'Blood Hits Streets' as Asian Markets Plunge

Asian stock markets continued to slide today, pounded by fears of a global credit squeeze, recording their most precipitous drop in five years, Reuters reports. South Korea's Kospi index skidded 6.9 percent as major corporations and financial institutions took horrific beatings. Australia's Rams Home Loans Group revealed it can't refinance $5 billion of debt, and Toyota, Samsung and the Japanese Bank Mizuho suffered major falls.

"Blood is hitting the streets. Everyone seems to be panicking, and there's reason to panic,'' a  fund manager told Bloomberg. "There's been so much blow up, we don't know when it's going to end.'' European shares were already down to a  five-month low this morning. More than $3.6 trillion has been wiped off global stock markets since July 23. (More Asia stories.)