Who is Chuck Prince dancing with now? Just two weeks ago the Citigroup boss reckoned the music was still playing for the credit-fuelled buy-out boom. But it gets a bit lonely on that dance floor when investors go on a massive buyers’ strike.

The big banks threw in the towel on trying to place a combined $20bn or so of debt on Tuesday – part of the buy-out funding for the Chrysler and Alliance Boots deals. The banks will keep the loans on their books in the hope that, after a decent pause, investors’ nerves will rally.