“Everything’s just so expensive!” This was from my South African friend, Alex, who was working out her household bills yesterday. She’s been in London for less than a year, and is still adjusting.

Just why is Gordon Brown still in office? Why? I remember all the “Vote Blair, Get Brown” talk from Labour supporters in the run up to the last election. Well, we’ve got him now. Had him for over a year. And it’s a long time since I heard anyone say “Tell you what — I’m a big Gordon Brown man, me.”

“The record low numbers of mortgages means that the whole market is likely to be at its least active since the early 1990s”. That’s the assessment of one David Dooks, statistics director at the British Banking Association (BBA). The BBA reports that 21,118 mortgages for new homes were approved last month.

“Oil hits a new record high!” We were getting used to that, weren’t we? But as the price of a barrel ticked up, whispers about a bubble grew until they became deafening shrieks.

My mother didn’t go to work today. She’s one of hundreds of thousands of local authority workers up and down the country who have stayed away today. The funny thing is, she’s not even in the union. But when a strike happens, everyone stays out.

A couple of months back I compared the housing market to a rock climber climbing down a cliff face. He can’t see how far above the ground he is. He prods and probes with his foot, trying to find a toe-hold… or, ideally, terra firma.

Some time ago I sat down with our research team and, to put it frankly, opened up a big can of worms.

What’s going on today? Well, there’s the Bank of England rate decision. The phrase ‘between a rock and a hard place’ has had a nice airing in newspapers up and down the land. What can the Bank do? Battle inflation by raising rates? Or help a weakening economy by lowering them?

Officially, we’re in a bear market if the index falls more than 20% below its peak. Yesterday afternoon, the FTSE reached that point. It closed a little higher, meaning the bear market hasn’t officially started yet. But it’s only a matter of time.

I’m not superstitious. But I choose to take the following as a sign…Just as I sat down to write this, the phone on my desk rang.