The fact that the economy has begun to claw back from the bottom and show signs of life is terrific on the whole. One area where consumers will probably be a little disappointed in the coming months though is at the gas pumps. Energy prices rose today by one of their largest increases this year as the dollar weakens and the overall economy starts to show signs of strength.

It isn’t just oil and gasoline that have started to charge higher of late, but also heating oil and to some extent even natural gas. This means that the coming winter may not provide as much relief as you had hoped from high heating prices, since these price increases are likely to be cooked into the price by the time the cold of winter hits.

Another wild card in the mix is hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, which is always on the mind of commodity traders. Thus far the hurricane season has been relatively quiet and it hasn’t moved the market, but history tells us that the chances of a tropical system of some kind causing movements in the oil and energy futures before the end of hurricane season are fairly high. In fact, the month of September is usually the most active month for the tropics.

The economy is starting to do better on the job front and it appears that consumers have gotten ever so slightly more comfortable with their finances. Unfortunately gasoline prices don’t look to be getting cheaper anytime soon, which could cramp budgets around the country and around the world as a whole. Look for the cheapest gas prices possible and do what you can to save gasoline, but don’t be surprised if the prices at the pump rise in the coming weeks and months.

Across the nation gasoline prices have been dropping like a rock of late. Just a month ago the average price at the pumps was about 80 cents higher than it is today, and about six months ago the average price per gallon of unleaded fuel was more than double today’s national average price of $1.89. It is basically the tiny glimmer of good news that consumers have gotten in the last few months as our economy seemingly comes crashing down right before our eyes.

Why have gas prices gone down so much? The reason crude oil and gasoline prices have come down so much is one of the main reasons the stock market has dropped so much, the fears of a massive global recession. Oil is far from immune to a large scale global recession and at this point it seems that oil traders are fearing the worst.

As you walk around the streets of America today you will hear a lot of people talking about the economy that normally would talk very little about the topic. It clearly is the in topic of the current time, and for good reason. The talk of gasoline prices plunging lower is spreading and many Americans are now faced with what to do with this new savings they are receiving each time they fill up at the pump. I suggest to you to be extremely conservative with the money that you save at the fuel pumps in the coming weeks and months. The fact that gas prices are coming down are comforting to consumers, but the real reason gas prices are coming down are truly not good for the overall economy and our nation’s economic well-being. American consumers would be far better off saving up that money and investing it into something simple like a savings account or cd rather than deciding this is the all clear to go back to driving much farther distances and not saving conserving fuel. Keep conserving the fuel and reaping the rewards of those savings, with the economic picture currently in place you can’t afford not to!