Thursday is going to be a historic day. It will be the day on which the Bank of England takes interest rates to unprecedented levels - even a half-point cut will be new territory. (If it doesn't cut rates, it will still be a historic day as it will be the day that the Bank lost its marbles.) Three-month sterling Libor today is at around 2.6% so a cut to 1% Bank Rate would be interesting as far as the interbank premium is concerned.

Last month we discussed some of the history of 2% interest rates in the UK, since when we've seen the US Fed announce that it is targeting rates at between 0% and 0.25%.

Retailers, of course, are falling like skittles while those still standing are almost without exception looking a little wobbly, though Next and Debenhams had a better Christmas than expected. This may say more about expectations than about their performance, but New Look is an exception this morning, reporting strong growth. What's their secret???