In the wake of Hurricane Ike, it's probably best to avoid talking about clouds and silver linings, especially as the natural disaster was not the only challenge of the past few days. The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the Fed's bail-out of insurance giant American International Group indicate that the credit crunch is far from over, and many economies are at risk. None of this helps business confidence and the current uncertainties are sure to have some impact on equipment purchase decisions. Cost-cutting is likely to be the order of the day, and all but the most successful of operators will be thinking twice about buying additional equipment or replacing current fleets. But if there is one minor silver lining, it would have to be the fall of global oil prices which are now back under USD100 a barrel. Under different market conditions, the price drop would be headline news, but for now, it has been drowned out in a sea of red ink.