The Chinese markets dropped a whopping 8% in one day today, the steepest decline in eight years.  Thus, on fears that the world's #2 economy is about to tank, all global markets took a dive including the Dow to the tune of 128 points and the Nasdaq 49 or almost 1 percent.  With securities regulators in Beijing scrambling for damage control, investors rush to sell anything Chinese, including the former darling Alibaba.  On the plus side of the ledger, Q2 reporting continues to come in better than expected, earnings forecasts now upgraded to a minus 0.3 percent.  Recall that a month ago it was minus 3.0 percent, then a few weeks ago a minus 1.5%, and last week a minus 0.5%.  The same thing happened in Q1 and, like Q1, it will not be surprising if a month from now Q2 is actually in the black.  Now all eyes are on this week's Fed meeting and whether the long anticipated announcement of a September interest rate will finally take place.  Volume was above average at 7.3 billion.

And there were more developments from Greece today.  The latest and greatest:
Greek creditors seek third wave of reforms before loan | Reuters

Markets | Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:39pm EDT

Wall Street drops as China stock slump stokes growth fears

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

DJ:    17,440.59  -127.94    NAS:   5,039.78  -48.85        S&P:   2,067.64  -12.01

REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON

Wall Street sank on Monday, with the Nasdaq losing almost 1 percent after the steepest decline in Chinese stocks in eight years increased concerns that cooling growth in the world's No. 2 economy could hurt China's trading partners.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished at its lowest since February, the Nasdaq Composite hit a four-week low and the benchmark S&P 500 ended at its lowest in over two weeks.

In an additional negative sign, 480 stocks hit 52-week lows on the New York Stock Exchange, the most in one day since Oct. 15. .AD.N

After Chinese stocks plunged more than 8 percent, the top securities regulator said Beijing would keep buying shares to stabilize the market as an unprecedented rescue plan already in place appeared to sputter.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies slid, including Alibaba (BABA.N) and Baozun (BZUN.O).

Commodity prices resumed a downward spiral, with the Thomson Reuters CRB commoditiesindex .TRJCRB hitting a six-year low and oil a four-month low.

"It’s hard to assess whether China single-handedly can deep-six the market," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "A significant slowdown in China impacts not just the U.S. but global players as well."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 0.72 percent to end at 17,441.79 points.  The S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.57 percent to end at 2,067.75. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.96 percent to 5,039.78.

Nine of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the energy index's .SPNY 1.35 percent fall leading the decliners.

With second-quarter reports well under way, analysts expect overall earnings of S&P 500companies to dip 0.3 percent and revenue to decline 3.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Such results could inflate already relatively pricey valuations. The S&P 500 trades near 16.9 times forward 12-month earnings, above the 10-year median of 14.7 times, according to StarMine data.

"Valuations are a concern right now," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin. "We really need to see corporate revenue growth."

The main event for U.S. markets this week is likely to be the two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, the last before September, which still looms as the first possible date for an interest rate increase.

Teva Pharmaceutical's (TEVA.N) shares jumped 16.41 percent to a record high of $72.00 after it agreed to buy Allergan's (AGN.N) generic drug business for $40.5 billion, giving up on its bid to buy Mylan (MYL.O). Allergan rose 6.09 percent while Mylan fell 14.51 percent.

Fiat Chrysler (FCAU.N) fell 4.88 percent after a U.S. auto safety watchdog announced a $105 million fine against the automaker over lapses in safety recalls.

On the NYSE, 2.73 stocks fell for every one that rose. On the Nasdaq, decliners outnumbered gainers 2.47 to 1.

The S&P 500 index posted 3 new 52-week highs and 58 lows; the Nasdaq Composite saw 21 new highs and 246 lows.

Some 7.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the daily average of 6.6 billion so far this month.