"Wait a minute, what'd you just say? You're predicting 4- dollar-a-gallon gasoline?" asked Bush.
A reporter responded, "A number of analysts are predicting 4 dollar gas this spring."
"Oh yeah?"
"When they reformulate."
"That's interesting. I hadn't heard that," said Bush.
It is not, however, news to the American people. That pain at the pump is palpable with a national average of $3.16 a gallon and oil prices are over $102 dollars a barrel.
Michelle Corona of ABC Express Couriers said, "Stock prices or another market didn't do so well so it scares investors, and there's just no reason, no logical reason why it should be climbing the way it is."
But there are reasons.
Anthony Grisanti, President of GRZ Energy claims, "When you have a lowering of interest rates which weakens our dollar against the rest of the currencies, you see a spike in oil prices to kind of make up the difference between the euro and the dollar at this point."
During Congressional testimony this week the Chairman of the Federal Reserve indicated the Fed is prepared to cut rates again. The spike in oil wasn't far behind.
President Bush also told reporters on Thursday that he didn't think the country was in a recession.
Chief Economist with the S&P David Wyss disagrees. "I think we're already about three months into one. I think it will probably end when people start spending their rebate checks during the summer."
Today the Commerce Department announced that spending posted a 0.4% percent rise last month, but all of that gain is attributed to inflation.
