So the rescue package has been passed in Washington and $700bn is ready to be spent buying up "bad" debt in an attempt to put a stop to the current financial market turmoil.

Whether it will work is by no means certain, however, it one thing it should do is help to bring some optimism into the markets. Without this financial markets will remain in a state of paralysis for a very long time and banks would continue to refuse to lend to one another.

So perhaps this will be a turning point in the markets. There is much pain still to come and it is very possible that things won't get back to normal for a few years, but glimmers of hope should be clung on to as they can be the making of economic recovery.

The problems of global finance are entering a new and profoundly different stage. It is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

It seems that as every day passes another bank is going bankrupt, being forced to merge or being bought out by a government.

This crisis is not limited to the US and the UK, it is a global problem. The government of Iceland was today forced to nationalise the countries third biggest bank and the governments of Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg have bought 49% of Fortis Bank.

More banks will collapse in the coming weeks and months and more will be brought under the wing of national governments. The $700bn bail out process is likely to be passed in the US but it could be a long time before any sort of stability returns to the market.

This chaos will translate to the wider economy and will harm businesses from every walk of life. Jobs will be lost as businesses either go bust or attempt to cut costs. Make sure you do everything possible to ensure that your company needs you. Now is the time to be preparing yourself for the worst.

If you do lose your job then make sure you stand out amoungst the many more candidates that will be applying for a smaller pool of jobs. Coming to this web site is a good start for learning about writing a convincing CV, interview technique and finding out the sort of questions that could be asked at interview.