Asia relies heavily on the United States to drive its export business, and it’s drying up. Retailers in both Europe and the United States are facing a slow holiday retail season. And lenders the world over spooked by what’s going on may stop sending capital to companies and consumers, further hurting economies.
The World Economic Forum on Friday put it bluntly: the world faces a “heightened risk of contagion” and “massive consumer credit defaults.”
Still, the overriding message was “don’t panic.” We’ll agree to that wholeheartedly. We know that when investors see the Dow drop 600 points or more in a single day, fear settles in. But if you have your sell strategy in place, you’ve likely implemented it by now and are protecting yourself on the downside.
Investors who put their plan to action are watching today’s developments from the sidelines, and feeling a measure of relief that they’re not in the thick of it.