US stocks plunged on Monday morning as Friday’s dismal July jobs report continued stoking fears that the US economy is on shaky legs.
The Dow plunged 1,072 points, or 2.7%. The S&P 500 fell 4.1% and the Nasdaq Composite sank by a whopping 6.3%.
The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which measures bets on expected stock market volatility, surged to 55. The last time the fear gauge hit that level outside of the pandemic was the Great Financial Crisis, in 2008.
Yeah, the yen is absurd. If the Bank of Japan did nothing, it would have resulted in massive anger among the Japanese people. For context, several years ago, the exchange rate was around 110. Then it went up and up, to around 160. Everything depending on imports rose in price (i.e., 50% up), but wages barely moved. That, my friends, is an unstable setup.