"The S&P/TSX composite index has plunged 37.5 per cent since the start of 2008 while the Dow industrials have lost 36.2 per cent, the biggest drop since 1931 when the Great Depression sent the blue-chip average reeling 40.6 per cent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is set to record the biggest drop since its creation in 1957, down 40.9 per cent year-to-date."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081229.wtsx1229/BNStory/Business

meanwhile the globe is implying that come mid-Jan. when/if the ABCP restructured notes come out, there may be some unfreezing of bank-credit.

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081229.wABCPdbrs1229/BNStory/Business/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

as if that could or would deal with the larger problem/s.