Oil prices plunged Monday, pulling back at least temporarily from record levels as investors feared that the crisis that forced the sale of Bear Stearns Companies is a sign of deep economic trouble.
Crude's plunge came even as diesel prices rose to a new record above $4 a gallon, and gas prices remained high. Diesel, used to transport the vast majority of the nation's goods, rose 1.3 cents to a national average of $4.002 a gallon Monday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The national average price of a gallon of gas, meanwhile, dipped slightly to $3.283, but remains 73 cents higher than a year ago.
Oil's steep decline -- falling $4.53 to settle at $105.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- came hours after futures reached a new trading high of $111.80 on the Federal Reserve's move Sunday to lower a key interest rate by a quarter point.
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