Oil’s below $130 a barrel, now that’s a trend I like to see.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents Friday to settle at $128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange — well below its trading record of more than $147 a week earlier.

As Kate pointed out re my previous post, announcing we will drill had a positive effect. Bush ok’d it. Now the stumbling block seems to be Congress, more specifically Nancy Pelosi who is adamant against offshore drilling. If she doesn’t budge, it will never go to the House for a vote. See, it still needs Congressional approval before they can drill. We have the oil, just need to get it out of the ground. If Congresscritters and Pelosi don’t get the hint, they should not be reelected. Put somebody in that has some common sense.

I heard/read somewhere that there are offshore sites that could be producing within a year. Might have been on FoxNews. If so, there is even more urgency to drill.

Meanwhile, I drive less. Already drive a small car with, by today’s standards, good gas mileage so no need to get another. Even people that own big cars are trading down.

Car buyers have been fleeing to more fuel-efficient models. U.S. sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles are down nearly 18 percent this year through June, while sales of small cars are up more than 10 percent.

Let’s see if that trend continues with the drop in oil prices. People driving less would be another trend to watch.

Now this I like to see.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped $4.14 to settle at $134.60 a barrel on the Nymex. Prices fell $6.44 Tuesday in the biggest one-day drop in dollar terms since the Gulf War.

Sure beats $147.27 a barrel which it had been at at one point. Hopefully, that decrease will be reflected at the pump. Sooner rather than later. It’s needed.

Looks like the government is going to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae after all.

The short-term uncertainty about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae — which together hold or guarantee half the nation’s mortgage debt — was to an extent relieved on Sunday. Federal officials again threw their support behind the government-sponsored enterprises; the Treasury pledged to expand its current line of credit to the two companies and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson also said the government could, if needed, buy equity capital in the companies, whose stocks lost half their value last week. The Treasury’s moves would require congressional approval.

There goes the national debt. However, they aren’t going to bail out any other financial companies. Can’t afford to. Can’t afford to bail out Fannie and Freddie either. Whatever! Wonder what Congress will do with this mess. At any rate, expect a disaster. For example:

Now that the federal government has thrown a lifeline to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions more if the crisis of confidence spreads.

See what I mean. Disaster. Expect more taxes. By the numbers:

As long as more homeowners default on mortgages, losses to financial institutions will mount. Those losses already exceed $400 billion, and some analysts believe they will top $1 trillion before the housing carnage is over.

That’s a huge amount of money. People around here are just walking away from their homes and mortgages, some 3000 or so houses in foreclosure here in Gilbert alone last time I checked. Friend bought one that was in foreclosure, there are some good deals out there. Only bright spot in this mess.

Dow isn’t doing so well either, closed at 11,055.19. Obviously the stock market has yet to react positively to the bailout.

Oh wow, the Dow sunk below 11,000 now at 10,986.47 according to the quote on Yahoo. The reason why?

Wall Street sank further into a bear market Friday as investors dumped stocks in response to troubles at mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and oil’s continuing climb into record territory. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 200 points and slid below the 11,000 mark for the first time in two years.

Oh and oil shot up briefly to $147.27 a barrel before settling down to $146.60. Back to Fannie and Freddie, they aren’t worth much anymore.

At midday, Fannie shares traded at $9.15, down 31 percent, while Freddie traded at $5.85, down 27 percent. Both have lost close to 90 percent of their value since August. The companies’ bonds posted gains.

That’s a huge loss, huge. To get an idea how big they are, ponder this.

The pair hold or guarantee around $5 trillion worth of mortgages. That’s roughly half of the $9.5 trillion debt of the United States. The fear is that a failure of one or both would wreak havoc on the nation’s financial system and the broader economy as well.

A bailout would cost the taxpayers dearly. Not good at all to shift the burden to us taxpayers. A bit on the history of the companies for the clueless.

Congress created the companies to provide a steady stream of money for home mortgages. Although the government doesn’t guarantee Fannie’s and Freddie’s debts, most investors believe the government would come to their rescue if the companies fell into dire straits. This “implicit” guarantee allows them to borrow money at lower interest rates than other financial companies.

