So how did the markets finish up after last week’s monstering by fear?

Stockmarkets bounced in late trading Friday, holding out the hope for a better start this week.

Commodity prices stabilised on Friday after the worst week for over a year.

Given the rising level of financial stress and uncertainty coming from Europe (and to a lesser extent China) in recent weeks, it probably comes as no real surprise that big global and regional investors have gone right off both areas as investment destinations.

Blame Germany and the stumbling Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who looks increasingly out of her depth in running the world’s 4th biggest economy, and more importantly, the biggest economy in the world’s biggest economic region, Europe.

It’s not only Australia that has tied its economic fortunes to China.

A curious mixture of give and take and rising debt in the 2010-11 New Zealand budget.

The first serious report on the May 6 ‘Flash Crash’ on Wall Street hasn’t produced a ‘smoking gun’ as many investors hope, instead it has listed what is thought didn’t happen, and a list of factors that probably helped create the brief crash.

David Jones was the latest to feel the slowdown in retailing in the three month period to April 24. 

Consumer sentiment dropped in May for the second month in a row and by the biggest amount since October 2008 when the credit crunch and recession were intensifying.

A fortnight is a long time these days in economics and monetary policy when the euro is wobbling and Europe’s salvation seems to be doubted by investors around the world.

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, said yesterday the federal government’s proposed resources super profits tax must apply only to new investments and any tax reform should not disadvantage the resources industry relative to other industries.

Hopefully the big falls on our market may ease today after wall Street came back from a 184 point loss to close up 5.7 points.

A quieter week ahead, but the continuing doubts about Europe and the euro will be more than enough to hold our attention.

As the deaths and fighting continue in Bangkok, how long will it before the country’s economy buckles under the pain?

Markets last week went up, down, sideways and down, or was that up, down up, down. It was certainly a very confusing week.

Despite solid figures on the US economy last week, oil took a pounding as investors abandoned the commodity and sought safety.

Gold might have paused on Friday, but that was understandable given some of the wild stories doing the rounds during the week.

So has Europe been saved, or is it a reprieve for a replay in the next couple of years.

Is the day of reckoning approaching for Wall Street and its big names banks and other players over the subprime mortgage boom and the marketing of all those exotically named things called derivatives?

Australian employment was still strong last month, even if there was a fall in hours worked for a second month in a row.

The weaker euro and a new record high for gold tells us there remains a lot of doubters about the viability of the rescue of the euro last weekend by the EC, the eurozone and the IMF.

Australia’s great housing paradox continues.

As Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan was handing down the 2010-11, sharemarkets were falling, the euro was wiping out all the gains from Monday, oil, copper and other commodities weakened, but gold rose and investors fretted about Chinese inflation and signs the strong economic growth in that economy had peaked.

A mixed month for the Chinese economy and therefore for Australia.