Commodities update -- Week of Feb. 1, 2010
January 31, 2010
Cheese Block cheese prices were slightly up last week, averaging $1.52. Prices closed at $1.51 on Monday and just under $1.52 the rest of the week.
Prices are up 40 cents, or 36 percent, compared with this time last year, when block cheese averaged $1.12 per pound. Wheat Wheat closed at $5.01 per bushel Friday on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, off 12 cents from the previous week's close of $5.13. Prices for wheat closed at $5.12 per bushel Monday, $5.10 Tuesday, $5.05 per bushel Wednesday and $5.09 per bushel Thursday. Gasoline and diesel fuel The nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.67 per gallon Feb. 1, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service, down 4 cents from the previous week. Prices are about flat from an average of $2.66 per gallon a month ago and up 43 percent from an average of $1.87 per gallon this time last year. Mid-range unleaded currently averages $2.84 per gallon while premium unleaded stands at $2.94 per gallon as of Feb. 1. The nationwide average price for diesel fuel stands at $2.86 per gallon Feb. 1, down 3 cents from last week. Diesel prices are up 20 percent from an average of $2.38 per gallon this time last year. Natural gas Natural gas prices at the Henry Hub fell from $5.54 per million Btu (MMBtu) on Wednesday, Jan. 20 to $5.42 per MMBtu on Wednesday, Jan. 27, a decline of 12 cents or 2 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pizza company stocks Shares in Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands Inc. closed at $34.21 on Jan. 29, down 8 cents compared with the previous week's close of $34.29. YUM traded at a 52-week high of $36.96 in June 2009 and a 52-week low of $23.37 in March 2009. Domino's closed at $11.12, up 5 cents compared with the previous Friday's close of $11.07. DPZ has traded as high as $11.70 in January 2010 and as low as $4.76 in January 2009, over the past 52 weeks. Papa John's stock closed at $23.34, down 37 cents compared with the previous Friday's close of $23.71. PZZA traded at a 52-week high of $29.25 in May 2009 and a 52-week low of $18.87 in January 2009. Shares in CEC Entertainment Inc., parent company of Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, closed at $33.68, down $1.67 compared with the previous week's close of $35.35. CEC traded at a 52-week high of $35.53 in January 2010 and a 52-week low of $19.50 in March 2009. California Pizza Kitchen closed at $13.70 on Jan. 29, down 63 cents previous week's close of $14.33. CPKI has traded as high as $17.44 in mid-April and as low as $9.41 in March 2009. Pizza Inn closed at $1.74 on Jan. 29, up 13 cents from the previous week's close of $1.61. PZZI traded at a 52-week high of $2.25 in June 2009 and a 52-week low of 98 cents in April 2009.