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Wimm-Bill-Dann, the first Russian company to launch an IPO on the NYSE, posted flat profits in the first quarter. The dairy and juice producer is already demonstrating its skills in the art of positive spin. It says results are good if one-off seasonal promotional expenses and the higher cost of raw materials over the Russian winter are taken into account. It claims that its 2001 and first-quarter 2002 net profits are in line with company targets, although its net profit margin remained flat over 2001 at 4.8%, below analyst expectations.

Czech Republic

Western corporate governance scandals have prompted a flight to quality in emerging markets that are seen to be cleaning up their acts. But investors need to keep their wits about them: in some cases corporate governance may only have improved from "horrible" to "bad".

For such an original thinker, Joseph Stiglitz's latest book, Globalization and its Discontents, has a desperately unoriginal title. But you mustn't let the fact that amazon.com offers three other works with that title put you off reading this one. For Stiglitz has produced the first genuinely authoritative and compelling argument that globalization, at least as practised by the IMF and the World Trade Organization, is actually a bad thing for precisely those developing countries the multilateral organizations are meant to be trying to help.

Investors looking for silver linings to cloudy markets might care to take note of a new report that backs up the theory that you should "sell in May and go away". Taking a long summer holiday is the best way to avoid the worst downsides of a bear market, says Heydon Traub, managing director of global asset allocation at State Street Global Advisors.

As if London-based bankers didn't have enough distractions to deal with during the World Cup, Merrill Lynch tested its employees' focus on the job to the limits last month. A photograph of supermodel Kate Moss was splashed across the giant screen in Merrill's lobby to welcome management at Burberry as they arrived at the bank for a presentation. Merrill is leading the luxury goods company's forthcoming IPO along with Morgan Stanley.

Managing director, Ernst & Young

MIDDLE EAST

There have not yet been any cross-border mergers between the leading European telecoms operators. But some of these troubled companies may have to get together to survive. They could do worse than look to Scandinavia for inspiration.

LATIN AMERICA

Awards for Excellence 2002

Awards for Excellence 2002