Although created by Congress, they are privately owned thus the government doesn’t have to bail them out or take them over, meaning nationalize them. It will do one of them eventually. One wonders isn’t government nationalizing industries a bad thing? It would certainly be a disturbing trend. After all, that is something Hugo Chavez is known to do. For the U.S. to do the same bodes ill for our freedom.

Update: Fannie and Freddie say they have plenty of money. Not to worry folks… much.

We’re definitely in bear territory now, and not the furry kind either. The Dow just keeps sinking.

The stock market’s pullback, which accelerated in the final hours of the week’s last full trading session, left the Dow Jones industrial average officially in bear market territory, with the blue chips having fallen more than 20 percent from their October highs.

…The Dow fell 166.75, or 1.46 percent, to 11,215.51, the lowest close since August 2006. It now stands 20.82 percent below its Oct. 9, 2007 record of 14,164.53. The last bear market ended in October 2002.

And oil just keeps rising, what with the tension between Israel and Iran, no surprise either.

Crude oil hit a record $144.32 a barrel in after-hours trading after reaching a record settlement of $143.57, an advance of $2.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Energy Department reported Wednesday that U.S. crude oil supplies fell more than expected last week.

It’ll only get worse. With retirement not that many years off, things are looking rather bleak. I don’t like it very much.

I’ll like it even less if Obama gets elected and raises my taxes.

Let me get this straight, we won’t attack Iran cause it would burden our taxpayers and Israel won’t attack Iran cause it’s government is imploding but Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz if attacked (as reported yesterday on FoxNews). Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said (as reported by the AP) about being attacked:

“We do not foresee such a possibility at the moment. The Israeli government is facing a political breakdown within itself and within the region, so we do not foresee such a possibility for that regime to resort to such craziness,” he said. “The United States, too, is not in a position where it can engage in, take another risk in the region.

“Of course, there are people in the United States who are interested in that. But we think that the rational thinkers in the United States will prevent from that action being taken, and will prevent the imposition of another adventuresome act that would put pressure on the American taxpayers.”

So they feel free to pursue their nuclear program with blatant disregard for any perceived consequences. There are none in their opinion. And of course, they threatened to retaliate were the U.S. or Israel be so foolish as to attack Iran.

In Madrid, Iran’s oil minister warned Wednesday that an attack on his country would provoke a fierce response “that nobody can imagine.” Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said, however, that Tehran would not cut oil deliveries and would continue supplying the market even if struck by Israel or the United States.

I suppose that remark was to calm the oil markets after they threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, an action that would double the cost of oil and gasoline. And our response to said threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz was it’s not happening.

A senior U.S. military commander said Wednesday that Washington would not permit Iran to choke off the Strait of Hormuz.

I suppose that too was to calm the oil markets. Which I doubt will be overly placated as reports filter in that they have a year before Iran has the capability to build the bomb. So Israel has to be thinking of doing something about those nuclear facilities. Track record, it has in the past even with Olmert in charge. I expect things to get interesting.

Mind you timing is everything. IMHO if Obama gets elected, expect no help from the U.S. if Israel should duke it out with Iran. So providing he wins, any action after election day would be a wasted effort. It just won’t happen. Iran will get their nukes. If the Middle East should implode before election day, McCain might stand a chance of getting elected if only to keep the cost of oil from going thru the roof. Why we might even realize there is a problem here and need a commander in chief that knows how to lead. You know, someone with actual experience here. I’m not getting my hopes up thou.

Under investigation, the Federal Reserve bank. Apparently the U.S. central bank has to answer to a higher power and it isn’t George W. Bush.

As part of the assessment, the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the major investment banks, mortgage banks and hedge funds will be asked to hand over confidential documents to the IMF team. They will be required to answer the questions they are asked during interviews. Their databases will be subjected to so-called stress tests — worst-case scenarios designed to simulate the broader effects of failures of other major financial institutions or a continuing decline of the dollar.

Under its bylaws, the IMF is charged with the supervision of the international monetary system. Roughly two-thirds of IMF members — but never the United States — have already endured this painful procedure.

