Dow Drops 358 Points After China Fears Spur Global Sell-Off

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Aug 20, 2015, 5:36 PM ET
By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer

The U.S. stock market endured its worst performance in 18 months on Thursday, driven lower by another slump in Chinese shares and heavy selling by technical traders.

The global rout started in China, where sharp declines in energy and property stocks pushed the Shanghai Composite down more than 3 percent. That selling soon spread to European and U.S. markets, where the Standard & Poor's 500 index moved further below a closely watched trading level.

Investors, facing screens full of red, retreated to their usual places of safety: bonds, gold and cash.

"The emerging markets really got slammed overnight and that quickly spread to the rest of the world," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/china-worries-weigh-us-stocks-midday-trading-33206273

[Hotler]

1. Just a blip. Things will be fine tomorrow.

The plunge protection team will step in and bring it back up. Nothing to see here. Please move along.

[Duval]

3. We can only hope, Hotler,

and make sure our money is in a "safe bank", like a credit union. Banks need more regulations. I want to read Thom Hartmann's book "The Crash of 2016". Hartmann has a keen political and economic eye.

[Warpy]

4. The dollar is down, so European, Asian and Canadian

bargain hunters will be around to scoop up some of the stocks dumped by panicky people.

Panic is the worst reason to make any decision, especially a financial decision.

[asiliveandbreathe]

2. Just a matter of time - too - watching commodities...like oil -

Oil down 17% July to Aug....this has to figure into todays results as well..6 year low...

Iran is now pumping more oil, adding to concerns about a global supply glut. But volatility in China is leading to fears about oil demand. Copper, corn and other commodities are tumbling too.

[Warpy]

6. Commodities are down pretty much across the board

Oil and gold aren't the only ones people have gotten hosed over. In that way, it looks eerily like the summer of 2008. However, other things don't fit that model, not yet.

[asiliveandbreathe]

8. You are correct!

"eerily like the summer of 2008" -

[SoapBox]

11. I can't ever help but think...

The Banksters and Manipulators, doing their best to screw us while they make billions.

[seveneyes]

5. I guess we are all fucked now

Good thing I had two full moons in July to get a couple runs of "shine" in. If someone is destined to steal the retirement we saved for the last forty years, I guess we can do it shining.

[whatthehey]

13. Please tell me how they will steal it.

[taught_me_patience]

7. Why are we still following the DOW?

The S&P is a much better measure of the stock market.

[harun]

15. Just habit. Usually tells the same story though.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Market's been topping for months.

I expect another 5-6% on the downside.

[SoapBox]

10. So in the last couple weeks, how much have 401ks lost?

Oh...don't worry about that...because it's wall to wall tRump on the impotent MSM.

[GoldenEagle16]

16. If people are close to retirement then they should not be in stocks

if people are far from retirement, this is an opportunity to buy stocks at lower prices.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. sounds like maybe a good time to buy, if you're liquid.

[wildbilln864]

14. down 160 more so far today. n/t