"All of the four weeks of reporting we are about to get relate...

"All of the four weeks of reporting we are about to get relate to an earlier time when things were better at the end of calendar 2008 -- none of these results will tell you anything about 2009," Mr Harman said.

"Even if things do settle down and it doesn't turn into a huge disaster, you are still three reporting seasons away from getting the worst of the data."

The above comment needs to be taken into account.

2009 will not be a good year for companies.