Michael Milken, the junk bond legend at Drexel Burnham Lambert in the 1980s who ended up serving some time in the US federal penitentiary system, is an unlikely source of guidance in the current market crisis. But Milken knew all about disappointment and how to avoid it – an approach that seems ever more prescient as the crisis accelerates.

Milken’s driving philosophy in turning junk bonds from a backwater of the securities industry into a booming business was the avoidance of disappointment. At university, he read a study that showed how low-rated bonds outperformed higher rated bonds over a long period, despite their higher default rate.