Things To Do In SW Florida

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

Stocks on Wall Street closed broadly lower Monday as the White House stepped up pressure on major trading partners to make deals before punishing tariffs imposed by the U.S. take effect.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% for its biggest loss since mid-June. The benchmark index remains near its all-time high set last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.9%. The Nasdaq composite also finished 0.9% lower, not too far from its own record high.

The losses were widespread. Decliners outnumbered gainers by nearly 4-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tesla tumbled 6.8% for the biggest drop among S&P 500 stocks as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump reignited over the weekend. Musk, once a top donor and ally of Trump, said he would form a third political party in protest over the Republican spending bill that passed last week.

The selling accelerated after the Trump administration released letters informing Japan and South Korea that their goods will be taxed at 25% starting on Aug. 1, citing persistent trade imbalances with the two crucial U.S. allies in Asia. read more

The job of Space Force officer in charge of overseeing each launch on the Space Coast has changed hands.

Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen handed off some of her duties including the roles of commander for Space Launch Delta 45 and director of the Eastern Range to Space Force Col. Brian Chatman.

The change of command ceremony took place on June 26 with Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, the head of Space Systems Command, overseeing the traditional passing of the guidon, a symbolic pennant, that ended Panzenhagen’s run as the leader of Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

She came to the Space Coast in June 2023 while also taking on the roles of executive officer for the Space Force’s Assured Access to Space program and director of launch and range operations for Space Systems Command out of Patrick SFB.

She filled the boots of Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy who had been in those roles from 2021-2023 including leading the two facilities’ transition from the Air Force to the Space Force. read more

By Christine Benz of Morningstar for Associated Press

If you’re a do-it-yourself investor aiming to build a “no babysitter required” portfolio, here are the key steps to take.

Step 1: Find your portfolio’s true north

Give due consideration to your asset allocation. That decision will have the biggest impact on how your portfolio behaves in the future.

The tricky part about asset allocation, even a hands-off approach, is that the “right” asset allocation is often a moving target as retirement approaches.

Target-date funds elegantly address this issue by transitioning to a more conservative stance as the years go by. If you’re OK with an asset allocation that’s not necessarily customized to your particular situation, your quest for a low- or no-maintenance portfolio could begin and end with a good-quality target-date fund.

If you’d like to have more control over your asset allocation, think through your risk capacity and risk tolerance.

Target-date funds’ asset allocations can be a decent starting point when deciding how to allocate assets depending on life stage. You can also tailor your mix of aggressive and conservative investments, which is particularly valuable if you’re retired and actively spending from your portfolio. read more

When President Trump floated his 2026 budget for NASA, it slashed science funding by half; proposed the end of the Artemis program’s Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway lunar station; and cut back support of the International Space Station.

While Congress will ultimately decide which programs get funded in the federal government’s budget, that may not happen for months. Instead of waiting, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took aim at Trump’s tax and spending bill, which the president has been calling the “big, beautiful bill.”

Cruz spearheaded an amendment to shoehorn more than $10 billion into the legislation, also known as a reconciliation bill, to save some of those NASA targets. It also sets aside money to move retired Space Shuttle Discovery from its current home at the Smithsonian outside of Washington to Texas.

The bill was approved by the Senate and House this week and signed by Trump on July 4. The added funding falls outside of NASA’s annual budget and would be available for use over the next seven years. read more

By Tommy Tindall, NerdWallet

With Prime Day set for July 8-11 this year, you may be making a last-ditch effort to get good deals before prices go up.

Tariffs — and the rising prices that could come with them — are top-of-mind for many consumers, according to the Conference Board’s June Consumer Confidence Index.

But don’t panic buy.

“Power buy” instead, says Katherine Black, partner at global management consulting firm Kearney who leads food, drug and mass market retail.

By that, she means look at product categories that could go up, buy what makes sense for your needs and budget and use the sale to get ahead of upcoming spending cycles.

Here’s a short list of what to buy (and skip), some shopping tips and an idea of what a few of us Nerds are after this Prime Day.

Buy: Back-to-school tech

The Consumer Confidence report says buying plans for electronics are down, but you might want to rethink that.

A power move for Prime Day is to target discounts on back-to-school-related stuff early, says Black.

Your kids may not want notebooks and backpacks yet, but they’re probably down with getting a new laptop or Chromebook, if classes call for one. read more