Oil Could Impact Stocks Again Today as Investors Watch Crude Drop

It's been a volatile week for oil with prices reached Tuesday that haven't been seen since the depths of the recession in February 2009. Crude prices dipped below $37 a barrel. American Petroleum Institute Data released after Tuesday's market close, showed a surprise drawdown in supply. Dow Chemical (DOW) and DuPont (DD) are said to be in late stage merger talks. The two companies combined would be the second biggest chemical company in the world, in terms of revenue, after BASF in Germany. DuPont has made big strides in the agriculture side of its business, especially in the corn seed technology. Reports say the plan is to merge the companies and then separate them into 3 businesses. Yahoo (YHOO) reportedly will abandon plans to spin off its $31 billion stake in Alibaba (BABA), a Chinese e-commerce company. An announcement could come as soon as today.