GDP

Artemis' William Littlewood has moved to a short position in gilts in his £971m Strategic Assets fund, warning the UK's debt position is almost as bad as Portugal's.

ON ASSET ALLOCATION

Pick a term, any term. ‘Reprofiling', ‘restructuring' or a plain old ‘default' - there is only so far you can disguise the inevitable.

The outlook for global growth remains robust thanks to one of the biggest investment spending cycles for several decades.

Warnings from the White House, an RBS share sale, fake mortgages and PPI winners - our round-up of today's national newspapers.

The economies of the 17 countries in the single currency block grew 0.8% in the first three months of 2011, up from 0.3% in Q4, figures released today reveal.

Infrastructure

Government austerity measures and high levels of consumer debt pose "strong headwinds" for the UK's economic recovery, the IMF has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said it expects the UK to avoid another recession but warned it now faces a bleak period of low growth.

The FTSE 250 could rise a further 15% in 2011 despite surging more than 25% in 2010, said Old Mutual Asset Managers mid-cap specialist Richard Watts.