Global Selloff Spares No Asset

The U.S. government seemed to be the only thing investors have any faith in Friday, as every asset class outside of Treasury bonds and the greenback took a nose dive.

Three elements are causing a broad selloff and exacerbating one another's effect: A psychology of panic and fear, a weak economic outlook across the globe, and technical factors like the forced liquidation of hedge funds from margin calls. Scared investors started fleeing stocks en masse in September, and as prices hit certain benchmarks, there was more forced selling.

Daily announcements of weak earnings and new predictions of a global recession only lead to more selling, whether in stocks, commodities or other holdings that once seemed like refuge from the storm. ...