Sinkhole Underground Crushed
Ed_Braddy / Flickr
It was a quiet day. But stocks tanked for no obvious reason.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 13,473, -110.1, -0.8 percent

S&P 500: 1,441, -14.4, -0.9 percent

NASDAQ: 3,065, -47.3, -1.5 percent

And now the top stories:
  • Today was particularly ugly for the European markets.  The Spanish stock market tumbled 1.9 percent.  European finance ministers are currently meeting in Luxembourg to discuss the ongoing debt crisis. However, there weren't any meaningful headlines to explain today's sell-off. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been in Greece reminding everyone how important it is that they stay in the euro.

  • Earlier this morning, the NFIB reported that small business optimism was tumbling.  Most major metrics fell including employment expectations.

  • Two sources told Business Insider that the catalyst for today's market volatility was a new think tank report that suggested Iran could have nuclear weapons capabilities within months.  This could explain why oil spiked 3 percent today.

  • Aluminum giant Alcoa announces Q3 earnings this afternoon. Analysts expect the company to break even, earning $0.00 per share. The industrial metals supplier is widely considered to be an economic bellwether. We'll be interested to hear what they have to say about global demand for aluminum.   

  • YUM! Brands also announces earnings after the bell.