Australian Stocks Plunge 5% to Three-Year Lows

Australian shares plunged over 5 percent to a fresh three-year low straight out of the gate Friday morning, after recession fears sent Wall Street tumbling again.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 225.9 points at 4,095, fifteen minutes into the session, its lowest ebb since June 2005.

Stocks fell across the board, including miners such as heavyweight BHP Billiton's despite a
rebound in industrial metal prices overnight on Thursday.

The rest of the markets in Asia are also set to open sharply lower after Wall Street fell for the seventh day in a row, as co-ordinated interest rate cuts by the world's leading central banks did little to thaw the credit freeze and lift confidence in the financial sector.

Japanese stocks are set to tumble. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 8,615, below 585 points from their close in Osaka , pointing to a sharply lower opening.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27107277

it has been a brutal week there, too...

sP

and that is dragging the post-market Dow down as well...already down 120...tomorrow is going to suck...i expect a shutdown around noon...10% halt and maybe even a 20% halt...

sP