Investing and Global Finance News

Monthly Archives: January 2015

Gas Prices May Have Reached Rock Bottom

The price of gasoline has been falling, falling and falling some more over the past several months, finally reaching its lowest price since April, 2009. The latest price dive, 13.3 cents during the last two weeks, may be the end of the slide, according to a survey by Lundberg released on Sunday.

The average price for a gallon of gas clocked in at $2.07 in the survey from January 23. This recent drop in prices brings the cost of gasoline down by at least $1.24 compared to the same period one year ago. The decline is the result of crude oil price drops from their high point last June.

Trilby Lundberg, the survey’s publisher, took note that the recent drop in prices was a less steep fall than it has been in past time periods. In addition, the price many wholesale buyers of gasoline went up in the past week and a half, pointing to the possibility that gas prices have hit the basement.

“The street price crash is either coming to an end or is already at its bottom,” Lundberg said, adding that the market would need to see another large slide in the price of crude to reverse the gains in wholesale prices.

2014 Was a Great Year for Business Travel

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its summary of business travel statistics for 2014 this week, and the news is good.  Business travel reached record levels, with about 484.4 million trips made creating some $292.2 billion in spending. The summary, which takes the past trends and projects them into the future, predicts that 2015… Continue Reading

New Risk Manager Phelan Appointed by Treasury

The new position of chief risk officer created by the US Treasury Department will be filled by Kenneth Phelan. Phelan, who is 55 years old, has held similar roles for the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and at Fannie Mae soon after the last US financial crisis. The newly created Office of Risk Management,… Continue Reading