CNNアンカー　リチャード・クエスト氏　限定コラム– category –

It is one of the oldest jokes in the travel industry…how do you make a small fortune? Take a large fortune and buy an airline! For the last two years this has been depressingly true as the world’s airlines have lost cash by the billions. The red ink has flowed everywhere, often drowning airlines that couldn’t stay in business. Globespan and Skyeurope are just two among the dozens of airlines that couldn’t continue. In Asia, JAL, one of the biggest names, filed for bankruptcy protection. It is now undergoing painful deep cuts, which are guaranteed to change the face of Japanese aviation.

I have spent much of the past week swinging on a pendulum over the BP oil spill and the plight of Tony Hayward, the CEO. Hayward is bearing the brunt of criticism for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and I can’t decide if that is fair or not. One moment I swing towards the view that, as CEO, he must carry the can. Then I swing the other way and believe it is unfair to beat up on Hayward. He has only been in the job three years and had no personal responsibility for this disaster.

The allegations made on Friday against Goldman Sachs in the US are amongst the most serious that can be imagined. The SEC is charging the well known bank with engaging in a conflict of interest which cost investors a billion dollars.

So - at last - Greece, the Eurozone and the IMF have reached an agreement and, if it holds up, money will start flowing. But how many times have we heard that delayed promise as we witnessed the sorry sight of European politicians dealing with crisis. It has left many wondering whether the system is too cumbersome and not fit for purpose.

Ever get the feeling that something is about to happen, but you just don’t know what? Or when? Or how serious it will be? The last week has given me that feeling of unease in the financial world but I am not entirely sure why.

When Fernando Alonso won the weekend’s Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, it started the battle for the 2010 Formula One(TM) Championship. It is a battle that will take 12 teams to 19 cities around the world.

Much of last week was spent in the US southern city of Atlanta, at CNN Center, our Global headquarters. After my rather gloomy Profitable Moment last week, I’d hoped moderate temperatures and the southern outlook would be more palatable.

This week’s ‘Profitable Moment’, is being written in New York where I am on assignment. It is interesting to see how those who live in the world’s financial capital are dealing with coming out of a recession. Much of what I report to you now is observational and anecdotal; often the best way to gauge the real economy and what is going on.

“Euro area member states will take determined and coordinated action, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the euro area as a whole". The clear message from the European Union statement left no one in any doubt. When it comes to Greece, and other Eurozone members, we will deal with the problem, thank you.

This weekend saw the G7 finance ministers meeting in the frozen arctic of Canada. G7 you ask? How very old fashioned – didn’t the G7 go the way of the audio cassette and the VHS? Surely the Group of Seven has already been supplanted by the G8 (adding Russia), which has itself been overtaken by the G20 (adding everyone else) economic forum.

March 9 2009. A date etched on my mind. The day the Dow Jones in New York fell to 3,790. A fall of 57 percent since its all time high of more than 14,000. I will always remember the low point of the stock market collapse from the Great Recession of the noughties. In London in the same period the FTSE was down 47 percent, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng in the same week registered a loss of 63 percent from its all-time high of 21,813.

Facing the harsh truth of reality is never pleasant. Ask any child who suddenly realises that they aren't getting away with what they thought was possible. Or an investor who sees that ’sure thing' investment disappear beneath the waves.