Economy

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — A national survey shows gasoline prices have dropped 15 cents a gallon in the last two weeks. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline at self-serve stations was $3.70 Friday. Mid-grade was at $3.83 and premium was at $3.95. Diesel was at $3.82. Despite the drop, gas nationally was almost 95 cents higher than a year ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — Home prices in a widely watched housing index dropped by the sharpest rate ever in the second quarter. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tumbled a record 15.4% from last year, S&P said Tuesday. Meanwhile, sales of new single-family homes in July were lower than economists expected but rose from a June pace that was the slowest in nearly 17 years, a government report showed.

NEW YORK (AP) — Standard & Poor's Index Services said Monday that preliminary figures show second-quarter operating earnings for the S&P 500 companies fell 29%, the fourth straight quarterly decline for the index of large companies, but excluding the financial sector, S&P 500 operating earnings rose 3.2%. The financial sector was the only sector to have a negative result for operating earnings, showing a loss of 4.1%. There are 88 financial companies in the index.