Maine gas prices shoot up by 8 cents per gallon

Gas prices in Maine shot up more than 8 cents per gallon in the past week and are now pushing the $4-per-gallon mark.

Price-monitoring website MaineGasPrices.com reported Monday that the average retail price of a gallon of gas in Maine is now $3.98.

That’s more than 15 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and more than 22 cents per gallon higher than at the same time a year ago.

The price in Maine is also 7 cents above the national average.

A company analyst said relief may be on the way. Prices in the hardest hit areas of the country, including Chicago and California, are already falling, while oil refineries appear to be coming out of maintenance and boosting production.

Stocks close sharply lower on disappointing job figures

Investors had a three-day weekend to brood over disappointing job growth in March. When they got back to work Monday, their verdict wasn’t good.

Stocks closed sharply lower, sending the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to only their second four-day losing streak this year.

The Dow finished down 130.55 points at 12,929.59, its first close below 13,000 since March 12. The S&P ended the day off 15.88 points at 1,382.20. The Nasdaq composite closed down 33.42 at 3,047.08.

The Dow and S&P had four consecutive trading days of declines at the end of January, but the losses then were smaller. The Dow lost 124 points over that stretch. It has lost about 330 this time.

Facebook agrees to buy hugely popular Instagram

Facebook has agreed to buy the hugely popular photo-sharing app maker Instagram for about $1 billion in cash and stock in a blockbuster deal reverberating around Silicon Valley.

Facebook’s chief executive and founder made the announcement Monday on Facebook in a post that has already generated tens of thousands of likes. He has pledged to allow Instagram to remain independent.

“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests,” Mark Zuckerberg wrote.

He noted that the acquisition marked a milestone for Facebook — and hinted that it might be the last of its size and scope. Facebook has mainly targeted smaller companies in its acquisitions, spending no more than tens of millions of dollars on each, and usually just to get the raw talent, not the technology.