So who put the IMF in charge? Did the U.S. have any say in the matter? More important did the citizens of the U.S. have any say in the matter? Did we know about it? Do we care? Enquiring minds want to know.

It gets better. Now this is the interesting part.

For seven years, US President George W. Bush refused to allow the IMF to conduct its assessment. Even now, he has only given the IMF board his consent under one important condition. The review can begin in Bush’s last year in office, but it may not be completed until he has left the White House. This is bad news for the Fed chairman.

OK, so Bush has some say over when we get investigated but it sure seems interesting he doesn’t want it completed until he is gone. Thus sheltering him from any fallout from the report. I’d worry about this if the economy didn’t suck bad as it does. We know we have a problem, don’t need the IMF to tell us that we do. Come to think about it, I’d still worry depending on what the IMF does or forces the Fed to do as a result of this investigation. The consequences could be dire.

Hattip SurvivalBlog.

Oil hit another record high today, something to do with tension between Israel and Iran over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

U.S. light crude was up $1.76 at $141.97 a barrel by 9:57 a.m. EDT, after a record high of $143.67 a barrel.

If it came to war between the two, expect a lot more than oil going up. Whole Mideast could go up in flames. In the meantime, I have to fill up the gas tank and I’m not looking forward to that.

I was in for a surprise this morning when I checked My Yahoo, stocks tumbled, sitting at 11,565.04, lowest I’ve seen it in recent months.

Stocks tumbled Thursday as Wall Street contended with a barrage of bad news: another surge in oil prices and warnings of trouble in the key financial, automotive and high-tech industries. The major indexes showed losses of more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which shed more than 200 points and dropped to its lowest level of the year.

Guess Bernanke’s do nothing approach yesterday did less than nothing. Course the Fed is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to interest rates. We’ll see how it deals with this latest bit of news.

And not content with a little bad news, here’s more - oil is expected to go even higher, a lot higher.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil was quoted as telling a French television station that oil could rise as high as $170 per barrel this summer before pulling back. That and a falling dollar helped send light, sweet crude up $3.50 to $138.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Rising oil has saddled nearly all parts of the economy with higher costs, weighing on consumers who now have to reach much deeper into their wallets at the gas pump and therefore have less to spend elsewhere.

Gee, just what we wanted to hear. Not! Think I’ll go pet a cat, good stress relief.

Update for the curious from Reuters, not good at all.

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 358.41 points, or 3.03 percent, to end unofficially at 11,453.42.

There goes my retirement income.

Up, down, up again - the price of oil. Not the kitties on the counter although they too are up down up. The Saudis increasing production a tiny bit didn’t help.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $1.38 to settle at $136.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The surprising thing was the problem with Nigerian oil. Surprised Nigeria produces something sides spam in the inbox.

Concerns about Nigerian production also boosted prices Monday. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it cannot meet contractual obligations to export oil from a Nigerian oil field following a militant attack Thursday, and news reports say Chevron Corp. has been forced to shut down a Nigerian oil facility following a militant attack. News reports of a strike against Chevron by Nigerian workers also contributed to buying Monday.

Better the spam, easy to delete that. More to the point, does anyone running for President have a solution to this oil mess? Like maybe the obviously ignored drilling more at home which no one wants to do cause of the environmentalists. It would actually work. We should become energy independent, self reliant. Sooner rather than later. Saw a report where we could have more offshore oil in a years time depending on where we drill. We still need the oil. Not convinced biofuels will do the trick as the main product of that venture has been raising the cost of food. Some food you can’t even get too.

Course raising the cost of oil does that too. My icecream didn’t appear to go up in price until I noticed the container was thinner. Instead of 1/2 gallon I got 1 3/4 quarts a full 1/4 quart less for the money. I felt cheated. Milk too mirrors the price of gas, when one goes up the other does too. The basics are taking a much bigger bite of my very fixed income and I don’t like it.

That is nice, maybe gasoline prices will fall here. Won’t in China. Which is why the price of oil fell here.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $4.75 to settle at $131.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

China disclosed that it will raise prices for gasoline and diesel fuel 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively, beginning Friday.

Guessing the Chinese government controls the supply and can set prices. Whopping big increase too. That’ll cut demand.

