Business Diary: Fischer's bid over before it started

We'd be the last ones to indulge in ageism, but we can't help wondering whether Stanley Fischer, the Bank of Israel Governor barred from standing for election as head of the International Monetary Fund for being too old, was his own worst enemy. Aged 67, he has argued that the age limit of 65 is no longer appropriate, but if you want to show that you're still sprightly and on the ball, filing your job application late is hardly the best way to go about it.

Lagarde boosts her profile online

Of the remaining two candidates for the post, Christine Lagarde remains well ahead of Mexico's Agustin Carstens in the betting. She certainly doesn't seem to miss a trick: the French finance minister's campaign includes some adroit use of social networking facilities. She's tweeted 100 times in the past week alone – though rather arrogantly she isn't bothering to follow anyone on Twitter – and has also posted pictures of her meetings on Facebook.

From one racket to another

Our thanks to Nick Raynor, an adviser at the Share Centre, the stockbroker, for wasting several minutes of his life on an "If tennis players were stocks" exercise ahead of Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal is apparently BG Group, "which can see investors benefit from what seemed to be a relatively lacklustre position", while Roger Federer is Tesco – "a consistent player that doesn't cause a frenzy of excitement". Andy Murray? He's Asos – "one of the top returners in the game".

'Apprentice' stars uncovered

Creditsafe, which sells information on millions of businesses with which you might think of dealing, has spotted an opportunity that might be just the sort of thing to win praise from Lord Sugar. To highlight its services, it has dished the dirt on several of the candidates competing for a business partnership with the Amstrad tycoon on The Apprentice. Tom Pellereau, for example, has a business worth "minus £15,597", Creditsafe says, while the businesses of both Melody Hossaini and Leon Doyle have poor credit ratings. Helen Milligan, Glenn Ward, Zoe Beresford, Jim Eastwood and Natasha Scribbins all have no experience of being a director of a company, it adds.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk