3 market-panic signals point to global coronavirus recession

Investors look at a number of signals to forecast if the economy is headed for a recession. And those signals are now flashing bright red.

The clearest signal is coming from the stock market. The Dow dropped 1,800 points in early trading Monday — a 7% decline on top of the nearly 12% decline since it hit a record high on February 19. The latest slump put the Dow close to "bear market" territory, or when stocks sink at least 20% from their previous peak.

Just a few weeks ago, many Wall Street analysts were predicting that the U.S. economy might dodge, or at least mostly evade, the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Back in January, Goldman Sachs predicted the coronavirus would knock just 0.4 percentage points off domestic growth. But nearly all of that was from a drop in tourists from China and some dip in Chinese exports. Most analysts expected the U.S. economy to escape largely unscathed. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow went so far as to call the virus "contained, saying late last month that "I don't think it's going to be an economic tragedy at all."