In case you are studying this within the northern hemisphere — and subscribe to meteorological definition of the seasons — the excellent news is that we’re quickly heading into spring. And just like the promise of hotter and longer days (to not point out daffodils for St David’s Day on Wednesday), there may be some motive for cheer amid the information diary gloom.

However first, the actually miserable one. Few want reminding concerning the battle in Ukraine, however it’s price noting — and little doubt will likely be by different media retailers — that Monday is the ninth anniversary of the pro-Russian rebellion in Crimea that led to the annexation of the peninsula. In order for you some thought of a method ahead, I’d suggest the Weekend essay on what the Chilly Conflict taught us about containing Russia.

Additionally on Monday, British households will get some readability (and maybe excellent news) on the place their gas payments are heading when Ofgem updates its vitality value cap for the approaching quarter. The common annual UK home cost had been anticipated to rise £500 to £3,000 (decrease than Ofgem’s headline determine, because of the federal government’s Vitality Value Assure), and confidence is rising that this higher restrict will likely be frozen after heavy lobbying from campaigners.

The outlook is combined for that different rolling UK story: the surge in strikes. A shock drop in public sector borrowing has introduced hope of a decision to lots of the pay disputes, however the state of affairs stays difficult.

Some motion on account of happen this week has been postponed to allow negotiations on settlements, whereas others (such because the TSSA rail union) have accepted provides. However we begin on Monday with but extra stroll outs and a risk of recent disputes bobbing up because the deadline for ballots amongst NHS consultants and rail staff conclude on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

So what about some unashamed excellent news? Properly, for astronauts the one method is up. Nasa’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the Worldwide House Station is because of launch from the Kennedy House Middle in Florida early on Monday morning native time. You’ll be able to observe occasions stay on the company’s web site.

Corporations

One season drawing to a detailed is the earnings one.

One to observe will likely be Salesforce on Wednesday as the activist traders circle. The core downside has been a scarcity of consideration to revenue margins on the expense of progress — Wall Road has complained about this for years, however the software program firm’s progress was all the time sufficient to fend off the naysayers. Sadly for co-founder and chief govt Marc Benioff, progress has taken a dip (see the chart under) leaving him uncovered — and the job cuts, whereas vital, to date don’t go far sufficient.

The complete-year outcomes from Serco had been supposed to come back final Thursday, however a request by auditors KPMG for extra time means they’ll now be out on Tuesday. Traders and analysts will likely be listening rigorously to lately appointed chief govt Mark Irwin in case he heralds a change in course for the outsourcer.

Rival Capita, which experiences two days later, has been disposing its non-core companies to boost money, so be careful for an replace on this.

This week additionally sees the annual gathering of cell telecoms trade executives and tech fanatics in Barcelona for the MWC commerce present, providing an opportunity for chief executives to touch upon the longer term course of the wi-fi networked world and corporations to launch new digital toys.

Financial information

It’s a quieter week for financial information experiences with inflation and gross home product updates the commonest objects. One other set of buying managers’ index experiences, this time for manufacturing, will add to the worldwide comparisons of financial efficiency, though much less use for observers of the UK’s efficiency than final week’s companies PMI information.

The minutes of the final European Central Financial institution financial coverage committee assembly and the US and eurozone client confidence figures may assist present some indication of future rate of interest actions on both aspect of the Atlantic.

Learn the total week forward calendar right here.