Spanish economy heads for meltdown

Spanish discontent as soup kitchens spring up

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards are facing ruin as bankruptcies and unemployment rise

Faced with losing his home if he cannot find €6,000 (£5,350) by the end of this week, Javier Martínez has resorted to desperate measures: the unemployed father-of-four is selling his own flat and throwing in another, free.

Related article: Transplant tourism: Jobless Spaniards sell kidneys (Times Online)

The three-bedroom apartment in Tarazona, near Zaragoza in eastern Spain, is on the market for only €57,000. The former construction project manager is including a one-bedroom flat that he had been letting in an attempt to entice a buyer.

“I need to find the cash by May 15 or I may be declared bankrupt. I must provide for my children,” Mr Martínez said. He is one of hundreds of thousands of Spaniards facing ruin as Spain’s economy heads for meltdown.

The number of Spaniards unable to pay their debts has risen by 26 per cent to 2.7million in 2009, compared with the first four months of last year. During the same period 232,000 companies joined the list of bad debtors, a 67 per cent rise, according to AsNef-Equifax, a Spanish credit agency.

Bankruptcies are up 44 per cent in the first quarter this year against the final quarter of 2008, with the worst-hit sectors being services and construction.

Read moreSpanish economy heads for meltdown

Ukraine and Lativia warn of financial disaster in the West if they are not helped

Western European banks are exposed to over £1 trillion of eastern European debt, leading to comparisons with the subprime crisis in the United States. Austria is particularly affected, with an outstanding loan portfolio to eastern Europe of £213 billion, 71 per cent of GDP.

Even worse: ‘Toxic’ EU bank assets total £16.3 trillion (Telegraph)


Ukraine and Latvia have warned that Western Europe faces financial disaster unless it unites to help stricken countries in the former Soviet bloc.

Government officials from the two countries, which are at risk of bankruptcy as a result of the global financial crisis, told the Daily Telegraph that the European Union’s biggest powers were in danger of repeating the worst mistakes of the 1930s depression by retreating into isolationism and protectionism.

Grigory Nemyria, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said that the EU had to overcome bitter internal differences over how to deal with the economic crisis in eastern Europe when world leaders met next month at the G20 summit in England.

“The EU should not just be helping Ukraine because Ukraine is helpless,” Mr Nemyria said. “It should be doing so because it is in the EU’s self-interest.

“There is a high exposure in the [Western European] banking sector to Ukraine, Latvia etc that can only be addressed by acting in concert. The cost of inaction will be far greater than the cost of action.”

Read moreUkraine and Lativia warn of financial disaster in the West if they are not helped

Iran threatened with economic meltdown

Iran needs the price of oil to stay above $70 per barrel or it will go bust in 2009.


Presidential powers in Iran are often circumscribed by the clerics

The sharp downward spiral of oil prices has prompted economists to predict that Tehran is facing severe financial hardship within the space of a few months.

Iran’s presidential contenders have to address the budget deficit brought about by the plummeting oil prices and the world banking crisis.

The country’s economy is almost totally dependent on oil, which accounts for 80% of the country’s foreign exchange receipts, while oil and gas make up 70% of government revenue.

Cash rolled in when the price of oil was above $140 a barrel and the country amassed huge foreign currency reserves, but with the price falling to around $40, that revenue has dried up accordingly.

For the first time since the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iranians will turn away from geopolitics and focus instead on the state of their economy when they go to the polls in June.

Impact of sanctions

Read moreIran threatened with economic meltdown

George Soros sees no bottom for world financial collapse


George Soros listens to economists speaking at the “Emerging from the Financial Crisis” annual conference at Columbia University, February 20, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.

Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.

He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system.

“We witnessed the collapse of the financial system,” Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. “It was placed on life support, and it’s still on life support. There’s no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom.”

Read moreGeorge Soros sees no bottom for world financial collapse

Newspaper Industry’s Collapse Hastens; Shutdowns Loom

Bloomberg has removed the article.


Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — The collapse of the U.S. newspaper industry is accelerating as a deepening plunge in advertising forces publishers to consider curtailing print editions or shutting down altogether.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will shut down or appear only on the Internet if its parent company can’t find a buyer for it by March. The Tucson Citizen in Arizona will close if it can’t be sold. Denver’s Rocky Mountain News is up for sale, and Detroit’s two dailies cut their delivery schedule to three days a week.

