Back to Northern Rock for a moment. Somehow, it comes as no surprise to see bear raider Evil Knievil start getting in on the act.
Evil - who says he has been short of Northern Rock for weeks and reckons he will make £1m on the deal by Christmas - today uses his diary on a stocktipping website to talk the bank's shares down. He reckons they are worth as little as 5p, and says it is the "greatest shorting opportunity I have seen in my four decade-long City career".
Leaving aside the fact that he is talking his own book, that there are now few shares available for shorting, and that the stock exchange recently warned brokers to make sure any trades can be fulfilled, it comes perilously close to stating the obvious.
One wonders, however, what shareholders such as RAB Capital and SRM Global, who have been building up stakes in Northern Rock, think about his comments, not to mention the struggling bank's depositors, mortgage borrowers and employees.
For the record, Northern Rock is now down 21.5% to 104p after Chancellor Alistair Darling said all options were open to resolve the situation.
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