Oil companies and miners: Dead-cat bounce?

Oil companies and miners have bounced because they fell so far, so fast

October's bounce in financial assets was something of a relief rally and helped to mask the uncomfortable red numbers of August and September. This was particularly true for most equity markets, whether by geography or sector.

Debt markets fared better, but many investors there ended up with negative returns for the three months to the end of October 2015. Much of the blame for increased volatility, a switch to a risk-off environment, and poor returns was laid at China's door. The knock-on effect on Chinese demand for commodities meant commodity exporters suffered the most. Emerging markets bore the brunt of that rationale in both their debt and equity prices. At the same time, we had the 'will they, won't they?' debate over the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision timing and renewed fears of a eurozone...