Nearly 62 million Americans will hit the road over July 4, AAA predicts
Advertisement
'Because gas prices have been so much lower than this time last year, it's going to be a bit of a rise, but there's no indication we will hit where we were last summer,' said Aixa Diaz, an AAA spokesperson.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Even with the increase in road trips, gasoline demand isn't projected to get a significant boost as vehicles' improving fuel efficiency curbs consumption. Demand — which was down about 1 percent from last year as of last week — will decline this year and next, and retail gasoline prices will drop across most of the US through the end of 2026, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Oil prices had slumped for much of this year as OPEC and its allies revived supply faster than expected and US President Donald Trump's trade war weighed on the outlook for demand. Those dynamics had helped keep gasoline prices in check, but now hostilities between Iran and Israel are emerging as key drivers of the market, raising fears of disruption to crude production and a potential blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
Advertisement
The surge in oil prices from the Israel-Iran conflict is 'setting the stage for additional price hikes at gas pumps across the country,' said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. 'Motorists should prepare for what will likely be modest price increases — for now — but the situation has the potential to worsen at any moment.'
While road trips are the most popular form of travel, a record 5.84 million people are expected to fly during the holiday period as well, up 1.4 percent from last year, AAA said. The slower growth for air travel is a consequence of rising costs, with a round-trip domestic flight averaging $810, 4 percent more than last year, the group said.
Still, the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 3 million passengers in a single day over the Memorial Day holiday, nearing its busiest day ever.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CarMax Stock Jumps After Tariffs Boost Used-Car Demand
CarMax (KMX, Financials) shares surged more than 6% Friday morning after the company posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, driven by the fastest growth in used-vehicle sales since 2021. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with KMX. The company's performance comes amid a shift in consumer behavior following the imposition of new auto tariffs by President Donald Trump in March. The 25% tariff on foreign-made vehicles and certain auto parts has disrupted the supply of new cars in the U.S., increasing demand for used vehicles. CarMax is one of the first major automotive retailers to show clear benefits from the policy change. The company's results suggest that pricing power and unit sales have improved as consumers seek alternatives to higher-priced new models. With Friday's gains, CarMax stock is headed for its strongest single-day performance in two years. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Politico
21 minutes ago
- Politico
Trump says the US doesn't have to meet NATO spending goal
President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. shouldn't have to abide by the same defense spending standards as the rest of NATO — potentially antagonizing leaders from the rest of the alliance days before he's to meet with them in The Netherlands. Trump has long demanded that NATO states spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense but has never said if the U.S. should be included in that or not. The U.S. is currently at 3.4 percent. 'I don't think we should, but I think they should,' he said, responding to a question about his 5 percent defense spending goal. 'We've been supporting NATO so long. … So I don't think we should, but I think that the NATO countries should, absolutely,' he added. The summit kicks off Tuesday in The Hague with the leaders of 32 member states coming together to plan spending goals and reaffirm NATO force structure and deployment plans. Most NATO states spend just over 2 percent of their GDP on defense currently, with a growing number having outlined plans to get to around 3 percent over the next year or two. Trump's spending demand has hovered over the alliance since his reelection however, and the alliance has come up with a novel solution: Call for 3.5 percent on defense, with the remaining 1.5 percent taken up by domestic infrastructure and cybersecurity spending. Trump's apparent opting out of the higher target is unlikely to sit well with Republicans on Capitol Hill who've pushed for larger Pentagon budgets and have clashed with the administration over defense spending. Both Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees respectively, have been pushing to drive U.S. defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. They and other GOP leaders criticized Trump's budget plans for keeping annual defense funding flat, save a one-time investment from Republicans' megabill of spending and tax cuts. Hitting that goal would mean a roughly $1.4 trillion defense budget for the Pentagon. Only Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have committed to 5 percent number so far, but most of the rest of the alliance is expected to follow suit at The Hague. There are outlines, however. The Spanish government, which is one of the lowest spenders on defense in the alliance, flatly rejected the 5 percent goal this week. In a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte obtained by POLITICO, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government 'cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP at this summit.' Other allies who have spent more on defense in recent years are also grappling with how to keep pumping more money into their militaries. 'We have to find a realistic compromise between what is necessary and what is possible, really, to spend,' Germany's defense minister, Boris Pistorius said this month during a NATO meeting in Brussels. Seth Jones, president of the defense and security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a press call Friday that U.S. defense spending, at 3.4 percent of GDP, is 'lower than during any time during the Cold War,' and the Trump administration's defense budget as a percentage of GDP 'is likely to be lower than the Carter administration's defense budget in the 1970s.' Connor O'Brien contributed to this report.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
S&P 500 Gains and Losses Today: Kroger Stock Soars, Accenture Shares Drop
The S&P 500 slid 0.2% on Friday, June 20, wrapping up the shortened trading week as investors mulled the implications of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Accenture reported lower-than-expected quarterly bookings, and its shares tumbled. Kroger shares surged after the grocery store operator topped profit and identical sales U.S. equities indexes were mixed on the day after the Juneteenth holiday, wrapping up the shortened trading week. The fighting between Israel and Iran remained in focus as President Donald Trump pointed to a two-week time frame for a decision on potential U.S. involvement in the conflict. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, closing in negative territory for the third straight session. The Nasdaq was down 0.5%, but the Dow eked out a gain of 0.1%. Accenture (ACN) shares tumbled 6.9%, falling the furthest of any S&P 500 stock, after the professional services firm's bookings for its fiscal third quarter fell shy of analysts' expectations. Although sales and profits for the quarter topped forecasts, boosted by demand related to artificial intelligence (AI) services, Accenture's CEO noted that companies are holding off on hiring consultants in response to the uncertain global economic backdrop. Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world's largest lithium miner, dropped 4.6% after analysts at UBS reaffirmed their cautious stance on the lithium market. The firm pointed to ongoing oversupply and pricing pressure for the key battery component, suggesting that joint venture structures and strong balance sheets have contributed to making lithium producers slow to make supply adjustments in response to the weak pricing environment. Steel Dynamics (STLD) shares slipped 3.2%, extending losses posted this week after the steelmaker issued lower-than-expected profit guidance for the current quarter. Friday's downtick came after Keybanc analysts trimmed their price target on the stock, citing expected softness in galvanized steel spreads. Kroger (KR) shares surged 9.8%, notching the top performance in the S&P 500 on Friday. The operator of the largest chain of traditional grocery stores in the U.S. posted better-than-expected profit and identical sales growth for its fiscal first quarter. While Kroger's chief financial officer discussed ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, the company boosted its full-year identical sales growth forecast and maintained its other guidance. The food retailer did not provide an update on its search for a new CEO following the resignation of its previous leader in March amid a probe into alleged misconduct. Shares of residential construction materials supplier Builders FirstSource (BLDR) jumped 7.5%. Although Wedbush analysts trimmed their price target on the stock, citing the potential for soft-oriented strand board pricing to weigh on Builders FirstSource's second-quarter results, they maintained their "outperform" rating, suggesting that sales trends could be priced in at current levels following the stock's year-to-date decline. Used-car seller CarMax (KMX) topped quarterly profit estimates, and its shares rose 6.6%. Although sales came in slightly below expectations, total revenue was up 6% from the year-ago period, boosted by a 9% year-over-year gain in retail vehicle sales. Read the original article on Investopedia Sign in to access your portfolio
