Across the world, while the markets here are closed, there is a melt down under way. This is a report from The Wall Street Journal’s website:

Asian stocks suffered a heavy blow Monday on fears of a U.S. recession, as India’s index set a record with a 7.4% plunge and 5% or more was sheared off markets in Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China.

The sharp declines, which cast doubt on the theory that the booming region’s fortunes have "decoupled" from those of the U.S., came on the heels of a 4% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last week. They also reflected investor indifference toward an economic stimulus package President Bush announced Friday. A U.S. recession could take a significant toll on Asian export-led economies.

The action was most dramatic in India, as the Bombay Stock Exchange’s bellwether Sensitive Index fell 1408.35 points, or 7.41%, to close at 17605.35. The decline, the 30-stock index’s largest ever single-day drop in points, came after two weeks in which it appeared the Indian stock markets, one of Asia’s most consistent performers in recent years, could weather a U.S. downturn.

Ketan Karani, vice president for research in Kotak Securities in Mumbai, said extreme investor optimism had turned to withering pessimism as foreign institutional investors yanked their funds. "Global negative cues were ignored for quite some time, and now it caught up," he said.

    When the U.S. markets open tomorrow, it is going to be ugly. And this week the markets are likely to slide even more. I have said often that the question about whether we are in a recession now or whether the recession is coming six months from now or a year from now is irrelevant to most workers–they have been feeling pain for a long time. Having said that, there is a psychological dynamic right now among investors that is akin to a fire in a theater: no one wants to be the last one out and there is a growing rush for the exits. That will make it a lot more painful for working Americans because, inevitably, the result will be a massive round of layoffs–which we’ve already by the the many thousands in the financial companies who are writing off billions of dollars in mortgage loans gone sour.