Bearing up to the future

Matthew Lynn

The bubble of 1999/2000 has created a generation of financiers who are too nervous to shout bull, even when the beast is on the rampage

Peter Wuffli, chief executive of UBS AG, is acquiring a taste for making the headlines. Back in May, he caused a flutter of excitement by suggesting the long decline in the equity markets might be over. "It is starting to smell like the end of the bear market," he said as he announced the bank's first-quarter figures. That went down so well, he decided to come back for an encore. As he unveiled UBS's third-quarter figures last week, Wuffli gave that drum another bang. "It is obvious the bear market is over,'' he told reporters. But the interesting thing about his remarks was not their con...