investors dumped stocks, many bought u.s. treasuries, the same bonds downgraded by s&p. still seen as super-safe. i m steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. we ll have more on all of this coming up in business. but first, england s prime minister, david cameron has rushed home early from his vacation in italy to deal with the riots that have wreaked havoc on london streets for a third straight night. and now it s spread to other areas in the country. police are stretched thin and they re warning residents to stay inside. kerr simmons from our english broadcast partner, itn, has more. reporter: despite the condemnation and calls for calm, there are fires burning across london. south of the city, in croyden. and in lewisham. and east in hackney. where so brazen are the rioters, that even before night fell, they attacked police cars and looted shops.
and of course we begin this morning with panic point. standard and poor s historic downgrade of the nation s credit rating triggered a stomach-churning plunge on monday. the uncertainty continued overnight as asian stocks clawed back. u.s. market futures have fluctuated between up and down. and nbc s steve handelsman has more. reporter: in his first reaction since standard and poor s downgraded u.s. bonds late friday, president obama rejected the aa-plus rating. no matter what some agency will say, we ve always been and always will be a aaa country. reporter: but the dow lost 5.55%. the s&p 5006.66%. the nasdaq off 6.9%, the biggest drops in years, gold was up to an all-time high, $1700, a sign investors are scared. by last week s debt ceiling deal, not big or bold enough. no one touched entitlement spending, no one fundamentally touched tax reform. knoll republicans and democrats show an ounce of backbone and actually do what s in the interest of the american people, r
morning with panic point. standard and poor s historic downgrade of the nation s credit rating triggered a stomach-churning plunge on monday. the uncertainty continued overnight as asian stocks clawed back. u.s. market futures have fluctuated between up and down. and nbc s steve handelsman has more. reporter: in his first reaction since standard and poor s downgraded u.s. bonds late friday, president obama rejected the aa-plus rating. no matter what some agency will say, we ve always been and always will be a aaa country. reporter: but the dow lost 5.55%. the s&p 5006.66%. the nasdaq off 6.9%, the biggest drops in years, gold was up to an all-time high, $1700, a sign investors are scared. by last week s debt ceiling deal, not big or bold enough. no one touched entitlement spending, no one fundamentally touched tax reform. knoll republicans and democrats show an ounce of backbone and actually do what s in the interest of the american people, rather than what s in their i
captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. if you haven t filled up the tank yet for tomorrow s commute to work, you are going to be in for quite a shock. not since hurricane katrina ravaged the gulf coast in 2005 have gasoline prices in this country shot up so quickly. the national average for a gallon of regular gas tonight is 3.50. that s up almost 40 cents from just a month ago and some parts of the country are already looking at $4 gas. the dramatic rise, of course is being driven by the unrest in the middle east and today, the white house signalled it s considering emergency measures to try to bring gas prices down. california is feeling the most pain and that s where we start tonight with nbc s miguel almaguer. reporter: from new york to illinois to california, sticker shock. its it s a ripoff. $4 a gallon? spent $65 to fill up my car, will only last me like a week. reporter: $4 a gallon is a bargain in some california cities. it s frustratin
tank yet for tomorrow s commute to work, you are going to be in for quite a shock. not since hurricane katrina ravaged the gulf coast in 2005 have gasoline prices in this country shot up so quickly. the national average for a gallon of regular gas tonight is 3.50. that s up almost 40 cents from just a month ago and some parts of the country are already looking at $4 gas. the dramatic rise, of course is being driven by the unrest in the middle east and today, the white house signalled it s considering emergency measures to try to bring gas prices down. california is feeling the most pain and that s where we start tonight with nbc s miguel almaguer. reporter: from new york to illinois to california, sticker shock. its it s a ripoff. $4 a gallon? spent $65 to fill up my car, will only last me like a week. reporter: $4 a gallon is a bargain in some california cities. it s frustrating. it s only gonna go up more. reporter: in the golden state, gas prices spiked nearly 50