U.S. stocks rallied to records on hopes that inflation is heading in the right direction. The S&P 500 jumped 1.2% Wednesday to top its prior all-time high set in March. The Nasdaq composite added 1.4% to its own record set a day earlier, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to beat its prior high. Homebuilders and other stocks that benefit most from lower rates led the way.

Americans unexpectedly paused their spending in April from March as inflation continued to sting and elevated interest rates made taking on debt more burdensome. Retail sales were unchanged, coming in well below economists’ expectations, and the figure followed a revised 0.6% pace in March, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday. It rose 0.9% in February. Excluding gas prices and auto sales, retail sales fell 0.1%.

Congress has passed a bill that is designed to add more safety inspectors at aircraft factories and to give air travelers automatic refunds for canceled or long-delayed flights. The House gave final approval on Wednesday to a $105 billion measure to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs and sent it to President Joe Biden. Supporters say the legislation’s provisions are a key step in improving aviation safety after a number of close calls between planes at U.S. airports in the last two years.

Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt says he’s putting together a consortium to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business. The announcement, made Wednesday, adds to the number of investors hoping to benefit from a new federal law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the popular platform or face a ban. Other investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have expressed a desire to purchase TikTok. However, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has already said it’s not planning to sell.

The Justice Department says Boeing has violated terms of a deal that allowed the giant aircraft manufacturer to avoid prosecution for fraud in 2021. What happens next? The government says it hasn’t decided. Federal prosecutors accuse Boeing of failing to adhere to a settlement involving two deadly crashes of the company’s 737 Max jetliners more than five years ago. They could revive their original fraud charge, but they also may choose to keep Boeing on probation or ask a federal judge in Texas to permanently dismiss the criminal charge.