The Wall Street Journal is reporting that "U.S. oil benchmark settled down $2.21, or 5.5%, at $38.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first settlement below $40 a barrel since February 2009."

Yahoo Finance reported today that "U.S. crude averaged more than $90 a barrel from 2011 through 2014.  Its price has fallen for 8 straight weeks, the longest slump in almost 30 years."

Interestingly, the fear index, a market reading that measures volatility, reached 53 – the last time it was over 50 was reportedly in March of 2009, when the market hit its bottom after the financial crisis.

One thing is for sure, the fear index seems to be a good reflection of today's headlines.

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