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The Changing Opinion of How Rising Gas Prices Affects Consumers

Crude oil prices have been increasing lately and that tends to lead to higher gas prices at the pump.

The heat map at right is courtesy of GasBuddy.com, a Web site that tracks gas prices on a national, state, county, city and hyper-local basis.

According to GasBuddy.com, gasoline prices are beginning to rise after 7 weeks of decline.

Typically, higher gas prices lead to less disposable income for Americans and that normally puts downward pressure on mortgage rates.

This year, however, traders have been largely ignoring that once-common Rule of Thumb because -- despite the cost of the world around them -- consumers continue to consume at a dizzying pace.

Mortgage rates will likely not respond to crude oil or gas prices unless they reach new all-time highs.

(Image courtesy: GasBuddy.com)