Sweet Christ, this is shaping up to be an interesting day

"TOKYO - Asian stocks fell to their lowest in months Thursday — and European stocks followed in early trade — battered by persistent jitters over U.S. housing loan problems and their possible damage to global financial markets.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down nearly 2 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after falling below the key 16,000-point mark the first time since November. South Korea’s main benchmark fell 6.9 percent to its lowest finish since May, and Hong Kong’s blue chip Hang Seng Index was down 3.9 percent late afternoon." LINK