Why are stock markets regularly gripped by panics? What gives rise to these panics? Are markets becoming more panic-prone? In this fascinating book Stephen Vines provides some unusual answers to these questions and shows why panics offer unique opportunities to stock market investors. He challenges some long held assumptions about the benefits of investment diversification, offers new ways of understanding the panic cycle and demonstrates how to predict the onset of panics. Interviews with market professionals directly involved in handling some major stock crises provide a compelling insider's account of what actually happens when panics break out. This book also looks at ways in which stock markets are becoming more detached from the companies and economies they are supposed to represent and shows how this is building a new and more dangerous form of instability into the market system. This is a truly comprehensive study examining all aspects of the stock market panic phenomenon. Presented in readable, jargon-free form this book will be of interest to anyone who invests in stock markets and is interested in preserving their wealth. Market professionals and those studying how they work will find a wealth of valuable insights here.