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With OPEC sending mixed signals about the possibility of a production cut at the meeting in Cairo on Saturday, oil prices gyrated between $50 and $55 a barrel last week. Pessimism stemming from a drumbeat of bad economic news alternated with occasional bursts of optimism that one of the many new bailout plans by governments around the world or perhaps an OPEC production cut would do some good. The average gasoline price in the US is now down to $1.82, the lowest since early 2005. US crude stockpiles rose for the 9th straight week, this time by 7.2 million barrels.