Business Diary: Arm unmoved by Intel's death star

Be afraid. Intel is to invest $9bn in a new factory that will produce chips smaller than ever before.

One technology analyst describes it as "a $9bn death star to kill the rebels," so the plant should, in theory, scare its British upstart rival, Arm Holdings. Thankfully, its shares continue to rise ever higher on the "can't beat 'em, join 'em" theory (that Intel's easiest option in the battle with Arm is simply to buy it.

Rubber ball comes bouncing back

Another sign that the good times are back in the City. Remember how squash was the sport of the Eighties for those testosterone-fuelled financiers? Well, it appears to making a return. Canary Wharf is to play host to an international squash championship in March, with a glass court to be built in thegardens at the financial centre so as many spectators aspossible will be able to watch. Let's hope they remember lunch is for wimps and put the games on after work.

Bankers versus the good guys

The folks at wire service Bloomberg count financiers as their most important customers, so one wouldn't normally expect to find much outrage there about the issue of bankers' bonuses. Still, one can't help feeling that, in a piece published yesterday, Bloomberg wore its heart on a sleeve. It compared the pay of bankers and traders with 10 years' experience to what similarlyqualified folk from a string ofother professions earn. Naturally, no one came close to matching the finance guys, but it was Bloomberg's choices for thecomparisons – servants of society such as brain surgeons, cancer researchers and soldiers – that was most revealing.

Chinese medicine meets its match

Worrying reading for supporters of Chinese medicine: the ancient discipline isgrappling with a more modern phenomenon – inflation. The cost of the herbs used in Chinese medicines has doubled over the past year and shortages of key ingredients are a mounting problem because farmers are switching to more profitable crops. With prices rising, many Chinese people are instead turning to cheaper Western medicines, threatening the trade altogether.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk