Um, they have been cutting rates and printing money. Let's not forget that's how they helped cause this whole mess. I'm not making any predictions, and definitely not on a daily basis, but that was a lot of selling the past three days. And now the institutions can short without the uptick rule.
What's interesting is the major Yen-based carry pairs are holding above their November lows. Until now, they've pretty much been in lockstep with U.S. and global stocks. Yes, the GBPJPY is sinking miserably, but that hardly counts....the Pound is getting killed against everything. I wonder if these carry traders are smarter than stock traders? It's also interesting that the Nikkei, though it got killed over the couple of months, isn't overreacting any more when U.S. indices tank. It's only been down in the 0.3% to 0.7% range tonight.
It is interesting - earlier in 2007 they would usually tank double what the decline was in US markets. As long as carry trade stays on, we may have some support
The U.S. has been doing what Germany did in the 1930s for the past 7 years. I believe that you meant the 1920s
What was the worst selloff you've ever seen? There was one that I remember in either 2000 or 2001, where the Dow plunged 500 points in less than one hour, I think, although it then rallied 500 points in an hour or less.