The Iconoclast Investor

You know that the stock market and economy are in turmoil when a story about oil prices reaching a 13-month low is buried on Yahoo! Finance and not even showing up on The New York Times home page. But that’s exactly what happened today. Oil was about $75 a barrel this morning, nearing a low hit in September 2007.

You’ve probably already noticed gasoline prices have been trending lower lately, with many stations here in Massachusetts selling gasoline for below $3 per gallon. It’s almost sad to be excited about gasoline that costs ONLY $3 a gallon, but when you consider that it was above $4 here during the summer, it does seem like we’re finally getting a little relief.

Expectations that economic weakness will lessen demand for gasoline likely led to the decline, as evidenced in retail sales slumping much more than expected in September. At least there’s one bright spot in all this market and economic chaos … it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to fill up the tank … just an arm.