Bad news comes in threes. This week brings a Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, the first targeted long-term loans from the European Central Bank on Thursday and the Scottish referendum result first thing on Friday. But as investors brace themselves for pain, they are also hoping for the best from what may be the biggest flotation ever, that of Chinese online retailer Alibaba.
Alibaba has what shareholders crave: a highly profitable, fast-growing business. It has no controls on management excess, but for most investors corporate governance is dull and look – there’s Jack Ma! What could possibly go wrong with non-voting, only partial ownership shares in a company controlled by a single Chinese billionaire?
Alibaba has been priced to go and demand looks strong. Following it to market will be Germany’s Rocket Internet. It is appropriately named. The Nasdaq Internet index is now up almost a fifth from its low in May, and only 5 per cent off its March peak. The other big growth story, biotech, hit new highs this month, in spite of a warning from the Fed’s Janet Yellen that the sector looks frothy.