Haven't We Met Before? It's Looking a Lot Like the '97-'98 Asian Crisis

Deja Vu All Over Again, Reprise

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yes, indeed, it's beginning to look a lot like 1997-98 again, as I suggested Monday.

As was the case through many sessions in that era, traders arrived at work today to find equity futures down sharply amid rampant rumors of various financial institutions in dire straights. Stocks opened this morning to reflect the fear and consternation about developments abroad, then appeared to stabilize but plummeted again as the rumors continued to swirl and the anxiety level increased. Such a pattern was evident many times during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998.

Major averages were off session lows at day's end, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.1% to 9973.46, its first close below 10,000 since October. The S&P 500 shed 2.6% and the Nasdaq Composite lost another 2.1%. ...