by Calculated Risk on 1/12/2015 08:01:00 PM

A decline in oil prices of 5% per day seems routine now.

From the WSJ: Oil Prices Fall to Fresh Lows

After dropping in half in 2014, Brent oil prices are already down 17% for the year, as robust global supply growth continues to outpace demand. ... Brent dropped $2.68, or 5.3%, to $47.43 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, the lowest settlement since March 2009.

U.S. oil for February delivery settled down $2.29, or 4.7%, at $46.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest level since April 2009.

For fun ... the financial crisis low for Brent was $33.73 per barrel in 2008.  I doubt prices will fall that far - but at 5% per day, who knows?

Tuesday:
• At 7:30 AM ET, NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for December

• At 10:00 AM, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for November from the BLS. Jobs openings increased in October to 4.834 million from 4.685 million in September. The number of job openings were up 21% year-over-year compared to October 2013, and Quits were up 12% year-over-year.