Tactical investors win out on recovery path

Fidelity's Trevor Greetham assesses the global reaction to the bankruptcy of major companies such as Lehman Brothers and General Motors

Wall Street's ambivalent reaction to General Motors' bankruptcy is as good an indication as any that the mood in the markets has changed for the better. With a line drawn under the car-maker's fate, investors focused on positive news elsewhere and US shares rose strongly on the day. The fall of Lehman Brothers in September was a very different matter. The ensuing credit crunch changed what had up until that point been a financial crisis into a real economy crisis. The collapse in car sales provided a mechanism for an Anglo-Saxon housing bust to spread into an industrial slump impacting ...