Then it stopped. Coalition forces ground to a halt. Iraqi forces were not quite the walkover we were promised. Our Boys were getting a bloody nose.

Markets fell. Oil shot up.

After a few days' confusion, we were on the move again. Hurrah!

Then the much-vaunted Republican Guard melted into the shadows and - suddenly - the war was over.

Or was it?

Where was Saddam? Will the Kurds and the Turks start their own war?

Maybe not. Hurrah!

Then came SARS. SARS? What on earth is SARS, we wondered?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) scared the world by effectively shutting down Toronto. China was closed for the same reason.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was next up, cancelling the launch of the Beijing Olympics because of SARS.

The financial pages were full of dire prophecies. The World Bank said SARS would cut economic growth in East Asia to 5% at a cost of £10 billion.

Markets slump again. The airline industry jumps on the bandwagon and blames SARS for all its ills.

But what do I hear on the news today? The WHO says the SARS epidemic is over. Hurrah!

How can they do this to us? Last week they just about ruined the economy of the Western world. This week it's "don't worry, it's all over".

So now all we have to worry about is the CBI and the Treasury insisting Gordon Brown's forecasts are all "wildly optimistic".

We were due to have a planning meeting in the office this week. We cancelled it.

What's the point?

So we're all off to Boating Comes to Goodwood. Thursday May 22.

You'll probably get better odds there than your broker can offer on the stock market, so why not join us?