Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/GRIN AND BEAR IT

Gulp! The savage global stock markets selloff means October could finish as the worst month for MSCI’s all-country index in at least seven years next week - with losses since January’s peaks now closing in on 15 percent.

The bear market has been extending its reach gradually around the world for months – from China to broader emerging markets to European autos and banks and almost 65 percent constituent stocks of MSCI’s all-country world index. Even the FANG+TM index of U.S. and world tech and internet stocks has joined the slump.

So what happens next $7 trillion has been already wiped off of global stocks but there has been little hint of a bounce. Just as importantly the Federal Reserve and ECB show no sign of blinking in terms of tightening policy and China stimulus is yet to bite. History suggests that markets only tend to stop panicking when central banks start panicking.

The more optimistic, though, point out that Christmas is coming and Santa rallies often turn up a month early. Halloween is on Wednesday though so there is plenty of time for things to get scarier especially if Apple's results on Thursday turn out sour.