Oil Alert: Crude Flirts With $79

Updated from 1:06 a.m. EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Crude oil is trading at $78.80 a barrel, down 10 cents, after earlier trading above $79, a high for the year.

Crude for November delivery rose to as high as $79.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract settled higher on Friday by 95 cents to $78.53 per barrel.

Crude oil rallied last week as investors believed an economic recovery would boost demand for oil.

Earnings this week from the likes of Apple(AAPL Quote) and McDonald's (MCD Quote) could give investors a further idea of how well the consumer is faring.

--Reported by Joseph Woelfel and Jeanine Poggi in New York .

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