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Whether or not the gas bubble has burst, Americans are now living in an economy where the prospect of a gallon of gas for less than $4 is cause for celebration.

That barrier could be broken as early as this coming weekend, as a two-week header in crude prices has begun to ripple out to all gas stations nationwide. 

The national average for a gallon of regular gas has pulled back to just above $4 a gallon and oil is tumbling to its lowest point in weeks just recently. The belief that high prices have yet to reflect just how badly the demand has dropped in the United States, one of the world’s thirstiest oil consumers.

Pump prices are poised to dip even further, and very well may cost as much as 25 cents less by Labor Day. People do say typically, prices will shoot up like a rocket, and fall like a feather. However, this time, it is looking like it is different. The retail sector especially is interested in bringing down these prices as fast as they can so the retail business can be stimulated in their convenience stores. 

In the oil news markets, oil has continued on a two-week sell off. Light, sweet crude for September’s delivery has fallen to $2.23 to settle at $123.26 a barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier the contract dropped even more to $122.50, its lowest point since June of this year.

In the oil news, many analysts say the market’s momentum is pointing to further declines. Crude prices have dropped in seven of the last nine sessions, and are currently down more than 16 percent from its highest price above $147 a barrel just earlier this month. 

There is nothing sufficiently bullish coming into the market at this time to sustain a rally. We are just seeing a new theme where as demand has become a very significant part of the equation. Oil news does tell us prices have remained about 65% her than they were at this time last year.

Signs of Americans continued struggle with soaring energy prices are affecting the filling station operators that are hungry for business to ratchet down the average price for a gallon of regular gas by 2 cents to encourage purchases. 

Such a large decline suggests demands are fading. Retail prices have fallen about a $.10 cents per gallon in just the past week. We are seeing a drastic and historic change in the Americans driving habits; however, we still have a long ways to go before we reach the comfort zone again.

The talk on the trading floors has all the sudden shifted to demand worries and analysts note that prices could rebound even if just on a temporary cut to supply. The abduction of five crewmembers recently from a Swedish boat in Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta

Region has been a reminder that much of the world’s oil is still being pulled from politically volatile regions. The African nation is a huge supplier to the U.S. It was reported earlier in the week, Nigerian militants have threatened to destroy pipelines in the region within a month.

Some people don’t feel they need hired entertainment at their child’s birthday parties. While that may be true (no one “needs” it), they are missing out on some of the huge benefits that having scheduled entertainment can give – to both kids and adults!

Built-in theme. For the sake of planning the party, having a kids magician can automatically make the party a magic theme: magic-themed props and decorations, etc. Sometimes planning the theme is one of the biggest decisions that a parent has to make. This can remedy that easily.

An hour of organization. Let’s face it: twenty 7-year olds in one house can be daunting. Parents may want to pull their hair out trying to keep the kids out of trouble and entertained. Having them sit and watch a magician puts the pressure on the kids magician for an hour while you get a break! This means you can clean up a little, prepare the birthday cake, or simply sit down yourself and relax. You may even want to watch the entertainment with your child!

Easy entertainment. Generally speaking, kids love magic. They will sit and watch intently while the kids magician performs. They are mesmerized by it, just like you were when you were a kid. Some kids may not enjoy clowns or horses or things like that, but just about every kid can enjoy a good magic show.

Great memories. This is obviously the most important reason of all. You want your child’s party to be special, don’t you? Isn’t having a person perform amazing feats of impossible magic a great way to make it special? Most magicians will have tricks that involve members of the audience. Your child can talk about how he or she was picked to help the magician perform a great trick for months to come. It’s something that will stick in their minds. And when you see your child smile or stare in wonder, you will have a great memory for yourself, too.

A kids magician may seem corny to you, but don’t rule out the possibility that your child may want one. It could be the key ingredient to the perfect party.

Cashmere shmashmere: instead of getting your loved ones the same old gift for birthdays, holidays, congratulations or thank you’s, consider that although you know them well, the thoughtlessness of your gift may make them feel a ‘no thank you’ rather than a ‘thank you’ in the inner dialog of your gift’s recipient.

The truth is, most of us can’t be clever and thoughtful about every gift that we give. We constantly resort to old standbys, thoughtlessly giving those little luxuries to people that we think they want but won’t buy for themselves – perfumed soap, wool sweaters, fishing gear… There’s no reason to be ashamed by this, either. Most of us don’t know enough about others’ interests to give them what they really want: hence the recent surge in gift cards as a way to defer gift giving to the recipient’s choice so that he or she may get whatever it is that they fancy.

But there are some gifts that have universal appeal – gifts that spoil rotten with their sensuality: with how beautiful they are, how good they taste, and how decadent they are; gifts that assemble the best products in any given area of interest: food, wine, flowers, or sport. Though you may not be an expert in any of the areas that the person you’re giving a gift to cares about, there are people out there who are, who are more than happy to lend their expertise for a small premium over the price of the products they buy, assemble, and package beautifully for the enjoyment of whoever it is that you choose to ship them to.

Gift baskets offer a great option to those looking to give thoughtfully and easily. The best online gift basket retailers will have a large selection of baskets running the gamut of interests from wine to fruit to golf and more.

They also take care of packaging and shipping for you – always a headache – and the result is an appearance of plenty for a cost that’s a lot lower than you might expect. Someone close to me recently received a gourmet gift basket from a friend for his birthday and I was so shocked by the quantity and quality of stuff in it that I couldn’t believe – when I checked the price online – that it was only slightly more than it would have cost to get all the components separately from the cheapest sources online. So in this writer’s view, you really can’t go wrong with a gift basket if you’re looking to give great gifts.