Economic Marks of the New Year

You surely have been inundated with this news story, which is essentially contained within its own headline

Oil breaks $100 as U.S. stockpiles drop

Did you catch this one, though?

Toyota Ousts Ford From No. 2 Spot in U.S. Sales

It's not like we didn't know either one of these was coming--and these aren't really necessarily bad things, in the long term. But I think we may find that, presidential caucuses and primaries aside, it will set the tone for 2008.