gallon gas

While the rest of the country withered under $4 a gallon gas, Houston and its commercial real estate market thrived.

The realization that the U.S. may be headed to its worst recession in over a generation have trumped what should otherwise be good news: The return of $3-a-gallon gas.

Nationwide, Alaska and Hawaii remained the two states with gas prices still tracking above $4 a gallon. The cheapest gas was now found in New Jersey, where prices averaged $3.431 a gallon.

Gas has fallen about 46 cents from the record high average of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, but they are still 83 cents above this time last year.

Detroit's big auto makers are slashing jobs, closing factories and undertaking costly revamps of their product strategies to cope with $4 a gallon gas.

What's the worst thing that could happen now? Gas could get cheap again, says the man who runs America's biggest auto retailer.