The UK economy is being battered by cost shocks from abroad.

‘Once in the dear dead days beyond recall, an out-of-town visitor was being shown the wonders of the New York financial district. When the party arrived at the Battery, one of his guides indicated some handsome ships riding at anchor.

The internet is playing wrecker ball to the once robust walls of the publishing business. A subject we’ve commented on before as newspaper subscriptions slide relentlessly taking circulation and advertising revenues with them.

“Time to sell oil and buy shares,” pronounces The Sunday Times headline. Merrill Lynch reckons the commodities sector is the most overheated it has been since ‘73. All things farming is trendy too. Fertiliser stocks are the new dotcom and farmers are busy planting all available land.

Spring sunshine may have arrived but the mood is still winter. The Anglo-Saxon consumer is at a low point. In the US consumer confidence is at a 26-year low says Morgan Stanley’s David Darst. And in the UK it hit an all time low point in April says the Nationwide building society.

It’s not only the clouds outside that seem to be lifting. Optimism broke out in various quarters, reflected in global equities. The Dow closed above 13,000 on Thursday. The Nikkei closed above 14,000. The FTSE 100 was over 6,100 by mid-day Friday.

It certainly comes as no surprise to The Fleet Street Letter that Labour are placed third in the local elections. Less than 25% of the vote for Labour, with Cameron’s mob pushing up in the 40’s and the Lib Dem’s pipping them at the post for second place.

The mood seems to be lifting. A more optimistic tone in the Sunday papers…a prod of encouragement from the Bank of England…and now global equities are surging.

In England, it’s local elections. In London, it’s decision time for choosing a Mayor too… Ken, Boris or Brian..?