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Gas prices crept up this week, but not by much as oil prices fell

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The average price for a gallon of gas was $3.67 this week.  (iStock)

The average price Americans pay at the pump increased this past week, but by just four cents, AAA reported. Drivers paid an average of $3.67 a gallon, 21 cents more than this time last year.

Prices increased slightly due to a small jump in demand. Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that gas demand rose from 8.61 to 8.66 million barrels per day last week.

Oil prices decreased, helping to ensure prices didn’t spike too high. Within the last few weeks, tensions in the Middle East have driven oil prices up, but this week, the cost of a barrel decreased into the low $80s. 

“The situation overseas with war in both the Middle East and Ukraine has the oil market on edge,” Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson said. 

“But this is also the time of year we may see a bit of a lull in gasoline demand between the end of spring breaks and ahead of Memorial Day. So, the national average for gas may waffle a bit with small increases, some flat days, and even some price dips,” Gross said.

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A TOP GOAL OF AMERICANS IS TO BUY A NEW CAR, BUILD EMERGENCY SAVINGS: STUDY

The ten least and most expensive markets

Gas prices fluctuate throughout the country. These 10 states have the least expensive prices:

  • Mississippi ($3.11)
  • Colorado ($3.16)
  • Louisiana ($3.18)
  • Oklahoma ($3.22)
  • Arkansas ($3.23)
  • New Mexico ($3.26)
  • Tennessee ($3.26)
  • Kansas ($3.26)
  • Alabama ($3.27)
  • South Carolina ($3.27)

At the other end of the spectrum, these are the states with the highest gas prices:

  • California ($5.45)
  • Hawaii ($4.78)
  • Washington ($4.67)
  • Nevada ($4.63)
  • Oregon ($4.44)
  • Alaska ($4.37)
  • Arizona ($3.13)
  • Utah ($3.96)
  • Illinois ($3.96)
  • Idaho ($3.93)

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DRIVERS WANT EMBEDDED INSURANCE OPTIONS WHEN THEY BUY A CAR: SURVEY

Used and new vehicle prices are down

Car prices are still high, but both new and used vehicle prices have dropped in the last few months. Wholesale prices for used vehicles decreased by 1.9% during the first half of April, Cox Automotive reported.

The Manheim Used Vehicle Value index, which tracks the price of used cars, fell by 13.7% to 199.2. This index hasn’t fallen below 200 since March 2021, so it appears the effects of the pandemic had on the auto industry are starting to wear off.

Buyers looking to buy brand-new vehicles will find slightly lower prices at the dealerships. The average cost of a new car is $47,244, which is higher than in February 2021, but lower than January of this year, Kelley Blue Book reported.

“While everyone may applaud that prices are coming down, even marginally for the moment, affordability is still challenging the market,” Erin Keating, an executive analyst for Cox Automotive said.

“Most shoppers have not seen their incomes increase as quickly as vehicle prices, so the new-vehicle market remains a challenge,” Keating stated.

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NEW CAR PURCHASES ARE ON THE RISE, BUT THERE ARE INSURANCE IMPLICATIONS

Have a finance-related question, but don’t know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at [email protected] and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.

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Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says markets are too complacent

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Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, leaves the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with Republican members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the issue of de-banking on Feb. 13, 2025.

Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that markets and central bankers underappreciate the risks created by record U.S. deficits, tariffs and international tensions.

Dimon, the veteran CEO and chairman of the biggest U.S. bank by assets, explained his worldview during his bank’s annual investor day meeting in New York. He said he believes the risks of higher inflation and even stagflation aren’t properly represented by stock market values, which have staged a comeback from lows in April.

“We have huge deficits; we have what I consider almost complacent central banks,” Dimon said. “You all think they can manage all this. I don’t think” they can, he said.

“My own view is people feel pretty good because you haven’t seen effective tariffs” yet, Dimon said. “The market came down 10%, [it’s] back up 10%; that’s an extraordinary amount of complacency.”

Dimon’s comments follow Moody’s rating agency downgrading the U.S. credit rating on Friday over concerns about the government’s growing debt burden. Markets have been whipsawed the past few months over worries that President Donald Trump‘s trade policies will raise inflation and slow the world’s largest economy.

Dimon said Monday that he believed Wall Street earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies, which have already declined in the first weeks of Trump’s trade policies, will fall further as companies pull or lower guidance amid the uncertainty.

In six months, those projections will fall to 0% earnings growth after starting the year at around 12%, Dimon said. If that were to happen, stocks prices will likely fall.

“I think earnings estimates will come down, which means PE will come down,” Dimon said, referring to the “price to earnings” ratio tracked closely by stock market analysts.

The odds of stagflation, “which is basically a recession with inflation,” are roughly double what the market thinks, Dimon added.

Separately, one of Dimon’s top deputies said that corporate clients are still in “wait-and-see” mode when it comes to acquisitions and other deals.

Investment banking revenue is headed for a “mid-teens” percentage decline in the second quarter compared with the year-earlier period, while trading revenue was trending higher by a “mid-to-high” single digit percentage, said Troy Rohrbaugh, a co-head of the firm’s commercial and investment bank.

On the ever-present question of Dimon’s timeline to hand over the CEO reins to one of his deputies, Dimon said that nothing changed from his guidance last year, when he said he would likely remain for less than five more years.

“If I’m here for four more years, and maybe two more” as executive chairman, Dimon said, “that’s a long time.”

Of all the executive presentations given Monday, consumer banking chief Marianne Lake had the longest speaking time at a full hour. She is considered a top successor candidate, especially after Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak said she would not be seeking the top job.

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: UNH, TSLA, BABA

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Klarna doubles losses in first quarter as IPO remains on hold

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Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, speaking at a fintech event in London on Monday, April 4, 2022.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Klarna saw its losses jump in the first quarter as the popular buy now, pay later firm applies the brakes on a hotly anticipated U.S. initial public offering.

The Swedish payments startup said its net loss for the first three months of 2025 totaled $99 million — significantly worse than the $47 million loss it reported a year ago. Klarna said this was due to several one-off costs related to depreciation, share-based payments and restructuring.

Revenues at the firm increased 13% year-over-year to $701 million. Klarna said it now has 100 million active users and 724,00 merchant partners globally.

It comes as Klarna remains in pause mode regarding a highly anticipated U.S. IPO that was at one stage set to value the SoftBank-backed company at over $15 billion.

Klarna put its IPO plans on hold last month due to market turbulence caused by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans. Online ticketing platform StubHub also put its IPO plans on ice.

Prior to the IPO delay, Klarna had been on a marketing blitz touting itself as an artificial intelligence-powered fintech. The company partnered up with ChatGPT maker OpenAI in 2023. A year later, Klarna used OpenAI technology to create an AI customer service assistant.

Last week, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the company was able to shrink its headcount by about 40%, in part due to investments in AI.

Watch CNBC's full interview with Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski

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