As Wall Street falls deeper into a black hole of its own making there’s a glimmer of hope for the economy in lower gas prices.

Lower gas prices, the theory goes, should translate into a bump in spending. This would be a big boon to the retail sector in the run-up to the Christmas buying season.

Andrew Gordon is skeptical of this analysis. He says the real savings per household will be too small to make any real difference to consumer spending, even though he expects gas prices to continue their fall.

– The government’s bailout of Fannie Mae (NYSE:FRE) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FNM) may be bad news for American taxpayers, but Wall Street is feeling the love. The Wall Street Journal reports that US markets look set to extend the previous day’s gains on the rescue. Dow and S&P 500 futures are up.

– Fannie and Freddie shareholders, of course, are royally screwed. This from Addison Wiggan and Ian Mathias at The 5 Min. Forecast: “Sorry, but if you were crazy enough own these “businesses,” you deserve it. We give a particular pat on the back to “smartest guys in the room” like Bill Miller, Rich Pzena, David Dreman and Marty Whitman. These famous fund geniuses bought tens of millions of Fannie and Freddie shares this year on…

On Monday, the Los Angeles Times had this to say about gas prices: “You may not believe it, but fuel is more affordable than it was during the early ’60s.” Dave Gonigam in The Daily Reckoning’s blog, Desidooru Saloon, says the claim is flawed, if not completely irrelevant…

Price spikes are causing rural gas station owners to shut off their pumps rather than pay for sky-high gas, says Matt Insley on EnergyAndOil.com.

Crude oil and gasoline have risen to new records as worries mount over the prospect a serious supply fallout from an Irseali attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Supply disruptions in Brazil to Nigeria are also feeding into sky-high oil prices. Crude oil prices jumped as high as $147.27. A barrel of the black goo now costs $10 more than it did on Wednesday.

Sky-high oil prices are triggering the biggest transfer of wealth in history, says Mandraaj Singh inb Profit Watch – from the US and Europe to Gulf oil economies.

Has President Bush’s genius plan to save the US economy worked? It has if you’re an oil-rich foreign nation, says Bill Bonner in The Daily Reckoning.

The benchmark crude oil rose 57 cents to settle at a record-high $140.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, after a sell-off on Wall Street left the Dow Jones Industrial Average in bear territory.

After plummeting 358 points on Thursday, the Dow dropped another 107 points to end the week at 11,346.51. After sliding 4.2% last week, the Dow is now down 20% from its Oct. 9 high of 14,165. And that means the benchmark U.S. index has officially entered into a bear market.

With US gas prices over $4 a gallon, Investor’s Daily Edge’s Charles Delvalle isn’t surprised the auto companies are hurting. Half of their sales still come from pick-ups and SUVs…

The outlook for US auto companies certainly isn’t looking good. Yesterday, Fitch Ratings downgraded GM and Chrysler’s investment ratings to from a B to a B-.

Both companies now have a negative outlook, meaning they could be downgraded further. Ford Motor Co’s rating is being reviewed.

Oil and energy expert Byron King says that high oil and gas prices are here to stay. And the consequences will be disastrous because of the our dependence on cheap and abundant energy.

However, crude oil prices fell for a second day today following a report that revealed demand for fuel in the US fell to an 18-month low.

Could this be a long-term trend? Is Byron out of step? Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, told a congressional panel yesterday that US gas use could have peaked in 2007.

US gas prices have reached a record of $4.05 and energy wonks now say that US gas prices could rise to a national average of $4.25 a gallon by the Fourth of July and are unlikely to fall as long as oil prices keep surging.

Jennifer Yousfi explains how US gas prices could keep on rising…

If oil stays near $140 per barrel, gas prices could easily top $4.75 a gallon by the Fourth of July holiday, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com (MCO), said in a recent research note.