That is the ultimate destination of this flight into the compensation culture.It also happens to mean that my shares in British Airways and easyJet (a hedged pair if ever there was one) have been knocked sideways as a result of this consumerism gone mad.Never mind. My pure punts, or speculation, or gambles if you will, on Matrix Communications and Sportingbet are still doing nicely, up 50 per cent and more. I sold some of my Marks & Spencer shares to buy them: years of underperformance made up in weeks. Marvellous.s.o'grady independent.co.uk. BANK ACCOUNTS BANK ACCOUNTS It's an honourable tradition that couples argue about money matters.
Whether the issue is overspending, miserliness, differing priorities, what belongs to whom, or simply not enough to go round, there's plenty of scope for tight-lipped moments.But while you can never exclude external financial calamity, it is quite possible to establish sensible household ground rules, ensure that your money is working efficiently for you both, and minimise the risk of falling out financially.If you have complex financial affairs to squabble over, it's a good idea to consult a financial adviser. If it's basically a matter of a shared bank account and mortgage, it could still be well worth giving your finances an overhaul yourselves. You may well be able to save money in the process, but you may also find you're clearer about exactly how much of whose money is going where, and why.In the olden days of single-income families, it was so easy. I grew up in a family where, as my mother once observed with a note of complacence: "What's your father's is mine, and what's mine is my own." The household ran on a single bank account, my mother had her own savings account, and everything was simple.Times have changed.
The Alliance & Leicester recently commissioned research which indicated that a third of couples now keep their cash in a joint bank account, and more than a quarter keep their finances separate from each other. I mean, I know it's awful if you're two hours late into the air because of high winds, but if everyone claims big damages because of this sort of delay, there won't be any more flights anywhere because it will simply make no economic sense to run an airline. The precise circumstances in which this can be done - after a terror attack, say, or because of a natural disaster - are unclear, and I look forward to the lawyers getting rich while the courts go through some test court cases to determine when it is right to bankrupt an airline and destroy an entire industry just because people can't accept that life can be a right bitch sometimes. But I can't help feeling that the best part of this bull run is behind us.The other annoyance last week derived from this new law that allows airline passengers to claim compensation against carriers if their plane is late. I happen to think that it still has some good growth opportunities, but these are no doubt reflected in the price.What is a shame is that Vodafone hasn't seen its shares moving up a gear in the way that most of its rivals have. It is also very well researched by all the brokers and suchlike, so there isn't much scope for surprises because it is so closely watched. Second, the big FTSE 100 firms are beginning to see their share prices come into line with their smaller brethren in the FTSE 250, which, as has been widely noted, has been doing much better over the past year or two.Even so, I am a little disappointed, but not totally dismayed, that Vodafone is such an inert stock.
