Not long ago we wouldn’t have seen the news of oil closing just below $130 a barrel as a good thing for our pocketbooks. But here it is from the AP: “Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped $5.31 to settle at $129.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen nearly $16 in just the past three days.”

The wire service says analysts are reluctant to say last week’s high of $147 a barrel was the top of the market. It also reports that gas prices at the pump have held steady at a record $4.114 a gallon, with diesel rising to a new record of $4.845, up more than half a penny.

For more on the factors influencing oil prices, check out Kai Ryssdal’s interviews this week on the oil crisis.