Global economic news, never a bundle of laughs at the sunniest of times, has been stripped of all but the darkest shades of mirth in recent months. But laugh we must. So here it is, a shard of peat-black humour plucked straight from the shattered looking-glass now resting at our feet.

The Brokers With Hands on their Faces Blog contains photos, one after another, of stock brokers touching different parts of their faces as they watch on in disbelief at recent manic market machinations. The blog contains no words, for none are required. Amateur anthropologists with a wicked streak prefer their irony served raw.