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Stock futures were down sharply, but partly recovered from prior lows, as Donald Trump pulled off an upset victory over Hillary Clinton, who conceded early Wednesday. S&P 500 futures were off 2.7% after tumbling as much as 5%, triggering a trading halt. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 3%, and Dow futures were down 2.3%, or 419 points, after plummeting more than 800 points at the lows. Asian markets also sold off, with Japan's Nikkei down more than 5%. Before votes were counted, most forecasts gave Clinton a two-thirds to 90% chance of victory. The major market averages rallied Monday and Tuesday...

Yves here. While commercial bankruptcies are still below the level of late 2013, Wolf is correct to point out that the spike during this year’s bankruptcy season is bigger and longer-lived than in recent years. Presumably a fair bit of the change is due to stress in oil producing areas, but it may also include an intensification of the ongoing shakeout in bricks and mortar retailers.By Wolf Richter, a San Francisco based executive, entrepreneur, start up specialist, and author, with extensive international work experience. Originally published at Wolf StreetThis year through June, there have been 91 corporate defaults globally,...