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U.S. Treasury is paying $3 billion a day in interest on national debt, says the CBO—having spent $10 billion to prop up the currency of its top lender

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Steve and Connie Ballmer are splitting their $8 billion philanthropy into three so the people closest to the work can decide how the money is spent

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Google cofounder Sergey Brin has now spent $100 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses
Finance

Circuit breakers kick in on Wall Street for second time in a week

By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
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By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 12, 2020, 9:43 AM ET
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For the second time in a week, Wall Street halted trading just minutes after opening for the day as the S&P 500 lost 7% of its value within six minutes of the opening bell, falling to 2,539.05.

Circuit breakers, which are triggered when the market drops that amount, kicked in at 9:36 a.m. ET. The plunge came after markets in Europe and Japan both saw heavy losses—and the European Central Bank voted to keep rates unchanged.

Should the timeout not calm down traders, a Level Two halt would go into effect with a 13% drop (taking the S&P to 2385 today). It, too, would be a 15-minute break (unless that drop occurs after 3:25 p.m. ET).

A Level Three halt will occur if stocks fall 20% in a single day. (Today, that would mean the index fell to 2,193.) If that occurs, trading will shut down for the rest of the day, regardless of when it happens.

Circuit breakers kicked in Monday amid COVID-19 coronavirus fears and news that Saudi Arabia would increase its crude output, which hit crude prices hard.

Today, markets are showing displeasure with Donald Trump’s European travel ban, announced in a speech to the nation Wednesday night.

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—Is this your first stock market crash? Some advice for young investors
—Here are two of the biggest losers from the Saudi Arabia oil price war
—Why investors suddenly turned on pot stocks
—Here are some of the most extreme ways companies are combating coronavirus
—Why it’s so hard to find the next Warby Parker

Subscribe to Fortune’s Bull Sheet for no-nonsense finance news and analysis daily.

About the Author
By Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer

Chris Morris is a former contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general business news to the video game and theme park industries.

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