What a difference a month makes.

On Sept. 18, the U.S. stock market reached a record high after a mostly uneventful summer. Long-term interest rates headed higher, a sign that investors expected steady U.S. growth. A widely watched measure of volatility in the U.S. stock market was near its lowest level of the year, and European markets were heading higher after a nasty downturn over the summer. The price of crude oil was declining, but nothing like the sudden plunges that would come weeks later.

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