Do you know where your money is?

On CNBC they just said, "It's 4 PM on Wall Street. Do you know where your money is?"

Well, apparently, a little less of it is invested in stocks on Wall Street. The S&P500 plunged more than four percent to close at its lowest level since September 1996, breaking decisively below the 700 mark in the process.
A few moments before, Dylan Ratigan was walking around the floor of the New York Stock Exchange saying something about a cherry being on top of something and that the U.S. economy is still fundamentally sound.

If so, then why is everyone scared to death?

Here's some more from Bloomberg:

U.S. and European stocks tumbled, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the lowest level since 1996, after Moody’s Investors Service said it may cut JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s credit rating and China quelled speculation the government will add to its stimulus plan.

JPMorgan dropped 14 percent as lenders led the plunge. Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. slumped 12 percent after Moody’s said it’s reviewing their ratings, while Citigroup slipped below $1 for the first time. General Motors Corp. sank 15 percent after its auditor said the automaker may not survive. European stocks fell after Aviva Plc, the biggest U.K. insurer, reported a loss.
...
Concern corporate defaults will rise, the deepening global recession, and dividend cuts at companies from General Electric Co. to JPMorgan have dragged the S&P 500 to three consecutive weeks of declines, pushing the index down 24 percent this year. It has fallen 7.2 percent since Feb. 27.

Don't be surprised if after tomorrow's labor report, where some analysts are predicting a net job loss of more than 800,000 in February and a national unemployment rate of over 8 percent, things become even more frightening.