In just a matter of weeks the US and Australian share markets have gone from being extremely bullish to bearish and back again.
Investors are confused.
So are the authorities. Australia's Reserve Bank in its November half yearly report card says that managing the Australian economy over the coming year will prove to be a substantial challenge. That's an understatement. A bear market is said to exist when share prices fall 20 per cent from their peak. When the Russian crisis occurred US share prices did just this.