Monday’s stock market plunge was so deep, quick and dramatic, that it tripped the New York Stock Exchange’s “circuit breaker,” a forced 15-minute brake on trading that hadn’t happened since 1997. One analysis estimated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 7.8% drop lost some $1.87 trillion in value. Yikes.

Clearly, now would not be a happy time to be looking at one’s 401(k) numbers — so don’t; try to hang in there for the longer haul to allow recovery. Problem is, just how long the haul will take to overcome global COVID-19 fears, is anyone’s guess.

A preview of rail work to come

March has been fairly mild, but that old saw about “in like a lamb, out like a lion” may fit Honolulu traffic in at least the Dillingham Boulevard corridor, where utility work on the rail project gets underway this month. Frequent drivers there can be forewarned and get details at the 6:30 meeting tonight at Kalihi Kai Elementary School.

Previews of the work at the Kakaako end of the rail project start at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mission Memorial Auditorium. Or, there’s the livestream at facebook.com/HonoluluRailTransit.