Stocks are plunging in Britain, Europe, Asia and on Wall Street. Big banks like JPMorgan Chase(JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) in the U.S. as well as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Barclays(BCS), Credit Suisse (CS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) were all crushed.
The British pound sank like a stone.
Investors are rushing to safe shores like U.S. Treasuries. The rate on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury fell to 1.4% -- their lowest level since the summer of 2012 -- as people flocked to investments deemed safe. (Yields and prices move in opposite directions.)
Gold prices surged, another sign of investor unease. Gold often does well in times of economic and market turmoil.
The VIX (VIX), a volatility measure that often is dubbed Wall Street's fear gauge soared more than 40% Friday morning as well.
Even the U.S. Federal Reserve sought to calm frayed nerves by saying it "is prepared to provide dollar liquidity" to other global central banks "to address pressures in global funding markets."
So just how bad could it get? Is it really 2008 all over again? Or something more benign like Wall Street's Black Monday in 1987, which ultimately turned out to be a blip in the middle of an 18-year long bull market? Vote here in my Twitter poll.
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