Right Voices

Second only to Hillary Clinton.

Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer did quite nicely, too; McCain is seventh among the firm’s favorite pols (though its favorite Republican), having raised $145,100, according to OpenSecrets.org

Oil tumbles on Lehman failure

Oil prices tumbled to a seven-month low Monday as the demise of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch fed expectations of another big liquidation of commodities holdings.

Crude’s steep decline ” prices tumbled as much as $7 over the weekend ” also came as early signs suggested that Hurricane Ike delivered less damage than feared to the Gulf Coast energy oil and gas infrastructure.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $4.05, or 4 percent, to $97.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier dropping to $94.13, the lowest level since Feb. 14. A close at that level would be oil’s first settlement under $100 since March 4.

Crude has fallen about $50 ” or 35 percent ” from its all-time trading record of $147.27 reached July 11 as a global economic slowdown continues to weigh on demand for energy.

The sell-off in oil began Sunday and accelerated Monday as traders digested a day of dramatic upheaval on Wall Street: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a 158-year-old investment bank, filed for bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be bought out by Bank of America Corp.

Lehman, Merrill and other big institutional investors were major participants in the commodities boom of the past year, helping push the price of oil, precious metals and grains to historic highs until a slowing global economy helped bring a halt to the rally.

Analysts said investors feared that the upheaval in the financial sector could trigger another round of commodities liquidation ” especially with Lehman likely to unwind its holdings. Other investors may also unload commodities, fearing that the deepening economic crisis will further reduce demand for energy and raw materials futures.

“I think this is giving the bulls further reason to exit the market,” said Stephen Schork, an oil analyst and trader in Villanova, Pa., who said the pullback could reflect Lehman or a hedge fund selling.