What a difference a week can make! It wasn't that long ago, August 1 to be exact, that oil prices were setting record high prices and appeared to be ready to charge above the psychological $80 barrier. Well, that was 9 days ago and 10.2% above oil's current price, as concerns over the U.S. economy have pushed prices down by more than $8 a barrel.Currently we are seeing prices down another 87 cents to $70.72.
So what is the major problem here? I wish I could pinpoint the concerns down to one single factor, at least that way we would be able to try to figure out exactly how deep the problem goes, but unfortunately there are several factors weighing down oil prices at this time. They include (but are not limited to):
- Reports suggesting a sluggish U.S. economy
- Concerns that the subprime mortgage woes are spreading into different areas in the market
- Jobless claims have been on the rise
- Disappointing July retail numbers
- Ongoing uncertainty over supply coming out of the Middle East
You would have to have been hiding out in a cave over the past few days not to know that subprime fears have turned into mass panic on Wall Street. The newest company 
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