Don't panic

A well-known US baseball player once said it's difficult to predict most things, especially the futu...

A well-known US baseball player once said it's difficult to predict most things, especially the future. While wearing an odd uniform and smacking a ball out of park may have a tenuous link with the stock market, it's an apt quote for a week when Nasdaq fell by 8% and the Footsie fell below 5600 for the first time in years. If the stock market does, as is often reported, anticipate events 18 months ahead of actuality, the picture ahead for investors is murky to say the least. Comparisons with 1987 and 1929 are already being drawn and suggestions that, like Japan in 1990, a stock market cr...