In Brief

Gasoline prices match '10 highs; analysts foresee $3 per gallon

Drivers are well down the road to higher pump prices as warmer weather and the driving season approach.

Average retail gasoline prices, continuing a surge that started last month, have now matched their 2010 high on the way to prices that many analysts believe will top $3 per gallon this spring.

The nationwide average retail gasoline price rose 0.6 cents Monday to $2.753 per gallon, virtually identical to the high for the year of $2.7583 reached Jan. 14, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

Prices have risen 9.2 cents in the past month and are 80.6 cents higher than a year ago.

The jump in retail prices follows an increase in wholesale gasoline prices. April contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.82 cents to settle at $2.2892 per gallon.

An 18 percent rise in oil prices over the past month that pushed crude near a 2010 high of $83.95 per barrel is also boosting gasoline prices.

County officials say tethered balloon ride needs repairs

County officials in Las Vegas say a tethered balloon attraction on the Strip needs to be fixed after a weekend scare with its gondola twisting and shaking in gusty winds.

The Cloud Nine ride, located across from the Mandalay Bay on the south end of the Strip, shut down after the Saturday night incident.

Clark County Director of Development Services Ron Lynn said Monday that an aluminum band that connects the passenger compartment to the tether lines is damaged.

But Lynn says the balloon requires a part from France to be fixed.

A manager with Cloud Nine did not return a message seeking comment.

Though always tethered to the ground, the attraction rises some 500 feet high to give about two dozen riders a view of the Strip.

OAK BROOK, Ill.

McDonald's same-store sales up 4.8 percent in February

Strong overseas growth for McDonald's Corp. in February outweighed U.S. sales that barely nudged upward as the world's largest fast-food chain posted a 4.8 percent increase in sales at restaurants open at least a year.

The results follow January's 2.6 percent rise and were a welcome return to steady growth after back-to-back months of declines in the key sales figure late last year.

Sales at restaurants open at least a year are a key indicator of performance because they measure growth at existing locations rather than new ones.

In the U.S., McDonald's performance improved -- edging up 0.6 percent after a 0.7 percent decline in January. Citi analyst Greg Badishkanian said the U.S. results were hurt by the series of snowstorms that pounded much of the country during the month.

Results in Europe climbed 5.4 percent, while Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa's performance soared 10.5 percent. Systemwide sales, which include sales at restaurants run by the company and franchisees, increased 11.2 percent in February.