Confidence game

Talk about loss of confidence. The shares of Barclays fell for nine consecutive trading sessions - to a quarter of an already-shrunken value - including two days on which the bank made public statements to reassure the market. It seemed that shareholders would reach for their calculators if John Varley, the chief executive, said two plus two equals four. But they responded more warmly to a third, more detailed announcement on Monday. Barclays’ decision to keep the UK government at bay has not he...