the s&p was up six. the nasdaq added 16. markets overseas also saw a boost. the nikkei climbed 129 points while the hang seng rose 103. it is a holiday shortened week on wall street. u.s. markets are closed thursday and trading ends early friday. today, investors will get fresh housing data and earnings from home improvement retailer lowe s before the bell. many tensions will be on the radar. oil futures up a dollar overnight to just under $88 a barrel. good news for drivers planning to hit the road this holiday. prices at the pump are seven cents lower than two weeks ago, around $3.47 a gallon. this morning, hostess executives head to bankruptcy court for the first time since announcing plans to liquidate. bidding has yet to begin from interested buyers, but for now, devoted fans can stock up on e-bay where twinkies are going for a whopping $15 a box.
budgets for this sort of thing. that having been said, yes, it is easy to get used to that, and get yourself a sense of entitlement and i will tell you a quick story, a friend of mine retire and this a lot of people have heard the story from other people as well. a friend of mine a high-ranking officer and general officer retires and he said jocularly that he realized he was retired from the army the morning after when he got out of bed and got himself cleaned up and went into the garage and sat in the left rear seat of the car and realized that there was nobody there to drive it. he was not kidding either, because it is easy to get used to the comfort and convenience. thank you, sir. that is our msnbc military analyst colonel jack williams. thank you, sir. thank you. and gasoline dropping down seven cents in the last two week wee weeks. the cost of regular is now at $3.47 and memphis, tennessee, has the lowest average eyeland, new york, has the highest.
she is still fighting an infection and she will need reconstructive surgery, but she is making remarkable progress. now number three in our first five web stories, another big change at the gas pumps. prices could soon drop 50 cents a gal. wow! the reason, inventories are rising and demand is waning the change is expected to happen sometime over the next few weeks. a current price for a gal of regular is $3.69 a gal there. a month ago it was $3.84. and then a year ago it was $3.47. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. and every day since, we ve worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy and many areas are reporting
go up. so some have failed. none of the other teenage airlines do the same thing. southwest trying to push it through. jet fuel prices are higher and they re trying to make more profit, as well. so we ll see if it gets through. get that early ticket so you re in the front of the plane. buyer beware. brian sullivan, thank you. the presidential candidates are prepping their answers for expected questions on everything from taxes to foreign policy. politico s out with key numbers today that both men really need to know. $7.25. that s the national minimum wage. $3.79. average for a gallon of regular gas. $3.47. a gallon of whole milk. $1.41. a one pound loaf of white bread. and 3.36% is the average interest rate last week for a 30 year fixed mortgage. i have a cold. i took dayquil,
we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america s retirement leader. i m jon fortt. worries about europe continue to dog the markets. s&p sheds 21 and nasdaq loses 56. welcome news for drivers. gas prices are down 14 cents over the past two weeks to 3.47 a gallon, meanwhile, new home sales rose 7.6% in may. and facebook s operating chief