Oil, Stocks Plummet as Saudi Leadership Questions Emerge

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz is receiving medical attention and early Monday some reports suggested the Middle Eastern monarch had clinically died -- setting up a tricky path to succession. U.S. markets have a tricky path ahead of them, with a stock swoon accompanying yet another plummet in oil prices today. Next, it seems the worst-performing commodity of 2014 could have more hard times ahead, and oil is testing the $50 mark at lunchtime, setting markets up for further volatility. Already, some oil companies -- including Exxon Mobil -- have taken disproportionate hits.