(AP/New York)
Wall Street pointed to strong gains before the opening bell Friday, boosted by the same technology stocks that were hammered early this week after the Federal Reserve hinted that it might keep interest rates elevated further into 2024.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%, and futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq shot up 1.1%. All were on track to finish the week with gains, a surprising development considering Wednesday’s swoon.

Thursday on Wall Street, U.S. stocks rebounded widely following their worst day since September.

Expectations are that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in May, after pushing back expectations from March. Whenever rates do fall, it would mark a sharp turnaround after the Fed hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of getting inflation under control.

High interest rates intentionally slow the economy and they undercut investments, particularly tech stocks.

Amazon jumped more than 7% in off hours trading after the online retail behemoth reported better-than-expected revenue and profits for the fourth quarter, driven by what Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called a “record-breaking” holiday shopping season.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, climbed nearly 17% after the bell Thursday when it reported tripling its profit on sharply higher revenue. Meta was boosted by a rebound in digital advertising as well cost cutting and layoffs in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the “year of efficiency.”

Apple was the most notable laggard, falling 3% even as it latest financial results revealed that the iPhone maker snapped out of a year-long sales slump.

Later Friday, the government issues its first jobs report of 2024. Economists expect that hiring slowed but that the economy still added 177,000 jobs, down slightly from December but still a solid number signaling a strong economy.

Elsewhere, The Shanghai Composite index ended 1.5% lower at 2,730.15, capping its worst week of losses in five years. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.2%, to 15,533.56, as gains for technology companies offset declines in property shares.

Shanghai’s benchmark saw wild swings on worries over the economic outlook and other risks.

At one point, the Shanghai index dropped below 2,700, to 2,666.74, prompting a flood of social media comments in China, including one commentator who exclaimed, “now we’re all sitting ducks.” The benchmark is down nearly 17% in the past year and 9.3% in the past 3 months.

Analysts said the sell-off was at least partly sparked by so-called “snowball derivatives” that yield high returns on gains but likewise cause big losses when share prices fall. Selling of biotech companies was also heavy on concern over a possible U.S. move to impose controls on dealings with Chinese companies like WuXi AppTec, whose shares dropped 21%.

Also undermining confidence was a report by the International Monetary Fund, which forecast that the Chinese economy would grow at a 4.6% pace this year and 4% in 2025, dropping from 5.2% last year.

In early European trading at midday, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.7%, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.8%. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.5%.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to finish at 36,158.02. Aozora Bank’s shares plunged nearly 16% after it reported losses on its U.S. property investments. On Thursday, the bank’s shares dived 27.4 percent. The lender attributed its losses to high interest rates and a weaker commercial property market during and after the pandemic, as companies switched to hybrid or remote working arrangements.

The Japanese bank’s woes are similar to those of New York Community Bancorp whose shares have fallen by more than 40% this week after it reported a loss for its latest quarter and cut its dividend to build its financial strength. New York Community Bancorp acquired much of Signature Bank last year after it and other regional banks collapsed and its losses reflect problems for the entire industry.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.5% to 7,699.40. South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.9% to 2,615.31 after the country reported strong export data.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude inched back 5 cents to $73.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 3 cents to $78.67 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil and Chevron are mixed in early trading after posting quarterly earns. Big oil continues garner massive profits despite falling crude prices.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was little changed at 146.60 Japanese yen, up from 146.43 yen. The euro cost $1.0880, up from $1.0874.

(AP) Residents of eastern Ohio can now get an up-close view in newly released videos of the twin toxic towers of fire that forced them from their homes last February after officials decided to blow open five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride they worried might explode days after a Norfolk Southern train derailed.

The National Transportation Safety Board released more than a half-dozen videos of the explosions, fire and huge plume of black smoke generated along with documents unearthed in their investigation about what went into the decision to release and burn the vinyl chloride.

Those documents reinforce the questions raised last spring at the hearings the NTSB held in East Palestine, Ohio, about whether the tank cars really would have exploded while they were surrounded by the fire from the derailment. The officials who made that decision have defended it, saying they made the best call they could with the information they had available that day.

The company that made the chemical, Oxy Vinyls, told investigators they believed the vinyl chloride remained stable and wouldn’t explode, but it was revealed last year that the opinion of Oxy Vinyls’ experts wasn’t shared with key decision-makers. Instead, they decided to blow open the cars because of the concerns about the cars’ temperature readings and whether pressure relief valves were working.

