Futures were down significantly before the markets opened, and numbers tumbled soon after trading began.
American stock markets tumbled on opening this morning, hours after U.S. House Speaker John Boehner failed to get enough votes to move forward his Plan B legislation in an attempt to avert the fiscal cliff of tax increases and budget cuts on the first of the year.
After a moment of silence was observed a week after the slaughter of students in Newtown, Conn., the Dow Jones was down 50 within seconds, 100 in a minute and nearly 150 in 10 minutes, while the Nasdaq fell more than 50 and the S&P lost 10 as trading began.
Numbers began to level off and even rise by 9:45, as the Dow didn't initially reach the 200-point drop forecast in futures, making it possible the political volatility was already built into the market.
By midday, after Boehner held a news conference, the Dow was down nearly 180, the Nasdaq 45 and the S&P 20.