There’s a danger when government controls the industry, they can set the prices and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Had a couple more thoughts after watching the news. Updated post accordingly. There’s another danger too inherent in governments controlling the oil industry. That being using that oil to strongarm other countries to do their will.

President Hugo Chavez threatened Thursday to shut off oil exports to European countries that enforce tough new EU rules on illegal immigrants.

“Our petroleum should not go to these European countries” that apply the new laws, Chavez said at a press conference here.

He who has the oil wields power to change the laws to suit his interests. Laws elsewhere even. Better not try that here, nationalizing oil that is. And don’t think it hasn’t been thought of either. It has.

A Democratic lawmaker stepped off the idea of nationalizing oil refineries, telling FOX News on Thursday he only means to put “national pressure” on oil companies - a day after he endorsed the idea of government refinery ownership.

Wait til 2009 and see if they resurrect this idea. It will happen. It’s a Socialist’s dream.

Reading about the Fed’s Kobayashi Maru doesn’t give me a warm feeling. Especially since my retirement is tied up in the market. Not a warm feeling at all, no wonder the stock market isn’t doing so well.

I just got the retirement packet from work, I can retire now or wait until retirement age. I’ll wait, collecting disability now. I can survive. But can my retirement? Will the money be there when I need it is the big question. Right now I doubt it.

Hattip Survival Blog.

I filled up today. Gas was $3.999 a gallon, effectively $4 a gallon. That hurt. Also painful, oil hit a record high today.

Oil settled at $138.54, a rise of more than 8 percent. The surged came after Morgan Stanley analyst Ole Slorer predicted strong demand in Asia and tight supplies in the Western Hemisphere could drive prices to $150 by Independence Day, when millions of Americans take to the roads.

It had been as high as $139.12. And the stock market reacted, to that and to record unemployment, employers cut some 49,000 jobs last month. I’d react to that too, the thought of $150 a barrel oil makes me sick.

The government also reported the nation’s unemployment rate zoomed to 5.5 percent in May, a monthly rise of half a percentage point, the biggest in 22 years.

Dow set a record too.

On Wall Street, the Dow plunged 394.64 points, more than 3 percent, to close at 12,209.81, the biggest drop in more than 15 months in both percentage and points terms.

Let’s see, that’s a threefer - record oil prices, record unemployment, record stock drop. It’s a safe bet they’re going to blame Bush, they always do. He’s not responsible for the entire economy. The enviroweenies share the blame. If we could only drill in Anwar and offshore where they have blocked drilling, we would be less dependent on foreign oil. Sides which we live in a global economy and what happens elsewhere affects what happens here.

image credit AP

We’re still under $4 a gallon here in Arizona. $4.02 elsewhere in the U.S. Cheapest gas - Venezuela.

Venezuela, too, is a gas-guzzler’s wonderland. A gallon costs just 12 cents and consumers are snapping up SUVs even as Americans are shunning them. Thanks to long-held government subsidies and plenty of oil, Venezuelans see cheap fuel as a birthright.

Yeah, but they have to put up with Hugo Chavez. Not worth the tradeoff. I’ll keep my high gas prices and my freedom, thankyouverymuch.

I haven’t bought gas lately, good thing too as I’d be very unhappy if I did as it has gone up.

Although prices rebounded Wednesday, investors are still contending with a growing belief that U.S. demand for gas is falling in response to prices that already average more than $4 in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose 0.7 cent overnight to a new record of $3.944, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Gas prices are likely to keep rising as long as crude prices don’t collapse, analysts said. And that means prices will soon breach the psychologically important $4 level on a national basis.

$4 a gallon is significant. Wonder what it is locally. I’ll find out soon enough unfortunately. Doesn’t matter that oil is down to $129.94 a barrel from it’s high of $135.09 a barrel, gasoline prices still keep rising. Sucks.

I’m guessing as demand falls, prices will keep rising so they can keep making record profits unlike other industries that lower prices to encourage buying, pessimist I be.

Been a bad week for stocks and oil. I hadn’t paid it much attention earlier in the week, did notice stocks were down from it’s high last week. Just flirts with 13,000 then drops again. Depressing.

