The selloff started overnight in Australia and then spread to Hong Kong. It was just one day after China rolled out a bunch of stimulus measures which briefly boosted the stock exchange there. However, today the mood was skeptical, and HK's share index lost over 4%, a stunning reversal.The rot then spread to other markets and Wall Street opened down a lot, 1.5% to 2% across the board, depending on which index you looked at.

Having already suffered volatility all October, the market lost its taste for buying on the dip and the rot continued, fed by worries about macro risks. China has no more ammunition to boost its market and risks of local government debt are ruling out any more currency fiddles. Saudi Arabia, whose crown prince runs the moneybags of the Middle East, faces a government crisis. Our president promises more deficit-rising tax cuts. Italy is defying the European Union over its deficit. Germany faces an end to its long-lasting coalition government.

Caterpillar, a stock whose valuation depends on the outlook for our farmers, is in deep distress today, in part because of the impact of US aggressive tactics toward China. We sell huge volumes of soybeans and lots of frozen pork to China, which it will not buy if our country keeps escalating tariffs on its exports to the US.

Beijing is not so much using quid pro quo to hurt Republicans in the midterm election in the farm belt, as it is one of averting economic disaster because of its own hefty and dangerous levels of debt.

So markets are in deep disaster mode. The worst performing share in our portfolio tody is the famous Dr. Copper, Antofagasta, ANFGF, whose listing for historical reasons is in London where emerging markets like Chile terrorize locals. It is down a whopping 8% today.

As I am having difficulty filing from my website for weeks, I am closing today's blog quickly. I am going to a demo to stop the ruin of a park on my block and then I will check markets again. There is one news item today for everyone, including pre-subscribers, because I don't have time for blocking them.

Swiss Novartis is developing a digital platform with its own sub, Alcon, to automate cataract surgery. Alcon used to be an American company belonging to Nestle, ACL, which we owned. A dozen years ago, in a nasty Swiss lockup, it was sold at a discount to NVS by Nestle. The board and US shareholders were left hanging out to dry by this manoeuver which violated normal stockholder rights for a Big Board listed firm. NVS got a maker of eye meds and contact lenses on the cheap.

But winning Alcon turned out to be bad for Novartis and it was put on the block to be sold to someone else, which has not been successful. So what the Swiss call Schadenfreude, joy at the troubles of others, marks our relationship with Novartis, which we rebought recently precisely in order to gain from its disposal.