With stunning speed, global markets have sold off to a degree not seen since the worst days of late 2008 and early 2009. In fact, only three times in the past 40 years have stocks sold this hard this quickly, with a 16 percent decline in the S&P 500 in a 10-day period surpassed only by drops in the Octobers of 1987 and 2008. Click through the pictures to take a look at people's reactions to the market meltdown in different countries.
A trader stands in front of screens at the bourse in Madrid August 9, 2011. The global economy stumbled deeper into crisis as stock markets slumped further on Tuesday, with investors losing confidence that the United States and Europe can rein in their debt burdens quickly and avert a double-dip recession. ReutersTraders in the S&P 500 options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade signal orders shortly after the Federal Reserve's decision to leave short-term interest rates untouched between zero and 0.25 percent in Chicago, August 9, 2011. The central bank has kept its benchmark rate near zero since 2008.ReutersA man reflects in a window as he passes near clocks at the Warsaw Stock Exchange August 9, 2011. Stock index futures fell sharply on Monday, pointing to further declines in equities, as Standard & Poor's decision to cut the country's top-tier AAA credit rating rattled already jittery investors. Technical charts signaled further losses for a key stock index at a time when the equity markets were also concerned about the possibility of the euro zone debt crisis spreading to countries such as Italy and Spain. Safe-haven assets were in demand, with gold hitting another record high.ReutersAn employee of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) reacts as he works at the bourse in Tokyo August 9, 2011. The Nikkei stock average closed down 1.7 percent on Tuesday, having trimmed losses on bargain hunting after the index tumbled more than 4 percent in the wake of a plunge on Wall Street and a downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt. ReutersTraders work at their desks at Frankfurt's stock exchange August 8, 2011. Germany's DAX fell 4.5 percent to below 6,000-mark for the first time since September 2010.ReutersTraders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange August 8, 2011.ReutersTrading floor of Frankfurt's stock exchange Aug. 8, 2011. ReutersAn investor reacts as he looks at a computer monitor showing stock prices in a customer lounge of a stock trading firm in Seoul August 9, 2011. Seoul shares hit their lowest close since September 2010 on Tuesday, although they rebounded from losses of almost 10 percent earlier in the day in record daily trading volume of more than $12 billion. The early sharp sell-off prompted South Korea's state funds to step in to support the market, and they bought 505 billion won in shares, although that was dwarfed by foreign selling of 1.18 trillion won in overall traded volume of 13.3 trillion won ($12.3 billion), according to exchange data.ReutersA woman does yoga outside the New York Stock Exchange August 8, 2011. Stocks tumbled on Monday, the first session after rating agency Standard & Poor's cut the top-tier AAA credit rating of the United States, further unnerving already-skittish investors.Reuters
