"Oil’s Fall Continues Into 2015, and Stock Markets Shudder"

"HOUSTON — Oil prices tumbled below $50 a barrel on Monday, spooking global financial markets and signaling that the remarkable 50 percent price drop since June was continuing this year and even quickening.

The new drop in American and global benchmarks of more than 5 percent was accompanied by reports of increased Middle Eastern oil exports, continuing increases in American production and renewed worries about the declining economic fortunes of Europe.

The plunge once again sent fear through global markets. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 37.62 points, or 1.83 percent, to 2,020.58. The Vix, a measure of market volatility that is known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, leaped about 12 percent. And in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 tumbled more than 2.5 percent Tuesday in morning trading."

Clifford Krauss and Peter Eavis report for the New York Times January 5, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Crude Oil Falls Below $50 Us; Calgary Energy Shares Tumble" (Calgary Herald)

"Oil Prices at $50: Why a Barrel of Crude Costs Less Than Your Shoes" (Christian Science Monitor)

"Oil Below $60 Tests Economics of U.S. Shale Boom" (Bloomberg)

"Damage From Oil Price Fall Spreads To Industry's Support Companies" (Toronto Globe and Mail)

"Oil Falls Below $50 as Global Glut Worsens; Traders See $40 Before Week End" (Financial Post)

"How $40 Oil Would Impact Canada’s Provinces" (Toronto Globe and Mail)