Editor's Note: with the Dow falling this week, we want to provide Money Morning Members with our four-step stock market crash protection plan. This will help you protect your money, and even profit, when the market falls...
The Dow Jones today continues to fall following an overnight global market sell-off.
Dow futures are down 246 points as investors reel after the worst single day since 2011.
This comes a day after the Dow fell from a record high, erasing gains from 2018 due to fears over inflation and rising interest rates. The 4.6% downturn was not even in the top 300 daily percentage declines in the Dow's history. Still, the Dow is approaching correction territory and will unleash a wave of buying opportunities for investors sitting on cash.
Here are the numbers from Monday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
| Index | Previous Close | Point Change | Percentage Change |
| Dow Jones | 24,345.75 | -1175.21 | -4.60% |
| S&P 500 | 2648.94 | -113.19 | -4.10% |
| Nasdaq | 6967.53 | -273.42 | -3.78% |
Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus Tuesday's economic calendar.
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The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday
- Markets are on pace for their third consecutive day of huge losses as selling continues to accelerate and volatility increases. The CBOE Volatility Index surged to 50, indicating increased investor uncertainty. The index hasn't jumped to this level since mid-2015. Yesterday's 4.6% downturn was the worst single day for the Dow since August 2011.
- Investors are worried the last decade of record-low interest rates could be coming to an end. People are concerned the economy could overheat, forcing the U.S. Federal Reserve to aggressively raise interest rates at a faster pace.
- Gold prices ticked higher despite the sharp rise in volatility and extreme fear plaguing the U.S. markets. The price of gold hit $1,337.50 this morning. Despite last week's pullback, Money Morning Resource Specialist Peter Krauth says that a big opportunity is emerging for gold bugs in the weeks ahead. Here's his latest gold price forecast for March 2018.
- Crude oil prices slumped Tuesday as part of a broader sell-off in commodities. The WTI crude oil price today slipped 1.3%. Brent crude dipped 1.0%. Oil markets have been the subject of opposing forces affecting the price of a barrel. While U.S. production has jumped to the highest level since 1970, prices have been supported by efforts of OPEC to cap excessive production around the globe. In addition, the winter months in North America are times of lower demand.
- The price of Bitcoin plunged below $6,000 at one point last night as the global sell-off in cryptocurrencies continued to batter investors. The plunge came after Agustín Carstens, the new leader of the Bank for International Settlements, described Bitcoin as a mixture of "a bubble, a Ponzi scheme, and an environmental disaster." Carstens went on to say that the cryptocurrency could undermine public trust in central banks around the world. In recent weeks, regulators from China, South Korea, and India have accelerated efforts to reduce public purchases and ownership of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Four Stocks to Watch Today: DIS, QCOM, AAPL, GM
- Shares of the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are in focus as the company prepares to report earnings after the bell Tuesday. Wall Street expects that the firm will report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.62 on top of $15.24 billion.
- Once again, we are paying close attention to shares of Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM). While markets are talking about the $121 billion offer the semiconductor giant has received from Broadcom Ltd. (Nasdaq: AVGO), there's another story flying under the radar. Reuters reports that QCOM executives could face a lot of stress in the future. The report states that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) could replace QCOM as a chip supplier in future generations of the iPhone. Apple is reportedly considering a switch to Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) as a supplier.
- Shares of General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) added more than 1.1% after the automotive giant topped Wall Street earnings expectations. The firm reported EPS of $1.65 on top of $37.71 billion in revenue. Wall Street had expected EPS of $1.35 on $33.26 billion. The firm said that strong sales of its crossover models helped propel the strong quarterly report.
- Keep an eye out for additional results from Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD), Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR), Akamai Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), Allergan Plc. (NYSE: AGN), Dunkin Brands Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN), Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), Spirit Airlines Inc. (Nasdaq: SAVE), Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), Cerner Corp. (Nasdaq: CERN), and Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN).
Tuesday's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EST)
- International Trade at 8:30 a.m.
- Louis Fed Bank President James Bullard speaks at 8:50 a.m.
- Redbook at 8:55 a.m.
- JOLTS at 10 a.m.
- Four-Week Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
- Three-Year Note Auction at 1 p.m.
- Treasury STRIPS AT 3 p.m.
Get On the Path to Greater Wealth: When it comes to making money in the market, "getting in" early - before a stock begins to make its decisive move - is the single biggest factor to your success as an investor. That's why we've introduced Money Morning Profit Alerts. This new, free service lets you choose what investing areas you want to follow - and makes sure you get alerted to news from that sector as soon as we publish it. It's easy to get started - just go here.
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About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.