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The stock market rallied today to one of its best days in a year, thanks to hopes, however small, of an end to the Middle East war. But the conflict is still pushing up prices on gas — the national average was $4.01 today for a gallon of regular — along with aluminum and coal. Coal! Plus: A lot of borrowers are underwater on their car loans. If you’re not, Henry Epp starts us off today by explaining why it’s a good time to shop for a used electric vehicle. — Carrie Barber, newsletter editor

Three electric cars are backed into charging station, plugged in with black cords.

James D. Morgan/Getty Images

Automakers retreated from EVs. Then gas prices hit $4 a gallon.

The electric vehicle market was struggling after tax credits ended and carmakers shifted to making gas-powered cars. Rising gas prices and a growing stock of used EVs are changing the math for consumers.

The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. has topped $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022. It’s jumped more than a dollar since the war in the Middle East began in late February, according to AAA, up from under $3 a gallon in late February.

It would stand to reason then that more car shoppers might turn to electric vehicles to avoid those costly trips to the pump. There’s some evidence, from car-buying site Edmunds, that consumer interest in EVs has ticked up in the last few weeks. They’re seeing more people researching electric models on their site.

But it’s a bit too soon to say whether that interest is translating into more sales. And whether or not sales climb, the EV market entered this period of higher gas prices in a tough spot.

Last year, the Trump administration and GOP-led Congress stripped away most of the federal policies that had been supporting the expansion of electric vehicles. One of the signature supports was federal tax credits, expanded under the Biden administration, which up until last September, knocked thousands of dollars off the price of many new and used EVs.

In the months before those credits went away, electric car sales spiked. But after that high came the low.

“I like to refer to the time after that as like a hangover,” said Alex Lawrence, head of EV Auto, which sells used EVs at dealerships in Utah and Tennessee.

For his business, the bad part of that hangover lasted about a month. Then, he said, sales slowly crept back up.

The EV market as a whole, however, is still kind of hungover. Sales slumped from 10% of the car market in the third quarter of 2025 to under 6% in the fourth quarter, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Many car manufacturers reacted by scaling back.

“We heard automakers saying that they were going to delay plans or cancel EV programs altogether,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds. “So it sort of felt like a bleak market. It wasn't necessarily stopping, but it didn't feel great in the short term.”

In addition to ending federal EV tax credits, the Trump administration also weakened fuel economy rules. Many carmakers turned their focus, and money, back toward gas-fueled SUVs and trucks.

“And then all of a sudden, gas prices spike,” Caldwell said. “It's like, ‘Well, are you sure you want to do that?’”

News you should know

Let’s do the numbers

Stocks surged today to their best day in nearly a year as markets clung to tenuous but hopeful signs of a possible end to the war in the Middle East. The S&P 500 jumped 2.9%, the Dow rallied 2.5% and the Nasdaq leaped 3.8%.
Businesses that rely on aluminum are paying 10% more since the Middle East war began, on top of a 50% tariff on imported metals. Will they raise prices or eat the costs?
A barrel of oil fell to $101.38 for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, and $103.97 for Brent crude, the international standard.
Coal is in demand again, particularly in Asia, with the global price jumping more than 20% since the war began. It’s more readily available than natural gas, and some countries are firing up old plants.

Your money

One-third of new car buyers owe more than their trade-in is worth, according to J.D. Power. Here are three reasons why more borrowers are underwater.
The average tax refund is higher this year thanks to the 2025 tax cuts. But if the average gallon of gas stays above $3.60 for the rest of the year, it will eat higher tax refunds, leaving no crumbs, an expert told us.
Grocery giant Unilever sold its food business to spice and sauce maker McCormick & Company in a multibillion-dollar deal. Here’s what that means for consumers in the short term and down the road.
Japanese automakers get about 70% of the specialized aluminum used in their electric vehicles from the Middle East, and much of it is stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. Toyota and Nissan have cut production as a result.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We're just not equipped as, you know, as a carbon-based species, I guess, to be able to manage that kind of multitasking.”

— Matt Kropp, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group

Artificial intelligence promises to take on the drudgery while leaving the interesting work to humans. But a BCG study found closely managing AI tools can cause cognitive exhaustion, or “brain fry.” One engineering manager described it as a “dozen browser tabs open in my head, all fighting for attention.”

Kropp told “Marketplace Tech” why it happens, and how to avoid it.

HEAR MORE

A woman covers her face with her hands. Behind her is a wall of sticky notes, each with business jargon written on them.

In their first session, students learn basic piano technology, including working on the piano action. (Courtesy North Bennet Street School)

Final note

Tuning up for trade careers

There’s no AI brain fry at North Bennet Street School in Boston, one of the oldest trade schools in the country. But there is a waiting list to study some of the centuries-old crafts it offers, including violin making, locksmithing, and rebuilding a grand piano. These technician-level jobs are great if you want a career working with your hands, but the practical reasons are pretty sweet too: Traditional trades won’t be replaced by AI anytime soon, and a lot of students get job offers before they graduate.

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