It really is the time for a few well worn clichés, the world's stock markets are having a real roller coaster ride, at the moment.  It is by no means unusual but they seem to be taking their cue from the US and the sentiment over there is all over the place.  No one is quite sure how big a problem the sub-prime crisis is going to be but it starts at huge and goes up to cataclysmic.

The big worry, assuming that the financial system does not implode, is whether the US will slide into recession.  The government, in the form of the Federal Reserve Bank, is pumping vast quantities of cash into the system in the hope that it can prevent it seizing up.  In this, they are being strongly supported by the European Central Bank.

The financial system has shown itself to be remarkably resilient in the past in the face of some very worrying events but, for many investors, this is probably a time to switch off the computer and not look at values for a year or so on the basis that investment portfolios are for life, not just for Christmas.