Market consolidation just what the doctor ordered

The consolidation in Wall Street, and consequently in other stock markets worldwide, is the start of a necessary catharsis, says Donald Amstad, a fixed-income specialist and regional sales director at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia. "The old global financial system was based on continuously rising asset prices for real estate, both commercial and residential, especially in the US,ö he says. ôThis was underpinned by copious amounts of leverage, derivatives and securitisation. And in tu…