Oil!

Holy crap did Wall Street take a beating today. And I know just what BBA readers are thinking: that means there's bargains out there!

But that's not the subject of this post. Oil is:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months Monday, tumbling in another dramatic sell-off as the demise of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch deepened worries about the U.S. economy.

Crude prices shed more than $5 a barrel and have now given up virtually all their gains for the year, extending a steep, two-month slide from record levels above $147 a barrel.

Oil's pullback also came as early signs suggested that Hurricane Ike delivered less damage than feared to the Gulf Coast energy oil and gas infrastructure.

But:

...pump prices jumped above $4 a gallon in parts of the country as a precautionary shutdown of Gulf refineries caused gasoline shortages.

Yeah, gas hopped up to four bucks in Madison today. Hopefully, that won't last long: if Ike was really as non-devastating as the story says, supply ought to be back up pretty quickly.

Regardless, today's drop means crude futures have fallen about 35% since July. Does that sound like a bubble popping?