BAe shares closed up 12p at 888p

BAe shares closed up 12p at 888p.But Fokker is also a big customer of the aero-engine manufacturer Rolls- Royce, whose shares fell 3.5p to 197.5p. Though the Dutch government may keep its five plants going for a few months, contingency plans were being made yesterday for what would be the biggest redundancy in Dutch history.Fokker is a direct competitor to British Aerospace, and news of the crisis contributed to the rise in BAe's share price which followed the Orange mobile telephone flotation announcement. Over the weekend, the Dutch government refused to put up the 3bn guilders (pounds 1.2bn) emergency cash injection necessary to keep the company afloat.The regional aircraft manufacturer, employing 7,800 workers in the Netherlands, has debts of 4 billion guilders Last August it posted a record loss of 460 million guilders. Indeed, advertisers may even be one step behind the times: the follicularly-challenged are about to come into their own. "The most important thing is to come out and say, 'I'm a balding bloke and I'm proud of it'," says Mark Hamilton. "What a lot of men do, as I've done, is to crop what's left very short."Mark's look, as well as his attitude, may soon become de rigueur.

Steve Stone, 24, the Nottingham Forest and England footballer, is a positive role model. "Steve getting into the team was wonderful," enthuses Mark, "it was the first time we've had a baldie player since Bobby Charlton."Meanwhile Bill Dunn, GQ's style editor, is running a feature in a few months' time advising readers how best to shave their heads "Baldness can be sexy," he says. "Bruce Willis made a bit of a statement for men losing their hair by shaving his off It fitted in with Pulp Fiction and now he's carried it on. I think that's the way to go." The message is, if you haven't got it, flaunt it.. IMRE KARACS Bonn and RUSSELL HOTTENThe loss-making Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker was on the verge of extinction yesterday after its largest shareholder, Daimler-Benz of Germany, pulled the plug on further investment."Profitability must take precedence over revenues," said Jurgen Schrempp, chairman of Daimler-Benz, after an extraordinary meeting of the company's supervisory board in Stuttgart, which posted unexpectedly high losses for the group."With over 80 per cent of our businesses running satisfactorily, we owe it to our shareholders not to allow the other 20 per cent to impede our overall performance." he said.Day-long talks in Amsterdam involving the management and supervisory boards were adjourned last night without any decision and will resume later today, according to Fokker's chairman, Ben van Schaik.Daimler-Benz holds a 39.8 per cent stake in Fokker, and the Dutch state holds 11.2 per cent. And that must mean hair.Which is why the widening range of supposed hair-loss cures is flourishing. An estimated pounds 100m plus a year is spent on hair-loss products in the UK, according to the trichologist Philip Kingsley."Hair-loss problems? They can cause loss of self-confidence," announces the Neo-Clinic ad.

"We have a lotion treatment five times more effective than standard solutions!" - prices on demand. "Combat hair loss," proclaims Nourkrin, which sells itself as "a remarkable new food supplement which helps to feed dormant or weakly growing hair roots with specific nutrients" - pounds 44.95 for a month's supply.Alternatively, there is "natural hair replacement therapy" using the latest micrograft transplantation techniques - at approximately pounds 2,000 a go.Derek Tubb's public reprimand may sound the death knoll for extravagant cure claims. With vanity, anxiety and the incumbent pressures to achieve a healthier, sexier and youthful look. It's the best treatment - within limitations." Mr Lyons is adamant that the circulation theory is "a load of nonsense". "If a gentleman superficially cuts his head, he bleeds profusely - so there's enough blood up there to start with."Entrepreneurs such as Derek Tubb and the trichology industry itself rely on the assumption that bald is undesirable - a no-no to the opposite sex.Mark's narrow escape from hair loss products is partly due to the shift in male identity.

Fifteen years ago, grooming and self-image were for women only. But today, self-image is second nature to the narcissistic Nineties male With grooming comes vanity. "Baldness is irreversible," he says."I'm involved in controlling the effects of the male hormone on hair. We use a topical lotion on the scalp called anti-androgen therapy We're interested in slowing the process down. There is life between the news. But the soundbite culture we inhabit often reduces the world to a stream of disconnected news flashes. The Maxwells acquitted, a suicide bombing in Palestine, a UN report on nuclear weapons in Pakistan, a speech about a Scottish parliament from Mr Major or Mr Blair ....