Gold and U.S. Stocks Pretty Much Collapsed Thursday

U.S. stocks started a downward slide yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed may draw down its $85 billion-per-month bond-buying program sometime in mid-2014 if unemployment manages to work its way down to 6.5 percent.

And that downward slide picked up steam on Thursday, sending the three major U.S. stock indices way, way lower.

The S&P 500 posted big losses:

The Dow had its worst day in nearly seven months, dropping by about 362 points:

And the Nasdaq fell by about 72 points:

Meanwhile, gold got absolutely rocked:

Markets are not at all happy with Bernanke or with the recent economic data coming out of China:

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Featured image Getty Images.