Over the short term, stocks will remain nervous, yet we will have positive economic news on earnings, housing, and unemployment. Thus investors should remain fully invested and be patient. Do not panic. I still see the Dow reaching back above 9300 towards the 10,000 level over the next six months. Buy stocks now if you have the money as this sale will not come again.
Japan is in a recession and has been for some time.
The rest of Southeast Asia is in a funk. Russia has currency problems. It may have helped our economy to not overheat and cause the FED to raise short term interest rates and caused a bear market in stocks. Instead, we have a slowly rolling economy with a minor pause in a bull market for all stocks and plenty of money to go into the markets. The gap between prices and wages has created a profit squeeze for US companies.