Unfortunately, many clusters of alliances are being driven by weakness, not strength.
The subdued performance of the economy in the three months to May was driven by weakness in the production sector, offset by a mild rebound in services.
We read the second quarter update as cautious, with profits expected to be down year on year in the first half, driven by weakness in the US.
Investec's Martin Deboo said: We read the second quarter update as cautious, with profits expected to be down year on year in the first half, driven by weakness in the US.
"(It) was driven by weakness in net interest income caused mostly by significant net interest margin compression, broad-based weakness in fee income and rising credit costs".
Driven by weakness in Mexico, Brazil and China, Wal-Mart's international revenues grew by a mere 1% in 2013 and its revenue per square feet declined by 4.2%.
It suggests that very weak and recessionary readings from manufacturing data for example, the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index fell to 36.2, its lowest level since 1982 have been driven by weakness in consumer spending, not a traditional supply-side recession.
Seeking to explain the UK's underperformance further, it adds: Weak export performance and productivity could be driven by infrastructure weaknesses and difficult access to bank finance, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), holding back the emergence of new firms and high-skilled jobs".
He added that the West will be driven by its weakness to "seek a rapprochement with Iran".
Analysts said the company's jumps in profit had partly been driven by the weakness of the Swiss franc -- a benefit that may disappear in the second half.
