WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Global stocks are in a bear market
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Global stocks are officially in a bear market.
The MSCI World Index fell 20% from its recent peak. The Dow was down 500 points just after noon. WTI Crude Oil fell below $27, its lowest level since 2003.
In other news, Goldman Sachs reported fourth-quarter earnings that were a beat if you exclude a big one-off settlement.
Goldman Sachs's CFO Harvey Schwartz later laid out the bull case for the fixed-income business ― which has taken a battering ― on an earnings call.
And in China news, Wall Streeters are starting to discuss a nasty narrative about China and deflation, and a hedge fund manager who nailed subprime is betting on a huge drop in the yuan.
Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday -
Investors are no longer in 'denial' - Investors are moving into defensive investments like bonds, cash, and healthcare stocks and away from equities, energy, and banks.
Barclays is slashing its bonus pool by 10% - Barclays is cutting investment bank jobs across its global offices and slashing the bonus pool by up to 10%.
GEORGE SOROS: 'It's always darkest before dawn' - Billionaire George Soros is the best-known, most successful hedge fund manager of all time.
The technology behind bitcoin is coming to high finance faster than anyone predicted - 11 top investment banks have used blockchain technology to do mock trades with each other, signaling a big step towards adopting the technology first developed for bitcoin into mainstream finance.
This is what a stock market crash looks like - When stock bubbles come to a head, they tend to make wild swings in both directions. In other words, they don't just suddenly burst — it's more of a drawn-out, up-and-down process.
Meet the big shot residents of 15 Central Park West - The ultra luxury condominium at 15 Central Park West is home to New York City's most powerful bankers, hedge funders, business tycoons and foreign billionaires.
'Billions,' the new drama Wall Street will be obsessed with, just became Showtime's best-performing premiere ever - "Showtime's new series about high-power Wall Street executives and hedge fund managers, just premiered to 3 million viewers, making it the network's most successful pilot of all time.
Everything a modern gentleman needs to know about how a perfect suit fits - Print this out, tape it to your cubicle.
How 3 stocks decimated David Einhorn's investment performance - The founder of Greenlight Capital had a year to forget in 2015.