When confronted by a bear, the advice is never to turn and run. Equity investors may, though, be looking for the nearest tree to climb. The true, or even useful, measure of a bear market is contested, but important indices have tumbled across the 20 per cent threshold from their 2007 peaks, to meet one standard definition. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the ignominious benchmark on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 skirted back and forth across the marker. In Japan, the Nikkei sealed a run of 11 straight losing days, its longest downwards tilt since a 15-day effort in 1954. Overall, it was the third toughest first half for global equities since 1970, worse than the doldrum years of 2001 and 2002.

In the anatomy of this bear, however, the cycle of earnings downgrades has barely begun. Globally, trailing earnings are down barely 5 per cent from a lofty peak – against the average historical slump of 25 per cent – and the damage remains concentrated in the beleaguered financial sector.