As expected the Australian wool market moved into stabilisation mode last week, with all three selling centres moving up or down to line up in the centre.
Previously Sydney had been left behind with only a one-day sale the previous week, Melbourne had galloped ahead like somebody was using the electric prodder, and Fremantle had reigned in significantly to finish 50 cents a kilogram lower than Melbourne down the final straight, leaving vastly different prices across the country for the same wool types.
Calm has now been restored with the Sydney market rising by 50c/kg, Melbourne back by 30c/kg to 40c/kg and Fremantle increasing by 10c/kg to 20c/kg.
Now only a few pennies separate prices across the nation, which is a sign of a much healthier, stronger market.
Selling centre disparities aside, the market closed 7c/kg higher but thanks to a stronger US dollar, prices in that currency were US9c/kg cheaper by the end of the week. All Merino fleece types more or less moved in unison, crossbreds were a bit softer, and cardings gained slightly on average.
Now with some semblance of normality returning to the wool market after the crazy gyrations of the past two months, questions are rightfully being asked about the future direction of the market.
Traders, buyers, processors, economists and industry luminaries all gathered in Qufu, Shandong Province in China during the weekend for the annual Nanjing Wool Market conference.
Lots of war stories were no doubt told about survival or near-death experiences over the past couple of months, and by the end of the evening the trading margins were probably getting stretched.
The volatility of the recent drop and subsequent correction in the wool market has been a challenge for everybody in the industry.
By the end of the week calm had been restored and it was back to only a 4pc lift overall in prices, so that is unlikely to do much to the price of polyester.
The market's weekly jump of about 10pc was stellar, but had happened previously, in fact as recently as August 2018, and plenty of times back in the 90's when a 50c/kg jump was a large percentage as prices were so low.
So, the jump we saw was noteworthy, but not mind blowing. What the industry is still trying to work out is the preceding drop in prices.
In historical terms the drop we saw in August (17pc) was also by far from the largest ever, with the end of the reserve price scheme triggering a drop of 35pc in August 91, and the crash after the glorious days of "a pound a pound" registering a 32pc correction.
Both were a long time ago. No doubt, this correction and partial recovery will be annotated in the future with some moniker to explain the cause. Perhaps it will be as simple as 'the trade war" or more likely it will be described in more detail as "the time when the drought kept prices too high for too long, and eventually the balloon burst".
Most in the industry agree that price resistance has finally caught up with the industry and weakened demand sufficiently for prices to come down.
Of the 400c/kg the market has lost since the recess, 200c/kg was necessary and logical, but the extra 200c/kg had been confusing to all. Does that mean we are now back at a price level and can continue to move ahead?
The optimists would say yes, but there is still a lot of residual damage to be healed and confidence to regain. There are plenty of contracts which had been booked in April, May and June - and even with the recovery in prices over the past two weeks are still 300c/kg or 400c/kg out of the market.
If both sides work together they can be managed, but if the supplier takes a hard-line approach it will be difficult.
Others have been burnt in the spot market covering contracts on the way up, and will become very risk averse in their selling approach in the near future.
