The holidays are almost over. Children are getting ready for school and, public transport is getting crowded again, and most of us are preparing to get our heads back down to work for the four-month slog up to the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank have become the first banks to trade in shares listed on the Saudi Arabian stock exchange on behalf of foreign investors, who have been granted access to the region's largest and most liquid market for the first time after years of lobbying.
US and European banks, already burdened by losses and concerns about their financial health, face a new challenge: paying off hundreds of billions of dollars of debt coming due.