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Richard Wood's agreeable daily commute consists of a stroll across Prague's St Charles Bridge while he looks at the castle and swans and thinks about what he has to do that day. "It beats the tube," he says.

Members of the European Parliament, forced to run between Brussels, Strasbourg and their constituencies, are the unheeded conscience of Europe. With monetary union, their role may gain stature - they wish. David Shirreff reports.

How important to SBC Warburg is the bank's chief operating officer, the young and mysterious David Solo? Some insiders at the bank say it is the shy Solo who, at 32, is masterminding SBC Warburg's strategy to become the world's best investment bank.

A potential powerhouse player entered Moscow's brokerage market with the creation last month of Brunswick Warburg, a 50:50 joint venture between SBC Warburg and Brunswick Investment, one of the country's leading independent brokers. The venture could be the first of many, with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch all expected soon to develop Russian operations. Indeed, the changing nature of the Russian market has led some to speculate that no small, independent Russian broker will survive until the end of the decade unless it forms an alliance with a deep-pocketed foreign partner. Moscow has been described as one of the most over-brokered cities in the world, with more than 200 licensed firms chasing a reported daily equity turnover of less than $100 million.

It's tempting for investment banks to promote themselves as "one-stop shops", offering every kind of financial expertise, including lending. It may be good for their client relationships, but it probably doesn't earn them any money. By Laura Covill.

"I hate fancy-dress parties," says Henry Strutt, the 43-year-old chairman and chief executive of Jardine Fleming. "But I'm made to go by my wife. When I get there I usually have a good time." He was most recently seen partying in a 1960s hippy outfit, complete with false beard and strapped-on padded stomach. Fellow partygoers thought he looked like Benny Hill, a British slapstick comedian.

The competition in Asia from US investment banks has led to new approaches and ideas in equity research. But the old problems remain. Corporate sensitivity makes most analysts reluctant to stick their necks out. And the increased competition has led to star analysts moving to whichever firm will pay them most. Robert Minto reports.

Vestel's success is a personal victory for Ahmet Zorlu, a 52-year-old primary school graduate who made a fortune in textiles. Zorlu reportedly acquired 82% of Vestel's shares for less than $10 million in 1994 from Polly Peck's administrators.

South China Sea Bubble?

Issuer: Republic of Cyprus

Issuer: Korea Development Bank

We investors are nightwalkers in a dream world, where success is not predicting what economies will do next, but what the markets will dream they will do. So in trying to predict where markets will be by the end of 1998, a realistic starting-point would be to say: we don't know. But, at least, we can outline the critical variables that will make you richer or poorer over the next year or two.