As if to justify the gloom, on the day of the rate cut it was revealed that manufacturing output had fallen by 0.4% in September.

ECONOMIST: Singing in the rain

And Wall Street's gloom has darkened by the day.

FORBES: No Thain, No Gain

For Australia's gloom-laden tennis fans, that day cannot come soon enough.

BBC: Just the Tomic

Despite all this gloom there are reasons why Japan's day of reckoning could be put off for quite some time.

FORBES: Global Gambits

Given the gloom, continued ship-building will only put off the day when the world's lines make serious money again.

ECONOMIST: Shipping

After all the doom and gloom, pundits were then somehow surprised when McCain decided to temporarily suspend his presidential campaign and return to his day job in Congress, where he tried to work out a bailout deal with his colleagues.

CNN: Commentary: McCain has his priorities straight