by Calculated Risk on 10/07/2012 09:44:00 PM

It appears gasoline prices in California have peaked following several refinery problems, see Jim Hamilton's California gas price spike. These refinery issues happened at a terrible time - just as the refineries were about to change to the winter blend.

From the LA Times: Gov. Brown takes emergency action to try to reduce gas prices

Gov. Jerry Brown took “emergency steps” Sunday to try to bring down record gas prices in the state.

He directed the California Air Resources Board to increase the fuel supply by allowing the immediate sale and import of cheaper and more available winter-blend gasoline.

The move would reduce the price of gas in California by 15 to 20 cents per gallon, probably within a few days, said energy expert Chris Faulkner of Dallas-based Breitling Oil and Gas.

The week will start with a focus on Europe. On Monday:
• Columbus Day Holiday: Banks will be closed in observance of Columbus Day. The stock market will be open.

• At 6:00 AM ET, Europe's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will become active.

• Also at 6:00 AM, the "Troika" Report On Greece will be released.

• At 12:00 PM, the EU Finance Minsters meet in Luxembourg.

The Asian markets are mostly red tonight, with the Hang Seng down 0.3% and the Shanghai down 0.1%.

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures: the S&P futures are down 2, and the DOW futures are down 17.

Oil prices are down with WTI futures down to $89.88 and Brent down at $111.69 per barrel.

Yesterday:
• Summary for Week Ending Oct 5th
• Schedule for Week of Oct 7th

Two more questions this week for the October economic prediction contest (Note: You can now use Facebook, Twitter, or OpenID to log in).