Across the World, a Black Friday

Brace yourself for an "ugly open," America, warns MarketWatch in dubbing today "the most volatile and frightening trading day" the world has experienced since China fears rocked markets last August. The Brexit shocker sent Dow Jones futures plunging as much as 700 points, though as of this writing futures were off by 533 points, at 17,382. That's about 3% down, to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq's roughly 3.75%. More:

• Across the pond, not even 10 stocks on the Stoxx Europe 600 were up; it was down 8.4% and set to have its worst day since October 1987, reports MarketWatch. In London, the FTSE 100 sank 7.5%.

• CNN reports the British pound fell below $1.35, something that last happened in 1985. It is down against every significant world currency.
• The rest of Europe isn't faring any better, with CNN reporting Germany's DAX has fallen 7%, the French CAC is down 8%, and Irish stocks have nearly hit the 10% mark.
• In a sign of how awful it was elsewhere, Japan suffered its biggest drop since it was roiled by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, with the Nikkei finishing down 7.9% at 14,952 points, reports Reuters.

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