Stocks resumed their steep slide Friday as investors digested a better-than-expected home sales report that still showed continued weakness, and as traders squared their portfolios ahead of the three-day holiday weekend. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 100 points.

The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell 1 percent last month. That’s better than analysts’ forecast of a 1.6 percent decline, but the news was still unwelcome to a market nervous about the continuing housing slump and the impact of the rising price of oil on consumers.

Meanwhile, rising oil prices also weighed on stocks. A barrel of oil is up $1.74 at $132.55 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices are set for a third weekly gain after surging to a record $135.09 a barrel on Thursday. Investors are buying on the belief that supply can’t keep up with growing global demand from countries like China and India.

…In late morning trading, the Dow fell 142.08, or 1.13 percent, to 12,483.54.

It’s not all bad news, some companies are doing rather well despite the downturn.

Update: At the end of the day/week, things looked a bit down overall.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 507.17, or 3.91 percent, at 12,479.63. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished down 49.42, or 3.47 percent, at 1,375.93. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week down 84.18, or 3.33 percent, at 2,444.67.

I hadn’t been keeping track. Oil just keeps going up and up.

Crude oil shot past $132 a barrel for the first time Wednesday after the Energy Department reported a surprising decline in crude inventories last week following four straight weeks of gains. Crude rose as high as $132.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wondered why stocks were down. That explains it. Never expected to see oil that high. Expect gasoline prices to be high for the Memorial Day holiday weekend too. Sucks.

Oil is up again, almost hit $128 a barrel.

And buy they did Friday. The price for a barrel of benchmark light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped $2.17 to settle at record close of $126.29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, prices surged to $127.82 a barrel, also a new high.

It was the eighth time in the past 10 sessions traders rewrote the record books, and the first time prices topped $127 a barrel.

That means gasoline is now an average $3.787 a gallon for regular. One of my friends has a diesel car, her cost to fill up the tank, $4.482 a gallon. The pain at the pump just keeps getting worse with no end in sight. Memorial Day weekend is almost upon us so expect worse sooner.

I was reading a book that mentions the possibility of a crisis resulting in oil hitting $100 a barrel in it’s plotline. Book was written in 2004. Little did the author know it would reach $126.25 on the possibility of a little confrontation. And a lot of dollar devaluation. And the need for the stuff. Oil is one hot commodity.

Oil rose above $126 a barrel for the first time Friday, bringing its advance this week to nearly $10, as investors questioned whether a possible confrontation between the U.S. and Venezuela could cut exports from the OPEC member. Gas prices, meanwhile, rose above an average $3.67 a gallon at the pump, following oil’s recent path higher.

That’s $3.67 a gallon of regular gas here not the premium stuff. For the record, I filled up yesterday. Gas was $3.499 a gallon of regular. Still cost too much and now that we’re heading into summer driving season with triple digit heat, I’ll be staying in more and not going out all the time like I am right now.

Oil just keeps going up and up. The latest. This hits the pocketbook faster than anything a politician proposes.

Oil futures extended their seemingly relentless advance Wednesday, rising to a new record near $124 a barrel as investors captivated by the market’s upward momentum looked past the government’s report of an increase in crude and gasoline supplies. At the pump, gas prices rose for the first time since last week.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery hit a new trading record of $123.90 in after-hours activity on the New York Mercantile Exchange after settling up $1.69 at a record close of $123.53 a barrel.

That means gas will er has gone up too. And will keep going up.

At the pump, meanwhile, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas rose Wednesday for the first time since last week, adding 0.8 cent to $3.618, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are back within a cent of the record $3.623 a gallon set last week, and are expected to rise to an average of $3.73 a gallon next month, according to the latest Energy Department forecast.

And may make it to $4 a gallon sooner rather than later. Not good at all. Hillary has proposed a gas tax holiday for the summer. Problem with that is summer will be here before she or, more likely, Obama gets elected. Any relief, if it is to come, will be from the Bush administration. Dems haven’t come thru with their promise to bring down gas prices either. Typical empty rhetoric.

Blogged too soon about this. Oil set a new record high. Oh, just bookmark that link, same as yesterday. Oil prices indeed.

