David Bulteel

“Renewed concerns about banking ­losses, allied to worries that the ­financial sector’s problems would spread to the wider economy, led to a sharp dip in markets during the previous month. Markets staged a recovery when other central banks (including the UK) joined the US Federal Reserve in cutting interest rates, and investors took heart from the active role taken by ­central banks in seeking to normalise interbank lending rates towards the year end. The start to 2008 has not been easy, with equities returning to the ‘bearish path’. That said, ­actual valuations are a reasonable proposition, if a recession can be avoided and earnings do not ‘fall off a cliff’.”