Things To Do In SW Florida

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drifted closer to their records on Monday, coming off their stellar May, which was Wall Street’s best month since 2023.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% after erasing an early loss from the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%.

Indexes had been down close to 1% in the morning following some discouraging updates on U.S. manufacturing. President Donald Trump has been warning that U.S. businesses and households could feel some pain as he tries to use tariffs to bring more manufacturing jobs back to the country, and their on-and-off rollout has created lots of uncertainty.

But stocks rallied back as the day progressed, and gains for a few influential stocks helped lift the S&P 500 even though more stocks within it fell than rose. Nvidia climbed 1.7%, and Meta Platforms rose 3.6%, for example.

Some of Monday’s strongest action was in the oil market, where the price of crude spurted more than 3%. The countries in the OPEC+ alliance decided to increase their production again, a move that often pushes crude prices down because it puts more on the market, but analysts said investors were widely expecting it. read more

Retail discount behemoth Walmart is moving to solidify its position as a preferred shopping oasis for price-conscious Floridians, recently unveiling a new round of statewide store makeovers at 34 locations, including more than a dozen in South Florida.

The national chain, based in Bentonville, Ark., says it is “re-imagining the in-store shopping experience” with bigger signs, better showcasing of merchandise, expanded departments, expanded online pickup and delivery services, and pharmacies with “new private screening rooms and privacy checkout areas” for immunizations, consultations and testing.

Nationally, the makeover program is not new. The company says it has spent $1.6 billion on upgrades across the country since 2023. The program includes the construction of new stores, although there are more stores undergoing remodelings in Florida than construction of new ones.

One retail analyst indicated Walmart is effectively padding its investment in Florida’s growth story, which took off during the COVID-19 pandemic as large numbers of people abandoned urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest. At more than 23 million people, Florida has parlayed its business-friendly, low-tax environment to become the nation’s third most populous state behind California and Texas. read more

We’re ripping open the Epic Universe reporter’s notebook and looking back through notations made during the earliest days of Orlando’s newest theme park. There are random creative-type quotes, operational observations, gentle suggestions and more. Surprisingly, the world named How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk dominates the pages, so we’ll start there and make our way around Epic with thoughts.

• A design feature of the theater for the “The Untrainable Dragon” show in Berk deserves applause. Audience members enter from both sides of the hall, so when folks are instructed to fill in all available space, they’re walking toward the center — best seats in the house — from both sides. In other theme-park theaters, early birds must go all the way across to less desirable seats on the edge.

• I haven’t seen many photos from this spot: Top of the tower at center the Viking Training Camp. It’s a playground but available to grown-ups. It has unique views of Epic, including side-by-side coaster perspectives of Hiccup’s Wing Gliders with the neighboring Stardust Racers. On the way up, there are dragon-themed viewing stations (“Dragon-vision”), and on the ground floor is a sheep-launching game named “Baa-llista.” read more

By JAMES RISWICK

As if the impending arrival of your first child isn’t stressful enough, you’re undoubtedly shopping for a seemingly endless list of baby gear. Cribs, strollers, bottle warmers, sound machines and whatever the heck a MamaRoo is. You’ll likely get most of that stuff from a baby registry. But the biggest baby gear item requires a more significant cash outlay: a new vehicle for your growing family.

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We can’t help you pay for that, but we can point you toward five great SUVs of different sizes that all start for under $40,000. Edmunds’ car experts focused on three qualities: 1) lots of space between the first and second-row seatbacks for bulky rear-facing infant safety seats; 2) big rear door openings to make it easy to get your newborn in and out; and 3) a roomy cargo area for all of your baby gear. The pricing below includes destination fees. read more

By Christine Benz of Morningstar

If unanticipated expenses exceed your emergency fund, here’s a look at where to go next.

1. Your own emergency fund/short-term securities

Emergency funds should be held outside of tax-sheltered wrappers and include highly liquid investments like bank savings accounts, money market accounts, and so on.

2. Low-risk assets in taxable account

Next, look at other taxable holdings: investments in brokerage accounts, outside the confines of tax-sheltered vehicles.

When identifying possible securities that you could sell to raise funds, focus on liquidity, tax consequences, and any commissions you’ll owe.

3. Roth IRA contributions

It’s never great to tap your retirement assets unless you absolutely need to, but the Roth IRA offers more flexibility and has fewer strings attached than other tax-sheltered retirement vehicles.

Specifically, you can withdraw any Roth IRA contributions at any time, without incurring penalties or tax—but you’ll have fewer retirement funds working for you.

4. Life insurance cash values

Cash values that have built up in your whole life insurance or variable universal life insurance policy can be another decent source of emergency cash. You can withdraw money outright and have it deducted from your policy’s face value. read more