Markets are in a tizz again though exactly why is all Greek to me. To them too, as they fret over whether Greece will default on its debt on June 30 when deep down they know it doesn't matter.
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Nobody wants it, so it won't happen.
But in the past few months our sharemarket has under-performed almost everywhere else, suggesting an own goal or two.
The way it's going, this will be its worst quarter in three years. The so-called confession season when companies own up to any problems, has so far claimed 14 major scalps, literally in the case of Woolies.
Analysts are expecting flat earnings overall when companies start reporting in August.
Even more worrying is that fund managers, who would normally be expected to be stepping up their share purchases as prices drop, are reportedly cashing up or looking offshore.
Not that it's all gloom and doom. The noticeable number of smaller stocks, for example, which are bucking the trend by issuing profit upgrades are being well rewarded.
Nor was it any secret that economic growth this financial year was pretty ordinary so the reporting season was never going to be flash. It's the next one that matters to the market.
Confidence was the missing ingredient this financial year even though interest rates are a record low, and the dollar is down 18 per cent.
Still, there are some admittedly modest signs that the economy might have bottomed.
The best and most plausible is the CBA's business sales indicator which adds up every card transaction through its eftpos terminals, about one-third of the market, and covers far more businesses than the official figures for retail sales.
The annual rise in May was "the strongest in five months and above the decade-average", according to Craig James, chief economist at CommSec.
Then there's employment which has been better than the growth in GDP would suggest, or economists expected. Although it bobs about each month, unemployment fell last month to 6 per cent. Nothing to shout about but at least it's going the right way.
Also, advertised vacancies are the highest since 2012, more good news for job seekers.
The slowest wage growth in years is doing wonders for job creation and, let's face it, the bottom line, even if it dampens demand.
So what's this got to do with Greece? Exactly. It's China we have to watch, closely followed by the US Federal Reserve.
So far China's carefully calibrated slowdown – to growth three times ours, mind you – is working without popping its property bubble which would have caused a banking crisis. And while the Fed is hinting it will start lifting rates in September, that will depend on the economic data. By promising not to do anything rash, a move would be gold-plated proof of stronger growth.
Trouble is, in the meantime the markets will be all over the place every time a new statistic is released. So brace yourselves for the ride because in the US that's daily.
