8:17 CT

I do not know what is going on here, and I don't think I want to.

Someone, apparently someone in Asia, wants dollars.  A LOT of dollars.  There is a forced-liquidation event underway that is massive, it is against all asset classes and it is spreading.

It originated at approximately 7:15 CT this evening and originated out of Asia somewhere.  All of the primary currency crosses got hit at once - Euro, Pound, Yen - all weakened dramatically against the dollar and it is still going on.  The Asian stock markets got walloped at the same time in coordinated waves of forced selling.

At the same time the US futures markets got nailed as well, down some six handles on the /ES in a near-vertical drop.  While this sounds "not that big" to move these markets in a coordinated fashion like this is a trillion-dollar enterprise - this is not some small company that went bankrupt, or even a large company.

There is no news coverage at the present time identifying the source of this but it is not small and contrary to some reports it is not "automatic selling"; this is forced liquidation.

Folks, if this translates into Eastern Europe where there are severe instabilities already brewing literally everything in the financial world could come apart "all at once."

The worse news is that if this happens Bernanke will have killed us (in the US) by extending those swap lines all over the planet during the last six months.  These will become utterly uncollectable and they are massive, in the many hundreds of billions of dollars.

To those who are reading this, I hope if you're in the markets you are prepared for extreme levels of violence.  You must expect that the authorities will try to arrest the destruction if they are able, but you must also be prepared for the possibility that we have reached a "critical mass" point beyond which "duck and cover" is the only winning strategy.

Unfortunately.

I hope I'm wrong; this is going to be a long night.

11:47 PM - It appears that FX has settled down although the equity market damage in Asia remains significant in many areas, with South Korea (one potential flashpoint) being off close to 4%.  Europe opens soon with spreadbetter info up around 12:15 CT most mornings; if we get through the euro open without the crosses going nuts again this may remain capped.  Watch the Euro crosses in particular; if there is an "ignition" sort of event you won't miss it (a ~500 pip near-vertical move would not surprise, on top of the 150 pips we've already taken tonight.)  Last update on this for this evening unless something pops up.