Equities have hit multiple speedbumps since 2008. But every time, they came back to new all-time highs fuelled by endless policy action, mostly from central banks. Through quantitative easing and lower rates, central banks have engineered a now-evidently unsustainable investment boom in energy that cannot repay it itself, large-scale buyback programmes among US companies and ever-higher valuations for growth companies. 

The US-China trade war already started disrupting supply and slowing growth over the last year. In Q1 2020 the world economy was hit by the COVID-19 virus outbreak, creating both a supply (Chinese lockdown) and demand (lockdowns in many countries) shock, in addition to an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia which threatens to significantly impact the US oil industry and global investments in general. 

Not since 2008 has the world been this uncertain and out of balance. As equity prices reflect the future and growth prospects, they are the most sensitive to current crisis. Investors are desperate to get out and cash in on years of fat profits.