Asian markets tumble on flu fears.

CNN Money Source Link

HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Asian stocks fell about 2% on Monday as the outbreak of swine flu in North America hurt shares of airlines while prompting some market players to trim risky positions, hitting currencies such as the Australian dollar.

How exactly does the "swine flu" affect the world markets? I understand that it will cause fear and paranoia but I think it is a little odd to blame the down trend in the market on the fear of a pandemic. I honestly feel like there is something way more sinister to all of this than I would have ever believed in before. I am just at a loss of words on the speed and wide spread impact this virus has.

As I write this the the US Futures markets are way down.

S&P 500 = -16.30
NASDAQ = -20.50
DOW Jones = -152.00

Are they just using the "swine flu" as an excuse for the failing markets?

For once I fear that some one is in control of this and that so many warnings for pandemics were left unheard. I only hope the media is blowing this out of proportion in order to hide true news.

All I can say is WOW.

I think you are right, I have been reading about alot of wierd shait the last 10 months, and I can see them coming to life now..

The Avian flu, could be change of plans or maby this is the Flu.?
The Internet are supposed to be turned off so to speak, tptb has theyr own Internet, so it is we the sheep that get stuck with all this..

It has been 'warned' about, yet the timeline gets changed according to attention level on things..

It is intresting to see what will happen now. We should have a pool on this !

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress

Are they just using the "swine flu" as an excuse for the failing markets?

Yes.

A 2% decline is hardly unusual in our recent economy.

This is shaping up to be the new SARS. It will be blamed for everything until we get distracted by the next shiny object.

Now China has banned pork from certain states and from Mexico. They have even ordered certain supplies of pork to be destroyed. See the link below for the thread on this.

ATS Thread on China Pork BAN