World stock markets have survived the nastiest test yet of a slow-moving but relentless crisis that has persisted since credit markets suddenly seized up in July. The latest move towards the edge of the abyss came as the Federal Reserve was forced to help engineer a rescue for Bear Stearns, Wall Street's fifth-largest investment bank.

The news prompted a brief period of panic last Monday. Traders digested the news that Bear, worth $171.50 per share last year, had been sold for $2 per share. Fresh from the profits made betting against Bear, many hedge funds then turned their attention to the fourth-biggest investment bank, Lehman Brothers, whose shares also endured a precipitate decline.