All we have to fear is fear itself

As investment markets become more unpredictable, so commentators seem to be reaching for more bizarre analogies in the hope of making some kind of sense of it all.

Rupert Caldecott, CIO of the global asset allocation team at Dalton Strategic Partners, invoked the spirit of comedian Bob Monkhouse in a note to investors last week. According to Caldecott, Monkhouse once said his dearest wish was to die “like his father, peacefully in his sleep, not screaming and terrified like his passengers.” At the moment, investors are behaving like the passenger as fear drives market volatility. Investment Week columnist Joe Roseman, formerly an economist with hedge fund group Moore Capital, invoked Bob Hoskins in the Long Good Friday in a recent commentary. ...