With only a few days left of 2007, the bad news keeps on coming. Monoline insurers are in trouble. (MBIA says there's nothing new in its announcement, and its CDO squared exposure was already common knowledge - which comes as news to all the startled banks and investors...) Banks are reporting massive writedowns. The ABX and the SIV may now be dead and gone.
But if you're worrying about the winter, take heart - it could be worse. You could be Ralph Cioffi, who, Felix Salmon suggests, may be "singlehandedly responsible for everything that went wrong of late". Or you could be a Citi credit salesman, trying to pitch a new sort of CDO backed by loans to struggling Tajik bicycle repairmen.

And, of course, there's always the hope that you may end up with a late Christmas present in the shape of a Risk Award. The winners will be announced in the next issue of Risk, published in the new year.

Until then, happy holidays to all our readers.