Does anyone think a bear market is coming? I heard that this isn’t the end of the downturn...that there will be another major correction soon.

I'd been hearing suggestions of a market correction, but have to admit I was surprised by the size of the falls that have been happening.

On the one hand, the markets have been blindly trying to ignore the huge amount of debt affecting not just the US government but also major multinational companies - the finance industry for starters.

We certainly seem to have entered a bear market this week - but the big question is whether it's just a short downturn or whether investors really are wiseing up to the state of the global economy - optimism built on debt, rather than returns.

All reminds me of what Nazi Germany did in the 1930's - huge prosperity built on huge debts, then reaped the reward via rampant inflation. Sure, there's more focus on inflation at present, but I don;t think the Bank of England or Greenspan have really made any effort to curb the causes of inflation, and in fact have encouraged it.

More interest rate hikes seem on the cards and that's sure to bring the bears out on the markets.

So Brian, does this mean that bonds will soon go up? This whole market/investing thing is surely fixed. I have been told to invest in silver bars like pronto and put them into a safety deposit box...just in case the wolves come out to play in a bear environment.

I really think that something is up in North America..like the North American Union $ - better known as the Amero. No wonder why they have been lax with the borders and the unions are losing ground to cheap labor! They want to harmonize everything.

Here’s what they do..they create a crisis and then fill the holes with “their solution.” For example, I know for a fact that they want to harmonize the health care system. Thus, they are creating a “lack” among health practitioners and making women go from the Canada to the US to have their babies! That smells rather fishy to me..it stinks to high heaven, actually.

I don't think we will see a complete bear market, but rather increased volatility. I think that we might see more price swings like we did last tuesday.

I think a bear market is definately in the making. The market can't sustain this growth indefinately. The price will have to correct in the coming months.

Although in the short term those bears have turned bullish, the longer term report is that interest rates will have to rise further in the UK and Europe, and the fed have certainly not been shy to do likewise over there.

Higher interest rates are rarely good for equities, but not necessarily so great for bonds either - bonds probably work must better with long-term low interest rates.