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[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

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NATION
Despite the hike, gas still a bargain

Does filling up the car leave you fuming these days? And you don't give a hoot how much the Europeans pay, right?

To offer some perspective this summer driving season, energy research firm John S. Herold Inc. researched consumer price growth for some common products and concluded that regular unleaded remains a true bargain for Americans.

Since 1982, the increase in gas prices is 25 percent lower than food costs, 50 percent less than housing, 70 percent less than medical costs and 80 percent below the surge in college tuition costs, according to Houston-based Herold.

And consider the increases in concert tickets, Major League Baseball or college tuition.

An outing to the average professional baseball game -- including tickets, parking, food, drinks, programs and baseball caps -- costs $164.43 for a family of four, according to the Fan Cost Index, compiled by Team Marketing Report. That's nearly 70 percent higher than a decade ago.

Weight could cost you that job

Your resume is stellar, your education thorough and your experience perfectly suited to the open position. Yet your weight could also be a factor in whether you land that new job, a survey of human resource professionals suggests.

A quarter of 552 HR workers polled acknowledged that an applicant's weight had played a role in their hiring decision, while another 35 percent said "maybe unconsciously" to that question.

Courts have generally not sided with workers on the issue, notes Susan Prince, managing editor of Business & Legal Reports, a publisher of compliance information based in Old Saybrook, Conn., which operates a human resources Web site.

"While federal law bars discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, age, race, or national origin, it does not expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of physical appearance, such as weight," Prince said. "Some workers and applicants who believe they've been unjustly treated for being overweight have sought protection under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but the courts have generally ruled that obesity does not meet the ADA's definition of a disability."

Wealthy nervous about economy

The major stock market indices -- Dow Jones, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq -- are all down for the year right now, and the market's tentative condition has the wealthiest Americans nervous about what lies ahead in the next year.

In a survey of its most affluent clients, New York-based U.S. Trust Corp. said stock market optimism decreased for the first time in four years. While 81 percent said their portfolios had increased over the past year, more than a third (34 percent) said investing in the stock market is riskier now than in 2004.

The survey includes U.S. Trust clients with an adjusted gross income of more than $300,000 annually, or a net worth above $5.9 million.