Down, Down, Down

The Dow is currently under 10,000 for the first time since I don't know when, and world markets are plunging as well as the credit crisis spreads globally, particularly in Europe:

European nations scrambled on Sunday night to prevent a growing credit crisis from bringing down major banks and alarming savers as troubles in financial markets spread around the world, accelerating economic downturns on three continents.

The German government moved to guarantee all private savings accounts in the country on Sunday, hoping to reassure depositors who had grown nervous as efforts to bail out a large German lender and a major European financial company failed.

Late Sunday, it was disclosed that new bailouts had been arranged for both of those companies, Hypo Real Estate, the German lender, and Fortis, a large banking and insurance company based in Belgium but active across much of the Continent.

The spreading worries came days after the United States Congress approved a $700 billion bailout package that officials had hoped would calm financial markets globally.

The shaky instruments that the US investment firms were using to package mortgages and leverage risk were sold on the gloval market. It was inevitable that this would spread to even the most stable country. The entire financial system needs to be scared straight and massively re-regulated so they never take down the entire world again. The last countries standing will be those that make things.