Chewing gum versus credit derivatives
If Warren Buffett does team up with Mars to buy Wrigley for more than $22bn, it will be not only a quintessential Buffett deal but a reminder of where value lies in a downturn.
Mr Buffett has a sweet tooth, not only personally (he is known for his devotion to Cherry Coke) but as an investor. Berkshire Hathaway’s 8 per cent stake in Coca-Cola is among his longstanding stakes in big consumer brands. Read more
In praise of the wheel-along suitcase
Having been travelling recently (I have just shifted from London, via New York and Washington, to Los Angeles for the Milken Institute Global Conference) I am sensitive to things that help or hinder the voyager.
In this context, I am struck by the fact that the wheel-along suitcase is one of the great consumer product inventions of recent years. I would go so far as to place it alongside the upside-down tomato sauce bottle as a transformative variation of an existing product. Read more
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John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of 'All That Glitters', an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
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