Home prices fall record 16%; oil drops to $122, Dow surges 266
CBS
Transcript
Home values suffered their biggest drop on record. A new survey finds prices were down 16% in May compared to last year. That dashed hopes for a rebound in the slumping housing market. Home prices are now at the same level as the summer of 2004. On Wall Street, another big drop in oil prices drove stocks higher. Crude slipped $25 to $122 a barrel. That's the lowest level in about three months. and it helped stocks make up all of yesterday's losses and then some. The Dow ran up 266 points, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 55. Falling oil prices continue to trickle down to the pump. Gas prices fell 2 cents overnight to a nationwide average of 3.94 for a gallon of regular. That helped prop up consumer confidence, which ticked slightly higher this month. But a lousy job market still has Americans worried. More than 30% say jobs are hard to find. The mortgage mess and credit crisis continue to take a toll on financial companies. Meil Lynch announced another $5.7 billion in write downs tied to bad bets on mortgage securities and other investments. Merryill is planning to raise $8.5 billion with a new stock offering. And that's your money watch. Log on to cbsnews.com for more at the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Alexis Christopher.