When JP Morgan Chase told markets just after 6.30pm New York time on March 17, 2008 that it would buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share, many observers thought there had been a rounding error in the figure. When a week later it upped its bid to $10 a share at the encouragement of the US Treasury the price still looked cheap. Bear Stearns shares had closed on Friday March 14 at $30.

Two years on this week the investment looks better than ever. In Bear Stearns, JP Morgan raised its game overnight in prime brokerage, the business of lending to and trading with hedge funds, and it became a significantly greater force in commodities trading.