How much will McCain's posturing cost you today?

[LuckyTheDog]

That is the question:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGPCEp0WA2sA&refer=home

Stocks in Europe and Asia and U.S. index futures sank after negotiations on the $700 billion financial bailout plan stalled and Washington Mutual Inc. was seized in the biggest U.S. bank failure in history.

UBS AG, the European bank hardest hit by subprime-related losses, slid 4.4 percent and Woori Finance Holdings Co., which controls the second-largest bank in South Korea, tumbled 7.5 percent after Republicans said they wouldn't support the proposed rescue plan. WaMu plunged 92 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired its branch network for $1.9 billion. Vestas Wind Systems A/S retreated 9.2 percent after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation for the world's biggest wind-turbine producer.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index decreased 2.7 percent to 263.79 at 1:37 p.m. in London, extending the drop this week to 5.2 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in December sank 2.2 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.5 percent.

``With the bankruptcy of Washington Mutual, the systemic risk has returned,'' said Benoit de Broissia, an equity analyst at Richelieu Finance in Paris, which oversees about $6.2 billion. ``One of the links in the chain has broken so we wonder if the chain is threatened,'' he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Stocks extended losses after a report showed the U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the second quarter, slower than the previously estimated 3.3 percent.

[Zynx]

1. A 200 point decline in the Dow usually correlates to about $250 billion in market value.

It's not an exact science because the Dow is price weighted instead of market cap weighted.

[LuckyTheDog]

2. IRA and 401(k) investors

They will lose big, thanks to McCain's little stunt.