Tin hats were very much in demand yesterday. With red covering trading screens across the Square Mile, one of the worst-hit on the mid-tier index was Logica after the resignation of one of the IT outsourcer's top brass revived fears over its troublesome Benelux operations.

Today

A senior executive at Goldman Sachs has attacked a “toxic” and “destructive” environment at the leading investment bank in as resignation letter published in the New York Times.

Four months after one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals, police and prosecutors today arrested seven men, including the former president of Olympus Corporation and ex-bankers, over their role in a $1.7 billion accounting fraud at the medical equipment and camera maker.

No Pain, No Gain

London breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the European Commission confirmed the view of EU regulators that the controversial merger of Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, should be blocked.

London breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the European Commission confirmed the view of EU regulators that the controversial merger of Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, should be blocked.

The short-sellers won't be happy, but there is no stopping Ocado at the moment. One of the most divisive stocks in the Square Mile, the online grocer continued its fantastic start to the year yesterday as yet more short covering helped it up to its highest share price for four months.

Ocado's shares sank to an all-time low after the online grocer issued a profits warning yesterday, as it continues to struggle with "capacity constraints" at its warehouse in Hertfordshire.

Instead of being scared off by its rivals across the Atlantic ganging up, a multibillion-dollar merger between two of its peers gave Ashtead a boost yesterday. The equipment hire firm climbed 10.2p to 209.6p on the mid-tier index after United Rentals agreed to pay $2bn for RSC Holdings, sparking hopes it could become a takeover target itself.

It is fair to say that 2011 has been a year to forget for Carpetright. One of the retailers worst hit by the pressures on the high street, a string of profits warnings has seen the share price of Britain's biggest floor coverings retailer almost halve since January. Judging by comments in the City, it doesn't exactly look as if things are going to get much better when Carpetright announces its interim results tomorrow. Analysts at Singer Capital Markets expect it to "report its worst first-half figures as a listed company", forecasting a pre-tax profit for the period of £1.2m – almost a tenth of what it managed the previous year. The UK will be the culprit, they say, with a 3 per cent drop in like-for-like sales alongside a steep fall in margins after efforts to revive the business.

Luxury handbag maker Mulberry shrugged off the economic gloom today as it trebled its half-year profits on the back of strong sales at home and abroad.

While Thomas Cook has been engaged in a struggle for its future, fellow operator TUI Travel has been faring rather better. Its bitter rival may have lost roughly 60 per cent of its share price sinceadmitting last month it needed more cash to survive, but over the same period TUI has managed to advance 10 per cent.

Hours after revealing that they had found two bullets in the grounds of the White House, law enforcement agents in Washington last said that a man whom they believe may have fired them during an incident close to the mansion on Friday had been taken into custody in a small town in western Pennsylvania.