Nuke's

Halloween arrived a week early in the financial markets this morning, as a sharp sell-off in the Asian markets is leading to a similar move on Wall Street. TEOTWAWKI? {cue spooky music}

Selling pressure is very strong in pre-market activity this morning. Futures trading is halted until 9:30 am Eastern.

Hang in there folks. It’s going to be a crazy day.

Update: (peaking out from the fortified bunker) … Thirty minutes into the trading day … No, the sky hasn’t fallen … yet.

Here are the headlines from cnbc.com …

• Markets Nosedive on Grim Economic News
  

  Futures fell to the lowest level possible, European shares shed 8 percent after stocks in Japan had dropped almost 10 percent to their lowest point in 5-1/2 years, while economic news is getting worse. Euro Shares Fall 8% Asian Markets Plunge

• OPEC Agrees to Cut Output, Oil Slide Goes On
  • Oil Falls After OPEC Cuts
  • OPEC to Bail Out Oil?
• GE to Test Fed’s Commercial Paper Funding Facility
• Today’s Market: What The Pros Are Saying
• Asia Eyes $80 Billion FX Swaps Fund by Mid-2009
• Cumberland Advisors’ Kotok: ‘Peak Of Liquidation”
• Mounting Layoffs: Why They’re Different This Time
• US to Soon Name Next Banks to Get Capital
• Yahoo May Unveil Plans for New Nebraska Facility
  • Microsoft’s Profit Rises
  • Pleasant Surprise for Tech?
• Cramer Explains the Market’s Wild Fluctuations
• AIG Already Borrowed 75% of Rescue Funds: Report
• Wall Street Moves Quickly From Panic to Despair
• Redstone May Sell Assets Other Than CBS, Viacom
• Regulators Hunt for Signs of Market Manipulatio

Filed under: economics, who'd a thunk it Tagged: | dow, market down, market volatility, Nasdaq, panic selling, plunge protection team, s&p, teotwawki