Building materials groups proved that they too were at the mercy of the downturn this week. In a busy reporting period, most stocks headed south.

Worst off was Wolseley, which has questions over its debt facilities. Earlier this week, our £100 imaginary flutter had crumbled to £80, thanks to the wider market meltdown. Ouch.

We would have been better putting our money to greener use. Insulation specialist SIG had some healthy figures last week owing to the low carbon drive, but our stake was still only worth £91 by Monday.

Gibbs and Dandy was hovering at £104 on Monday, perhaps still riding high on previous bid speculation from, er, Wolseley.

The most bizarre statement of the week came from T Clarke, which said it was not aware why its shares had fallen sharply on Thursday.

As one analyst said: “I am sure there are a lot of others out there wondering the same thing.”