Residents are still worrying about the potential health consequences of that decision and the derailment itself as the one-year anniversary of the derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border approaches on Saturday. Key health questions remain unanswered although many who live in East Palestine just want to move forward with rebuilding their town.

State and federal Environmental Protection Agency officials have said their tests haven’t shown toxic levels of chemicals since the evacuation order was lifted. The massive cleanup that included removing more than 176,000 tons of contaminated soil from around the derailment continues but could wrap up around the middle of this year.

There are also details in the documents about the trackside detectors that spotted a bearing heating up on one of the rail cars but didn’t trigger an alarm early enough for the crew to stop the train before the derailment. The NTSB blamed that overheating bearing for causing the derailment in the preliminary report, but their full investigation likely won’t be complete until this summer.

In the 30 miles (48 kilometers) before East Palestine, the eastbound train passed three detectors designed to spot hot wheel bearings that showed the temperature of a bearing on one of the cars steadily increasing.

A Norfolk Southern assistant vice president for signals told the NTSB the first two detectors “did not trigger any alarms or alerts” that would have required action by the crew or the sole employee monitoring them across the railroad from Georgia.

But the official later said that as the train passed through Salem, Ohio, which is about 26 miles (42 kilometers) from East Palestine, a sensor sent a non-critical alert to an analyst about the bearing heating up. Video gathered by NTSB investigators showed sparks or fire beneath one of the rail cars starting in Salem.

The analyst was working through other alerts in his queue and “did not get to that alert immediately,” said the Norfolk Southern official, whose name was redacted in these latest documents.

Railroad procedures called for monitoring of the wheel until the next detector. “It would not have been an event that we would have expected immediate action to be taken at that point in time,” the official said.

As the ill-fated train passed a sensor in East Palestine, the bearing surged to 253 degrees above the ambient temperature and sent a “critical alarm” to the crew to stop the train and check the axle.

NTSB has said the crew acted properly and tried to stop the train, but it derailed before coming to a complete stop.

An East Palestine Police Department report said that six days before the derailment, authorities got a call from a woman reporting that a different train was on fire.

An East Palestine police officer reported seeing a six-car train with three of the cars dragging wheels like the brakes were on, causing sparks to fly about 30 feet from the train. Two of the cars had flames under them, the officer wrote.

“As the train continued on through the North Market crossing, the engineer gave me a thumbs up and a smile, like this was everyday stuff,” the officer wrote. “Had dispatch call and advise Norfolk, but the train continued into Pennsylvania.”

In response, Norfolk Southern told authorities the train was out of East Palestine’s area, that they should cancel responding firefighters, and the railroad would call back if they were needed, the report said. It wasn’t clear what happened to that train and whether it was stopped to remove the car that was on fire after the train left town.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

Route 68 in industry is still restricted to one lane eastbound and westbound following a landslide that occurred Thursday morning.

PennDOT officials have still not set a timetable for when the road will fully reopen, and that traffic signals remain in place to direct motorists.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

A conciliation agreement has been reached between the U.S. Department of Labor and Michael Baker International to resolve allegations of gender-based pay discrimination.

According to the USDL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the company will be paying $122,299 in back wages following an investigation that found that the company was paying female professionals less than their male counterparts in similar positions.

The agreement also includes a full review and possible revision of the compensation system at Michael Baker, including making salary adjustments if there are any discrepancies.

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring Friday at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania, the scene of the country’s largest and best known Groundhog Day celebration in the United States.

The annual event is a tongue-in-cheek ritual in which Phil’s handlers, members of a club with roots in the late 19th century, reveal whether the groundhog has seen his shadow.

Just after sunrise Friday, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club announced Phil did not see his shadow, which will usher in early springlike weather. The groundhog seeing his shadow presages six more weeks of winter, according to the group.

Before the announcement, Punxsutawney Groundhog Club President Tom Dunkel told the crowd that a cane he held gave him the power to speak “Groundhog-ese” and that Phil would tell him which of two scrolls to use. At Dunkel’s direction, the crowd helped fire-up the groundhog with repeated chants of “Phil!” before a club member pulled the groundhog from a door in a stump on the stage and held it aloft.

Dunkel and other club members leaned over the stump where the groundhog sat before announcing that they had a decision.

Vice President Dan McGinley read the decision, written in verse, from the chosen scroll and announced, “Glad tidings on this Groundhog Day, an early spring is on the way!”

