Mr Brown also said that he hoped that the dispute between management and workers at the Grangemouth refinery - which has led to fears of panic-buying and fuel shortages - could be settled by arbitration.

BBC: Brown shrugs off Levy's criticism

And earnings season is a time when you see panic-driven buying and selling on display.

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Its president Edmund King acknowledged that panic buying - as well as wet weather - may have played a part in the April-June fall.

BBC: Business

Lesley Urrutia, of Pilton Electrical in Cardiff, said customers - many elderly - appeared to be panic buying.

BBC: Bulb bows out to mixed applause

Meanwhile, fears over radioactive fallout here in the United States, which led to panic buying of an anti-radiation medicine and survival gear in the West, have been allayed for the time being by EPA findings that almost no radiation has survived the 5, 000 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean.

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But far from the mass ruination envisioned by these proselytizers, most of the long-term top-performing investment letters are using the panic to find great buying opportunities.

FORBES: Magazine Article