City Diaries: "Daniel"

"Daniel" (not his real name) works for the London branch of an international investment bank.

He is writing a diary on the mood in the financial industry as it goes through dramatic changes.

The pre-Budget report was nothing but a sham

" Since my last diary entry it appears the world has changed altogether. The pre-Budget report was nothing but a sham. Instead of cutting income tax at the lower brackets to help stimulate the economy the Chancellor decided to try and beat the high street retailers and offer Christmas shoppers a 2.5% discount! Only to forget the retailers were already offering 30% at the beginning of December anyway.

On top of that the Chancellor decided to 'sweeten the deal' by freezing the cost of the Road Fund License for another year, only to forget that most of us can't afford to drive anymore. This has also been very painful for the car trade. You can visit car dealerships and buy new cars at unbelievable discounts. Whether it is a Ford or a Rolls-Royce a chunky discount awaits you!

To add to this, The Bank of England decided to knock another 1% off interest rates so we are now at a comfortable 2%. While the average person might think this is going to help them, the answer is not at all. Read the terms of your mortgage closely, it may be that this time around the benefit will not be passed on at all. This won't do any good to your savings either.

The only consolation is that as we enter the second week of December people are more focused on their Christmas holidays, if they are lucky enough to be able to afford them of course. That being said, the lucky ones had booked and paid for their holidays long before things turned so bad. Or some are just well-earning singles who can still spare the cash. Nevertheless this Christmas period will probably be very different to previous ones and booking next year's Christmas holiday is just a fairy-tale. "

Everyone is worried about who will be fired next

" When I walked into the office on Monday it became apparent just how much the credit crunch has begun to have an impact. As I walked through the trading floor most people were already at their desks but the atmosphere was rather eerie. No one was talking, the phones were not ringing and you could hear a pin drop.

As I approached my desk I did not even say the usual "Good Morning" or "How was your weekend?" People are so preoccupied these days with their own worries. There is nothing worse than a Monday morning to remind everyone just how stark the situation really is.

Everyone is busy observing their news terminals or the flat screens on the wall with BBC, Sky News and Bloomberg live. You can almost see people waiting for the next piece of bad news - another collapsed bank, another crashing stock. People are pessimistic but it has almost become exciting to predict which company or bank will be the next to go.

The past week has been an even worse reminder of what it means to be in banking during the credit crunch. I spent the morning and parts of the afternoon scanning documents which is far from my usual days of dealing with clients, originating new deals and taking care of our portfolio. Nevertheless as long as there is something to keep you busy then you can't really complain. After all, everyone is worried about who will be next to get fired.

People are buying lunch for £5 in the cafeteria rather then spending £20 on some Sushi or Dim Sum outside. People now have breakfast at home or even bring a packed lunch. The days of the one hour lunch are well and truly over. "

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