6at4 Business Report: Holiday trouble for Best Buy

December 22, 2011

Higher oil & gas prices
Get ready for higher oil prices next year. They're expected to average $100 a barrel in 2012 according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. A Citigroup analyst tells us that means gas prices may rise above $4 a gallon next summer. The reason oil and gas is moving higher nationwide is Sunoco and ConocoPhillips are idling two local plants -- Marcus Hook and Trainer. On top of that, another Sunoco refinery in Philadelphia may shut if no buyer is found.

Home values still declining
There's a mixed outlook on the housing recovery. The good news: Zillow.com says home values are still on the decline, but not as fast as before. In fact, they say values will have their smallest decrease in four years. But they say the value of the country's overall housing market dropped by nearly $700 billion this year and it doesn't see a recovery until 2013.

Best Buy problem filling orders
Best Buy is making the naughty list for lots of people this holiday season! Some orders dating back as far as /*Black Friday*/ were cancelled at the last minute. The Minneapolis Star Tribune quotes Best Buy blaming overwhelming demand for certain products like TVs, tablets, cameras, laptops and video games. The retailer is now dealing with a lot of customer backlash with people posting comments on internet forums saying they're never shopping at Best Buy again because those Christmas gifts won't be delivered.

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