Global Stocks Slide

The gloom is back in global markets - with stocks bleak across the board.  There are big losses in Asia - and European shares are falling too.

It's a predictable pattern in an unpredictable period.  Stocks slid sharply again in Asia - after Wall Street took a nosedive Monday.

In early trading - Japan's stock averages tumbled more than 6-percent.
Numbers in Hong Kong, South Korea and the Phillipines also slipped sharply.

The grim picture was created by the US market tanking - after confirmation America is in the midst of the third-longest recession since the Great  Depression.

"It seems that the recession in which the world is finding itself is going to be pretty deep and quite protracted," said Dariusz Kowlczyk, a chief investment strategist.

Recession has already gripped much of Europe. In Britain, retail sales have slumped so badly the government has taken the extraordinary step of taking  around two percent off its sales tax.

"In normal circumstances it probably would give spending a boost but I think the downward pressures, falling house prices, rising unemployment, are very strong," said UK economist Jonathan Loynes.

It's a $20 billion Christmas gift the government hopes people will spend,  not save.

But shoppers say it's hardly a big deal at the register. "2.5% is just not worth bothering with, is it?" said one shopper.

Other European leaders are working to create their own rescue measures.

But as the dark clouds of recession gather across the globe - investors say things will only clear up when America's financial forecast improves.




(Charlie D'agata - CBS News, London)