The Dow was down some 248 points in early-morning trading on Tuesday—almost 2 percent of its total value—much of that drop happening in just the first few minutes of trading. The NASDAQ is down almost 40 points, around 1.3 percent, hitting a low not seen since August. There were no immediate reasons for the sell-off, but one big data point was DuPont, the multinational chemical company, reporting disappointing earnings and announcing 1,500 layoffs.