About 10,000 people have made their way in recent years to Punxsutawney, where festivities begin in the dead of night and culminate in the midwinter forecast. A bundled-up crowd, some wearing groundhog-themed hats, watched musical performances and fireworks as they waited for sunrise and the appearance of Punxsutawney Phil.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took the stage before Phil to urge people around the world watching the festivities to come to Punxsutawney next year. Shapiro also announced the famed groundhog is the new official meteorologist for Pennsylvania.

“Punxsutawney is the center of the universe right now and I love that you’re all here,” Shapiro said.

Phil predicts more winter far more often than he sees an early spring, not a bad bet for February and March in western Pennsylvania. A federal agency took a look at his record last year and put his accuracy rate at about 40%.

The tradition of celebrating the midpoint between the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox goes back many centuries in European farm life.

There are more than a dozen active groundhog clubs in Pennsylvania, some dating back to the 1930s, and weather-predicting groundhogs have appeared in at least 28 U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

The 1993 blockbuster film “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray, fueled interest in Punxsutawney Phil and inspired informal observations far and wide.

When he’s not making his annual prognostication, Phil lives in a customized space beside the Punxsutawney Memorial Library, with a window where library patrons can check out his burrow. Back in 2009, library workers said Phil had somehow managed to escape three times, climbing into the library ceiling and dropping into offices about 50 feet (15 meters) away. He wasn’t injured.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published February 1, 2024 4:05 P.M. REVISED February 2nd: Confirmation that dog didn’t survive.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) A police pursuit of a black truck that started in Ohio led to the Beaver Valley Rifle & Pistol Club shooting range next to the Brady’s Run Walking Trail along Constitution Boulevard Thursday afternoon. Dispatch calls stated that the incident started with a prostitution sting in which the suspect fled nearly running over an officer.

Witnesses allegedly informed police that the suspect was on the shooting range property after he allegedly ran over their dog. The dog did not survive.

Over a dozen Police and law enforcement officials were on scene. The suspect was reportedly driving around at the shooting range frantically. Reports indicate that the suspect was held at gunpoint and taken into custody from his vehicle around 2:40pm.

EMS were called in and reports indicate that the suspect suffered a K9 bite. White powder was also allegedly found near the suspect in his vehicle, and Narcan was administered.

A witness traveling on Route 51 during the chase says that police were traveling so fast that one cruiser almost rear ended her and slid into dirt on the side of the road. Dispatch calls stated the suspect was traveling at 120 mph.

An ambulance left the scene followed by Police around 3:30pm.

UPDATED STORY HERE: https://beavercountyradio.com/news/suspect-kills-dog-during-chase-before-being-taken-down-by-k9/

Photos & Video from the scene:

BERLIN (AP) — German beer sales dropped 4.5% last year, resuming a long-term downward trend, official figures showed Thursday.

German-based breweries and distributors sold about 8.4 billion liters (2.2 billion gallons) of beer last year, the Federal Statistical Office said. That figure doesn’t include non-alcoholic beer and beer imported from outside the European Union.

In 2022, beer sales increased 2.7% thanks to a recovery in demand at home and in the EU following the end of COVID-19 restrictions. But demand in both markets was lower again in 2023.

Sales inside Germany — more than four-fifths of the total — dropped 4.2% to 6.9 billion liters (1.8 billion gallons).

Exports were down 5.9% overall. There was a relatively modest 2.6% drop in sales to other countries in the 27-nation EU, which bought 784 million liters (207 million gallons) of German beer, while sales to other countries were down 9.6% at 646.7 million liters (170.8 million gallons).

German brewers have been struggling with a long-term downward trend fueled by health concerns and other factors. The statistics office said last year’s sales were 11.3% lower than in 2013 and 25.3% lower than in 1993.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A group of employees and teachers from a Kentucky middle school who bought a $1 million Powerball winning ticket tucked it in a math text book for safekeeping before claiming the prize this week.

The group of 30 educators, some retired, met at Rector A. Jones Middle School in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati and have been playing the Powerball together for eight years. They call themselves the “Jones 30,” and the members include counselors, administrators, teachers and some retirees from the school, according to a media release from the state lottery.

They’ve been playing the same Powerball numbers since 2019, when they drew them randomly from a hat.

On Saturday, those numbers, 7-38-65-66-68, finally hit. Their ticket matched all five white numbered balls in the drawing, but missed the Powerball, giving them a $1 million prize.

After school ended on Tuesday, the group carpooled to Louisville, about a 90-minute drive, with the winning ticket safely stashed away in a math textbook, page 200.

Arriving at lottery headquarters in Louisville, officials greeted them each with their individual winnings — $24,000 each after taxes.

