Early start at JFK to boost visits to London

At JFK to wave off 200 American entrepreneurs taking their latest business plans to London. The last year's seen an alarming fall in visits from our sister city and the main reason I'm here is to put that right. It helps that Brits are doing very well on Broadway at the moment and arguably dominating some of the creative sectors here in New York. We're doing well in retail too as was clear in a very prestigious store, which hosted a fabulous reception for us last night. New York and London have always been in healthy competition with each other but both are clearly benefiting these days from a creative cross fertilisation fed by constant transatlantic traffic. I wish today’s passengers well with their ideas and look forward to sitting down later with my good friend Mayor Bloomberg to see how we can encourage more mutually beneficial schemes. I'll be checking in for my own flight home in about 12 hours.

NYC - the place to be

Facing stiff competition for my next speech. Slight clash with a keynote address by a certain Barack Obama! Still, impressive list of powerful people for my private lunch at Thompson Reuters. And press interest here's been almost overwhelming. My opening of the Nasdaq was carried live over multiple channels and projected on a massive screen on Times Square. Wonder if our exchanges in London should create a bit more of a carnival to get the day's trading underway. President Obama and I are both focussing on similar concerns - the future of our financial sectors. I understand the lure of legislation, or regulation as it would end up, and I get the public mood. But I do urge everyone to tread carefully on this one to avoid harming a sector that has been vital to the success of London and New York, and should - I believe - have a thriving future.
To view the coverage of my NASDAQ speech and the opening bell ceremony go to the NASDAQ homepage - link below. You'll need to fast forward to 4mins 40 seconds for my speech and bell ringing: http://www.nasdaq.com/marketsite/marketsite-events-detail.aspx?fn=200909-open09142009.txt

Live on Fox News

Early start. Live on Fox News ahead of a high powered breakfast with leading investors. President Obama's here in New York later today urging tighter regulation of the financial sector. Don't want to clash with him but have shared my concerns with Fox about the need to tread carefully here. Our sister cities have thrived on innovation, enterprise and the enormous energy of our key sectors. And finance has been central - producing huge tax revenue to fund public services as well as enormous income which sustains so many other jobs outside finance. I'll shortly be ringing the opening bell at Nasdaq. Later I'll have a similar stunt to close the NYSE. Let's hope for a record day of trading in the meantime.

Thank you Michael!

Terrific night at the stunning private home of Michael Bloomberg. The Mayor of New York was one of the first people to visit me after my election to City Hall and he threw the most wonderful party in my honour last night. Shouldn't really say who was there but can't resist mentioning the adorable Emma Thompson, top newscaster Katie Couric, and a very powerful newspaper man credited with frightening influence over British politics. We share many common challenges as Mayors and I'll be spelling some of them out as I ring the opening bell on the NASDAQ exchange later today and close the NYSE at the end of the day's trading. But Mayor Bloomberg was quite right to remind me last night of our first meeting in my office. He handed me a beautiful crystal apple. I gave him a shirt showing a map of our underground. Last night was payback time. I am now the proud owner of a hat, an umbrella and a tie all emblazoned with the the New York subway lines - thank you! Mike and I will get down to business tomorrow at the Manhattan Institute. First I'll be spending a day with some of the most powerful investors in the world, reminding them of the exciting, and lucrative opportunities open to them in London.

Christmas in London

Morning all. A fine day in Manhattan. Central Park looking splendid on my jet-lagged dawn run. Off shortly to the Disney Store to help promote their version of Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. It's got fabulous British actors like Bob Hoskins, countless scenes of our great capital and it will set the scene for the Christmas lights in the west end when it premiers in November. It feels a little early for carols perhaps but I look forward to the choir on 5th Avenue later and I'm delighted Disney will help fund the energy-efficient light bulbs which will light up London during the forthcoming festive season. Tourism has proved robust in these difficult times, but visits from North America are down. So this is a chance - alongside others in the next few days - to put that right.