WALL STREET was worried on Monday (Flickr/Dan Nelson).

The bears took over Wall Street on Monday as fears of a recession knocked the Dow Jones Industrial Average down by 1.1 percent, according to the Associated Press.

Also down were the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Overall, the U.S. stock market has posted losses five weeks out of six.

The definition of a “bear” market is a decrease of 20 percent or more from a recent “high.”

Profits and the U.S. dollar are robust, but concern about more hikes in the interest rates in response to inflation has many investors fearing a recession.

NASA hits an asteroid

In what may seem like one of those science fiction movies in which a rogue asteroid threatens to slam into the Earth with deadly impact, NASA on Monday successfully hit the space rock with a spacecraft – on purpose.

The New York Times reports that the DART’s collision with the asteroid Dimorphos was evidence that the U.S. could defend our planet from the kind of outer space threat that Hollywood has used as a theme for several popcorn motion pictures in recent years.

Sports: Day off for the locals

The Los Angeles Angels and the Los Angeles Dodgers both have today (Monday) off. The Angels  will be back in action on Tuesday hosting the Oakland Athletics in Anaheim, while the Dodgers will be down the freeway in San Diego starting a series against the Padres.

Weather: Hot, hot, then not …

The hot weather forecast by the National Weather Service for the West Orange County area should peak Tuesday and Wednesday before dipping into the 70s by Saturday. The daytime high for those two days is 94, with overnight lows at 68. Thursday will see the thermometer slip to 87 (66 overnight) and all the way to 79 (62) by the weekend.