First Trading day, first $100 oil barrel

The first trading day of 2008 brought about a short-lived higher open. A combination of economic data and rising commodities pushed the Dow to its first 200 points loss of 2008.

1. The weaker-than-expected Institute of Supply Management (ISM) data, along with rising crude and other factors, drove down the key indices by roughly 1.4% to 1.6%.

2. Crude oil prices briefly rocketed to $100 a barrel for the first time, reaching the $100 milestone due to global demand for oil and petroleum products.

The world is already changing! I would imagine the speculators are the biggest drivers of crude oil today, rather than the Turkish attack or falling crude oil inventories.