The US Dollar and Japanese Yen are soaring, effectively shutting down international trade. The Nikkei 225 plunged -6.4% to 7162.9, a level not seen since the Bear market of 1982. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged -12.7%.

At 6am ET, the precious metals market is sinking as are prices on the European bourses; the US equity markets may open with futures locked limit down. Technical analysis this weekend shows no evidence of a turn.

October 2008 will indeed go down in history books.

I shall return during the day with time-stamped updates.

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ADDENDUM: 7:45am ET

The $USD has been weakening and $GOLD moving higher, along with many international currencies against the USD, since about 5:30am ET. However, there needs to be "an important news story" to break the ice.

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ADDENDUM: 9:20am ET

The FTSE and DAX are giving an indication of a rally attempt. On Thursday and Friday, the FTSE closed on a rally attempt, but opened the next day with a gap lower, which was a recognition that prices throughout the world were crashing. More of the Mid-East wealth in securities is traded from London than anywhere. Keep watching the London market for signs of strength. If you have an interest in the metals and precious metals, watch Xstrata (XTA.L) as an indicator. US equity futures have come off their earlier lows.

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ADDENDUM

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Links & Charts

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International Economics Review

US Economic Calendar.

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International Equity Markets Review

Europe

Here is the latest session data for the bourses of Europe.

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Here is the latest session data for the London stock exchange FTSE.

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Here is the latest session data for the German DAX.

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Here is the latest session data for the French CAC 40.

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Here is the latest session data for the Milan Italy stock exchange MIBTEL.

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Here is the latest session data for the Swiss market index.

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Asia-Pacific

Here is the latest session data for the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges.

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Here is the latest chart for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index.

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Here is the latest chart for the Singapore index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Shanghai Composite index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index .

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Here is the latest chart for the India BSE 30 index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Australian All Ordinaries index .

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US Equity Markets Review

DJIA (interactive) chart

NASDAQ Composite (interactive) chart

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Oil Review

Here is the e-miNY Aug-08 Crude Oil chart.

Interactive Chart of Daily Crude Oil:

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Gold & Precious Metals Review

Spot gold chart for the week

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Spot silver chart for the week

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Forex Review

Here is the chart of the week's trading in the $USD.

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