The sudden turnaround at Crocs Inc after management changes shows that the world never stopped loving its ugly – but comfy – plastic shoes. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex Features Crocs were dismissed as a fashion fad, a flash in the pan and as the ugliest shoes ever invented. But the brightly coloured plastic footwear once sported [...]

BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster has left the firm vulnerable to takeover from cash-rich oil firms such as ExxonMobil. Photograph Dave Martin BP said today that it was a fortnight away from finally sealing the rogue well in the Gulf of Mexico – potentially triggering bids from rivals for a company whose market value has been [...]

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke led the US economy through most severe recession since the 1930s. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters 2.47pm: How was Lehman Brothers’ failure different from AIG, which was bailed out by the government? The question is asked by panel vice-chairman Bill Thomas. Bernanke says there was a “fundamental difference” – while Lehman lacked [...]

Peter Hargreaves at his home in Somerset. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/Rex Features Hargreaves Lansdown today reported an 18% increase in profits over the past year to reach record levels, as Britain’s biggest retail broker benefited from a big increase in funds under management and a more buoyant stock market. Savers facing historically low interest rates have [...]

New Look store in Oxford Street, London, the fashion retailer is among several businesses that have cancelled their flotation plans. An array of rumoured flotations that were delayed during the financial crisis but tipped for revival this autumn have been shelved again on fears about the state of the capital markets. The series of U-turns [...]