surgery. the average price of gas in the u.s. has dropped 14 cents over the past two weeks, now at $3.48 for a gallon of regular. st. louis has the nation s lowest and san francisco has the highest. for many of the inmates arriving at the north carolina correctional institution for women, the really hard time is the day they arrive. they are forced to contemplate a new life without freedom. and as you re about to see, making that adjustment is never easy, for first-timers or repeat offenders. on this rainy morning, several women arrive to begin serving their time. oh, man. this is ridiculous. first stop, the reception unit where the inmates are processed into the system. now i m nervous. i ve never been in a prison
know what they did? they invested. they believed. but you know, the key is, they had the money to do it! meanwhile, the stock market right now is at all-time highs. the dow jones has been just sitting above that massive 15,000 mark for most of the year. investment banks and mutual funds were on a roll in this country. in fact, let me take you back to 2009. march 6, 2009. the market was 6,443.27. if my memory serves me correctly, bank of america was trading at i think $3.48 a share and today it s at $14.49. now, think about those numbers. that s about four times what it was back then. do you think any rich people back in march of 2009 said, well, you know, bank of america is really down right now. but i believe in the system, and i m going to throw a half million dollars at it. they ve got over $2 million profit on that deal. the key is, they had the money to do it. but middle class americans, they
throughout the uprising back in 2011. as far as oil prices go, you look at oil prices now. they ve gone up 16% over the past two months. they closed above $101 a barrel yesterday at the highest levels since april 2012. part of the reason you are seeing those prices go up are egypt and worries about what s happening in egypt, spilling over into other mideast countries. but you look at the longer term, it is about a stronger u.s. economy. that s good, because a better economy means americans are going to use more oil. that is kind of the up side to seeing oil prices move a bit higher. carol? so let s talk about the possible downside. what does it mean for gas prices? that means we re going to be paying more. so expect to pay more for gas this july 4th compared to last year. at $3.48 a gallon verse us $3.3a gallon a year ago. prices yesterday ended a 21-day streak of increases. aaa prices hit summer lows about this time in 2011, 2012.
14 cents cheaper than a year ago. a lot of people, that adds up. they like it. we could see prices creep up though if oil prices get more volati volatile. basically according to the consumer spending index the consumers are usually spending 6 to 13% more during the summer months. the price of oil increases but an lis expect it to go up to $112 a barrel. maybe $120 if the political unrest continues in egypt. that s going to have a severe impact on our gasoline prices. so we can expect that if the unrest continues. but, you know, if things remain peaceful and elections happen in a peaceful way it may not really have the big impact on gasoline prices. most likely in the short term we don t have the road map figured out yet. any of the savingses we have
having a last-minute meeting with his national security team. after that, a statement, yes, saying that he was deeply concerned, but also that he wants to make sure this military is returning egypt to a democratically elected government and that they re not argue temporarily arrested supporters of president morsi. that is now a big security concern in egypt in this very fluid time in that country s history. back to you. fluid is right. traci pots in washington, thank you. if you re planning on getting out of town this long holiday weekend, you are not alone. aaa expecting that more than 40 million americans will be packing the roads over the next few days. while the highways may be crowded, there is some good news. gas prices are at five-month low, averaging $3.48 a gallon. if you re staying in the city to watch the fireworks or take in a concert, expect a stepped up police presence. security is beefed up across the country including cities like boston and the nation s capital.