Has the “everything bubble” finally popped?

The carnage currently taking place on the world’s major bourses certainly seems to support the idea.

The US stock indices are all in either correction or bear market territory for the year.

China is leading the US on the downward track.

Europe is not far behind, although the London-based FTSE-100 index is down “only” ~3% on the year.

Japan is also heading into correction territory.

Even India's markets are down hard for the year.

While perhaps not a “major” exchange, Russia’s Moscow Exchange is certainly relevant given the war in Ukraine—and it is also shedding value on the year.

Russia also warrants special mention because of the recent divergence between the ruble-denominated MOEX index and the dollar-denominated RTS index, with the MOEX getting the worst of the shift.

Exactly what that portends for Russia’s economy, its ability to prosecute the war in Ukraine, and its impact on the global economy are at this juncture open questions. However, it is difficult to envision any outcome that would qualify as “good”.

At the same time, crypto currencies are also in freefall.

Note that these are not minor fluctuations within any of these markets. A 10% drop in a stock market is known in financial circles as a “correction”, and a 20% drop is generally heralded as the start of a bear market for that exchange. Virtually all of the world’s exchanges are simultaneously in either correction or bear market territory, or are just on the verge.

When this much paper wealth is vanishing, the ultimate outcome for the global economy is not likely to be benign.

A very bad day, in an horrifically bad year, yet the trends indicate things are likely to get worse, everywhere.

This will not end well.