WATCH: CNBC’s Jim Cramer Reacts in Real Time to Stock Market Getting Absolutely Shelled at the Opening Bell

CNBC host Jim Cramer attributed the massive stock selloff at the opening bell Monday to the happenings overseas — arguing the U.S. indices were “doubled down by fright.” The Dow Jones plunged on Monday right at the bell on the heels of a global market sell-off that was driven by escalating U.S. recession fears.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 led the rout, plummeting 12 percent in its worst single-day loss since the infamous Black Monday crash of 1987.

Analyzing the situation at market opening and looking for positivity, Cramer said he hoped to see the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) come down after it soared past 60, its highest level in over four years.

You have to see the VIX come down, that’s the obvious one but you want to see the stocks that have been monster good start coming in.

I like the fact that Pfizer is down because that’s been some sort of flight to safety. I like the fact that the drugs are down, that the foods, you talk about that, are down. that sign that maybe people think things are overdone. The safe havens were insanely positive last week.

But, look, I think you buy a little… Just buy a little. It’s a long day. I also think that you’re reacting to prices that are being set by other countries, not by ours and ours are now being doubled down by fright so you have the countries like Japan and… not just Japan, other places are geared because of your Yen carry trades but you have those sellers, a lot of times hedge funds… you have the China slowdown impacting everything and fear of the Mag Seven [Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Tesla] and all of that combined gives you opportunities.

Co-host David Faber joined in agreement that what was being seen was a crisis of confidence.

Let’s sort of go through things here as we anticipated, of course. many of the Megacap tech names are down sharply, by the way, nothing that our viewers don’t already know, we’ve been dealing with what initially was the significant rotation out of names into the smaller cap stocks, we talked about the [Illinois Tool Works], we had that historic move over a period of a couple of weeks in terms of the ITW outperforming the S&P in such a significant way, the likes of which we’ve rarely, if ever, seen, not to mention the Mag Seven and that sell-off continues in many of those names.

We’ve come through earnings season as we’ve said kind of a mixed bag. Certainly some positives but others that did not assuage the fears, perhaps, of any number of investors.

The market turmoil was triggered by a dismal July jobs report from the U.S., raising alarms about a potential economic downturn. Compounding investor anxiety, the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain the highest interest rates in two decades last week has stoked concerns that the central bank is lagging in its response to the slowdown.

Technology stocks were particularly hard hit, with Nvidia falling 9 percent and Apple cratering over 8 percent after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway halved its stake in the tech giant. Tesla, Broadcom, and Super Micro Computer also suffered significant declines, each dropping more than 7 percent.

The panic spread globally, with U.S. Treasury yields tumbled as investors sought safety in bonds, pushing the benchmark 10-year note yield to its lowest in a year at 3.76 percent. Bitcoin nosedived from nearly $62,000 on Friday to around $52,000 Monday. In Europe, London’s Stoxx 600 fell by 2.6 percent.

Adding to the chaos, the Bank of Japan’s recent interest rate hike sparked a reversal in the yen carry trade, intensifying the global sell.

Watch on CNBC.