Article

Commodities: Cheese down, gasoline up

The price for cheese fell by nearly 5 cents, but gasoline has increased 8 cents over the past week.

August 17, 2015 by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

The price for cheese fell by nearly 5 cents, but gasoline has increased 8 cents over the past week. Here's a look at the rest of the market.

Cheese

Average block cheese prices fell by nearly 5 cents during the week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The prices were $1.74 Monday, $1.75 Tuesday, $1.73 Wednesday, $1.69 Thursday and $1.69 Friday.

Wheat

Wheat prices dropped 3 cents last week, hitting $5.18 on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

Gasoline and diesel fuel

Monday's nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.67, up 8 cents from $2.59 the previous week, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Prices are also down from $2.76 a month ago, and are significantly lower than this time last year, when consumers were paying $3.46 at the pump.

Mid-range unleaded is $2.91, while Monday's premium unleaded price was $3.11.

The nationwide average for diesel fuel is $2.66, a drop of 2 cents from a week ago. Diesel prices are also down from $2.81 a month ago, and are more than $1 down from a year ago, when prices were $3.82.

Natural gas

Natural gas prices fluctuated by less than 5 percent at most market locations during the report week (Wednesday, Aug. 5, through Wednesday, Aug. 12) with many points ending the report week near their starting price.

The Henry Hub spot price started the week at $2.86 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), dropped 10 cents on Thursday, but then rose slowly through the week to close at $2.91/MMBtu Sunday.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the September contract started the report week at $2.80/MMBtu last Wednesday and rose to $2.93/MMBtu Sunday.

Pizza company stocks

Shares in Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands Inc. closed Friday at $84, about a $4 drop from last Friday’s $87.61. Shares have dropped nearly $4 from four weeks ago when they closed at $87.76.

Domino's finished last week at $114.17, increasing slightly from the previous week’s $113.43.

Papa John's increased to $73.48 from last week’s $72.95.

Shares in Papa Murphy’s closed at $14.93 Friday, down nearly $6 from last week’s $20.04. Three weeks ago it closed at $19.30.

About Travis Wagoner

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Travis Wagoner spent nearly 18 years in education as an alumni relations and communications director, coordinating numerous annual events and writing, editing and producing a quarterly, 72-plus-page magazine. Travis also was a ghostwriter for an insurance firm, writing about the Affordable Care Act. He holds a BA degree in communications/public relations from Xavier University.