Dealmaking activity takes a dive in Q3

• Q3 global M&A volume and deal count are down 49% and 39%, respectively, from Q2. The year-over-year totals are down 26% and 41%, respectively.
• The U.S. deal dropoff is even more severe, with M&A volume off 61% quarter-over-quarter and deal count down 46.5%. Year-over-year it's fallen by 36.5% and 47%, respectively.

Zoom in: There's been a significant decline in megadeals, which had been inflating the headline numbers.

• So far this quarter there only have been nine deals valued at $10 billion or more, compared to 27 such deals last quarter.

Choose your own albatross: High oil prices, stubborn inflation, (correct) expectations of interest rate hikes, lingering SaaSpocalypse fears trickling into other sectors.

• "This seems more dramatic than other pauses we've seen," says Matthew Toole, director of deals intelligence for LSEG. "The macro issues are probably causing some buyers to question their models."

The bottom line: There's usually a flurry of reported deal activity at the very end of a quarter — still nine business days away — but it won't get close to closing the chasm.