Ken Fisher, Chairman of Fisher WealthManagement and Financial Times Columnist: "this is a much ballyhooed, much ado phony credit crunch, not yet recognised as such... longer term credit spreads aren't all that wide and widening, it is cash hoarding in anticipation of a phony credit crunch. This is bullish.. .it's hugely profitable for the average firm globally to borrow money and buy back shares... the bull will resume"

Harvard University professor Ken Froot: 'Given the recent market dislocation stemming from the sub-prime mortgage crisis, this month's (higher) investor confidence readings may seem paradoxical... They appear less so, however, once it is remembered that for every seller, there is a buyer... Many market participants sold heavily over the past fortnight, but institutional investors... took the other side of the trade, and accumulated assets at relatively attractive price levels across a broad cross-section of markets.

Alan O'Sullivan, Hedgeweek Funds Reporter: Hedge funds "have stood on either side of the sub-prime dividing line", and performances have differed. One of the best-performing funds is Thames River Hedge Plus, which saw its net asset value soar after it took a timely investment in Paulson Credit Opportunities, a hedge fund that shorts the US sub-prime market, at the end of last year. It has a three-month NAV growth of 7% in comparison to the average fund of hedge fund?s 3.8%. Its share price rose over 5.3% over July, while the average share price of funds in the sector fell by 0.1%. The KGR Asia Dynamic fund is a contrasting example. It has profited from investments in Asia and seen its three-month NAV grow 5.6%. But its share price fell 3.1% in July after it announced it was pulling out of an Australian fund called Basis Pac RIM, which itself had a 15% exposure to the US sub-prime market though a sister fund.