Another surge in gas prices has some commuters contemplating alternative modes of transportation.
According to AAA, prices jumped 6 cents this week to a state average of $4.04. Meanwhile, they've risen to $4.12 cents in the Twin Cities per gallon, all due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Melissa has a license but doesn't drive.
"I cannot afford a vehicle right now because of the maintenance and the insurance and the fuel," she says. "It's cheaper to ride public transportation for me right now."
On the other hand, people like Lorena and Kyle need to drive and are feeling the crunch.
"I have a hobby farm in the metro region, and so my truck is getting more and more expensive to fill," says Lorena.
"I got 3 kids, dude. You know? I mean, what I'm going to do, take a bus," adds Kyle.
People like Matt are not happy with the increased costs, and thinks it is time to end the conflict in the Middle East.
"Today it's like pay more for an Uber ride, right? Or I've got to go to the grocery store and I end up paying more for groceries because it costs more to get delivered," Matt added. "And I pay more for my driving there, right?" So I think that we need to get a handle on the situation right now."
Another person WCCO spoke with said he's spending about $25 dollars more per week to fill up. And that's adding up quickly.
It all comes back to supplies being choked off in the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing war in Iran.
Soaring crude oil benchmarks are up nearly 30% over the past month and Brent Crude - the worldwide standard for oil - stands at close to a $100 a barrel. U.S. oil futures are close to $90 a barrel. And that is delivering immediate pain to local drivers as statewide diesel officially tops $5 a gallon again this week.
Options trader Peter Najarian tells Channel 5's Tom Houser on the WCCO Morning news this may just be the beginning.
"The money at the pump is going to be something that's just going to continue to elevate well over that $4 level," Najarian said Friday morning. "That's something that the markets definitely take that in, but the problem is what happens with that? Well, it's going to affect the airlines. It's going to affect the trucks. It's going to affect so many different parts of the marketplace."
Najarian also says analysts will be watching closely to see if crude markets will begin to stabilize in the coming weeks which could lead to another positive run in the markets.
Stocks waver while crude oil prices fall for the first time in a week
Stocks wavered Friday as oil prices slipped for the first time in a week, but Wall Street is still heading for a losing week.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1%. The index is on track for its second consecutive losing week, which hasn’t happened since March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 76 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:53 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq fell 0.6%., weighed down by sharp losses from several big stocks. Both indexes are also on track for weekly losses.
Micron Technology fell 5.7% and Broadcom fell 2.8%. Both companies have large market values that tend to weigh more heavily on the market. They were big reasons for the technology-heavy Nasdaq losing more ground and for the broader market being kept in check despite more gainers than losers within the S&P 500.
Wall Street is closing out a week of increasing pressure from a sharp escalation in the U.S. war with Iran. Heavy fighting in the Middle East again threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.8% to $97.89. It has generally been rising all week and moved back above $100 on Thursday before easing a bit. Before the Iran war began in late February it was trading around $72 per barrel.
Bond yields also eased and relieved some of the pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.68% from 4.71% late Thursday.
Markets in Europe gained ground, while Asian markets closed lower.
The U.S. is also ramping up its global trade war with a fresh round of tariffs on dozens of nations. The new round of tariffs impacts nearly all U.S. imports and they are paid by companies importing those goods, who then typically pass the added costs along to consumers. That move came just as the clock was running out Friday on stopgap levies the president imposed after a stinging defeat for other such tariffs at the Supreme Court.
