Japan's Nikkei 225 now at a 26-year low

As the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 trade at 12-year lows, Japan's bellwether Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1.2 percent, or 88 points, on Monday to close at its lowest level in 26 years -- 7,086 points.

The U.S.'s second biggest trading partner got some bad news today. It registered a current account deficit for the first time in 13 years due to plunging exports. It's enough to tune into news out of Toyota (TM) or Sony (SNE), Nissan (NSANY) or Sharp, to realize how bad the world's second-largest economy exports have become as global demand dried up. They've plummeted 45.7 percent in January compared to January of last year. While imports dropped a significant number as well, it wasn't enough to offset the export drop.