Jan.21/08 - Black Monday Meltdown - Here are the Stats.

A worldwide sell-off today sent stocks into a nose dive with a global meltdown in markets from Hong Kong to Europe. Today was the single largest one-day loss since 9/11. Here are the numbers.

• In Japan the Nikkei Index was down 535.35 points ending at 13,325.94
• The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong plunged 1,838.01 points (5.49%) to 23,818.86
• The Chinese Shanghai Composite Index fell 5.1%
• The Bombay Exchange in India lost 7.41%
• Germany's DAX 30 tumbled 7.2%
• France's CAC-40 was down by 6.8%
• Britain's FTSE-100 lost 323.5 points closing at 5,578.2 representing a loss of nearly 60 million pounds in share values on the exchange.

In today's worldwide market plunge, equity investors lost hundreds of billions of dollars.

It's obvious that today's meltdown clearly demonstrates that investors are deeply concerned about the U.S. economy and its housing and credit crisis. Investors have rejected President Bush's economic stimulus plan for $145 billion worth of tax relef to encourage consumer spending, as they have also rejected Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's totally lame argument that equity strength in global markets would be sufficient to withstand a downturn in U.S. equities experienced by the bursting real estate bubble.

How naively arrogant on the part of Secretary Paulson.

It's also painfully apparent that the investors have given a thumbs-down to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's assurances that the U.S. central bank will repond with a big interest rate cut.

Fasten your seat belts! We're about to go for a ride on a rollercoaster that we shouldn't even have to be on in the first place.

Mahoud; they're Ramping-up for War ... but then that's what You Want ...isn't it?

A senior Bush administration official told Fox news that "everyone in town" was discussing the costs and benefits of a military assault on Iran within the next 8 to 10 months.

Fox also reported that one foreign diplomat has stated that the Bush Administration "has just about had it with Iran."

It has also been reported that U.S. officials believe that finding a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions has failed and they have advised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that a military intervention of some sort is necessary.

China is obstructing the diplomatic process at the UN Security Council and the Russian Bear is dancing right along, albeit in the shadow of the Chinese ... oh my, what a great surprise!

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will no longer support further sanctions against Iran by the United Nations Security Council. But apparently Germany would "privately welcome while publicly protesting" a U.S. bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities ... a gutless, two-faced move on the part of "za Fahderland."

Meanwhile the Pentagon has formulated a plan for a "three-day blitz" to annihilate the entire Iranian military, targeting 1,200 sites using rapid and overwhelming force.

In late August, President Bush stepped-up his rhetoric saying that Tehran had put the Middle East "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust."

In my opinion this is exactly what Mahoud Ahmadinejad wants! I'll tell you why in an upcoming blog. Look for ... "All that Ahmadinejad wants is to Change the World!"