INVESTORS didn't need spooky masks for scares last fortnight. Rumours of rogue developers mortgaging the same asset with multiple lenders exacerbated worries about Ireland's inflated property values. But loose lending is what happens at the end of a cycle, as corners are cut in competitive frenzy.

The war ghoul spooked energy speculators. Few realise that Turkish attacks on Kurds are traditional and will have no more effect than many such shenanigans since 1991. Little oil is produced in or exported through Kurdistan.

Dollar weakness and credit worries echo 1987. But we're now richer and more mature about risk. Those with nerve recovered their money in 1988.

Irish share valuations are moderate compared to elsewhere or historically. Markets exhibit nervousness rather than euphoria.

The property bust is healthy for the real economy. Builders have sharply cut housing starts. We hear banshee howls for state aid. Finance minister Brian Cowen should cut taxes and borrow to build infrastructure, though it's early in the electoral cycle and Cowen is not yet taoiseach.

The Davy Stockbrokers mid-capitalised stocks conference was surprisingly wellattended. It can't have been easy to attract foreign fund managers, given negative sentiment towards Irish stocks.

As Davy's Robbie Kelleher put it, valuations are now 'discounting Armageddon'.

The presenters were solid, professional managers, with generally good numbers. Yet they were technocrats presenting to other technocrats in a subdued atmosphere, sometimes avoiding eye contact and hiding behind jargon.

There was little emotional energy, of the sort that inspires trust and loyalty. Charismatic leaders make investors excited about overcoming challenges. Participants feel part of something special. Dennis Brosnan had this magic. So does Michael O'Leary.

Where was the fire in the belly? There were no jokes or provocation, resulting in few genuine questions and no applause. Investors want to be reassured but also inspired.

We want vision and energy.

It reminded us of 1999, when Irish fund managers diversified into euroland, selling cheap shares in a dynamic economy to buy expensive shares in stagnant markets.

Many foreigners never believed in the Celtic Tiger and now think what never existed is dead.

The correction to Irish property was sudden, as only something eight years overdue can be. But builders and suppliers prepared well and reacted quickly. Recruitment and consumer demand remain strong.

CPL's Anne Heraty reported that it's lack of candidates that constrains growth, even in financial services. When battlefield feedback conflicts with generals' theorising, the reconnaissance patrol is usually right.

Many managers seem pumpkins as they struggle with slowing growth. But valuations are less scary now. The time to buy is when wimps are frightened. The market is pricing too much risk in. Other than in property there is no slowdown yet. The more apologetic the presentations, the more convinced I became that the Irish share sell-off is overdone. Horror films end eventually. The only ghost I see is a cheap opportunity: we bought CRH and AIB.

13 October, Tehran Walking around the Iranian capital we felt pale and touristy carrying cameras and shades.

A couple of chancers flashed IDs and demanded our passports . . . a transparent scam intended to pinch our passports or extort money. If they were real cops they wouldn't have let us walk away! Yet in Iran even the crooks are polite.

Near the British embassy, the former Churchill Street is now named Bobby Sands Street. In Farsi, if you think someone is a ruthless politician you call him a 'Churchill'. In England the old imperialist is fondly remembered for opposing Germany. But Churchill's commitment to democracy was selective: he opposed Indian freedom and proposed using chemical weapons against civilian targets in 1943.

It's an odd world when diplomatic incidents occur over the naming of a street after a 27year-old coach-builder from Twinbrook. Twenty-six years on, the hunger strikes seem a crucial turning point in a prison struggle sought by neither side. Ironically, the British sought to criminalise paramilitary prisoners by treating them like ordinary inmates, only to highlight how exceptional were politically-motivated prisoners.

The Republican movement also opposed prison protests, which they feared would undermine morale and divert energy from their armed campaign. The first prisoners seemed to have gone along with the new regulations. Then along came an 18-year-old who declined to wear prison garb, and the rest is history.

The Tehran street-sign showed how vulnerable Irish prisoners beat Margaret Thatcher on the moral issue and also, though less emphatically, on the proportion of their demands won. No matter what they were convicted of, few regarded paramilitaries as common criminals. Critically, following the crisis, prisoners did not wear prison garb and ran their own affairs.

The need to act politically led to a political breakthrough for Republicans. The governments' response was the Anglo-Irish Agreement. New opportunities and players led to the peace process. The greatest crime was the failure to resolve the problem earlier.

The greatest risk is trying to dodge risk.

12 October, Dalli, Iran While drilling, the local farmers were worried that we'd steal all their gold. Would that it were so easy! I hid as our manager reassured the locals, avoiding committing money but agreeing some public works. In return for water, he agreed to extend a road, thus bringing valuable, naturally irrigated land into cultivation.

The courteous reality of Iran is completely at odds with the forbidding Western image. A rebranding effort is advisable: maybe returning to the traditional name of Persia, with its civilised connotations?

16 October, Dublin I returned to radio whines for the renewables lobby. Why are they always looking for state subsidies? There seems ample demand for green 'investments', with brokers able to raise cheap equity (cheap, that is, for the issuers) and even debt. If investors are screwed at least it's consensual. Why be greedy? Take the money and run. Grants are inefficient: why would a mandarin or politician be able to pick winners?