By Jamie Robertson Presenter, BBC World News
So, is this summer going to be as bad as last year's for the stock markets?
That would be unfortunate to say the least because if, say the UK market reproduces its behaviour of last July and August, by the time we come back from the beach in September the FTSE will have lost about 1,000 points.
There are reasons to think things could get steadily worse.
Jobs are being created at a snail-like pace in the US, and in China the decision to cut interest rates suggests the economy there could be in a worse state than had been feared.
Meanwhile on Friday, German bonds and US Treasuries rose sharply and the euro tumbled to the lowest level against the dollar since the beginning of June.
The oil price fell 3.2% in New York - and this was at the end of a week when Iran had been testing missiles and threatening tanker supplies in the Persian Gulf, which should normally have jerked prices upwards.
Even gold, which should offer protection in the direst of circumstances, remains 20% below its p