NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (Flickr/Dan Nelson).

The New York Stock Exchange hit a record high on Friday, fueling interest in the possibility of lowering of interest rates. The Standard and Poor 500 rose to 4,839.1, topped the previous record of 4,796.56 from early 2022.

Friday’s peak indicated a complete recovery for Wall Street from the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic and inflationary fears which prompted increases by the Federal Reserve in interest rates in an attempt to “cool off” the economy.

Stock prices may have been spurred by a survey of consumers showing there’s a big increase in consumer confidence in the U.S. The rise in the stock market has been accompanied by rising consumer spending leading to higher profits and more economic activity.

Ukraine attacks Russian oil industry

In an effort to break the military deadlock on front lines, Ukraine has begun a series of attacks on Russian oil facilities. Much of Russia’s economic strength and export business is based on refining and selling petroleum products.

RUSSIA VS. UKRAINE (Shutterstock).

Drones dropped explosives on a storage facility Friday in Bryansk, Russia, in the fourth such attack on that nation’s oil industry this month.

In addition to its economic impact, such a campaign could disrupt the Russian military’s access to fuel for airplanes, armored vehicles and other tools of modern war.

The attacks on Russian industrial infrastructure represent a shift away from the front lines of traditional combat, where winter weather and formidable defenses have kept either side from making meaningful advances.

Japan lands craft on the moon

Japan became the fifth nation to land a spacecraft on the moon early Saturday. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down at around 12:20 a.m. on Saturday (Tokyo time).
However, there were reports that the device was losing power because its solar cell is not generating electricity

The Japanese space agency reported that rovers had been dispatched from SLIM and that data was being gathered and sent back to Earth. The spacecraft is unmanned.
The United States was the first nation to land a spacecraft on the moon, followed by the former Soviet Union, China and India. The SLIM, nicknamed the “Moon Sniper” is roughly the size of an automobile.

Uvalde report brings uproar

POLICE outside classrooms in Uvalde, Texas.

A Justice Department report sharply criticized police conduct during the 2022 mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas. The report cited numerous failures by local law enforcement. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland termed the police response as “a failure that should not have happened.”

Nineteen students and two teachers were killed while police officers waited on outside the classrooms before moving forward to engage the killer.

While some police have lost their jobs, no one has been prosecuted for criminal negligence in connection with the incident. The report slams problems with training, leadership and other issues that kept the lawmen from launching a rescue, even while they received 911 calls from inside a classroom where the gunman was.

Weather: Cancel your golf date

The links will be wet all weekend and into Monday according to forecasts for our West Orange County area. Saturday will be rainy with a daytime high of 62 and an overnight low of 56. Sunday will also be rainy with temps of 60 (56). Monday is expected to be the last rainy day of the storm with a high of 62 (low of 54). Tuesday should see clouds in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon. The high will be 66 (50).