Cut eurozone rates - or risk being roadkill

The European Central Bank reckons it has room to cut interest rates, from even the present low levels if necessary. So what is it waiting for? It should act without delay, and that means today.

Look at the evidence. The eurozone economy is hurting. Even the ECB admits consumer demand is not growing as it should at this stage of the economic cycle. Berlin may be sticking to its German growth forecast of 1.5%-2% this year, but even that figure, while hardly heroic, is already being questioned. The best the European commission can forecast, with fingers firmly crossed, is a "moderate" recovery.

Why wait, then? It might rattle the markets, but it is time they were reminded central banks can be aggressive.

There are risks. The euro, one cause of concern, seems to have peaked against the dollar - at least for now. Remember, however, that the exchange rate is not a function of euro strength, it is dollar weakness, and can turn around in a trice.

Then there is the oil price. At present levels it is ambivalent for the ECB, on one hand pointing to higher inflation, on the other, to slower growth.

Last but not least, there is the question of presentation.

If the ECB moved now, would it look as if it was forced into it and thus had had its precious independence compromised? Or would it appear to be panicking?

OK, so which rabbit do you want to be? The one that nips neatly off to the side of the road when it spots oncoming traffic, or the one that gets caught in the headlights and flattened?

Nowhere else to go


Detailing his company's extraordinary reversal on mutuality, Standard Life chief executive Sandy Crombie had the look of a weary man.

But battered by bad strategy, the stock market and regulators, Standard Life has nowhere else to go. Some blame the FSA for overly tough solvency rules which have pushed it to the edge. The regulator's January intervention, however, happened not a moment too soon and has saved the company from itself.

One telling comment from the company yesterday was about the need to make the with-profits business profitable. So what on earth was happening before? All those "record new business" figures were masking the fact that Standard Life was sliding into losses.

To build profitability, Standard will have to raise charges, slash products and axe jobs. It may lose the confidence of the independent financial advisers on which it so heavily relies. But with the prospect of windfalls, at least the existing policyholders are unlikely to cash out.

Hollowed out


Bijan Khezri, the chief executive of Baltimore Technologies, is taking advantage of private shareholders - and openly admits it. He heads the shell, with no operating businesses but £25m in the bank, that was once the £5bn FTSE 100 internet security firm. Now he intends to change its name and convert it into a renewable energy outfit.

If Baltimore still had any big City shareholders, Khezri concedes, he would never have been able to propose this radical transformation. But retail investors, it seems, can be ignored.

The renewables team he has put together may be capable of creating a green energy powerhouse, but that is not what Baltimore investors bought into. If Khezri believes so strongly in his green team, why not seek financial backing in the normal way?

The AIM-listed Acquisitor "investment firm" which is targeting Baltimore is little better. It insists it has the best interests of shareholders at heart - its own shareholders, that is. It also wants to take Baltimore into new territory, but if anything, its strategy is far more embryonic than Baltimore's own plan.

It seems the shareholders will not be allowed a vote on liquidation, in which case they should vote down Acquisitor's extraordinary meeting resolutions and refuse to vote Khezri's new team on to the board. Baltimore's cash belongs to Baltimore's long-suffering shareholders.

On the block


Music fans barely noticed when Alain Levy, EMI's axeman in chief, dismissed a quarter of its artists two years ago; so now another 20% are for the chop.

The business case for slimming re mains strong. EMI is still carrying fat it collected in the 80s and early 90s, the era before internet downloads, file sharing and music piracy.

Levy's hope is that a leaner EMI can keep the show on the road while the record business adapts to the digital era. This looks like mission impossible: the global music market fell another 7% last year, continuing a depressing sequence that began in the mid-90s.

But EMI can boast that Armageddon does not threaten just yet. That cost cutting sent up profits 18% last year, and yesterday's statement spoke of this year's sales being "close" to last year's. In other words, it is winning market share.

A year ago, the shares had collapsed to 100p. They are now 277p and heading back into the FTSE 100. It has been an impressive management job, but plundering market share from even fatter behemoths such as Sony and Universal is almost the easy bit. At some point, Levy must confront the net pirates directly.