Stocks Are Red, Oil Is Tumbling

In early trade the Dow was down 34 points, the S&P 500 was down 8 points, and the Nasdaq was down 25 points.

Meanwhile, crude oil fell below $80 a barrel for the first time since June 2012 in early trade on Monday as energy prices continue to tumble around the world.

In a note to clients over the weekend, Goldman Sachs cut its outlook for oil prices to $75 a barrel for WTI in the first quarter of next year and $70 a barrel in the second quarter of next year.

Stocks in Brazil are also getting crushed after president Dilma Rouseff won reelection on Sunday, with Brazil's main Bovespa stock index falling as much as 6%.

Rouseff was seen as the less business-friendly candidate, and investors are not taking kindly to her win.

Among the big individual losers following Rouseff's win were shares of Petrobras, down as much as 16% after the result.

On the economic data front, Markit Economics' flash reading for US service sector activity slowed to a six-month low of 57.3, though this reading still shows expansion.

Pending home sales rose 0.3% month-over-month in September, below expectations for a 1% increase but better than the 1% decline seen in August.