“There’s going to be a lot of papers giving up days of the week that they publish editions and an acceleration of movement from print to digital publishing,” said Ken Doctor, an analyst at media consultant Outsell Inc. in Burlingame, California.

New York Times Co., Gannett Co. and McClatchy Co., which altogether own about 135 dailies, posted publishing ad revenue declines of more than 13 percent in 2008 and anticipate further drops this year. The publishers are selling assets and cutting at least 5,000 jobs amid the worst recession in more than 70 years.

Read moreNewspaper Industry’s Collapse Hastens; Shutdowns Loom

Gerald Celente: The Collapse of 2009; The Greatest Depression

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about. – CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

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17. Januar 2009
Source: YouTube

Read moreGerald Celente: The Collapse of 2009; The Greatest Depression

World Agenda: riots in Iceland, Latvia and Bulgaria are a sign of things to come

Our third global political column explores the start of an age of rebellion over the financial crisis – beginning in Iceland


Icelanders vented their fury at the political class’s handling of the financial crisis by staging angry protests in Reykjavik
(Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images)

Icelanders all but stormed their Parliament last night. It was the first session of the chamber after what might appear to be an unusually long Christmas break.

Ordinary islanders were determined to vent their fury at the way that the political class had allowed the country to slip towards bankruptcy. The building was splattered with paint and yoghurt, the crowd yelled and banged pans, fired rockets at the windows and lit a bonfire in front of the main door. Riot police moved in.

Related article: Icelanders held over angry demo (BBC News)

Now in the grand sweep of the current crisis, a riot on a piece of volcanic rock in the north Atlantic may not seem to add up to much. But it is a sign of things to come: a new age of rebellion.

The financial meltdown has become part of the real economy and is now beginning to shape real politics. More and more citizens on the edge of the global crisis are taking to the streets. Bulgaria has been gripped this month by its worst riots since 1997 when street power helped to topple a Socialist government. Now Socialists are at the helm again and are having to fend off popular protests about government incompetence and corruption.

In Latvia – where growth has been in double-digit figures for years – anger is bubbling over at official mismanagement. GDP is expected to contract by 5 per cent this year; salaries will be cut; unemployment will rise. Last week, in a country where demonstrators usually just sing and then go home, 10,000 people besieged parliament.

Iceland, Bulgaria, Latvia: these are not natural protest cultures. Something is going amiss.

The LSE economist Robert Wade – addressing a protest meeting in Reykjavik’s cinema – recently warned that the world was approaching a new tipping point. Starting from March-May 2009, we can expect large-scale civil unrest, he said. “It will be caused by the rise of general awareness throughout Europe, America and Asia that hundreds of millions of people in rich and poor countries are experiencing rapidly falling consumption standards; that the crisis is getting worse not better; and that it has escaped the control of public authorities, national and international.”

Read moreWorld Agenda: riots in Iceland, Latvia and Bulgaria are a sign of things to come

Peter Schiff: We are the United States of Madoff (1/14/09)

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Source: YouTube

Read morePeter Schiff: We are the United States of Madoff (1/14/09)

Baltic Riots Spread to Lithuania in the Face of Deteriorating Economic Conditions


Riot police officers, in front of Lithuania’s Parliament building, confronted about 7,000 demonstrators in Vilnius on Friday. Ints Kalnins/Reuters

MOSCOW – Riots broke out once again in the Baltic states on Friday, this time in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, where a group of 7,000 gathered to protest planned economic austerity measures. A smaller group began throwing eggs and stones through the windows of government buildings until the police moved in, using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

The episode was nearly identical to one on Tuesday in Latvia, when a peaceful protest of 10,000 people erupted into violence. And on Wednesday, a gathering of 2,000 in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, began throwing stones and snowballs at the Parliament building, calling for the nation’s leaders to resign.

In all three countries, years of steady economic growth have come to a jarring halt, and citizens are facing layoffs and cuts in wages. In each case, the authorities were left wondering whether they were facing organized activism or just the anger of people whose expectations have been disappointed. “I think this is just the beginning,” said Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “We should expect this to happen in many places.”

Related articles:
Latvia Is Shaken by Riots Over Its Weak Economy (New York Times)
Recession sparks riots in Sofia and Riga (Irish Times)
Protests spread in Europe amid economic crisis
(Los Angeles Times)

Like its neighbor, Latvia, Lithuania has enjoyed a reputation as a “Baltic Tiger,” buoyed by foreign investment, a housing boom and annual growth rates of around 8 percent. Although Lithuania is not facing as dire an outlook as Latvia, economists predict a 5 percent drop in gross domestic product there next year, and the newly elected Parliament has announced tough austerity measures: workers in the public sector will see pay cuts of up to 15 percent, pensions will fall and an array of taxes will rise.

