Muddy cleanup ahead as Tropical Storm Lala moves west of Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP) — Tropical Storm Lala left behind a muddy mess Monday caused by intense rainfall and flooding as it moved past Hawaii's main islands.

Lala weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Sunday after lashing the state without making landfall. The storm was projected to continue moving westward and was forecast to become a hurricane again at sea and far from land by Wednesday.

There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect for Hawaii on Monday as cleanup efforts were expected to begin, but life-threatening surf and rip current conditions remained, according to the National Hurricane Center. Saturation caused heavy rainfall could still cause some landslides, but winds were no longer a threat, National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Blood said.

“There's no real looming hazards that we're facing now,” he said. “Lala's off to the west.”

Laupahoehoe, on the northeast coast of the Big Island, saw the heaviest recorded rainfall at 43.54 inches (1.1 meters). The highest winds were atop the towering Mauna Kea volcano, where gusts hit 140 mph (225 kph). At the lower elevations, residents all across the island chain experienced tropical storm force winds of 30 to 40 mph (48 to 64 kph) with gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph), Blood said.

The storm felled trees and power lines and caused serious flooding that swept some 100 homes from their foundations on the Big Island, authorities said. Gov. Josh Green said Sunday that no one is believed to have died when the homes washed away.

Eric Hubner walks along a washed-out road near his home in Mountain View, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, after a severe weather system went through the area. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

An uprooted tree falls on a home in Volcano, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, after a severe weather system went through the area. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A teenager wades through a pool of water in a washed-out section of a damaged road in Mountain View, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, after a severe weather system went through the area. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Debris is seen along Hawaiʻi Belt Road near Pahala, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, after a severe weather system went through the area. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

NEWYORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are edging further from their record heights on Monday, ahead of a week where profit reports from the nation’s biggest retailers could give a hint about how shoppers are dealing with high inflation and a slowing job market.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% but remains near its all-time high set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 284 points, or 0.5%, as of 2 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.

Wall Street has run to records in large part because profits are booming for U.S. companies. Those in the S&P 500 index are on track to deliver growth of roughly 50% for earnings per share in the spring from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That’s much better than analysts expected and would be the best since five years ago, when the economy was erupting out of the chasm created by the COVID pandemic.

Nearly all the companies in the S&P 500 have turned in their profit reports for the spring. Still to come are big retailers, including reports this week from Home Depot, Target and Walmart.

They’re facing pressure. Their customers’ incomes may be turning iffier after U.S. employers surprisingly cut more jobs last month than they added. At the same time, their customers are continuing to see bills rise quickly as inflation remains much higher than anyone would like.

A report last week said that shoppers surprisingly spent less at U.S. retailers last month than in June, and CEOs for retailers could give color this week on what they’re seeing.

In the meantime, the wait continues for what the war with Iran will do with oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude rose 2.4% to $90.62 Monday, and the losses for stocks solidified in the afternoon as the gains for oil prices accelerated.

Brent zigzagged between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following their own big recent moves. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.72% from 4.68% late Friday following a report showing stronger-than-expected growth in manufacturing in New York state.

The 10-year yield has shot up from 3.97% before the war with Iran, largely because higher oil prices raised the pressure on inflation and upped the probability that the Federal Reserve will have to hike interest rates.

Higher rates could keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already jumped near its highest level in a year because of the rise in the 10-year Treasury yield.

Reports last week, though, showed that inflation last month was not as bad as earlier in the summer. That raised hopes that the Fed could wait until later in the year before having to decide whether to raise its main interest rate.

Usually around this time of year, anticipation is building on Wall Street to hear from the head of the Federal Reserve about where interest rates may be heading. But the Fed's new chairman, Kevin Warsh, may give little insight at this year's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the end of this month, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie Group

Warsh has been adamant about giving Wall Street less guidance about the Fed's plans for interest rates.

On Wall Street, trading was relatively quiet.

L3Harris Technologies fell 3.9% after the defense company said Christopher Kubasik stepped down as its CEO and chairman following “certain conduct by Kubasik that was not consistent with the values of the Company.” It gave few details but said the conduct was not related to its financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance.

Alphabet dipped 0.9% even though Berkshire Hathaway said it increased its investment in Google’s parent company, along with several homebuilders. Berkshire built a reputation for buying stocks at affordable prices under its former CEO, famed investor Warren Buffett.

Constellation Brands fell 5.7% after Berkshire said it sold all its holdings in the seller of Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.7% after a report said Japan's economy grew at a slower pace in the April-June quarter than economists expected. Indexes jumped 1.3% in Hong Kong and 1.4% in Shanghai for some of the world’s biggest moves.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Champan contributed to this report.

Earlier versions of this story incorrectly reported that Japan’s economy grew slightly faster than expected in the April-June quarter.

Specialist Michael Pistillo works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Aug.. 5, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People walk past the Nasdaq MarketSite, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People walk in the rain near electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walk in front of an electronic stock chart board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)