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The smart money has been predicting lately that gas prices would fall. Oil has been below $90 a barrel since early August and the International Energy Agency has cut its estimates for crude oil use for the year. But the price of a gallon of unleaded is the virtually the same as it was a year ago.

Describing the president as deeply concerned about the impact on global economic growth of oil supply disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa, the Obama administration announced it would release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the next 30 days.

Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are all trading near multi-year highs, and even BP shares have done well recently. Still, while the high oil prices that have been pinching consumers have been great for the industry, there are good reasons not to count on those high stock values lasting.

With gold prices recently hitting the $1,500 mark, consumers and businesses are looking for an opportunity to score. "We see everything from rings, teeth, jewelry, pins and lighters," one gold buyer said. "Everyone has a little gold somewhere." Should you join in? Check out these five tips.

With gas prices shooting ever higher, cities such as Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami have either allowed cab drivers to levy fuel surcharges or are considering them. But in New York, where the drivers of the nation's largest cab fleet are struggling to make ends meet, officials say a surcharge isn't even being considered.

With U.S. gas prices near historic highs, Americans are anxious about the cost of filling up. But we still feel far less pain at the pump than drivers in many other developed nations. On the flip side, if you drive in the right world cities, you can still pay less than $1 a gallon.

Despite turbulent times, U.S. markets are rising again. But is this a temporary bump, or the return of a bull market? The sharp-eyed analysts of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs say its the latter, and their money is on strong growth ahead.

Markets hate uncertainty more than bad news, which is one reason they've swooned recently. But technical analysis looks at the patterns deeper than the daily news, and charts suggest a real bear ahead.

The cost of regular gas nationwide Sunday was $3.548, down from $3.557 the previous week. However, the dip probably won't last long.

It's easy to be pessimistic these days. Libya's civil war, surging oil prices and the disaster in Japan have combined forces to send financial markets tumbling. But the cold, hard facts about the economy paint a more optimistic picture.