Fasten your seat belts, folks

Isn't it funny how none of the Republican candidates are talking any more about private Social Security accounts, or about investing part of Social Security funds in the stock market?

In case anyone thought that yesterday's bloodbath in the overseas market was just a one-day blip, guess again:

Asian stocks came under relentless selling pressure for the second straight session on Tuesday, a day after fears the U.S. economy could slip into a recession triggered a sell-off that spread to Europe and Latin America.
India's Sensitive Index was the most volatile in the region and suffered the steepest intraday losses for the second straight session. The index, which finished 7.4% lower in the previous session, was recently down 8.9% at 16,040.13. At that level, the index has already lost around 16% from Friday's close.
Things were equally downbeat elsewhere.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average shed 5.7% to 12,573.05, while the broader Topix index skidded 5.7% to 1,219.95. Earlier in the day, the Nikkei dropped as low as 12,572.68 -- its lowest level since September 2005.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 8.7% to end at 21,757.63, as the sell-off deepened from the previous session, when it tumbled 5.5%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index plummeted even more, sinking 12% to 11,911.91. See related story.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 extended its loss-making run into the 12th straight session, ending down 7.1% at 5,186.80 and setting a 52-week closing low, while New Zealand's NZX 50 index took its losses into the 14th session, dropping 1.1% at 3,607.13. South Korea's Kospi shed 4.4% at 1,609.02.
China's Shanghai Composite, which fell more than 5% in the previous session, sank 7.2% to 4,559.75, its lowest close since August, and Taiwan's Weighted index tumbled 6.5% to 7,581.96, a 10-month low. Emerging markets page
Singapore's Straits Times index, which lost 6% in the previous session, dropped 4.9% to 2,773.36 and Indonesia's JSX Composite tumbled 9.4% to 2,252.49 by late afternoon.

I'm lucky enough to work in a place where my employer puts aside an amount equal to a percentage of my salary into my retirement account, and I'm putting a decent percentage of my income myself. Since the beginning of the year, every penny that has been put into my account has been lost, over and above about 2% of the account's value at the beginning of December. Right now, at age 52, I'm literally shoveling money into a black hole, where it's never to be seen again.

This is retirement savings? This is what's supposed to replace Social Security? This is what people are supposed to rely on?

Yesterday the U.S. markets were on a roll: they were closed. Today the bloodbath comes back home:

U.S. stocks may enter a bear market on Tuesday, with stock futures pointing to losses of roughly 4% after two days of huge selling in overseas markets on fears over a U.S. recession.
Though off session lows, futures were pointing to early pain: S&P 500 futures dropped 56.2 points to 1,269.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 70.5 points to 1,779.00. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 478 points.

So fasten your seat belts and put your tray tables in the upright position. We're going to prepare the cabin for landing now, because we're anticipating a great deal of turbulence as we land.

In the swamp.