Oil futures blasted to a new record of $122 a barrel Tuesday, gaining momentum as investors bought on a forecast of much higher prices and on any news hinting at supply shortages. Retail gas prices edged lower, but appear poised to rise to new records of their own in coming weeks.

A new Goldman Sachs prediction that oil prices could rise to $150 to $200 within two years seemed to motivate much of Tuesday’s buying, although a falling dollar and increasing concerns about declining crude production in Mexico and Russia contributed, analysts say.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped to a new record of $122 a barrel before retreating slightly to trade up $1.92 at $121.89 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil prices have nearly doubled from about $62 a barrel a year ago, which Goldman sees as a sign that the world is in the midst of a “super spike” in oil prices. Analyst Arjun Murti said in a research note released Monday that prices would ultimately force demand to fall sharply.

Just imagine what gas will cost when oil hits $200 a barrel. On second thought, don’t. It won’t be pretty. Just tell yourself, “I will not drive. I will not drive.”

Oil is up. Not good at all. I keep track of these things as they impact the cost of everything and thus my standard of living.

Oil futures surged to a new record over $120 a barrel Monday, raising concerns about higher prices for gasoline and goods and services throughout the economy. Retail gas prices fell more than a cent over the weekend, but oil’s advance increased the likelihood that pump prices would resume their climb.

Supply threats that emerged overseas and a weaker dollar sent light, sweet crude for June delivery to a new trading record of $120.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before futures retreated slightly to settle up $3.65 at a record $119.97.

But gas is down. But for how long?

The average national price of a gallon of regular gas slipped to $3.611 a gallon on Monday, down 1.1 cents from Friday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices reached a record $3.623 a gallon on Thursday.

Wow! Big decline not! There is some good news if you can call it that.

While oil prices have risen nearly 94 percent in one year, gas prices are up only 19 percent.

Small comfort indeed. Expect gas prices to catch up eventually. I’m driving a whole lot less than I was a year ago. Expect that trend to continue.

No, not me. I’m still awake. Them and I don’t mean them.

The White House said on Friday that there was no evidence so far that the U.S. economy had slid into recession after the government released an employment report showing only a small decline in jobs.

“The evidence of one isn’t there so far,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters on Air Force One when asked about the prospects for a recession as President George W. Bush headed to St. Louis for a speech on the economy.

Guessing Bush doesn’t do the shopping in his family. The rich/elite are clueless to how the other half live, the masses, the common folk. Those that have to work to survive. Us.

Major pain at the pump according to Yahoo.

Retail gas prices began April at $3.26 a gallon nationwide but crept up to $3.57 per gallon by the last week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. They set a record on Wednesday, rising to a national average of nearly $3.62 a gallon.

And people are starting to get the hint, sales of big trucks and SUV’s are down. Actually, the big three aren’t doing so well. My car is already small and gets around 30 mpg so no need to switch.

Although a small Mercedes would be soooo nice. I can dream. Hey, Rev. Jeremiah Wright has two, guy sure knows how to live.

On the brighter side, the Dow hit 13,010.00. Finally. Again. Had topped 14,000 a while back before all that bad economic news tanked it. And people are spending more. Er, just looks like it.

Don’t be fooled by a larger-than-expected increase in consumer spending. People aren’t buying more - they’re just paying more for what they buy.

Comforting, not. Oh well, there is discretionary spending still. Just have a refrigerator go out and you’ll have to spend big bucks to replace it. But barring any more disasters, I won’t be buying much at all.

Well, it was for me, $3.439 per gallon for regular. Just filled up. Was $3.199 per gallon last time I filled up, same station, not quite three weeks apart. Expected to go higher too.

At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose another 2.1 cents Friday to a record national average of $3.577 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices have been following oil futures higher, but are also rising due to concerns about whether gasoline supplies are adequate to meet peak summer driving demand.

Analysts expect gas prices to continue rising for at least another month to $3.70 to $4 a gallon. To a large extent, how high gas prices peak depends on what oil does.

Next higher grade was up there, they didn’t waste any time here raining the price. Why the rise? Today? Oh just this.