Read moreBaltic Riots Spread to Lithuania in the Face of Deteriorating Economic Conditions

The US Government is Going to Default

Buckle your seat belts. Bob Moriarty, 321gold.com founder, pulls no punches in his latest exclusive interview with The Gold Report. He sees a short-term rally in the stock market but paints a very sobering longer-term picture with “guaranteed hyperinflation.” He believes precious metals and other “things” are the only safety nets.

The Gold Report: Bob, what do you think of the Fed’s latest move-cutting to a flexible zero to a quarter rate? Where do you see us going?

Bob Moriarty: We are to the point where we are about 14 feet from going over the edge of Niagara Falls. We haven’t gone over the edge yet; we haven’t gone to a total collapse. We don’t have riots in the streets; we don’t have a revolution. That’s coming; that’s about two to three months off.

Here’s what we’ve got: the Fed has committed to $8.5 trillion of taxpayers’ money to bail out the worst run companies and banks. It hasn’t worked. Now, they’re at a 0% to .25% on the Fed Funds rate for funds for banks, which means if you go down and you pay $100,000 for a T-bill for 90 days, your return is zero, which is to imply that there is zero risk to investing with the government. Anybody who actually believes that is going to be in for a real shock in the first quarter of next year.

GM has lost has lost $80 billion dollars in the last four years. They’re burning through $2 billion a month when everything is going well. Their sales are down 37% in November; the mathematical probability of GM surviving is zero. But we’re going to pour more taxpayer money down that hole. AIG’s also turned into the proverbial black hole. I would think that at $300 billion or $400 billion or $500 billion or $600 billion, somebody’s going to wake up and say, “You know, we’re losing a lot of money here.”

TGR: It’s getting to be real money at that point.

BM: What we have done is guaranteed hyperinflation in the United States. We have guaranteed the destruction of the United States. We will have riots starting in the first quarter of next year; we will default by the summer of 2009.

TGR: Default on how many of the bonds? All? Or just some?

BM: 100%. The US government is going to default. Treasuries, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the whole lot. It’s the end of empire. The United States government will not exist in its current form a year from now.

Read moreThe US Government is Going to Default

Once Booming Dubai Goes Bust

CBS Evening News: Following Wave Of Speculation, Real Estate Collapses In Middle East’s Capital Of The Ultra-Rich


Downturn In Dubai: The worldwide economic crisis has even struck the once-booming oil city of Dubai. As Sheila MacVicar reports, developers and investors are now facing a financial standstill due to mass overexpansion.


The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, the world’s biggest artificial island. Home prices there are down 40 percent in the last year.
Photo: ThePalmJumeirah.

(CBS) Over the years, booming oil prices helped turn Dubai into a land of opportunity and playground for the ultra rich.

But that was then and this is now. And as CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports, even Dubai is feeling the pinch of the worldwide economic crisis.

Related articles:
Dubai dream turns sour (The Straits Times)
Owner of Dubai landmarks eyes float (The Telegraph)
Dubai Bonds Signal Economic “Depression,” ING Says (Bloomberg)

The gulf city state’s property prices went up as fast and as high as the towering buildings. But reality has suddenly intruded.

One investor said it was as if someone had thrown a switch, as the global credit crunch slammed a city that was, in effect, the world’s biggest construction site

It took just 20 years for Dubai to go from a desert outpost with a handful of office towers to a world metropolis, where one fifth of the world’s cranes operate, and property became a very hot commodity, with some people playing real estate the way others play poker.

Read moreOnce Booming Dubai Goes Bust

Gerald Celente on The Alex Jones Show: The Coming Revolt

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about. – CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist


Alex welcomes back to the show Gerald Celente, the world’s number one trends forecaster, who has predicted a severe depression and riots in the streets.

Part 1 of 7 (Part 1 is not uploaded on YouTube. All the others are there and a must-see.)

Part 2 of 7

December 18, 2008
Source: YouTube

Read moreGerald Celente on The Alex Jones Show: The Coming Revolt

Peter Schiff: US Dollar is on the verge of collapse; This is hyperinflation; This is Zimbabwe (12/17/2008)

Peter Schiff: “I am a 100% convinced that anybody who has their wealth in US Dollars will be just as broke as the people who had their money with Madoff.”

