are selling fuel at well above $5 a gallon, and as felicia taylor explains, that's not the only thinglks feeling pinched. >> reporter: victor, we're in one of the most dramatic run-ups in gas prices in the last decade. the average price of a gallon of reg lettular ended the week alm0 cents higher than a week ago and almost 50 cents more than a month ago. the end of the payroll tax holiday has take an bite out of every american's paycheck since the beginning of the year and a delay in tax refund checks going out, congress' delay forced tough choices. this week we found out just where people are cutting back. a new survey from the national retail federation found 24% of shoppers putting off big-ticket purchases. the same number of people said their forgoing everyday treats, like an after latte and almost half plan to pocket their tax refunds rather than spending them. that has retailers worried. this week walmart reported results for the last three months of 2012. they weren't bad. in fact, holiday sales were pretty good, but the world's largest retailer warned february sales started sl

let's go live to felicia taylor in new york. what happened, felicia?> ben bernanke in his testimony in washington basically saying that we are going to see quantitative easing through 2016. that's what the market is focused on. yes, we've got better than expected numbers on manufacturing and home sales but when they heard that ben bernanke still believes we aren't going to see unemployment drop to 6.5% until 2016, that means stimulus measures are going to be in place and that's what wall street wants to hear. wo wolf? >> the 14,060, the market had collapsed in 2009, as all of us know, because of the housing crisis. it was down at one point well below 7,000, approaching 6500 and now it's more than doubled. it's a pretty dramatic comeback. >> absolutely. no question about it. frankly, the looming deadline of sequestration isn't even enough to bother wall street right now. they are on a tear and the bulls are definitely in command. the belief, though, is that this won't actually last that long. there's going to be a sustained rally. but we could see some

felicia taylor is joining me live. good to see you. how is it going? >> really well.ulls are in charge today, fredricka, bouncing back from the biggest two-day drop of the year on wednesday and thursday. the strength is because of positive sentiment related to hewlett-packard's results last night. they weren't great but they weren't as bad as expectations. hp shares are up 12% and it's the biggest gainer on the dow by far. traders refer to this, though, as sort of a dead cat bounce and that's when stocks have fallen so much over a short period they have nowhere to go but up. so that doesn't necessarily mean that this rally will last until next week. the market is up 115 points as we get the closing bell. we have a busy week next week. home sales, consumer confidence and fourth quarter gdp comes out next week. >> ending the week on a high note, gives us a nice impetus and encouragement for next week. felicia taylor, have a great weekend. that will do it for me, i'm fredricka whitfield. see you throughout the weekend. right now time for "the situation room" with wolf bl

felicia taylor is joining me live. good to see you. how is it going? >> really well.two-day drop of the year on wednesday and thursday. the strength is because of positive sentiment related to hewlett-packard's results last night. they weren't great but they weren't as bad as expectations. hp shares are up 12% and it's the biggest gainer on the dow by far. traders refer to this, though, as sort of a dead cat bounce and that's when stocks have fallen so much over a short period they have nowhere to go but up. so that doesn't necessarily mean that this rally will last until next week. the market is up 115 points as we get the closing bell.

felicia taylor explains. >> we're in the middle of one of the most dramatic run-ups in gas prices inegular ended the week 14 cents higher than it was the previous friday. and almost 50 cents higher than it was one month ago. but higher gas prices are just one reason consumers are starting to get seriously squeezed. the end of the payroll tax holiday has taken a bite out of every american's paycheck since the beginning of the year and the delay in tax refund checks going out a result of congress' delay to decide on the fiscal cliff forced tough choices. this week, we found out just where people are cutting back. a new survey from national retail federation found 24% of shoppers putting off big ticket purchases. the same number of people said they're foregoing treats like an afternoon latte and almost half plan to pocket tax refunds rather than spend them. that has retailers worried. walmart reported results for the last three months of 2012. holiday sales were pretty good. but the world's largest retailer warned february sales started slower than planned and it would continue to monit

felicia taylor, have a great weekend. that will do it for me, i'm fredricka whitfield. see you throughout the weekend. right now time for "the situation room" with wolf blitzer. >>> fred, thanks very much. happening now, the blade runner gets out of jail as the south african magistrate rips the prosecution's case against him. fasten your seat belts for longer lines, big delays it at the airports, all because of washington's gridlock. plus, a fascinating discovery in the war on terror. get this, terrorists have put together a list of ways to avoid becoming the target of a u.s. drone attack. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." . >>> we begin with yet another sensational turn of events in the oscar pistorius murder case. after a week of shocking and sometimes heartbreaking testimony, pistorius is now out of jail. the one-time olympic athlete who is known worldwide as the blade runner still faces charges of murdering his girlfriend on valentine's day. cnn's robyn curnow is joining us. update our viewers, robin. >> reporter: hi there. thanks for having me. can