A just-in-time dash for Sainsbury's exit

As this page never tires of pointing out, just over a year before Justin King retired as Sainsbury's boss, he was pledging himself to the grocer for the "long term" – before U-turning more sharply than a supermarket trolley.

"I don't believe today, or six months' time when I depart, will represent the top for Sainsbury's," he smoothed as he announced his abdication. "It will go on to further heights."

By an astonishing coincidence, 36 unbroken quarters of growth then came to a crashing halt just as King was handing over to old pal Mike Coupe. Things have since got worse.

"After sustainably outperforming the market and the big four peer group through the recession, Sainsbury has witnessed a material reverse in absolute and relative trading momentum in 2014," observes Shore Capital's Darren Shirley. "We find the change in fortune to be perplexing and worrying for Sainsbury's investors, with the group losing market share in recent months, judging by Kantar data."

All of which will be discussed this week at the grocer's trading statement, when investors will want to know if Coupe has made mistakes, or if his friend omitted to mention a few points as he rushed out the door. Still, as last week showed, King would not be the first great leader to forget to deliver a crucial economic message – now known as doing an Ed Miliband.

Saga switch sticks in memory

Very few companies have such an impact on their customers that they are seen as a representation of a certain group of society. But the Saga Generation – a phrase used by hacks as a synonym for the over-50s – is one such example, seeing as it is derived from the company that specialises in selling holidays and insurance products to older people.

The company is now listed on the stock exchange, having floated in May at 185p a share, and we get to hear about how it has been getting on this week when it releases maiden interim results.

Already, the shares have seen better days, having slipped 6% – suggesting a slight annoyance from the listing has yet to fade from the memory.

At the time, Saga irritated investors by arranging to be listed as a general retailer, rather than plump for the harder fight of being categorised as an insurer – a sector which accounts for the vast majority of the company's profits but where the investment comparisons are tougher.

The City is still irked by this move, which it sees as little more than an expedient identity switch. A Saga regeneration, more like.

Houses with contradictory views

If you thought the debate about UK house prices just drones on at bourgeois supper parties in pockets of London, then think again. The argument is also conducted in a slightly less intoxicated setting each month by housing economists.

Last week we were told how (a) house price growth has stalled for the first time in more than 18 months as increasing numbers of would-be buyers worry about a property price bubble and a looming rise in interest rates (Hometrack); and (b) annual house price growth accelerated to 8.4% in England and Wales in August – the highest rate of increase for nearly seven years (Land Registry).

These reports do measure slightly different things, of course, which is very handy as everyone can find the answer they are looking for. So, there is either a "chill in the air" (Richard O'Donnell of Hometrack) or the market has moved "from wobble to warp drive" (James Hall from London estate agent Fishneedwater).

Don't warm to either interpretation? No matter. Nationwide will announce its own monthly house price survey this week, which just goes to show: there is always another unique opportunity to buy an argument about the UK property market – as an estate agent might put it.