On Wall Street dealing desks, profits and losses are evaluated every afternoon when trading ends, and the firms' positions are "marked to market" -valued on the basis of the closing prices.

Spanish bonds fell yesterday by the most since the start of the euro era as a bailout for Ireland failed to assuage speculation that the debt crisis will spread.

The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.