HOPE and fear are jostling for the spotlight in a classic display of stock-market panic.

Enormous falls have been followed by equally huge recoveries as investors wildly overreact to what seems good or bad news. But, trust me, this is the time to stay cool.

American banks are so far following their British counterparts in revealing skeleton-free trading news – before our Northern Rock has been matched by their Bear Stearns.

All banks are afraid to take advantage of cheap loans from the Bank of England or the US Federal Reserve, lest they be deemed desperate: HBOS shares plunged on the mere rumour that it had been looking up the Bank of England’s phone number (020 7601 4444 chaps, but keep it under your hat).

The main aim of the central banks is to stave off an outright collapse, and I think they will do that. We then have to cope with the far more long-lasting effects of shrinking economic activity.

That will be a ball and chain to share prices which chancellor Alistair Darling’s Treasury superbrains reckon won’t be shaken off until the summer – of 2009.

Against that backdrop, millions of savers will be using this long Easter weekend to make up their minds about whether to take up their tax-free individual savings account (Isa) allowance before the 5 April deadline.

According to the Association of Investment Companies, the public are saving more, but not in Isas, and those who do go in for Isas are opening cash accounts instead of buying shares. Big mistakes.

Once we are in the new tax year, on April 6, this year’s Isa allowance is gone for ever. And, while the stock market doesn’t look exactly a fun place to be at the moment, this is when the brave bag the bargains.

As long as you don’t need the money in a hurry, in a few years you could look back on 2008 as the year that made your fortune.

And if you find something you like, buy it through an online fund supermarket. The charges are so much lower than buying direct that fund manager Fidelity said in total investors may pay as much as £100m extra this year by ordering from fund providers.

Stark choice

BUSTLING street markets, workshops and docks in China, India and elsewhere make it easy to tout commodities investments. In contrast to shares, everything from gold to wheat seems to be on a bull run – but the route from farm or mine to the high street can be tortuous, with many hands grabbing their slice of the profits along the way.

I don’t recommend stuffing your garage with sacks of coffee, but you can buy small bars of gold and there are exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for many commodities. Best, though, is to buy into a fund, spreading your risk, and let it do the hard work.

Two commodities funds now being promoted offer a contrast for investors of differing temperaments. Both funds have a minimum investment of £1,000, but the similarities end there.

The investment-services group Merchant Securities is pushing a five-and-a-half year scheme from Barclays bank called the Diversified Commodity Bull Bear Note.

This is a fancy name for a guaranteed investment that will divide your money equally between aluminium, copper, gas oil, Brent crude oil, coal and livestock.

Through clever options contracts, in September 2013 investors will collect 170% of the increase in the value of each of the six items, or an 85% gain even if they fall.

You can get out at any time, but if you stay the distance your original investment is guaranteed. However, money in a savings account would add 20% to 25% in interest over that period, so that is your true potential loss.

The rival is AgriSar from Sarasin, a British arm of Rabobank, the Dutch agricultural bank. This is a straightforward fund that will invest in anything to do with agriculture, from land to commodity ETFs to shares in bakers and seed growers.

You have to take much more on trust with AgriSar, but I like the wider canvas the managers have given themselves. They can do the same as the Barclays managers, if that is the best bet, but much more besides.

I have repeatedly expressed my misgivings over guaranteed investments, because the guarantees can be costly. The options structure of the Barclays fund also means that you need the six chosen commodities to do very well or very badly. A recipe for sleepless nights.

Check, mate

AS Ali Hussain points out, it is important these days to count your pennies. I’m glad to see that more and more people are latching on to how much they can save by checking that they have the right credit score.

Moneysupermarket, a comparison site, has four times as many people as a year ago using its rating service, while the Equifax credit-rating agency has had a 45% jump in requests for up-to-date profiles.

The best way to protect your credit status is simply to pay bills on time. And ration applications for credit, as too many count against you. But if you find an error in your credit report, write to the provider immediately to have it corrected.

Another tip: splash out on a computer. Moneyfacts, another comparison site, reckons you can save hundreds of pounds if you save through an online bank account instead of calling in at the branch. Just don’t do your banking at an internet café, where privacy is minimal.

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