How bad? Here's how bad

Below is a chart of the widely watched S&P 500 Index, which is 500 large cap stocks. Note how close it is to the barely visible 200 day moving average (the red line at the lower right). If this is broken the market is in free fall. The S&P measures 500 stocks while the Dow Jones is 30 Industrial stocks, therefore most investors rely more on the S&P 500 for an accurate take.