Good New Bad News, I guess

Crude near four-year low on demand concerns

Oil prices will stand at $43 on average in the first quarter of 2009 and $45 in the second quarter, the Merrill analysts wrote in a recent report. They also expected an average price of $56 a barrel in the second half of 2009.

The good news is that next summer's fuel dock prices are expected to be a lot lower than they were in 2008.

The bad news is that oil's dramatic drop in the past six months is a sign of the falling world economy. The sky is falling!

Caveat Emptor: the analysts quoted are from Merrill. Aren't these the geniuses who bought and sold a trillion dollars of credit default swaps?