The Dow drops below 10,000 for the first time since 2005. The S&P 500 is down more than 4% and the Nasdaq is
down more than 5%. Treasuries, meanwhile, are rallying in a flight to
safety bid. On a related note, gold is up 4.8% to $868.80 per ounce.
Although financials (-5.2%) are under pressure, multi-line insurer Hartford Financial Services (HIG 31.19, +3.79) is up 13.8% on news that it is getting $2.5 billion in capital from German insurer giant Allianz.
Hartford, which has more than $300 billion in assets, said it will post
a loss in the third quarter and cut its quarterly dividend by 40%. HIG
tumbled 52% last week on concerns regarding its capital position.
World stock markets continue to tumble. The DJ World Average,
Excluding U.S., is down 7.1%. Emerging markets are taking a pounding,
with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (EEM) dropping 9.9%. Brazil's
Bovespa has fallen 11.2% and Russia's RTS is down 19.1%.
The dollar is rallying against European currencies, with the euro down
1.9% to $1.35 and the pound down 2.0% to $1.74. The yen, however, is
showing strength, with the dollar falling 5.4% against the Japanese
currency.