THE FTSE 100 index is an overrated indicator of economic health. But the patterns drawn this week by charts of London’s leading stock market index are telling.

The FTSE 100 swung upwards and downwards as good, bad and indifferent events of the week washed over the City. Yet the FTSE 100 closed up on the week yesterday and unchanged from the start of play on Thursday. Combine that with detached analysis of the week’s events and you might well wonder what, in financial and commercial terms, has changed.

The good news was really good. It was deeply pleasing to hear on Wednesday that London unexpectedly had won the honour of hosting the 2012 Olympic Games. It would be wrong to assume that the project is a truly significant event for London’s economy, let alone for the economy of the UK, but it will regenerate rundown parts of the capital. It will fire enthusiasm for sporting activity. And, above all, it will be fun.

Thursday’s bombings represented the bad news, and it was really bad. Those caught up in the horrors in a direct way will never forget the human cost incurred. The financial cost, however, is likely to be both small and contained.

Then there is the indifferent news. It may be absurd to suggest that the G8 meetings of the world’s most powerful politicians should be met with indifference. There is no doubt that G8 leaders have more influence than any other eight people on the planet but it is hard to be sure that they have power to change things significantly, in an economic sense, or that they deployed that power.

The good economic stuff in the Olympics may be cancelled out by the bad news brought by the bombings. And the G8? The economic communiqué outlines the G8 leaders’ concern about the US budget deficit, the quality of the commercial infrastructure in emerging European nations and the high price of oil. These are fair observations, but they do little more than echo the established orthodoxy. It is intriguing to ponder on the communiqué message about the need to enhance investment in oil exploration and production. How will this fit with climate change concerns? What kind of leverage will the statement give oil companies seeking to drill for oil and gas in areas of unspoilt wilderness?

Business people could be forgiven for shrugging their shoulders at G8. The chief danger, however, may be that the G8, the bombings and the Olympics divert attention from the more critical economic and business issues of the day.

Critical — albeit mundane — business issues, such as the still-unresolved pensions funding crisis, the threats and opportunities posed by industrial competition from China and other parts of East and South Asia, are the ones that should be keeping business executives awake at night. The burdens created by unnecessary taxation, over-intrusive employment legislation or complex regulation have not gone away. There are difficult decisions about the most appropriate way to structure corporate finances. It is never easy to judge what level of investment should be made protecting and building enterprises through research and development, marketing, and merger and acquisition activity. Recruiting and retaining staff is no simple task. And all these are things that will make or break businesses.

It is understandable that London firms should worry about terror. It is reasonable that they should be excited by the Olympics. It is only right that they should be interested in G8 deliberations. But none of these things should distract attention away from sustainable, robust and long-lasting wealth-creation activities.

Caring hands for the Chef?

LITTLE CHEF was one of the unsung success stories of Charles Forte’s glittering business career. In later years, Lord Forte, as he became, preferred the image of Trust House Forte’s London luxury hotels, such as the Grosvenor House, but it was the basic, formulaic little roadside restaurants that caught the fancy of two generations of middle-class families and became a national institution.

In those convenient roadside retreats, the law of portion control married perfectly with motorists’ desire for a genuine budget family restaurant that served something for every time of the day. Black cherry pancakes and other favourites for children combined well with a menu that spread far beyond burgers. Little Chef was never the critic’s choice, but with hundreds of roadside locations on the map, families could depend on finding one somewhere on their journey.

“We’ll stop at a Little Chef along the way,” was the motto of families going on long trips.

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