It would be no exaggeration to say the fixed-income markets spent the last quarter of 2008 in a coma. Nothing was happening, there was no sign of life and it was unclear if the patient could ever be resuscitated. The shock to the system was so great it was impossible to guess what kind of damage had been done and what kind of state the market would be in if it ever regained consciousness.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2009 and last year seems like a bad dream. The patient has not only recovered - he seems to be in ruder health than ever.
