ALAN GREENSPAN, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve (pictured), warned yesterday that the "truly phenomenal" performance of the American economy could not last for ever.

CRACK OPEN the champagne, dust down the dinner jacket - boom times are here again. Or at least that's what you might think had you cast a cursory eye over the financial pages lately. Barely a day goes by (including yesterday) without some sort of record being set by shares on Wall Street or in London.

IT WOULD be a "major mistake" to regulate financial derivatives more heavily in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, said yesterday.

News Analysis: The Dow may have hit 10,000 but market-watchers can't agree about where it's going next

THE DOW through 10,000 is such a milestone that it seems worth returning to Wall Street's soaraway bull market, even though this column attempted to pass judgement on it only last week. The bears and the bulk of the "serious" British press, including the "Pink 'un" and the Economist, have got it wrong again.

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SHARE PRICES in London jumped to a new high yesterday, with the FTSE 100 index gaining 152.4 points to end at 6,307.6.

THE US Federal Reserve is shifting towards the view that interest rates may need to be raised, the Fed chairman said yesterday.

THE UNITED STATES must reform its financial sector or be outflanked by technology and foreign competition, Alan Greenspan said yesterday.

PRESIDENT CLINTON was riding high in the country and the polls yesterday, in the wake of his triumphal State of the Union address on Tuesday night. His fortunes in the Senate impeachment trial also seemed to brighten, as the White House special council, Gregory Craig, and Deputy Counsel, Cheryl Mills, took issue point by point with the details of the perjury and obstruction of justice charges against him.

STILL ON trial in the Senate for his job and his legacy, President Bill Clinton was riding higher yesterday than at almost any other time in his six-year presidency after a triumphant State of the Union address on Tuesday night and an impressive defence from his lead lawyer, Charles Ruff, in the Senate that afternoon. As his lawyers prepared for the second day of his Senate defence, opinion polls showed his job approval rate soaring, to 70 per cent and higher.

ALAN GREENSPAN, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, issued a stark warning yesterday that stock markets were too high and might need a correction.

ALAN GREENSPAN was at it again yesterday, albeit in more subdued form than last time. There were no references from the Federal Reserve chairman to "irrational exuberance", but there can be no mistaking the meaning of the following incantation, delivered in characteristically convoluted form: "The level of equity prices would appear to envision substantially greater growth of profits than has been experienced of late".

Inflation, rather than the next crash, could be the heffalump stalking the world economy