Some of Deloitte’s weekly gems of information

Deloitte's Chief Economist Ian Stewart produces a weekly Monday Briefing, with analysis of a main topic (this week it's about the outlook for credit growth) plus a selection of news stories which have caught the eye of the Deloitte team. Anyone can subscribe to receive the weekly email briefing, and it is well worth doing so. Here are some of the nuggets from this week's round up: Shares in a number of American tobacco companies fell on news that the CVS Caremark chain of pharmacies is to stop selling tobacco products Analysis by Thomson Reuters shows the biggest publicly traded companies in the UK set aside a record amount to settle legal costs in 2013, with banks in particular experiencing increased litigation and regulation American beer sales fell 4.9% in January according to data from GuestMetrics, and fell the most in Colorado, where the legalization of marijuana has seemingly harmed alcohol sales British sportscar manufacturer Aston Martin is to recall 18,000 cars, after discovering that a part made by a Chinese supplier contains counterfeit materials The FT reports 'that the UK governments 'Behavioural Insights Unit', which uses psychology to try to change public behaviour, is expected to be the first of many policy teams to be privatised The US Postal Service narrowed its losses in the quarter to December, with revenues boosted by a surge in online shopping and package delivery Shares in Twitter fell almost one-fifth following the release of the firms' first earnings announcement Sales of artisan breads have increased 8% across the UK in the last year, according to research firm Mintel, apparently driven by the craze for gourmet toast at boutique cafes – slice of success