Paying More For Less At The Pump
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Rising gas prices aren't the only way you're getting pinched at the pump. The Los Angeles Times reports that warmer spring and summer weather means you're actually getting less fuel for your gas dollar.
The reason? Fuel expands as temperatures increase. And since the nozzles at your local gas station don't adjust for the change, the gallon of gas you pay full price for may really be less than a full gallon.
The shortfall could cost motorists as much as 3 cents a gallon. That may not sound like a lot, but in California, where the average gas price reached a state record of $3.489 a gallon this week, and where drivers use 16 billion gallons of gas a year, the Times says the heated fuel could cost them as much as $480 million annually.
The Times says the overcharge "is rampant, legal and hard for consumers to spot," but it's not a secret. "Oil companies acknowledge it and regulators allow it."
Consumer advocates and some lawmakers are calling on gas retailers to install nozzles that compensate for changing temperatures. But oil companies and dealers say the cost of the new equipment would only push prices higher.
Meanwhile, motorists, especially truck drivers, continue to pay the price. "It's a real big deal because it comes out of our pockets," said trucker Freddy Chulo, who says he spends $60,000 a year on diesel.
Insider Trading Charges At Dow Jones
The Wall Street Journal reports Wednesday on allegations of insider trading involving shares of the newspaper's parent company, Dow Jones & Co.
In a front-page story, the Journal says that two weeks before Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. made a $5 billion takeover bid for Dow Jones, "a well-connected Hong Kong couple borrowed millions of dollars to buy $15 million of the newspaper publisher's stock."
After Murdoch's offer became public, Dow Jones stock jumped 50 percent, and the couple sold their stock for an $8.2 million profit.
On Tuesday, the SEC sued the couple, Kan King Wong and his wife, Charlotte Ka On Wong Leung, for insider trading.
The Journal said it's not clear how the Wongs might have known about the pending offer for Dow Jones, but said one "possible connection" the SEC is likely to investigate involves a Hong Kong banking executive and Dow Jones director named David Li.
The Journal said Li has a "history of business and social dealings" with Ms. Wong's father. Reached in Hong Kong, Li said he didn't disclose information about Dow Jones to anyone, "not even my wife."
Northern Ireland Makes History, But Not Front Pages
A landmark event in Northern Ireland was mostly absent from the front pages of America's top newspapers Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Times was alone among the major dailies in running a page-one story on the swearing-in of a power-sharing government in the long-troubled British province.
The Times called it the beginning of a "new era" for Northern Ireland, following three decades of strife between Protestants and Catholics, but the news was relegated to the inside of the other papers. The New York Times featured a photo from the swearing-in ceremony on the bottom of its front page, but its story ran on page A8.
The Washington Post's Northern Ireland story ran on page 10A, while USA Today's was on page 7A.
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