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>> As many a revolution has done before, Libya’s uprising descended
>> into civil war this week. Like fleeing refugees, investors sought
>> sanctuary as the “bear flattening” bond yield curve hinted at a
>> return to recession. In the past many would have flocked to the
>> dollar, but due to the Fed’s doveish stance and American
>> politicians’ dysfunctionality, the US currency no longer provides
>> the safe haven it once did.
>>
>> Some investors might have been looking to sterling, but the UK’s
>> currency appears overvalued so they would have been staring in the
>> wrong direction. Long-term trendsters were surely looking east. The
>> wiser ones would have cast their gaze beyond India, which is
>> showing uncomfortable parallels with Japan, to China, which lowered
>> its GDP targets but not its ambition.
>>
>> While most were gripped by Colonel Gaddafi’s megalomania, the
>> corporate world had some big egos of its own on display. American-
>> based legends hogged the spotlight: Apple’s fading chief tightened
>> his company’s grip on the tablet market with the launch of iPad 2,
>> legendary investor Warren Buffett said there were more bets to come
>> in his annual letter to shareholders and Rupert Murdoch sought to
>> expand his influence with a £12bn bid to buy control of the
>> Britain’s BSkyB.
>>
>> More bluster was on display elsewhere. Yahoo’s Asian partners
>> continued to clash heads with their Californian cousins. Alibaba’s
>> chairman, who saw his CEO and COO depart in a separate scandal, has
>> played a central role in the drama. Executives at China’s leading
>> video site, now a ridiculous 13 times more expensive than Google,
>> may have been taking notes on what not to do. But few could have
>> matched the hubris of Dior’s creative director, who learnt that no
>> individual is bigger than the group. If only someone could teach
>> Colonel Gaddafi the same lesson … and soon.
>>
>> John Casey, Lex publisher
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