by Calculated Risk on 12/07/2015 08:59:00 PM

From the WSJ: Oil Plunges to Near Seven-Year Lows

Oil prices plunged to near seven-year lows Monday on expectations that producers around the world will continue pumping crude at near-record levels in an already oversupplied market.
...
Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled down $2.32, or 5.8%, to $37.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. ... Brent, the global benchmark, fell $2.27, or 5.3%, to $40.73 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Both benchmarks posted their lowest settlement prices since Feb. 18, 2009, during the depths of the financial crisis.

Average gasoline prices are at $2.03 per gallon, and will probably be below $2.00 soon. When oil prices declined in 2008, it was due to a collapse in demand. This time supply is a huge factor in the price decline (there is some global weakness too).

Tuesday:
• At 9:00 AM ET, NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for November.

• At 10:00 AM, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for October from the BLS. Jobs openings increased in September to 5.526 million from 5.377 million in August. The number of job openings were up 18% year-over-year in September, and Quits were unchanged year-over-year.