oil futures

If there's one good thing that came out of Thursday's dizzying market slide, it's the fact that consumers could soon feel a little less pain at the pump. Oil futures also fell along with stocks on fears of lower demand. And gasoline prices should soon follow suit.

Concerns about the European financial crisis are still dragging down the price of oil. Benchmark crude for July delivery fell 32 cents to $92.69 per barrel in Monday midday trading. All eyes remain on Greece, which is trying to implement tough new austerity measures necessary to keep international aid coming.

Sky-high oil and gas prices risk tipping the U.S. economy back into recession. But Washington isn't powerless when it comes to oil prices: Here are five things that the federal and state governments can do that would quickly reduce pain at the pump.

The U.S. trade gap widened to just under $500 billion in 2010, but that obscures impressive growth in global sales of U.S. goods. And the outlook for 2011 is even better. Still, to reach a trade surplus, America must solve two serious problems.

Oil prices fell Friday in Asia after the U.S. Labor Department reported that more unemployed workers applied for aid last week. Fears that the U.S. economic recovery could be slow is keeping oil investors wary.

Oil prices rose Wednesday as reports of higher U.S. productivity and more domestic hiring combined with continuing growth in demand from China to offset the effects of lackluster economic data from other countries.

Oil prices reached their highest point in five months due to the combination of a weakening dollar, an interest-rate cut in Japan, a strike by French workers and a barge crash that closed off a Texas shipping route.

The price per gallon for gasoline is at the second-lowest level in five years, and some economists predict it could drop much further soon. The reason: More-than-ample inventories of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

Here's news from the business world and other money matters to watch out for Friday (last updated at 8:09 a.m. Eastern time): Economic Reports Affirm Slowing: Data released Thursday raised further questions about the robustness of the economic recovery, sending stocks lower on Wall Street. The...

The price of oil rose to a three month high on Tuesday due to the weak U.S. dollar, and bullish sentiment about growth in 2011.