG before the next dividend payout and for that reason it looks reasonable to hang on for a price of €14.50-€15.
It's back to the future on new sports website
Jim Sherwin will be a name familiar to sports fans who remember wet Saturday afternoons sprawled in front of RTE's 'Sports Stadium' in the 1970s and '80s.
The clubbable, polo-neck wearing Sherwin was a bit of a broadcast Jack of All Trades, anchoring, reporting and commentating on just about anything back in those pre-satellite sport days.
When the IRFU announced the team for Saturday's game against world champions South Africa, the press conference was only available "live" in one place and that was on John Sherwin's website named videosonthenet.com.
Sherwin Jnr initially followed his father into sports broadcasting before setting up the company which provides companies with the type of "rich" video content that is appealing to the YouTube generation of sports fans.
Irish Independent
