Alex Ferguson wrote:

To all you fans of Reinsurance’s weekly email, we're so sorry.

We couldn’t think of anything.

So we thought we'd have a drink. But we didn't know who to toast.

Should we salute the (re)insurance industry because at last they look like the Masters of the Universe compared to their Financial Services brothers in Canary Wharf or St Pauls?

Should we wonder how many hedge funds -- some of them who have been accused of ramming up the capacity in the reinsurance market - might be there after they’ve finished paying hurricane claims from Gustav and Ike (“And more’s the case, will the hedge funds tell anybody that their diversification plan has gone awry? Will they reload for next year?” one senior underwriter told us lunch.”)?

Should we have a drink and think of the staff in AIG's offices in the USA, who must be wondering about their jobs after Edward Liddy's speech?

Or should we have a drink to try and forget one of the worst weeks ever for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which plunged over 700 points IN ONE DAY this week?

One thing’s for certain: it’s been one heck of a week for news.