7 Days of Panic and Fear - The Travails of Wall Street

--The average is down 2,338 points, or 21 percent, in the last four weeks, since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy escalated a long-running credit crunch into a full-fledged crisis.

--The point decline Thursday was the third-worst in Dow history. The worst, 778 points, came less than two weeks ago.

--Of the last 19 trading days, there have been 11 triple-digit losses -- including the unprecedented six straight. The six gains have all been triple-digits, and only one of them was enough to make up the losses of the day before.

--The Dow now stands only about 1,300 points above its lowest close of the bear market that followed 9/11. In a market as volatile as this, that gap can be closed in a couple of trading days, or less.

 

Nothing much to say there, the figures speak for themselves. The worrying factor is this could be just the beginning.

The central banks are pumping in money across the globe to no avail. We are paying for the credit excesses of the past, and will have to wait out this pain.