Article

Commodities: Gasoline prices continue to fall

The price for cheese and wheat remained steady, gasoline continued to decrease, natural gas prices were mixed and pizza stocks were up.

November 30, 2015 by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

Cheese

Average block cheese prices remained steady during the shortened holiday week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Prices were $1.58 Monday, $1.57 Tuesday and $1.58 Wednesday. The previous week's prices were $1.62 Monday, $1.57 Tuesday, $1.56 Wednesday, $1.56 Thursday and $1.57 Friday.

Wheat

Wheat prices did not change from $5.10 on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. It was also $5.10 the previous week.

Gasoline and diesel fuel

Monday's nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline decreased to $2.04, down from $2.07 the previous week, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Prices are down from $2.18 a month ago, and are significantly lower than this time last year, when consumers were paying $2.78 at the pump.

Mid-range unleaded is down from $2.36 to $2.32, while Monday's premium unleaded price was $2.55, down 3 cents from last week.

The nationwide average for diesel fuel decreased to $2.42, down 2 cents from $2.44 last week. Diesel prices were also $2.49 a month ago, and are $1 down from a year ago, when prices were $3.57.

Natural gas

Natural gas prices movements were mixed over the report week (Wednesday, Nov. 11, through Wednesday, Nov. 18), and remained relatively low. The Henry Hub spot price began the week at $2.11 per million British thermal units last Wednesday and ended the week at $2.10/MMBtu.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of the near-month futures contract (December 2015) began the week at $2.263/MMBtu and ended the report week up at $2.347/MMBtu yesterday.

Pizza company stocks

Shares in Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands Inc. closed Friday at $72.96, up from last week's $72.77.

Domino's finished last week at $108.65, up more than $3 from last week's $105.02.

Papa John's closed Friday at $58.11, up from $56.77 the previous week.

Shares in Papa Murphy's closed Friday at 12.56, up from last week's $12.01. Four weeks ago it closed at $13.81.

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.