Gas-pump prices fall

Gas-pump prices fall

YOUNGSTOWN

Sliding prices at the gas pump are at the lowest levels Ohio motorists have seen since last winter.

A daily survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express on Monday showed the statewide average price for regular gasoline was $3.12 a gallon, down 11 cents from the average $3.23 a week ago.

Ohio prices have fallen 25 percent, or by more than a dollar, since regular hit an all-time high of about $4.16 in early May. The state’s current pump prices are the cheapest since February.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Mahoning Valley was $3.17 on Monday, down from $3.25 a week ago.

Prices have been coming down because demand for gas has been falling in the U.S. for the past several months. It began to drop sharply amid the price spikes seen last winter and spring.

Shale education

BERLIN CENTER

Western Reserve High School, 13850 W. Akron-Canfield Road, will host an oil and gas shale-education session today at 6:30 p.m.

Residents interested in learning more about the legal issues associated with oil and gas leases are urged to attend.

Attorneys from Bricker & Eckler LLC will discuss landowner groups. Accountants from Hill, Barth & King will address tax and financial planning issues for landowners.

Europe races for debt solution

paris

European leaders rushed Monday to stop a rampaging debt crisis that threatened to shatter their 12-year-old experiment in a common currency and devastate the world economy as a result.

One proposal gaining prominence would have countries cede some control over their budgets to a central European authority. In a measure of how rapidly the peril has grown, that idea would have been unthinkable even three months ago.

World stock markets, glimpsing hope that Europe might finally be shocked into stronger action, staged a big rally. The Dow Jones industrial average in New York rose almost 300 points. In France, stocks rose 5 percent, the most in a month.

More relevant to the crisis, borrowing costs for European nations stabilized.

Fitch keeps AAA US credit rating

washington

Fitch says it will keep its rating for long-term U.S. debt at the top AAA level, despite a congressional panel’s failure to agree on long-term deficit cuts. But it is lowering its outlook to negative.

The rating agency says it has less confidence in the federal government’s ability to take the necessary steps to rein in the deficit.

Moody’s Investors Services and Standard & Poor’s also left their ratings unchanged last week. But Moody’s threatened to lower its rating if Congress backed off $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts scheduled over the next decade.

S&P downgraded long-term U.S. debt in August to the second-highest level, AA-plus.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 21.22 +0.26

Avalon Holdings,2.70—0.19

Clear Channel, .65 56.32 +2.46

Cortland Bancorp, 7.000.00

Farmers Nat.4.49 +0.11

First Energy, 2.20, 42.75+0.81

FirstMerit Corp., .64,13.36 +0.40

First Niles Financial, .32,7.50+0.60

First Place Fin., 0.44+0.04

FNB Corp., .48,10.16+0.36

General Motors,20.74+0.40

General Electric, .60,14.80+0.10

Motors Liquidation, 0.04220.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 4.84+0.12

JP Morgan Chase, 1.00,29.16+0.68

Key Corp, .12,6.82+0.15

LaFarge, 8.28 +0.61

Macy’s, .40, 30.84+1.39

Parker Hannifin, 1.48, 79.36+4.38

PNC, 1.40,50.25+1.18

RTI Intl. Metals,24.31+1.21

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,118.55+2.22

Stoneridge 6.99 +0.73

United Community Fin. 1.000.00

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Provided by Stifel Nicolaus. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.