Oil prices rose sharply Friday on news that a ship under contract to the U.S. Defense Department fired warning shots at two boats in the Persian Gulf. Retail gas prices as expected rose further into record territory, nearing $3.60 a gallon.

Crude prices rose on initial reports that a U.S. ship had fired on two Iranian boats; the news raised concerns that a conflict between U.S. and Iranian forces could cut oil supplies from the region. A Navy spokeswoman said the origin of the boats was unclear.

Just what we needed, a provocative move by Iran. Not! Oil and gas prices are doing just fine going up on their own. Don’t need Iranian help.

The news was enough to send light, sweet crude for June delivery up to $119.55 before the contract retreated to settle up $2.46 at $118.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Least oil is still below $120 a barrel. Some consolation.

Bringing it’s own special flavor to Earth Day celebrations, oil was up getting high.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose as high as $119.90 barrel, then slipped back to settle at $119.37, up $1.89. But it appeared inevitable crude would pass $120.

Which will only incite the greenies to want more alternative energy sources. More ethanol, less corn. Less food period. Dumb. We already have food rationing. Here. In the U.S..

Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply.

Nice huh? Not as nice as no pee on the bread machine thou. Think I’ll go buy some cooking oil and bake some bread.

Was blissfully ignorant of how widespread the holiday is, worldwide. Why it’s like a religious holiday. Not on my list to celebrate.

Today’s brief news is on the oil front. Sorry, being tax day isn’t newsie. Getting money back might be. But we be spending it to fuel our cars. And feed our faces.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery jumped as high as $114.08 a barrel shortly after regular trading ended on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is nearly $2 above an intraday high set last week.

Concerns about insufficient global supply, stoked by a high-profile report by the International Energy Agency that said Russian oil production dropped this year for the first time in a decade, was largely responsible for the surge. Oil prices rose as high as $113.99 a barrel during the regular session before settling at $113.79, up $2.03 from Monday’s record close of $111.76 a barrel.

And gasoline prices were up as well. Next to go up will be food prices and prices of everything else. Joy. Not! And I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Update: Teach me to blog on this too soon, price hit $114.95 after I woke Wednesday morning. Probably will go even higher too.

The economy may suck but not if you’re Apple now bigger than even Wal★Mart. In music that is. And…

Shares in Apple rose 2.8 percent to close at $151.61 amid a 1.9 percent gain in the broader Nasdaq market. The stock is about 25 percent below its all-time high hit in December, but has risen 25 percent in the last month amid signs consumer worries over the economy have not dampened Apple’s sales.

People still buy Apple stuff. Well, not the poor folks out of work, those that can afford Apple stuff.

That leaves me out. Course, I already have plenty of Apple stuff. No compelling reason to buy more.

Last week stocks were up for 416 points only to sink in the next few days. Yesterday stocks were up 420 points only to sink again today. When the Fed acts the market reacts briefly.

Stocks pulled back Wednesday as investors paused a day after the market’s huge rally and digested better-than-expected results at Morgan Stanley that eased concerns about the investment banking sector. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 100 points.

…But some profit-taking was to be expected a day after gains that saw the Dow Jones industrials shoot up 420 points. Investors sent stocks charging higher Tuesday on stronger-than-expected investment bank results and several moves from the Federal Reserve in recent days, including a 0.75 percentage point rate cut aimed at jump-starting the credit markets.

Volatility is in. Can’t expect the Fed to lower interest rates much longer as they don’t have much further they can lower them. Then what are they going to do? Economy is in a recession, might have to ride this one out. Course with more bank failures like Bear Stearns, could head into a full fledged depression. How depressing.

I love this. This fellow has a gift for words.

Oil hit a record high, the dollar sank again, and consumers stopped buying pretty much everything.

Pretty much sums up everything. The economy is still bleak. $110.33 per barrel, think about that number, ever expect to see it so high?

The dollar dipped briefly below 100 yen for the first time in 12 years and fell to a new low against the euro.

And if the Fed cuts rates again, the dollar will dip even further. Happens every time.

Looking on the bright side, don’t really need to buy stuff do we? Aside from food and gasoline that is.