Article

Gas and wheat prices continue to fall

Gas prices have fallen even further and are down more than $1 from a year ago.

January 12, 2015

Gas prices have fallen even further and are down more than $1 from a year ago.

Cheese jumped up slightly, while wheat continued to fall and natural gas prices revealed a mix due to a divide in warm and cold weather on the western and eastern regions of the U.S.

Here's a glimpse at the market this week.

Cheese

Average block cheese prices jumped $0.02 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, coming in at an average of $1.58.

Prices were $1.57 Monday, $1.57 Tuesday, $1.57 Wednesday, $1.58 Thursday and $1.59 Friday.

Wheat

Wheat prices fell more than $0.25 last week, landing at an average of $6.15 on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

Wheat closed at $6.22 Monday, $6.26 Tuesday, $6.16 Wednesday, $6.09 Thursday and $6.03 Friday.

Gasoline and diesel fuel

Monday's nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.13, down $0.15 from $2.28 the previous week, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Prices are also down from $2.78 a month ago, and remain down more than $1 from this time last year, when consumers were paying $3.30 at the pump.

Mid-range unleaded is $2.35, while Monday's premium unleaded price was $2.54.

The nationwide average for diesel fuel is $3.00, a drop from $3.17 last week. Diesel prices are also down from $3.57 a month ago, and $3.86 a year ago.

Natural Gas

Natural gas spot price movements were mixed across the United States because of warmer weather in the western half of the country and colder weather east. With mild weather, prices fell slightly in the West. In the rest of the country, prices increased as temperatures dropped during the report week. The Henry Hub spot price increased from $3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) December 31 to $3.07/MMBtu.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the February 2015 contract fell slightly by $0.018/MMBtu, beginning the report week at $2.889/MMBtu ending at $2.871/MMBtu.

Pizza company stocks

Shares in Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands Inc. closed at $73.46 Friday, up from $72.79 the previous week and $71.17 two weeks ago.

Domino's finished last week at $100.50, up from $95.39 the previous week, beating a recent lifetime high of $97.15 three weeks ago. The company is trading 3,000-percent higher than it was in 2010, before it revamped its recipe.

Papa John's finished at $61.79 Friday, a notable rise from $55.36 the previous week. PZZA hit a new 52-week high at $57 three weeks ago. Its low of $37.32 was a year ago.

Shares in Papa Murphy's Holdings Inc. closed at $11.09 Friday, a decline from $11.35 the previous Friday. In its ninth month on the NASDAQ, FRSH's high/low is $12.10/$8.08, respectively.

Pizza Inn turned in at $7.94 Friday, up from $7.03 the previous Friday.