It's that time of year when the sun is high in the sky, the days are long, and there's a dearth of financial news because most of the decision-makers are sitting on the beach or on their yachts. For those left behind, August can be a drudge.

What to do? Thanks to modern technology, it is not difficult to create a buzz in the marketplace. There are so many gossip pages and internet outlets that spreading rumours has never been easier. Does it matter if the rumours are false? Not really. As they used to say in Fleet Street, when it housed newspapers rather than the headquarters of Goldman Sachs: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."