Bear Stearns was not looking at the mess the rest of us saw last week when it said the market situation surrounding its failing funds was "stabilising". If only Wall Street's and Main Street's problems could be mended in a week. It was only the beginning.

Wall Street sources said last week they were confused by what they saw in sub-prime mortgages. There was something they hadn't sensed for some time: fear. It was as if the US bank's shaky hedge funds were the tip of the iceberg but nothing else had yet emerged.