Last weekend, I decided to escape the pressures of the City by sampling the nightlife of Munich.
Sitting in a raucous bierkeller supping a few steins and chomping on an extra large schnitzel, I contemplated how well the local rail system ran, and why the UK provides a far less enjoyable travelling experience.

I must admit that my reflections became somewhat incoherent as the night wore on, but I'm fairly sure I didn't conclude that the best way forward was to get rid of the rail maintenance contractors, as Network Rail announced last Thursday.

Maybe renationalisation will prove a tonic to the old system, but it was certainly bad medicine for the contractors.

Support services group Peterhouse, which runs three maintenance contracts, was the hardest hit, falling 29% to 130p. Carillion wasn't far behind, with 22% hacked off its share price to 145p.

Even Jarvis was hit badly, which seemed a little harsh, given that it had already agreed to exit its rail maintenance contracts on 10 October.

But on Friday, it wanted to emphasise that its rail renewals business would not be hurt, as it had received assurances from Network Rail that the contracts would not be taken in-house.

I like the look of Country & Metropolitan 鈥� it has just raised 拢8.3m. And it鈥檚 always hungry 鈥�

Hunch of the week

A tactic to calm the market? If it was, it didn't work 鈥� Jarvis ended the week at 216p, down a hefty 28.2% on opening time Monday.

But enough of such woes, let's look at some happier share price movements 鈥� Actually, as it turns out, cheery titbits were few and far between.

Clearly, the chaps and chapettes in the City did not rate our industry last week, with about 80% of the companies listed in the construction and building materials sector falling in value.

Rumours about an increase in stamp duty and capital gains tax early in the week unnerved the City, but it was interest rates that proved to be the passion killer.

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