Business Diary: Fred the Shred's TV apology

Fred the Shred's apology to RBS shareholders was finally broadcast on the BBC last night. But only viewers in Scotland got to see it. The documentary RBS: Inside the Bank that Ran Out of Money included footage of the former bank boss Sir Fred Goodwin filmed at his last meeting with shareholders in November 2008 saying: "I wouldn't want there to be any doubt. I am extremely sorry." If you're keen to see the repentant banker, the show is repeated on Saturday at 7.45pm on BBC 2 Scotland and is available on iPlayer.

Lost in the tunnel of translation

Pointless business buzzword of the day is the magnificent "interoperability", flourished without embarassment by Eurotunnel in an effusive press release. The company said that its new Channel Tunnel radio system "will provide full interoperability with the European railway network". Translation? The company's radio system will "work with" the Euro network. No charge, lads.

Keith Wades into the market

Let's face it, the stock market doesn't always get it right when it predicts future events, particularly when it comes to movements in the economy. But who is brave enough to admit that the market often gets it wrong? So Diary is happy to pass on a comment from Keith Wade, chief economist at Schroders, which he made at an investment conference in London's Mayfair last week. "The market has predicted nine of the last two recessions," Mr Wade quipped.

Tweet charity's a cause to swear by

Diary likes cussing, so the chance to raise cash to help the East African famine at the same time is a great idea. Behind it is advertising agency Albion. It has launched a Swearjar Twitter app which hopes to raise £1m by getting people to pledge £1 each time they swear on Twitter. Sign up at swearjar.cc and it'll tweet you a weekly bill payable as a donation to the Unicef famine appeal.