Raphael Nam

Kansas City says that 85 to 90 percent of hotels report bookings are softer than anticipated.

In fact, they are actually running even below a typical June or July.

By contrast, hotels in both Miami and Atlanta report a much stronger number of bookings.

Rafael Nam, NPR News.

Gas prices have skyrocketed in just a matter of days.

They're not going to change until August.

And in general, the world oil markets will be unsettled for years, years from now.

For many households across the country, it's the time of family Christmas traditions.

And for Wall Street, there's nothing more traditional than the Santa Claus rally.

For reasons that have never been really clear, stocks have tended to do well in the last five trading days of the year, as well as the first two sessions of the new year.

And so far, it's been a promising start.

Stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P closing at a record high.

But a warning here.

It doesn't happen all the time.

Last year, instead of a rally, traders got coal when Santa left behind a market sell-off.

Rafael Nam, NPR News.

FIFA introduced the cheaper tickets after fans blasted the high prices for the tournament next year.

Currently, tickets range from at least $140 for some of the initial games to over $2,000 for the US opening game.

And it gets even more expensive for the knockouts, including over $4,000 for the cheapest seats at the final.

But the $60 tickets will only be available for fans of the countries that have qualified.