The bear market in oil keeps getting worse

US oil prices plummeted 7% on Tuesday to settle at $46.24 a barrel. It was crude’s weakest close since August 2017.

The deepening downturn in the oil patch is yet more evidence of investors fleeing risky assets as they brace for an economic slowdown. The same growth jitters that are rocking Wall Street — the Dow and S&P 500 are on track for their worst December since 1931 — are infecting commodities. Small-cap stocks plunged into a bear market on Monday.