IN BRIEF

Oil prices fall to lowest point for year, continue two-week dip

Oil prices on Monday fell to their lowest point so far this year and are down about 20 percent in just two weeks as investors worry about the ripple effects of a debt crisis in Europe.

The turnaround in oil prices has been sudden -- crude hit an 18-month high of $87.15 a barrel during trading on May 3. It settled Monday at $70.08, down $1.53, after dipping as low as $69.27.

The plunge is similar to the fall from mid-January to early February, when prices fell from $84.95 to $69.50 per barrel.

That's good news for U.S. drivers, who should soon see sharply reduced prices at the pump. Gasoline prices have fallen 2 percent nationwide since peaking this month at $2.929 per gallon. But that pace should pick up heading into the Memorial Day weekend and the summer driving season.

Prices in many markets in the U.S. will be $2.75 per gallon or lower by next week, said Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service.

Gasoline prices fell 0.5 cents overnight to a national average of $2.867 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and OPIS. Prices have dropped 4.1 cents in the past week and 6.2 cents since peaking May 6.

NEW YORK

More big-ticket purchases help boost earnings for Lowe's

Lowe's Cos. on Monday said shoppers spent more on home improvement projects in the first quarter and opted to buy new big-ticket items such as riding mowers rather than fix them, pushing the retailer's net income up 2.7 percent.

The nation's No. 2 home-improvement chain also said government stimulus programs, including tax credits for home purchases and rebates for energy-efficient products, aided results, as did warmer weather.

The company, based in Mooresville, N.C., earned $489 million, or 34 cents a share, in the three months ended April 30. In the same period last year the company earned $476 million, or 32 cents a share.

Revenue rose 4.7 percent to $12.39 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of 31 cents on revenue of $12.24 billion.

WASHINGTON

Treasury will lose $1.6 billion on loan made to Chrysler

The Treasury Department said Monday it will lose $1.6 billion on a loan made to Chrysler in early 2009.

Treasury said Monday that Chrysler repaid $1.9 billion of a $4 billion loan, which was extended before the company filed for Chapter 11. The government hopes to get $500 million more from the company that emerged from bankruptcy, Chrysler Group LLC.

The original loan was made in January 2009, when the Bush administration was scrambling to rescue Chrysler, GM and their auto financing arms.

NEW YORK

More on-time payments for credit card bills during April

More consumers paid their credit card bills on time in April, another sign the fledging economic recovery may be picking up some steam.

Capital One, Discover, American Express, Chase and Citibank all said the rate at which they wrote off unpaid credit card bills fell last month. Several lenders saw improvement for the second straight month.

American Express had the lowest rate at 6.7 percent of its total loans, down from 7.5 percent in March. American Express customers tend to be more affluent than those of some of the other lenders.

Of the top six U.S. credit card issuers, only Bank of America posted higher charge-offs for April -- 12.71 percent versus 12.54 percent in March. Citi took the No. 2 highest spot at 11.23 percent of total balances, though that improved from 11.55 percent in March.