Today marks the end of the financial year in Australia. Yes, instead of following a calendar year we close our books and report taxes from 1 July to 30 June. My theory is the summer sun made it too vexxing to consider doing accounts in early January - that’s when every self-respecting Aussie is at the beach or burning meat on the Barbie!

In 1992 when providing a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of her coronation, Queen Elizabeth said it had been an “annus horribilis”. If you can’t decode the meaning of the Latin phrase she said it had been an awful year:

“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an Annus Horribilis.”

The financial markets would tend to agree - today we close the year and it has been really savage. Stock markets are down 20% - officially entering bear territory. Inflation is up. Profits are down. Credit markets are tight.

Perhaps we’ll have a resurgence this year. Probably not. Be prepared for a year of bear. Then next year we can ponder - what’s worse than an “annus horribilis”?