The City, the pubcos and a glimmer of recovery, mebbe?

Remember when Thatcher was busy privatising everything that moved, turning us into a nation of short-term shareholders? Our TV screens were chock full of images of City types necking champers and zooming around the Square Mile in shiny red Porsches.

The City of London became a global leader in the financial services industry and billions of pounds flowed into the country's coffers. And yes, some people became very rich.

But the British public never took kindly to the more excessive antics of City 'high flyers', and it seems that in these straightened times many in the pub sector are taking a rather dim view of the contribution the 'not-so-teenage' scribblers offer the industry.

There is a growing perception in some quarters that the City no longer 'gets' the licensed trade, with wide valuations and dodgy recommendations.

Or that since bankers and analysts have "driven the country to the brink of financial ruin" we should simply disregard anything they say.

It is true there could be rather more balanced analysis of the pub sector. As Punch Taverns boss Giles Thorley effectively said to me last week, his company's shares being valued at 40p is no less bonkers than their being priced at £15. And maybe analysts could get out and about into the industry more.

But whether or not the criticism is justified, when push comes to shove the stock market doesn't often get things wrong.

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Greene King suggests the start to 2009 hasn't been all bad, at least on the managed pub operation side of things. The group is not the only one bucking the gloomy trend predicted towards the end of last year. It's far too early to talk of 'green shoots'. But who knows? Maybe the bad stuff might not last as long as people feared…