The Big Take

$6.4 Trillion Stock Wipeout Has Traders Fearing ‘Great Unwind’ Is Just Starting

  • Worries of US slowdown, AI bubble drive global market rout
  • ‘There are falling knives everywhere,’ one analyst says

Whether Monday’s wild gyrations mark the final bang of a global selloff that started to build last week or signal the beginning of a protracted slump is impossible to know.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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The numbers flashing on trading screens on Monday were shocking even to market veterans.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei was down 12%. In Seoul, the Kospi sank 9%. And when the opening bell rang in New York, the Nasdaq plunged 6% in seconds. Cryptocurrencies sank; the VIX, a gauge of stock market volatility, skyrocketed; and investors piled into Treasury bonds, the safest asset of them all.