No more rate rises - hooray. Most shares are trading at P/Es which even before this blip were conservative, now even more so. Already mining shares have become a bargain, soon there will be even more to choose from. The equities candy store is having a grand sale.

Ivor Duarte, Shepperton, UK

They'll be hard pushed to reduce my pension fund .... Gordon Brown beat them to it.

Steve Plows, Peterhead, Scotland

It is interesting how those promoting the free market economy for the benefit of all, are quite happy to have government intervention when they become the losers.

T Dam, London, UK

Come on boys, this has happened in my country, Argentina, and all over Latin America (Mexico, Ecuador etc.) when the Wall Street and the IMF pundits decided to suck all our investments and savings void to cover up for their thefts and wrongdoing....Now the mask is falling in the so called first world...The financial world is proving to be just a roulette...take your cash from the banks while you can.... keep it under the mattress....and have a ball. This is just the beginning of collapse and the end of a massive hoax. Teach yourselves a lesson and try to enjoy yourselves in good company. All my blessings. If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger.
Good night and good luck.

Vita Salvatore, London, UK

This is all the result of the total disregard for honesty and prudence on behalf of Lenders in the US, the UK, Spain, etc.
They have knowingly and deliberately been hiking up propertty prices by lending virtually anything to anyone. Property has been used as a betting counter at a Casino; prices bear no relation to reality at all. And as the Lenders have done this they've played the "housing market" too - knowing full well that they've been driviing up the prices so they can't loose. It has been the World's Greatest Ever Pyramid Selling Scam - based on "buy-to-lie"/"Self-Cert" mortgages.
This rampant fraud and dishonesty is now being paid for. It is going to be a painful lesson, but Lenders heads should roll, some should go to prison as well - Mortgage Fraud is endemic everywhere - and the UK is no exception. In the end it's caught up with us. This was innevitable. A first time buyer taking out a prudent and honest mortgage has no hope al all of buying unless he lies/commits fraud.

Peter, Luton, UK

"Some estimates say £150bn in loans could be at risk" (BBC)

"Over the past week, the Fed has now injected £44.3bn while the European Central Bank has put up £142.6bn (BBC)"

Er, Wouldn't it have been more fruitful and a lot cheaper for the Central Banks to pay off part of the defaulters mortgage arrears instead?

Lawrence, London, UKI

I am shocked, but not at all surprised by the 'collapse' of the 'sub-prime' mortgage market. Mortgages have only been regulated for just over 2 and 1/2 years in the UK - but in recent years it has been so much easier to borrow on unsecured credit - credit cards and personal loans - still unregulated. All those large conglomerates now effected by the falling markets are also the ones behind the credit cards and mortgages - if you can't get them to remortgage you - just take out a credit card, personal loan, or secured loan with them - they're all financed by the same backers. What they've all banked on is a rise in house prices/equity - but without taking into account that peoples' incomes have not risen. Joe Bloggs can no longer afford to finance these companies - he is now suffering - give it a few more years - he can't afford to pay off the mortgage on his home, and will need affordable long-term housing ie. council/municipal rental accommodation!

NPower, Colchester, UK

debt is the unknown factor along with hedge funds. the amounts involved with both is unregulated and huge.
in 1987 a similar market with two dead cat bounces before the real fall the amounts involved in both these areas was in relative terms tiny.
as i advised in a letter to yourselves i went liquid as much as the tax system would allow six weeks ago.
hang on to your seatbelts!!

rod smith, manchester, england

I'm not sure the advice 'make sure your cash is insured at the bank' is very good. Make sure your cash isn't in the bank would be better. And if you have any deposits in something calling itself a Building Society - then don't say you haven't been warned. The moment the housing crash starts here they'll be falling like ninepins. Use your heads. You know your house isn't worth what they say it is. Don't you? Come on - in your heart you know. When its price (or 'value' as they like to call it) drops below the level of your mortgage what will you do? What will they do? If you have trouble answering either of those questions take a look at America.

eric, harrogate, uk

So we're back where we were last year. All the wizz kids with fancy short term money making strategies are in the do do. But if you are buying and holding, and sensibly have the cash for your short term needs, sit back enjoy the ride and pick up some quality dividend paying blue chips on the cheap over the next few month. Bring it on!

Al, Newcastle,

Since when is it good policy for central banks to pump liquidity into the market to bail out bad managers of banks and hedge funds and eventually, private equity craphouses. The Market should be the Market and we should all rise and fall by its steely logic. For the Central Banks to second guess is a disaster wating to happen. If the banks have bought dud investments from $ based derivatives that is their bad luck. The Tax payers of the world should not bail them out and BIS and all those boys in charge of the real world had better relearn the lessons of the past before it is to late.

John Albert , Lisbon, Portugal

We are born with nothing and we leave this life with nothing, no matter how much we have in the bank, in stocks and shares or in material goods.

Mark Harris, Swansea,

This is the beginning of the 2nd great depression that will make the 1930's look like the opening day at Harrods.

Nikolas Bartley, Burgess Hill, West Sussex

The reason why the Dollar is rising is simply that foreign investments made by US companies are having to be sold to cover margin calls etc and the Dollars are repatriated. Soon the Dollar will also start to fall as traders focus on the deficits. Then the Euro will rise to €1.40 and the Europeans will be screaming for a rate cut.

The Yen is going to appreciate much more. Then you will get the Japanese exporters screaming.

The whole situation is far worse than we are being told. I suspect that soon there will be forced selling by the pension funds as some of their investments will be classified as bad debt which they are not allowed to hold. Then we are going to get the demand from hedge fund investors demanding their money back and the whole cycle gets worse and worse. A drop in interest rates will not help. The caustic soup has been created.
Simply put, this debt ridden world is slowly collapsing. Hold on tight and make sure that your cash is insured in the bank.

Rumsfeld, London, Uk

At least I can get the FTSE share price from The Times - unlike from the London Stock Exchange !

Steve, Kidderminster,

We'll be riding this storm until Spring 2008, when these Mortgages hit peak payback hike , hopefully by then the property fire sales will be over

"Mortgage" etymology Morrtus - Dead, gage - Pledge

Sounds right to me!

AWW, Milton Keynes, Bucks