"awaking have found nothing in their hands" (from land-grab time to sand through the fingers)

Go read: this FT piece on the linguistic tendencies and frothings of financial crises.

Sir Isaac Newton, four centuries before, had remained a wallflower, seeing the South Sea Bubble for what it was. But he was persuaded to take the floor for the last waltz. “I can predict the motion of heavenly bodies,” he observed ruefully, “but not the madness of crowds.”

(Thanks to Gopal for this)