UH-OH: HANG SENG ALREADY DOWN MORE THAN 7%

10PM: Hang Seng Hong Kong

18,983.97

–1,506.60

–7.35%

TAKE A DEEP BREATH: I THINK THINGS WILL GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER.

UPDATE:

SINGAPORE - Asian stock markets nosedived on Tuesday and the Swiss franc held near a record high, as investors dumped riskier assets in a global rout triggered by fears that political leaders are failing to tackle debt crises in Europe and the United States.

Major indexes across the region fell between 2 and 5 per cent, following drop of more than 6 per cent on Wall Street in the first trading session since the historic downgrade of the United States' AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor's.

The panicked flight-to-safety pushed gold to the latest in a string of record peaks, boosted the Swiss franc and the yen and lifted Japanese government bonds and, ironically, U.S. Treasuries — the asset directly affected by the downgrade.

THESE ARE THE FRUITS OF SOCIALISM - THE WELFARE STATE, OF GOVERNMENTS RUN BY POLITICIANS WHO PROMISE TOO MANY BENEFITS.

EVENTUALLY THE MARKETS SPEAK, AND THEY ALWAYS HAVE THE LAST WORD.