End of Days

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From Washington Post:

Stock markets across Asia posted sharp losses in early trading Friday on the heels of a steep sell-off on Wall Street.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 974.12 points, or 10.64 percent, to close the morning session at 8,183.37. At one point in the frantic morning trading, the index shed 11.4 percent.

"We are seeing a meltdown in the world stock market due to growing fears over a global recession," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.

The sell-off in Asian markets comes after the Dow Jones industrial average Thursday dropped a staggering 679 points, or 7.3 percent, to close below the 9,000-line for the first time in five years.

From CBC News:

At mid-morning London time, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 233.84, or 5.4 per cent, at 4,079.96, having fallen below the 4,000 mark earlier for the first time in five years.

Germany's DAX was 383.70, or 7.9 per cent, at 4,503.30, and France's CAC-40 was 209.67, or 6.1 per cent lower at 3,233.03.

In Vienna, the stock exchange has been suspended until midday after stocks tumbled 10 per cent at the opening bell.

From International Herald Tribune:

Iceland was on the verge of doing exactly that on Thursday as the government shut down the stock market and seized control of its last major independent bank. That brought trading in the country's currency to a halt, with foreign banks no longer willing to take Icelandic krona, even at fire-sale rates.

As the meltdown in the Icelandic financial system quickened, with the government seemingly powerless to do anything about it, analysts said there was probably only one realistic option left: for Iceland to be bailed out by the International Monetary Fund.

"Iceland is bankrupt," said Arsaell Valfells, a professor at the University of Iceland. "The Icelandic krona is history. The IMF has to come and rescue us."