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Waking up to a new reality: What’s going on with stocks & oil? As the new week begins, you might be surprised to see all the major stock markets down and oil recording its worst losses in nearly two decades. Here is what happened overnight. What happened to the markets? Oil prices crashed as much as 30 percent as trading began in Asia on Monday morning, with futures for benchmark Brent suffering the biggest drop since the Gulf War in 1991. As of 06:34 GMT, Brent was as low as $33.31 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at $29.72, with both down nearly 50 percent year to date. A nosedive in crude prices triggered a panic sell-off in major stock markets, which were already shaken by the coronavirus outbreak. All key Asian indi...

Bitcoin plunges to under ,000 in synch with global market nosedive As stocks, currencies, crude and other commodities fall, cryptocurrencies are also affected by the global meltdown. Bitcoin plunged over 10 percent to under $8,000, with others also dropping. After trading at over $9,000 last Saturday, bitcoin began a rapid descent, falling as low as $7,761 on Monday before rebounding to around $7,900 later in the day, according to aggregated data from ConMarketCap. In just one day, it lost 9.49 percent of its value. Smaller cryptocurrencies like ethereum and ripple plunged by double digit percentage points. The drop is notably out of synch with gold, indicating that cryptocurrencies might not be perceived by traders as a sanctuary asset in the ongoing...

Indian stocks sink amid global market carnage after dramatic oil crash The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex index sank more than 1,400 points at the opening bell while the Nifty – a benchmark of the National Stock Exchange – also took a hit of nearly four percent amid an unprecedented oil market crash. Saudi Arabia’s discount of $6 to $8 per barrel to its customers in Asia, Europe, and the US, and the promise of an increase in output, triggered an unprecedented oil market crash on Monday, sinking both main crude benchmarks Brent and WTI, down 30 percent – and sending stock market indices and futures worldwide into a downward spiral. Share Market LIVE: Sensex drops 1,300 points, Nifty hits 52-week low of 10,637; Oil drops 25% https://t.co/6e...

Asia plunges, European & US futures collapse as panicked investors seek safe haven from perfect storm ravaging markets Asian markets are trading deep in the red, while gold reached a fresh 7-year peak, as S&P, Dow and Nasdaq futures entered a free fall amid a dramatic oil market crash and concerns over the coronavirus-hit global economy slowdown. Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix were down nearly 5 percent in morning trade, while a relatively 'safe-haven' currency Japanese yen soared more than 3 per cent against the US dollar. #Asia Markets Hammered as #COVID19 Spreads#Stocks #Markets #FX #Bonds #Commodities #Equities #Macro $ES_F $CL_F #coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/eweqsbvEDA— Economics Global (@EconGlobal) March 9, 2020 htt...

Pyongyang launches THREE ‘unidentified projectiles’ – South Korean military North Korea has reportedly launched three projectiles towards the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The type of missiles is so far unknown. "Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS stated in a brief release, saying the launch came from the eastern town of Sondok in Hamgyong Province, but sharing no other details. According to Japan the projectiles did not reach it’s exclusive economic zone. Also on rt.com Pyongyang launches TWO projectiles towards Sea of Japan, South Korean military says In the first North Korean 'missile inci...

Brent, WTI futures CRASH 20% over Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price war fears & coronavirus concerns Oil plunged more than 20% in chaotic market opening, with main crude benchmarks, Brent and WTI, trading below $35 a barrel amid fears of an all-out price war following the collapse of an output cut deal between Russian and OPEC. Asian markets opened with a massive gap on Monday, with Brent falling nearly 30 per cent to $32.05 per barrel within seconds, while WTI fell some 27 per cent to around $30 – the lowest since 2016 – before bouncing back slightly, to $35.3 and $32 respectively. Oil is opening down 20%. I don't recall ever seeing a drop like this. pic.twitter.com/4zsNwt24ud— Robert Rapier (@RRapier) March 8, 2020 https://platform.tw...

Facebook controlled by right-wing echo chamber, Clinton claims blaming social media for bias against her Despite numerous accusations from conservatives of censorship, Hillary Clinton is claiming right-wing outlets have “mastered” Facebook and used it against her. In a Sunday interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Clinton was asked about a Vox article presenting research claiming the story on Facebook to receive the most interactions on Super Tuesday was one about her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.  “Fox and the sort of right-wing echo chamber has mastered Facebook, aided and abetted, might I say, from Facebook,” Clinton responded.  She claims “algorithms” used by Facebook are keeping negative stories about her alive ...

Coronavirus scares Finnish military away from joint NATO drills in Norway Finnish soldiers will not participate in a Cold Response exercise in Norway over coronavirus concerns. The drills were expected to bring together some 15,000 soldiers from 10 countries, but the numbers might shrink over the virus. The decision to skip the drills was announced by the Finnish Army on Sunday. The country, which is formally not a part of the NATO, was to send 400 soldiers to partake in the alliance’s war games, scheduled to take place in the northern Norwegian region of Troms for March 9-19. “The participation of the Armed Forces in the Cold Response exercise conducted by the Norwegian Armed Forces… has been cancelled due to the coronavirus situation,” the army’s ...

‘Guilt-tripping misogynist crap’: Opinion in The Guardian tells of one feminist’s anguish over hiring female cleaner Author Sally Howard pondered in The Guardian whether she can have a “clean feminist conscience” if she hires a female cleaner and folks responded with pure shock at the privileged issue. Howard lamented she used to return home to “a clean kitchen and bathroom and a drenching sense of guilt.” Hiring a female to clean her home weighed on her “feminist conscience,” so she was inspired to go “undercover” as a cleaner to learn more about the job firsthand for a new book. Working in office buildings and hotels, she says, “I picked used tampons off bathroom carpets and scrubbed bathtub tidemarks and sauces spattered across kitchen walls.” Sh...

Gunman storms Paris mosque, injures at least 1 & flees the scene At least one person has been seriously injured after an armed man wearing a helmet opened fire inside a mosque at Rue de Tanger, Paris, before fleeing the scene on a scooter. The gunman opened fire in the courtyard of the Adda'wa Islamic Cultural Association Mosque in the 19th arrondissement shortly before 8pm local time. There were around 15 people inside at the time of the incident, one of whom suffered multiple gunshot wounds. A 32-year-old man was rushed to a hospital and is reportedly in serious condition.  At least one injured after man opens fire in mosque in Paris pic.twitter.com/uh5o9nj6zr— Sami AL-ANSI (@SamiALANSI) March 8, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/...