Ever since stocks in the US attained that summit last October following earlier peaks for London and Europe, these markets have tumbled more than one third. In Asia the mood has been grimmer as Japan and Hong Kong have lost about half of their value.
It is now clear that when the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average attained their highs 12 months ago, investors were ignoring the festering strains in the money and corporate bond markets.
As waves of deleveraging have engulfed the financial system, accompanied by bank failures and rescues over the past year, stock markets have sought to establish bottoms in price. That has proved elusive as bad news from banks and the global economy has intensified.