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Global equity markets continued to make progress this week, despite fairly mixed economic data and newsflow. Investors seemed quite willing to set aside the bad news, including the UK economy shrinking in the fourth quarter of 2011 and Portuguese bond yields pushed to new highs. As a result, FTSE 100 stayed comfortably above the 5,700 mark.

The IMF has slashed its growth forecasts again for the Euro area, and for the UK. The latest UK GDP figures showed an economy slipping back a little in the last quarter of 2011. Many now think 2012 will also be slow going, whilst most forecast a recession in the Euro area this year.

You've come up with a great idea and believe you have what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur. You have time, ambition and a newly-incorporated company to exploit it. What you lack however is the cash to fund the business. You've missed out on this season's Dragon's Den and the bank manager hasn't been persuaded to give you a loan in the current economic climate. All is not lost, however.

As our friends over at Cactus Search point out, all of us have dreamt about work at one time or another and, like they suggest, sometimes it’s bad; hence their blog on recruitment nightmares.