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That was not good. Not just the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s decline, which was the largest since 1987. That was obviously bad. But everything that went along with it—the rising bond yields, the falling gold price, the drop in corporate bonds—despite the fact that the Federal Reserve acted to stabilize the Treasury market. And it might not get better without some major action from global central banks and governments.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The Dow tumbled 2353 points, or 10%, on Thursday, while the S&P 500 fell 9.5%. Those numbers are absurd, worse than we saw during the financial crisis after Lehman went bust. The Stoxx Europe 600 had its worst day on record. I thought I saw the scariest market I would ever see in 2008. I was wrong.

At least back then Treasuries would gain in value when stocks dropped. That didn’t happen today, even though the Dow dropped 10%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 0.025 percentage point to 0.842%, which means someone was selling them, because prices fall as yields rise. Think about that. These are supposed to be the safest assets in the world, and they are losing value. That’s not supposed to happen.

3 things investors should know as the market roils.

But that was nothing compared with what happened to corporate bonds. The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) dropped 4%, while iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) dropped nearly 5%. You read that right. “Risky” junk bonds fell less than “safer” investment-grade corporate bonds. Gold, another supposed haven, fell more than 4%.

What’s going on? Nearly everyone is going to cash. That makes sense. Business around the world are shutting down, and many will be going bust without central bank and government assistance. Companies like Boeing (BA) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) have been drawing down revolvers to make sure they have enough cash on hand. Mutual funds are forced sellers as investors withdraw cash.

Government is falling down on the job. U.S. President Donald Trump couldn’t end the stock market’s losing streak when he spoke last night. The ECB’s Christine Lagarde caused a selloff in European bonds when she said it wasn’t her job to worry about spreads, and the U.S. still hasn’t announced a fiscal package to help struggling companies and workers. The Fed tried to do its part by announcing that it would provide at least $1 trillion in funding a week to keep credit markets working, but to no avail. Until governments figure out how to stop the panic, don’t expect that to stop.

“Equity markets [are]...trying to send Washington a message,” writes NatAlliance Securities’ Andrew Brenner. “The question is whether Larry Kudlow is listening.... And whether we start to hear of talk of some economic summit or meeting over the weekend.”

But as many in the market are panicking, others are looking for bargains. Evercore ISI’s Josh Schimmer upgraded two stocks after the close: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) and Denali Therapeutics (DNLI). He’s worth quoting in full: “What’s that phrase about blood in the streets? We’ve given up 3 years of hot market performance. Could we give up more? Sure, who knows when the pandemic pandemonium will fade. But it will pass, and there will still be important unmet needs to address. And there will be all sorts of fiscal stimulus to help the economy survive.”

And you know what? He’s probably right.

Write to Ben Levisohn at Ben.Levisohn@barrons.com