Bill Jamieson: Digging up grounds for optimism – without miners

HERE we go again. A late summer rally led by banking shares, a flurry of commentary that we may be near the end of the credit crunch, and bang: doom and gloom sets in again - the third false start this year.

Last week the pound sank to its lowest level against the euro and the FTSE 100 index had its worst week in six years, with a fall of almost 7 per cent in the last three trading days to 5,240.7. It has dragged the market back into bear market t...