Business Diary: Goldman would say that wouldn't it?

Here's a share tip for you courtesy of the good folk at Goldman Sachs. Shares in the online groceries company Ocado have fallen so far in recent weeks that they are now a buy, the investment bank says.

Now, we bow to no one in our admiration for Goldman, but we would just offer a tiny health warning. Which bank was embarrassed by its role advising Ocado on its flotation last year, which bombed? And which bank placed a big chunk of shares with clients a few weeks back? In both cases, step forward Goldman Sachs.

HSBC's reports are heavy going

We don't expect as much as the £5.2m bonus HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver earned last year, but might the Diary claim a little bit of performance-related pay for this cost-cutting suggestion, since the bank is struggling to stay on top of its outgoings. If you need to save money (not to mention trees), what about not dispatching quite so many copies of your annual report – at 393 pages, it weighs almost as much as a brick. The Independent alone received five separate copies.

King benefits from doing homework

Hats off to Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, who completely failed to blunder into the elephant trap set for him by George Mudie at yesterday's Treasury Select Committee. How much is unemployment benefit worth, Mr Mudie asked the Governor, obviously spying an opportunity to highlight how out of touch with the ordinary people policymakers such as Mr King are. Sadly for the Labour MP, Mr King knew the answer off the top of his head and was even able to explain the different rates at which the benefit is payable.

How to take rivals to the cleaners

Planning on a bit of industrial espionage? If so, don't bother shelling out thousands on covert ops and corporate spies – just follow your target to his local dry-cleaner. Credant Technologies, a company specialising in data protection, has just finished a survey of 500 dry-cleaners and launderettes based around Britain – it claims an astonishing 17,000 USB sticks were left behind in clothes dropped off with them last year. It's a golden opportunity to clean up at the expense of your rivals.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk