Business Diary: 05/09/09

Is Peston being primed for BBC pay cut?

Diary is thoroughly bored with Robert Peston, the BBC's ubiquitous business editor, but couldn't resist this vignette from the great man's blog arguing against attempts to cap bankers' pay: "Should there be a cap on the rewards of footballers or broadcasters (especially those who don't deliver, perhaps)?" What are you trying to tell us here, Bob?

Will Brady be fired at County's boardroom?

Slackbelly, the City gossip website, notes that Birmingham City football club's MD, Karren Brady, will be at Notts County's ground this afternoon (her husband manages the opposition, Burton Albion). That's where she fell out with County's former chairman Derek Pavis, when he suggested that women shouldn't be allowed in footy boardrooms. Apparently, he will also be there. Paddy Power is offering odds of 14/1 that Brady will be refused entry to the boardoom, while Pavis is 8/1 to leave in objection to her presence. Diary likes the final market best: Pavis is 2/5 to quit the board first in a match with Brady (7/4).

Sigma Capital is risking a City snub on Friday

Friday is traditionally the day for profits warnings – they are released out on the assumption they will attract less attention than they would earlier in the week because the attention of most City folk is focused on the weekend. So what on earth was tiddler Sigma Capital doing putting a reverse profit warning (telling the market its results would be better than expected) yesterday? The main reason for the good news was the sale of its subsidiary Frontier IP, which commercialises intellectual property from universities. Well, it got our attention anyway, so well done, chaps.

No animal magic for software tycoon

Poor Tom Siebel. The billionaire founder of the California software company Siebel Systems is recovering from an attack by an elephant while on safari. Siebel, pictured, who sold his company to Oracle, is doing fine after breaking several ribs and having his right leg crushed. Diary wishes him well, but the slogan "never work with children or animals" has never been more true.

Number of the day: 5

Years for the WTO to reach a preliminary view on the Boeing-Airbus state aid spat. Also how long experts think the final view will take.