Market Opens Sharply Down

US stocks dipped this morning, following steep declines in Europe and Asia as distress over the expanding credit crisis heightened. The Dow Jones sank over 100 points this morning, and the S&P was off nearly 0.8% after erasing its entire year's gains yesterday. "Everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop,'' said an investment strategist.

Emerging-market shares and currencies also slumped, Bloomberg reports, as the Japanese yen rose to its highest levels against the dollar and Euro since 2006, while the risk of owning corporate debt continued to climb. But Henry Paulson says the Fed probably won't cut interest rates, vowing the American economy is strong enough to stave off a recession—a vow likely to bludgeon the market today. (More stock market stories.)