Trimming Holiday Spending to Pay for College
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They have never been this high. The Dow is just inches now from 18,000. It was just five months ago, July 3rd, the Dow hit 17,000 for the first time. Now, knocking on the door of 18,000. The Dow is up more than 8 percent this year. Meantime, gas prices are dropping, keep dropping. The average, $2.66 a gallon right now. That's down more than a dollar from the summer peak. Almost every state has prices below $3.00 a gallon now. A few places in Oklahoma and Texas are selling gas below $2.00. And I'm told 15 to 20 cents more lower is what you can expect in the near term. And here's a story I'm loving this morning, guys. Savvy shoppers are cutting back to save for college. According to America's Research Group, 20 percent of parents said they are so worried about paying for tuition, they are trimming their holiday spending to save up. This is unheard of. That's a record number, up from just 5 percent last year of parents who were saying, I've got college to think about, I'm not going to buy a bunch of toys.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, they're getting the message.</s>ROMANS: They're - well, they're getting the message and they have no other way to pay for it. You know, they've -</s>CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Are you pro saving or are you one of those people who says, oh, you've got to spend your money because that drives the economy.</s>ROMANS: I'm' pro saving. I worry about my economy and your economy and your economy because I don't want people to be broke and I want people to be able to afford the things that are import, not something you're going to forget about in two years.</s>CAMEROTA: We're so glad we listen to you about -</s>ROMANS: That's so boring, isn't it?</s>CAMEROTA: No, it's responsible.</s>CUOMO: No.</s>CAMEROTA: And you predicted that the stock market would see a peak before the end of the year.</s>ROMANS: Yes, it's had a good -</s>CUOMO: Is it time to sell, by the way? I'll be - I'll be short, you be long.</s>ROMANS: I don't know. A lot - a lot of people were saying that at 17,000, and, look, they missed a really big run.</s>CAMEROTA: The long and the short of it. Thanks so much, Christine. Great to - great to see you. All right, we have more fallout for Bill Cosby in the wake of those sexual assault accusations. His Hollywood star is defaced.</s>CUOMO: This as "Rolling Stone" magazine comes under fire for its questionable expose of an alleged culture of rape at UVA. Well, one part of the story was certainly questionable. We'll discuss with HLN's Dr. Drew Pinsky and our Brian Stelter, what the media affect is and what's really going on at that school.