Business Diary: 10/10/2009

Place your bets in the airline strike stakes

Do you think Paddy Power's market on which airline will suffer a major industrial dispute first is just a bit mean-spirited? It is offering odds of 1/2 that British Airways workers will be the first to stage a walkout, or you can back Aer Lingus at 6/4. Still, it might be one way to raise money for a new flight.

Blanchflower bites

Right-wing pundits are furious at remarks made by the former Bank of England man David Blanchflower, right, about the Tories' economic policies, which he describes as "bizarre". One complains: "He has no humility and his demeanour lacks respect". Odd how they loved the economist when he was sticking it to Labour.

Heist of the century

Neleen Strauss, owner of City restaurant High Timber, is reeling from an audacious theft – a diner pinched 100 trillion dollars. The good news is the dollars in question were of the Zimbabwean kind. Ms Strauss had pinned a $100trn note from Zimbabwe to the wall after accepting it in payment. Still, it was worth £20, and Ms Strauss is miffed.

Tune in for more of this gobbledygook

CNBC, the TV channel dedicated to business, is going highbrow with a "three-part prime-time global series" it promises will "break down the landscape of the future so business leaders can take advantage of this unique moment in history". We can hardly wait.

Misery pays dividends

Buy pawnbrokers. Broker Brewin Dolphin tips the shares of H&T and Albemarle & Bond on the grounds that "the market is capable of doubling in size from the current 500 stores today as other sources of consumer credit are withdrawn". In other words, when we're all skint and the bank is cutting up our credit cards, we will have nowhere else to go.

Number of the day: 100k

The number of new borrowers who each month benefit from lower interest rates according to mortgage lenders.