Gas hits $3 a gallon; PetroChina becomes world's first $1T company

CBS News

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[Music] soaring crude oil prices are trickling down to the pump and the timing couldn't be worse for retailers and restaurants especially with the holidays right around the corner Gas Prices rose 25 cents in just the past three weeks to a national average of $3 a gallon according to AAA and now experts are saying that could lead Americans to cut back on spending on shopping and eating out on Wall Street ongoing concerns about the impact of the mortgage mess on the financial sector kept stocks in the red the D lost 51 points the NASDAQ Composite shed 15 Exon Mobile is no longer the world's biggest company that honor now belongs to petrochina shares of China's biggest oil and gas company more than doubled in their Wall Street debut making Petro China the world's first company to be worth more than $1 trillion General Motors is putting the pedal to the metal in its plans for hydrogen fuel cell Vehicles the automaker says it hopes to have hundreds of them on the road beginning in 2011 now while that may not sound like a lot of cars it's the most ambitious public plan yet to bring pollution free fuel cell Vehicles into the mainstream that's your money watch log on to cbsnews.com for more in New York I'm Alexus christopherus

Bush's import-safety plan; Greenspan urges cutting home glut

CBS

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[Music] After a summer plagued by recalled toys, dog food, and toothpaste, President Bush announced steps to protect Americans from unsafe imported products. Among them, giving the FDA the power to order mandatory recalls of dangerous products and increasing the number of product inspectors in countries that are major exporters to the US. On Wall Street, investors shrugged off record high oil prices and ongoing worries about the financial sector. The Dow shot up 117 points while the Nasdaq rallied 30. Crude prices hit another record high touching $97 a barrel after bombings in Afghanistan. And an attack on an oil pipeline in Yemen added to supply concerns. Cutting the inventory of unsold homes is key to stabilizing the US and world economies. That's according to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan. He told a business forum, "The health of the global economy depends on getting rid of between 200 and 300,000 homes currently on the market, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon, especially considering today's news out of home builder Beaser." The company says orders for new homes are down 53%, cancellations are up to a whopping 68%. That's your money watch. Log on to cbsnews.com for more business headlines in New York. I'm Alexis Christopherus.