Black Tuesday? Update

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Monday night update: The news from Asia is not encouraging -- Asian stock markets were sharply lower Tuesday, continuing Monday’s near-panic selling; Japan’s Nikkei 225-share index was down 4.6% in midafternoon trading Tuesday in Tokyo, following a 3.9% slide Monday.

(Resume previous post) Good morning. The global stock market sell-off is a story worth tracking, as the U.S. housing slump slowly but surely does damage to investors and economies across the world. Who knew that liar loans and serial refis would end so badly? (I know, I know, you knew). Single-day losses of 5% to 7% in global markets (6.8% in France, 7.2% in Germany, 5.5% in Hong Kong) are eye-opening.

U.S. markets, of course, are closed for the King holiday, but futures trading today indicates Tuesday could be very ugly on Wall Street. From Reuters: ‘Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 546 points or 4.5 percent. Should the Dow close lower on Tuesday by the amount the futures suggest, it would rank as the fourth-largest point loss ever for the index.’

I’m guessing the Federal Reserve will say or do something before the markets open Tuesday in hopes of injecting a glimmer of confidence, or liquidity into the picture.

Your thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: AP