Stocks (and derivs)for the long run....

Fermanagh businessman Sean Quinn - once believed to have been the richest man on the island of Ireland - has been declared bankrupt. He was granted a voluntary adjudication over an alleged 2.8bn euros (£2.4bn) debt owed to Anglo Irish Bank. Mr Quinn claimed to have been left with no alternative but to take the "drastic decision" over problems which stemmed from "ill-fated investments in Anglo". He accepts that he owes around 194m euros to Anglo for property loans which he cannot repay. But the rest of the alleged debt, which relates derivative products called Contracts for Difference (CFDs) used to bet on the price of bank shares, is disputed.