Stock market endures worst day in 18 months, Thursday, Aug. 20th.
1973 Arab oil embargo & world economic problems, 1980 very high interest rates & economic problems, 1987 U.S. stock market collapse, 1994 U.S. bond market collapse, 2001 U.S. stock market collapse (right at Rosh Hashanah), 2008 U.S. stock market collapse (right at Rosh Hashanah) beginning "The Great Recession", and now HERE WE ARE AGAIN MOVING INTO THE FALL OF 2015!  The Shemitah is on Elul 29th, which is September 13th.  Monday, September 14th is Rosh Hashanah.

            
US stock market has worst day in 18 months over worries about China, global economic growth

Associated Press
By Ken Sweet, AP Business Writer1 hour ago


Dow drops 358 points after China fears spur global sell-off


FILE - This Oct. 2, 2014 file photo shows a Wall Street sign adjacent to the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. A fresh sell-off of Chinese shares prompted renewed jitters across global markets on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)


NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market endured its worst performance in 18 months on Thursday, driven lower by another slump in Chinese shares and heavy selling by technical traders.

The global rout started in China, where sharp declines in energy and property stocks pushed the Shanghai Composite down more than 3 percent. That selling soon spread to European and U.S. markets, where the Standard & Poor's 500 index moved further below a closely watched trading level.

Investors, facing screens full of red, retreated to their usual places of safety: bonds, gold and cash.

"The emerging markets really got slammed overnight and that quickly spread to the rest of the world," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.

The Dow plunged 358.04 points, or 2.1 percent, to 16,990.69. The S&P 500 lost 43.88 points, or 2.1 percent, to 2,035.73 and the Nasdaq composite lost 141.56 points, or 2.8 percent, to 4,877.49.

It was the biggest percentage decline for the Dow and S&P 500 since February 2014. The blue-chip average is now at its lowest level since October 2014.