The Pump

Diesel is $6.51. AAA dated the record this morning.

Highest recorded national average. Regular $4.48. Great Lakes up more than 30 cents. Trump: inexpensive price to pay.

The Rocket News · Economy · WashingtonSeptember 21, 2026 · 4 min read

AAA dated diesel at $6.51 this morning — the highest recorded national average.

AAA this morning: diesel $6.5107 a gallon. The association lists it as the highest recorded national average, dated Sept. 21, 2026. Yesterday was $6.5050. A year ago: $3.70. Regular is $4.4786, up a cent overnight, 16 cents in a week, $1.30 in a year. The Economy desk files a number that is no longer a warning. It is the record.

GasBuddy: 45 states up more than 3 cents on gasoline this week. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin — more than 30 cents, refinery trouble in the Great Lakes. California diesel $8.38. Texas $5.96. LAT: voters are angry; Trump in North Carolina called it a very inexpensive price to pay for the Iran war. Monday he blamed Ukraine’s refinery campaign.

You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done.

Brent was about $102 early Monday, off a little as some Hormuz traffic moved. The Economy desk files Monday as it is: $6.51 on the pump, a president talking diesel, and a midterm still 43 days out.

Wire and further reading: gasprices.aaa.com

Filed under Economy

Keep reading

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, Oct. 2, 2026. Reuters. It is a file photograph. It is not Wednesday’s trade, and no one is named.

Oil

Brent was $104.36 at 0730 GMT.

Reuters, Wednesday morning: up 76 cents. WTI was $96.72. That is not a New York close. The photograph is Oct. 2, not today’s trade.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 2, 2026. Brendan McDermid, Reuters. It is not Tuesday’s Asian print, and no trader is named.

Markets

Brent was $105.19 in Asia. That is not a New York close.

Reuters, Tuesday: Brent was up 0.4 percent at $105.19 in Asian trading after a drop of about 7 percent on Monday. The photograph is the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 2, not that print.

The U.S. Capitol, framed by fall foliage, Sept. 28, 2026. Kylie Cooper, Reuters. It is not a trading floor, and it is not Sunday’s session. Markets were closed.

The budget

The deficit is still about 6 percent. That count is Friday's.

Reuters, Friday in New York: investors see no fix for a deficit around 6 percent of GDP and a $2 trillion gap, whoever wins Tuesday. The photograph is the Capitol on Sept. 28.