Getting your player ready...
NEW YORK — Oil prices fell nearly 7 percent Tuesday and gasoline prices fell to levels not seen since 2004 as a raft of lousy news about the economy, housing and consumers’ state of mind suggested the U.S. is headed toward the worst recession in decades.
After spiking Monday, light, sweet crude for January delivery on Tuesday tumbled $3.73 to settle at $50.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gasoline prices nationwide continued to decline, falling 2.3 cents overnight to $1.885, their lowest levels since September 2004, when the average price for three days was $1.886, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
In Denver, the average price fell to $1.742, down 1.7 cents from Monday.
