Fears of an impending U.S. recession sent European and Asian markets spiraling down Monday. The Nikkei 225 dropped 4.5%, and other Asian markets also declined sharply. The FTSE 100 was down 1.3% at midday in London, as were other indexes across Europe.
Global investors are closely watching two U.S. economic reports. The Institute for Supply Management's monthly manufacturing survey will be released Monday, and Friday nonfarm payroll numbers for February will be out.
The dollar began the week trading near its all-time low. The euro purchased as much as $1.52 in European trading.
In an interview on CNBC Monday, Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy is basically in a recession now.
There was more trouble related to subprime, as Thornburg Mortgage (nyse: TMA - news - people ) said Monday morning it is in default on a reverse repurchase arrangement and is not meeting margin calls.
Merck (nyse: MRK - news - people ) reported Monday that a settlement over the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx is basically on track after 44,000 people signed up for a piece of the $4.85 billion payout.
In deals news, diversified manufacturer United Technologies (nyse: UTX - news - people ) on Sunday announced a hostile $2.6 billion bid for Diebold (nyse: DBD - news - people ), best known for its voting machine technology.
Finally, keep an eye on LeapFrog Enterprises (nyse: LF - news - people ), SuperGen (nasdaq: SUPG - news - people ) and Standard Motor Products (nyse: SMP - news - people ), all of which are reporting earnings.
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