A couple of articles about recent evens.

Slump from Wall Street to Main Street

New York Times
- With Wall Street caught in a credit crisis that has captured headlines, the forces assailing the economy are now spreading beyond areas hit hardest by the boom-turned-bust in real estate like California, Florida and Nevada. Now, the downturn is seeping into new parts of the country, to communities that seemed insulated only months ago.

Crude Falls below $100 on Economic Concerns

MarketWatch

Crude's recent surge was triggered by "a wave of money from speculative interests looking for an inflation hedge as the dollar crumbled," said John Kilduff, an analyst at futures brokerage MF Global. "The inability to extend at the top has that same pool of money now heading for the exists."

"Now that $100 has been broken, the odds have risen that a much deeper price correction will occur ahead," he added in a research note.

Crude's drop came as most commodities futures fell for a second day. In past weeks, inflation worries and the falling dollar sent investors flocking to oil, gold and grains as safe-haven investments. Some of that inflation-momentum disappeared Wednesday as the dollar rose back.