Wintry Forecast for Northeastern Mountains;Monaco Grand Prix Practices

Absurdly chill temperatures for this time of year,Memorial Day weekend,have blanketed the east coast,dipping to the forties Fahrenheit in the Mid-Atlantic region Friday night.The mountains of the Northeast may get up to a foot of snow this weekend from New York's Adirondacks to the Green Mountains of Vermont.
Visitors to the shore are finding themselves donning jackets and gloves again,when they had expected to be lounging in warm sunshine for the traditional kickoff of the summer vacation season.By next weekend,however,it will be decidedly hot-even excessively so.
The people of Monaco aren't lacking in warm sunshine,however,as they anticipate the 71st Monaco Grand Prix.Friday was devoted to relaxing and partying after Thursday's free practices for the Formula One race,which saw Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg of Germany and Britain's Lewis Hamilton fastest.
Romain Grosjean of France wrecked his Lotus car,causing a brief red flag delay while the sharp debris was swept off the street circuit in the hilly Mediterranean principality.The very tight circuit would never get approved in today's racing world,Australia's Mark Webber remarked before his practice session,but the red tape and bureaucracy aren't involved here,and it's good we can go racing.
Webber has won at Monaco twice,while his teammate World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany,the current overall points leader,has won there once.A victory by either on Sunday would give team Red Bull an unprecedented four consecutive wins at the Monaco Grand Prix.Qualifying will take place on Saturday.
NBC is carrying the race live at 7:30am Eastern on Sunday.
A severe weather threat caused suspension of second round play in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth Texas.American Matt Kuchar topped the leader board at -10,while Canadian Graham Delaet was second at -9.
In college baseball,North Carolina hammered Clemson 12-7 in ACC Tournament play on the road to Omaha and the College World Series.

NCAA:Ohio Almost Prevails;So Too the Market

The Ohio Bobcats almost dealt the North Carolina Tarheels' hopes a fatal blow Friday night at the NCAA Midwest Region semifinals in St.Louis.Walter Offut could have scored a 3-point shot to win the game for Ohio,but,in the end,he missed and the Bobcats had to settle for a 2-point that sent the game into overtime.
This put a great burden on the Bobcats and they were unable to deliver,already tired by the effort needed to match the #1 Tar Heels.North Carolina won 73-65,led by Tyler Zeller and his hefty 20-point,22-rebound performance.
Disappointing home sales figures,as well as concern over slower Chinese and European growth,held the stock market back this week.The S&P 500 Index slid 0.50% on the week,although still up a strong 11.09% on the year.Next week will see few reports.Durable goods orders and personal income and spending numbers will be evaluated.On Friday evening,the S&P futures climbed a modest 5.20,and bond index futures also made an ascent.
Update:North Carolina will play Kansas on Sunday at 5:05 pm Eastern on CBS.

President and Troops Celebrate With Basketball

President Barack Obama and U.S. troops celebrated the Veterans Day holiday with a twilight basketball game aboard the USS Carl Vinson(CVN 70)at Naval Base Coronado,California.The first Carrier Classic,sponsored by Quicken Loans,went off seamlessly aboard the aircraft carrier before about 7,000 Sailors,Marines and other service members and veterans.Captain Bruce O. Lindsey is Commanding Officer of the warship,which will be deployed at the end of the month.
The President said our gratitude to the troops does not stop when they take off the uniform.We make our commitment to serve you as well as you have served us.Mr.Obama seemed to be very relaxed and having a good time watching his favorite sport with our military men and women.Former NBA star Magic Johnson also attended,saying the event was a bucket list day for him.Number one-ranked North Carolina beat Michigan State 67-55.
On Wall Street,Veterans Day was marked by strong gains on light volume as Greece and Italy seemed to be ironing out some of their political problems.For the week,the Dow was up 1.42%,while the NASDAQ rose 2.04 and the S&P climbed 0.85.The S&P is up 0.49 on the year.
Next week will be influenced by any further news from Europe,as well as reports on inflation,retail sales,industrial production,housing starts and Leading Economic Indicators.The Philly Fed manufacturing survey will also be released,as will earnings reports from Home Depot,Wal-Mart,JC Penney and Sears.
On Friday evening,the S&P futures continued the rally,gaining 24.20.Gold futures added 24.40 to reach 1789 dollars an ounce.The bond market was closed for Veterans Day.
Wal-Mart(WMT),Home Depot(HD),JC Penney(JCP),Sears(SHLD)




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