Financial meltdown - 09/01/2015

US stock markets off more than 2.8% at close as China's troubles spread west

http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/sep/01/stock-markets-fall-weak-chinese-factory-data-business-live

IMF chief fears ‘bumpy’ ride and warns that global growth is weaker than hoped, as China’s manufacturing shrinks at fastest rate since 2012

• The Dow is off by more than 400 points
• Summary: Another bad day in the markets
• Wall Street falls sharply, with US manufacturing weak

All three major indices in the US stock markets closed down more than 2.8% today

The Dow, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all closed far below their opening prices today after a day of panicked selling of a kind not seen since Black Monday 2011.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average - 16,058.35, down 469.58 points, -2.84%
• S&P 500 - 1913.87, down 58.31 points, -2.96%
• Nasdaq - 4,636.10, down 140.40 points, -2.94%

WTI Crude Crashes 8% - Biggest Plunge Since Nov 2014's OPEC Meeting

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-01/wti-crude-crashes-8-biggest-plunge-nov-2014s-opec-meeting

Surprise!!! Month-end window-dressing manipulation massacred...

This is the biggest single-day drop since Nov 28 2014 - When OPEC stunned the world.

Charts: Bloomberg

From Pravda

NZX drops on renewed China fears

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/283117/nzx-drops-on-renewed-china-fears

The New Zealand sharemarket has mirrored other stock markets and fallen this morning after further evidence that China's economy is slowing.

A man watches a screen board at a stocks market in Huaibei in east China's Anhui Province.Photo: AFP

Chinese factory activity has contracted at the fastest pace in three years, triggering a bout of selling on stockmarkets globally.

The main index in Shanghai opened down more than 4 percent, following heavy losses in New York and London overnight. Wall Street fell about 3 percent, as did the UK's FTSE 100, while Europe's main markets dropped about 2.5 percent.

Share prices have also dropped in Hong Kong and Japan.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index had declined nearly 75 points. or 1.3 percent, to 5581 by 2pm, and Hamilton Hindin Greene director Grant Williamson said investors were nervous.

"We've seen investors doing a little bit of selling. Once again, it's not huge turnover, but given August was the worst performing month for the market since 2010, the new month hasn't started particularly well."

World markets reacted with panic on 24 August - dubbed China's Black Monday - after the Shanghai Compositeclosed down nearly 9 percent, extending earlier losses.