The European markets turned into a total debacle today. The Dubai default, and its effect on European banks, is the most-cited reason.

WSJ: European shares recorded their biggest one-day drop since April on Thursday, with banks leading a broad tumble for markets amid

worries about exposure to Dubai debt.



The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index closed down 3.3% at 239.85, a level not seen since early November.



The U.K. FTSE 100 index closed down 3.2% at 5194.13, the French CAC-40 index ended down 3.4% at 3679.23 and the German DAX index closed down 3.3% at 5614.17.

Enjoy the rest of the day off, and for the sake of the economy, please base your shopping decisions based on how rich you thought you were Wednesday, thank you very much.