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What is Robert Tchenguiz up to? One minute everyone is muttering about his solvency and he’s been kicked out of the Sunday Times’ Guess Rich List. The next he turns up on the register of Whitbread (through contracts for difference) with a stake of 3 per cent - encouraging everyone to believe there is somehow a break-up bid in the offering. More…

Elsewhere on Friday:

What do you get when you cross good, thematic long-term investors and stock pickers with quarterly or annual redemptions? Perverse decision-making and style drift. Or a portfolio manager with an ulcer. More…

The latest on Friday,

- Tom Hunter tries to block open offer planned by Dobbies Garden Centres. Statement

- Conditions “challenging” for bid target Minerva. Statement.

- Mexican silver producer Fresnillo prices London IPO at 555p a share, More…

Citigroup will on Friday identify as much as $400bn in non-core assets that could be sold as part of plans to reduce costs and restore profit growth. At a scheduled meeting with Wall Street analysts, Vikram Pandit, More…

Bosch, Europe’s largest private industrial group and the world’s biggest car parts supplier, is embarking on an acquisition spree after two years of relative reticence as the financial crisis makes companies much cheaper. More…

Illinois Tool Works launched a counterbid for Enodis on Thursday, disrupting what had appeared to be a done deal with Manitowoc, its US rival. The catering equipment maker recommended an offer of 282p a share from ITW, More…

Best Buy of the US and the UK’s Carphone Warehouse on Thursday promised to shake-up the European consumer electronics landscape with a new joint venture. Carphone also underlined its ambition to become the UK’s largest broadband provider, More…

Gala Coral, the betting, bingo and casino group, has held exploratory talks with representatives of Britain’s leading racecourses over a potential £300m-plus joint-bid for the Tote, the state-owned bookmaker, More…

The long-mooted interest in Minerva has been flushed out. Limitless, the real estate arm of Dubai World behind the Palm Jumeirah and World developments in the Emirate, confessed that it was in the “very preliminary stages of considering its options” More…

It’s not even Friday. From Reuters:

JULIUS BAER UP1.7 PCT ON MARKET TALKS OF INTEREST FROM STANDARD CHARTERED - TRADERS

Yes, a rumour - albeit vague and producing little in the way of price-reaction - on Thursday had London-listed emerging market specialist Standard Chartered looking to acquire a Swiss wealth management firm that traces its history back to the 19th century. More…

Elsewhere on Thursday,

- “No-one in the City feels the need to change his underpants. After all, what chance do public sector workers have of ever recognizing a well-informed decision?”

- “Nearly 80% of affluent Americans believe a recession has already hit the US and optimism about the US is at a record low among the well-to-do.” More…

The latest on Thursday,

- ITW, otherwise known as Illinois Tool Works, unveils recommended £1.03bn cash bid for Enodis, worth 282p a share. Statement. (Finally!, notes Markets Live pundit Neil Hume.)

-  Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy are establishing a joint venture to sell consumer electronics in Europe. More…

Microsoft, under pressure to craft a strategy for competing online that doesn’t involve Yahoo, informally approached social-networking website Facebook to gauge its interest in selling itself to Microsoft, More…

Who is Dubai International Capital’s spinmeister? Because it’s a tough job, in our view. The interview published in Wednesday’s FT with Sameer al-Ansari, DIC head, prompts us to consider how DIC and other sovereign wealth funds are dealing with the continuing waves of bad publicity. More…

Surprise! It appears that the Brazilian bid for ailing Italian airline Alitalia may not be entirely kosher.

We questioned the purported interest from Brazilian company Multi-Long, fronted by one Michael Breslow on Tuesday. More…

Elsewhere on Wednesday,

- Do contracts matter any more?

- You say tomato….Saudi’s “investment company”, “not a sovereign fund”

- “It isn’t unrealistic to think the Saudis oil export revenue could approach $400 billion a year if oil stays above $120.” More…

Comment and analysis from the FT

Martin Wolf: Seven habits finance regulators must acquire
Financial regulation needs to be radically reconsidered, unless, as Paul Volker – the “giant among contemporary central bankers” - points out, More…

QBE has extended the deadline for its A$8.1bn ($7.6bn) takeover proposal for Insurance Australia Group by nearly two weeks as it attempts to force the board of its smaller domestic rival to the negotiating table. More…

Yahoo shareholders angry at the failure last weekend of takeover talks with Microsoft have only until late next week to mount a campaign to force the internet company to reconsider, following a manoeuvre by Yahoo to put the matter behind it. More…

Shares in MTN, a leading mobile phone operator in emerging markets, hit fresh highs Tuesday after India’s Bharti Airtel confirmed it was in talks which could lead to it buying a controlling stake in the Johannesburg-listed company. More…

Aberdeen Asset Management is buying a UK property fund manager despite the current weak state of the sector to fill a gap in its range of investment offers. Martin Gilbert, chief executive, said he was “cautious but not pessimistic” about the property market after values have been falling since the credit squeeze began. More…

Shinhan Bank, South Korea’s second largest lender, said Tuesday it had signed a preliminary agreement to buy Financial Standard Commercial Bank of Russia for an undisclosed sum, to gain a foothold in Russia’s retail banking market. More…

Surely not. It can’t be. No way!

Michael Breslow, the reported chief executive of an alleged Brazilian company called Multi-Long Corp, cannot be the latest incarnation of our famous Gold Fields bid hoaxer, More…

A massive thank you to all who voted - and left such kind comments. FT Alphaville has been honoured at the Webby Awards, taking both the judges’ panel and the People’s Voice awards in the business blog category. More…

Elsewhere on Tuesday,

-  Microhoo! postponed..

- … but don’t expect a a knee-jerk Yahoostock buyback

-  Bloggers dissect the Microsoft-Yahoo nondeal

-  Borrowing from retirement plans is surging. More…

The latest on Tuesday:

- UBS confirms Blackrock sale and reports a first quarter loss of SFr11.5bn, along with job losses of 2,600 this year in its investment bank - statement

- “More recently, conditions in the housing market have deteriorated sharply.” More…

Speculation continues to dog troubled UK housebuilders - not least, Barratt Developments which has on been approached by US buyout group Apollo with an offer to buy a substantial stake, according to The Times. More…

Shares in Countrywide Financial plunged more than 13% Monday after an analyst said Bank of America should walk away from its agreed $4bn deal to acquire the troubled US mortgage lender. Paul Miller of Friedman, More…

Yahoo might have been prepared to accept a lower price from Microsoft rather than see takeover talks between the two companies collapse, Jerry Yang, its co-founder and chief executive, indicated Monday. More…

French hotel company Accor on Monday warned it will act to prevent a takeover after private-equity firms Eurazeo and Colony Capital said they plan to increase their combined stake in the company to 30%, More…