From the Boston bureau at WGBH, I'm Helen Palmer for Marketplace. It's not clear yet, but the latest numbers show that vehicles like the Dodge Durango and the Ford Excursion aren't flying off the lot as fast as they used to. Analysts caution, though, it may just be the introduction of too many competing models, not gas prices. An 800 number will get you through to the government's new home heating oil hotline, but Northeasterners upset over high heating oil prices are demanding more help. Today President Clinton announced more aid for folks struggling to pay their winter heating bills.
Oil prices are high.
But they pale in comparison to palladium. And no, we're not talking about the famous concert hall in London. Here with a closer look at a metal you haven't thought of since high school chemistry is Marketplace's Rachael Myrow. Palladium is used in everything from cell phones to dental work, but auto makers dominate demand. It's the metal of choice for the catalysts that clean car-exhaust fumes, and new Environmental Protection Agency clean air laws ensure palladium will be valuable for years to come.