Went The Week Well?

It seems that this week is ending with shares around the world falling off the edge of a cliff, as investors panic and turn to gold.

Shares in banks such as Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have taken a hammering and are now approaching levels last seen since 2009.

The rout of bank shares has been prompted by fears of a funding crisis in the European banking system, as European banks (instead of lending to each other overnight) are electing to deposit more overnight money with the ECB.

There is a genuine, and soundly based, fear that several European banks may have insufficient funds to continue operating.

In the absence of any decent political leadership on either side of the Atlantic, and unified global action to staunch the collapse, we are in danger of the fear of collapse becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.