crude oil prices

Crude oil prices tumbled Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, falling to nearly $74 per barrel on doubts of a strong economic recovery...

Precious metals enjoyed modest gains on the week as the US dollar was the predominating driver of where prices went.

A weaker greenback on Friday combined with lower crude oil prices helped gold slide slightly from earlier week highs.

Oil did jump nearly 3.5 percent this week while gasoline prices at the pump were almost 13 cents higher than last Saturday.

In other markets, US stocks declined for the first week in three while European indexes finished mixed with the London FTSE advancing.

Chevron Corp. says it expects its third-quarter earnings to be significantly higher than the second quarter on higher crude oil prices and gains from asset sales and tax items.

Shares of major oil companies fell sharply on Monday, as crude oil prices tumbled amid new reports that signaled continued consumer spending restraint.

Precious metals carried momentum from last Friday into the new week and tilted higher until the week's close. Gold edged lower Friday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and crude-oil prices weakened to fall from a five-week high.

London metals trended higher through most of the week, marking solid gains.U.S. stocks reached fresh heights for the year while European stocks rose for the fourth straight week.

Precious metals prices were higher for the second straight week but no explosive breakouts were seen, although silver jumped nearly 5 percent in London and 3.6 percent in New York.

As for gold, a weaker U.S. dollar and rising crude-oil prices helped support the yellow metal through most of the week.

U.S. stocks finished mixed on Friday, but they jumped 4 percent this week on better than expected earnings reports.

European stocks gained for the second straight week...