Seems those pesky corporate profits kept rising despite the panic of the previous week. CEOs reporting 37% increases in pretax profits, only to see their shareprice drop up to 7.6% the same day, like Kingspan's Gene Murtagh on Monday, came in from standing on the window ledges.

WHAT RHYMES WITH BANKERS? Househunters wondered at their luck as the latest interest rate hike from the ECB to 3.75% put a home they would want to live in further and further out of reach, wiping out even relief for first time buyers in the last Irish budget. Just in time for the election, the May ECB rate decision will be announced. . . here in Dublin. That should cheer you up.

IF IT QUACKS LIKE A DUCKWhy is Eamon Rothwell taking Irish Ferries private in an MBO? "It's not just about money, " he told reporters. "It's about quality of life. About meeting people. About being fair."

And about Euro550m worth of property assets in Dublin Port underneath Irish Ferries facilities. We're sure there will be nice severance packages for the staff. Seriously.

CASINO ROYALE Stock markets are used to accusations of being casinos. Normally from left-wing polemicists rather than stock market regulators. But that was the word used to describe London's AIM market, home to many Irish equities, by American SEC commissioner Roel Campos. The London Stock Exchange, which regulates the AIM, was not amused.