Stock markets around the world took a significant hit today . China was down 9% and markets in Europe and the US fell in sympathy and due to concerns over economic weakness.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 416.02 to 12216.24, its seventh-largest point decline ever. The S&P 500 lost 50.33 to 1399.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 96.65, or 3.9%, to 2407.87, with decliners outnumbering gainers by more than 11 to one. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks declined 3.8%.

Let's leave the headlines for a moment and put this in perspective. The October 1987 crash (when Sean was still working on Wall Street) was a 22% decline. That led to, um, well, nothing much actually. The market has been on a roll lately and was due for a correction. Is this all that is, or is there more to come? Nobody can know such a thing. Our bet? This was a blip.

We'll see.