Money Minute: Target Offer Misses Mark; Gas Prices Making Expected Rise

Target may have compounded the problems for the shoppers victimized by hackers. According to Consumer Reports, Target (TGT) not only failed to protect its customers from having their personal financial information stolen, it also fumbled the credit monitoring service it offered to help protect them. The magazine says the service can cost consumers up to $74, and give them a false sense of security. It also calls credit monitoring a "primitive defense" against identity theft.

There was a great, old movie named "It Happens Every Spring." That was about baseball, but the idea can apply to gasoline prices, too. The auto group AAA warns that prices at the pump will go up again this spring, as refineries perform annual maintenance and switch to more expensive summer blends. AAA says price should top out in the $3.55 to $3.75 range. %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%The good news is, that's a bit lower than last year's spring level. The current national average for a gallon of regular is $3.27.

Here on Wall Street Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rallied 188 points, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 45 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) rose 21 points.

Are high caffeine energy drinks made by Monster Beverage (MNST) and other companies on par with cigarettes and alcohol? Well, a bill before the Maryland legislature seeks to make the state the first in the nation to ban the sale or marketing of those drinks to minors. Monster says there is no evidence that its drinks have caused any injuries.

Finally, a Miami project meant to lead the revival of the city's downtown has run into an unusual roadblock. The developer of a $1 billion commercial and residential project has halted most of its construction after unearthing the remains of what may be a significant 2,000-year-old Native American village. Historians want to preserve the whole site, while the company is offering to make sections of the ancient village into a public plaza that's part of the larger project.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.