Kentucky Lottery President Mary Harville handed them the winning checks.

”Kentucky Lottery games create fun for our players, and these winning educators were having the time of their lives,” Harville said in the release.

The group members said they plan to continue playing the lottery. Some plan to invest the money while others will use it for travel or home repairs, the lottery said.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Congressman Chris Deluzio released a statement on the U.S. House’s Passage of Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. In his statement he talked about his support to give a tax break to his constituents who receive payments from Norfolk Southern after last year’s devastating derailment in East Palestine. 

As Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the derailment, Deluzio says “I’m in this fight for as long as it takes to make rail safer and to make sure that folks like us who live near the tracks are not treated like collateral damage in the way of big railroads’ profits”.

Deluzio says his goal is to have a government that supports all the people and not just a specific group of people, and that while progress takes time, the vision is clear and attainable.

“I supported tonight’s tax package because it gives a tax break to my constituents who received payments from Norfolk Southern in the aftermath of last year’s devastating derailment … It’s time to build a government that serves all of us, not just the rich and powerful. I hope we can make more progress toward that vision soon.”

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding steadier Thursday following their worst tumble in months.

The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 113 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.

A suite of reports suggested the economy remains solid, blasting past earlier expectations for a recession, while pressures on inflation may be easing. Such data could give the Federal Reserve more of the evidence it wants of a slowdown in inflation before it will deliver the cuts to interest rates that investors desire so much. A day earlier, stocks fell sharply after the Fed’s chair warned it doesn’t have enough such evidence yet.

Lower interest rates help all kinds of investments, and they tend to benefit high-growth stocks in particular. Tech stocks recovered some of their sharp tumble a day before, when Alphabet and Microsoft sank despite reporting stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Microsoft rose 2.4% a day after falling 2.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, added 1.3% after tumbling 7.5%

Big Tech stocks are facing very high expectations after they soared much more than the rest of the market last year, carrying the S&P 500 to records recently. Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, will report their latest results after trading ends for the day. They’ll also need to deliver big numbers to justify their big runs higher.

Align Technology, the maker of Invisalign teeth aligners, rose 6.3% after it topped expectations for both profit and revenue in the latest quarter. Merck climbed 2% after likewise reporting profit and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates.

On the losing end of Wall Street, MetLife sank 4.6% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue than Wall Street expected. Analysts pointed to its forecast for 2024, where the insurer put some numbers on challenges it had previously discussed.

Peloton Interactive fell 20.8% after it gave a forecast for upcoming revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations. That was despite it roughly matching forecasts for the latest quarter.

New York Community Bancorp. fell another 11.4% after plunging 37.7% a day before, when it reported a much larger quarterly loss than expected and cut its dividend to build its financial strength. The surprising report caused stocks of other regional banks to tumble, reviving uncomfortable memories of the banking crisis last year that led to the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and others.

New York Community Bancorp. had acquired much of Signature, and analysts say much of its struggles are because of factors related to that. But its losses tied to commercial real estate are a reminder of challenges facing the entire industry. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank index fell 3.2%, following Wednesday’s tumble of 6%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.88% from 3.92% late Wednesday.

It sank after one report showed that slightly more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. While no one wants workers to lose their jobs, the number is still low relative to history. And Wall Street wants to see a cooldown in the job market, which could keep a lid on inflationary pressures.

A separate report offered similar encouragement for traders. It said U.S. workers were much more productive in the last three months of 2023 than expected, producing more stuff per hour worked. Strong growth in productivity could allow workers to get bigger raises in pay without adding more pressure on inflation.

“If companies can generate strong productivity growth, they will be able to control costs and protect margins without sacrificing talent in an environment of still-elevated wages and fading pricing power,” said EY Chief Economist Gregory Daco.

Data released later in the morning suggested the U.S. manufacturing industry is improving after struggling for more than a year under the weight of high interest rates. Manufacturing activity shrank for a 15th straight month in January, but not by as much as economists expected. Growth in new orders is helping to boost the industry, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

Potentially concerning, though, was that prices for raw materials increased in January following eight months of decreases.

Traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in May, after pushing back expectations from March. Whenever it does begin, it would mark a sharp turnaround after the Fed hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of getting inflation under control.

High interest rates intentionally slow the economy, and they undercut prices for investments.

In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 added 0.2% after the Bank of England said it’s keeping its main interest rate at a near 16-year high as inflation in Britain unexpectedly rose to 4% in December.

Indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.