(All 6 parts are a must-see.)

Part 1 of 6

Source: YouTube

Read morePeter Schiff: US Dollar is on the verge of collapse; This is hyperinflation; This is Zimbabwe (12/17/2008)

Japan: Economy on knife-edge

Japan’s economy – the second-largest in the world and a barometer of global consumer demand – was described yesterday as being “on a knife-edge” amid fears that it might plum- met into deflation within months.

The warnings, which come from senior private sector economists and from the Japanese Government, follow a Boxing Day release of dismal industrial, consumer and employment data.

Within hours of passing a record 88 trillion yen (£660 billion) budget, senior government sources told The Times that Japan would “inevitably” be forced to adopt new measures to halt the meltdown. The country’s spiraling economic crisis arises primarily from the sudden halt in American consumption and the acute slowdown in the flow of components and goods throughout Asia. The strong yen has savaged the competitiveness of Japanese goods such as cars and electronics at a critical moment.

A record-breaking fall in industrial output figures for November showed that the country’s huge manufacturing economy is collapsing far more rapidly and painfully than even the bleakest market forecasts believed possible. The 8.1 per cent month-on-month slide – a dramatic collapse from the 3.1 per cent decline logged in October, stunned many economists. Richard Jerram, of Macquarie Securities, said that the pace of collapse had almost gone beyond the point of sensible analysis.

Employment is on track to fall rapidly as companies retrench at a pace not seen even during the worst days of Japan’s “lost decade”. Economists at Nomura said that even though the employment figures suggested a measure of stability, deterioration is “unavoidable” as companies retract job offers and lay off temporary workers.

The rate of consumer price growth dropped at its fastest pace since 1981: as commodity and energy prices nosedive on global markets, food is now the only component of the Japanese consumer price index that is still in positive territory.

Read moreJapan: Economy on knife-edge

Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming

Part 1: Lindsey Williams on The Alex Jones Show

Source: YouTube

Part 2: Lindsey Williams on The Alex Jones Show

Source: YouTube

Part 3: Lindsey Williams on The Alex Jones Show ‘Update’

Source: YouTube

Related video: The Energy Non-Crisis by Lindsey Williams
Lindsey Williams talks about his first hand knowledge of Alaskan oil reserves larger than any on earth. And he talks about how the oil companies and U.S. government won’t send it through the pipeline for U.S. citizens to use.

Gerald Celente: The Greatest Depression

Mr. Celente long ago warned of the economic malaise that is gripping the planet – but he does have some good news.

Gerald Celente

The Greatest Depression *AUDIO*

To download this audio file to your computer, right click this link and select “save”, “save as” or “save file as” (depending upon your browser).

Source: HoweStreet

Economic Collapse of 2009 – Greater than Great Depression of 1929


Source: YouTube


Source: YouTube

Gerald Celente, and analyst renowned for accuracy on forecasting trends, explains why the impending economic collapse, next escalating to a serious retail and commercial real estate collapse, will be greater than the Great Depression of 1929; speaking on the Lew Rockwell Show.

World faces “total” financial meltdown: Bank of Spain chief

Remember?!
Fortis Bank Predicts US Financial Market Meltdown Within Weeks
(28 Jun 08)


Source: Bye bye dollar, bye bye Treasuries…

Deflation? “Sure!” Just wait and see.
The Neo-Alchemy of the Federal Reserve by Ron Paul
Interview: Peter Schiff still grim on future
Interview with Peter Schiff (12/13/08)

This is ‘the worst financial crisis‘ because every institution is doing its best to make it worse.



Bank of Spain governor Miguel Fernandez Ordonez

MADRID (AFP) – The governor of the Bank of Spain on Sunday issued a bleak assessment of the economic crisis, warning that the world faced a “total” financial meltdown unseen since the Great Depression.

“The lack of confidence is total,” Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said in an interview with Spain’s El Pais daily.

“The inter-bank (lending) market is not functioning and this is generating vicious cycles: consumers are not consuming, businessmen are not taking on workers, investors are not investing and the banks are not lending.

“There is an almost total paralysis from which no-one is escaping,” he said, adding that any recovery — pencilled in by optimists for the end of 2009 and the start of 2010 — could be delayed if confidence is not restored.

