And so apparently is $4 gas. Fred Rozell of OPIS sees $4-$4.25 gas sometime between April and early May. Patrick DeHaan of gasbuddy.com predicts $3.75 to $4.15 by May.

Look out Chicago! DeHaan predicts $4.60-$4.95/gal. LA: mid-to-upper $4.00.

“Bigger cities will always have higher prices due to higher gas taxes and the cost of doing business,” DeHaan said.

Could be worse.

Despite the possibility of record high gas prices this spring, Rozell says things could be worse. “Over the last 10 years, we have tended to see a 75% increase in prices from the winter low to the spring peak. This year, we are only forecasting about a 40% rise because of bearish economic news.”

Overall consumer prices were down .1 percent last month. Not much I know, but it’s the first time since June they declined.

A big drop in gas prices led the way. Food prices up, but at the slowest pace of the year. New car prices – down. Hotels & airfare – down.

Oil prices are up over $100/barrel today, but experts note that the price is still cheaper than it was in the Spring. No real inflation worries there.

Oil prices on the upswing again – over $96/barrel on concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. This is the first time over the $96 mark in 3 months.

OPEC increased its forecast for global oil demand by 1.9 million barrels from the previous one.

No surprise, pump prices rose (but only by less than a penny)

We paid more for food and gas last month, but price rises in everything else were tame.

Gas up 2.9%. Food up .4%. But we can stay warm – clothing prices fell.

A small amount of inflation is good for the economy. It encourages businesses and consumers to spend and invest money sooner rather than later, before inflation erodes its value.

Of course unemployment has been in the neighborhood of 9% for a couple of years, which cuts down on discretionary spending.

Good news for seniors, though. Social Security benefits will finally get the first cost of living increase since 2009.

Increase in gas prices drove up wholesale prices in Sept. by the most in 5 mo. Economists say it was mostly s seasonal quirk, and it’s not really as bad as it looks.

BUT -energy prices up, wholesale gas prices up, food prices up big-time.

Other views:

Neil Dutta, an economist at Bank of America, attributed much of the gain in energy prices to one-time factors.

“Is this a harbinger of broad-based inflation that is about to hit the U.S. consumer?” he asked. “Don’t count it.”

and:

The core index has risen 2.5 percent in the twelve months that ended in September, the same as the previous month.

“Inflation is not wildly out of control but it certainly isn’t as tame as would be expected during this stage,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

The price of oil fell 52 cents to $86.28 in Monday’s trading. Gas prices at the pump averaged $3.46/gal. on Monday.