Oil

What effect would an OPEC production cut have on oil prices in this shakey world economy? Bill Radke talks to Carola Hoyos, who covers the oil market for The Financial Times.

At first, it looked like Southwest Airlines hedged its bets well when it prepaid for fuel because prices were going up. Unfortunately, now oil prices are falling. Janet Babin has more on Southwest and airlines in general.

The price of oil this morning is $72 a barrel -- half of what it was three months ago. Ashley Milne-Tyte looks into some factors influencing oil markets, including the disappearance of some speculators.

The credit crisis is taking its toll on businesses, but there's optimism in the solar energy sector. Sarah Gardner reports that new technolgies and cheaper materials have improved solar's market potential.

With oil prices slipping below $75, prices for corn, gold and other commodities are also down. That's good news for consumers, but what about the overall economy? Will it spark inflation? Nancy Marshall Genzer has answers.

Oil may not be seeing the per-barrel prices of last year, but the average prices are still higher than last year. Ashley Milne-Tyte looks into what energy analysts are predicting for oil profits as earnings reports come in.

About 60% of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is still off line, almost two weeks after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. That disruption has led to serious gas shortages in parts of the Southeast. Julie Rose reports.

While all eyes were on Wall Street's big financial institutions, the price of oil slipped down to $91 a barrel -- a seven-month low. How'd that happen? Host Stacey Vanek-Smith asks economist Andrew Hilton.

Wow, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch just fell in the blink of an eye. And other institutions may yet fall in the months ahead....

Weather forecasters say Hurricane Ike is going to wallop the south Texas coast and its oil refineries early Saturday morning. To find out what that's going to mean for oil and gas prices, Kai Ryssdal talked with economist Ray Perryman.