William Kay: The downturn that nobody can escape

Even the optimists are finally giving up the struggle If you are hoping for an early end to the woes on the stock markets and in the world’s economy, you’ve come to the wrong column. The first week of this year’s second half has taken us deeper into the quicksand. The grizzlies are licking their chops. Excited theories about how this or that industry or region were going to escape the downturn are being replaced by resigned acceptance. That is good: without surrendering we can’t reach the nadir. Since 2003 the FTSE 100 index had an almost uninterrupted climb until last year, when the chart forms what looks in retrospect like the dreaded double top — twin peaks that are a classic sign of a market set to head downwards. As Jessica Bown reports elsewhere, the FTSE has been highly misleading this year. Oil companies now account... [read full story]