Ordonez recognised that falling oil prices and lower taxes could kick-start a faster-than-anticipated recovery, but warned that a deepening cycle of falling consumer demand, rising unemployment and an ongoing lending squeeze could not be ruled out.

“This is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression” of 1929, he added.

Read moreWorld faces “total” financial meltdown: Bank of Spain chief

Biden: U.S. Economy in Danger of ‘Absolutely Tanking’


Joe Biden, the future vice president, sits down with George Stephanopoulos exclusively Sunday, Dec. 21, in his first interview as vice president-elect. File photo: Biden applauds during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. Collapse
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Vice President-Elect Joe Biden said the U.S. economy is in danger of “absolutely tanking” and will need a second stimulus package in the $600-billion to $700-billion range.

“The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in,” Biden told me during an exclusive interview — his first since becoming vice president-elect–  to air this Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

“There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That’s the only short run,” Biden told me.

Read moreBiden: U.S. Economy in Danger of ‘Absolutely Tanking’

Total Financial Meltdown – The End of Days

We’re all still plunging hither and thither, guzzling wine and wondering what preposterously expensive electronic toys the children will want to smash on Christmas morning this year. We can’t see the meteorite coming either.

I think mainly this is because the government is not telling us the truth. It’s painting Gordon Brown as a global economic messiah and fiddling about with Vat, pretending that the coming recession will be bad. But that it can deal with it.

I don’t think it can. I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don’t refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days.

December 7, 2008

Full article here: The Sunday Times

Citigroup says gold could rise above $2,000 next year as world unravels

When I first saw this article 2 days ago I decided not to publish it, because this coming from Citigroup may rather be understood as a very good advice not to buy gold.
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Gold is poised for a dramatic surge and could blast through $2,000 an ounce by the end of next year as central banks flood the world’s monetary system with liquidity, according to an internal client note from the US bank Citigroup.


An employee of Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry K.K. displays a gold bar at the company’s store in Tokyo Photo: Reuters

The bank said the damage caused by the financial excesses of the last quarter century was forcing the world’s authorities to take steps that had never been tried before.

This gamble was likely to end in one of two extreme ways: with either a resurgence of inflation; or a downward spiral into depression, civil disorder, and possibly wars. Both outcomes will cause a rush for gold.

“They are throwing the kitchen sink at this,” said Tom Fitzpatrick, the bank’s chief technical strategist.

“The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed though into an inflation shock.

Read moreCitigroup says gold could rise above $2,000 next year as world unravels

Max Keiser Calls Henry Paulson A Financial Terrorist

If you want to see a very emotional financial analyst this is a must see.
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Max Keiser calls treasury secretary Hank Paulson a “Financial Terrorist”. He states America is issuing non collateralized bonds that are worthless.

The Dollar and the Bonds are counterfeit. They have nothing backing them. This will lead to an economic collapse to all countries who play into this Wall Street scheme.

Developing nations are giving away their commodities for worthless paper.

Source: YouTube

Russian analyst predicts decline and breakup of U.S.

Prof. Panarin I will add you to the short list of people (Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers etc.) who do speak ‘their’ truth about what is going on. Thank you for speaking the truth and for warning the people. Special thanks for mentioning the ‘Amero’.
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MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) – A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily Izvestia published on Monday: “The dollar is not secured by anything. The country’s foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse.”

The paper said Panarin’s dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year’s events.

When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: “It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world’s financial regulator.”

Read moreRussian analyst predicts decline and breakup of U.S.

Wall Street Meltdown: U.S. Stocks Plunge, Sending S&P to Lowest Level Since 1997

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slid and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged to its lowest level in 11 years after economic reports depicted a deepening recession and lawmakers postponed a vote on a plan to salvage the auto industry.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its 2008 tumble to 49 percent, poised for the worst annual decline in its 80-year history. Chesapeake Energy Corp. and National-Oilwell Varco Inc. slid more than 21 percent after oil sank to a three-year low as the slumping economy crushes demand. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lost 18 percent and Citigroup Inc. plunged 26 percent as concern the recession will trigger more bankruptcies pushed the cost of insurance against corporate defaults to an all-time high.

“We’re just trying to stay away from the window,” said James Paulsen, who helps oversee about $220 billion as chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management Inc. in Minneapolis. “This isn’t about fundamentals, it’s not about bad balance sheets, it’s about fear and confidence.”

Read moreWall Street Meltdown: U.S. Stocks Plunge, Sending S&P to Lowest Level Since 1997