Falling Oil Prices

There are few issues that so clearly define winners and losers like the price of oil.  Consumers have received an unexpected gift at the gas pump and grocery aisle.  The effect is already showing up in increased consumer sentiment that is at its highest level since before the Great Recession.  Globally the falling price of oil is hurting developing economies that rely on oil and gas production.  Here in the U.S. the shale oil boom made possible by fracking may be over unless oil prices return to a level that justifies the expense of extracting oil from rock.  Stock markets have reacted negatively as falling oil prices indicate uncertainty about the health of the global economy.