Things To Do In SW Florida

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is losing ground amid mixed trading on Tuesday, while gold and silver bounce back from their latest sell-off.

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The S&P 500 slipped 0.9% and fell further from its all-time high set last week, even though the majority of stocks within the index rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 189 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:20 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.6% lower.

Several influential Big Tech stocks weighed on the market, including drops of 3.3% for Nvidia and 2.9% for Microsoft. They helped drown out a 6.5% climb for Palantir Technologies, which reported bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its forecast for 61% growth in revenue this year also topped analysts’ expectations. read more

By Kurt Woock, NerdWallet

The holiday shopping season happens every year. So why can it still be so tough to be financially prepared? Thirty-one percent of 2024 holiday shoppers who used credit cards to buy gifts still hadn’t paid off the balances nearly one year later, according to NerdWallet’s 2025 Holiday Spending Report.

One reason behind the budgeting-spending disconnect could be the assumption that planning ahead looks the same for all expenses. It doesn’t. For large, predictable expenses, like holiday expenses, one solution is a sinking fund — money saved and earmarked for specific purchases.

The three types of expenses

Thinking about how frequent and predictable an expense is can help you decide how to plan for it.

1. Groceries, rent and other recurring expenses are both frequent and predictable. Typically, you’d pay for these with your regular income using your checking account (or with a credit card that you pay off each month). These expenses make up most of your budget, and are relatively easy to account for. read more

Universal Orlando’s new ad campaign has a prime position during the Super Bowl broadcast Sunday.

The series, dubbed “This Changes Everything,” includes a 60-second spot titled “Lil’ Bro” that airs just before halftime of the big game, Universal says.

Epic Universe, the resort’s theme park that opened in May, has prominence in the campaign, but its tone includes all Universal Orlando Resort parks and is built on experiences made there.

“It really is about the sum of the parts,” said Alice Norsworthy, president of global marketing for Universal Destinations & Experiences.

“We spent most of last year, really, introducing Epic Universe, because there was such a story there to tell,” she said. Last year’s Super Bowl ad for Universal featured the park’s portals to its themed lands, including Super Nintendo World and Dark Universe.

This year, “Lil’ Bro” revolves around the competitive dynamic between two young siblings. Viewers see them in their home setting, then experiencing Universal attractions such as Volcano Bay water park and Transformers: The Ride – 3D at Universal Studios Florida theme park. read more

The former president of Walt Disney World, Josh D’Amaro, will replace the retiring CEO of Walt Disney Co., Bob Iger, the company announced Tuesday.

His appointment seemingly ends a closely-watched and high-stakes succession process, three years after a botched initial version led Iger to return to the top job.

D’Amaro, 54, has been chairman of Disney Experiences worldwide, which oversees the company’s theme parks, since May 2020. He was leader of WDW from November 2019 to May 2020.

“I am immensely grateful to the board for entrusting me with leading a company that means so much to me and millions around the world,” D’Amaro said in a Disney news release distributed Tuesday.

The Walt Disney Co. board of directors announced the unanimous pick of D’Amaro, a 28-year Disney veteran, on Monday. His new role is effective March 18.

“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right person to become our next CEO,” Iger said in the news release. “He has an instinctive appreciation of the Disney brand, and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audiences, paired with the rigor and attention to detail required to deliver some of our most ambitious projects.” read more

By SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors raided the offices of social media platform X on Tuesday as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations including spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They have also summoned billionaire owner Elon Musk for questioning.

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X and Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI also face intensifying scrutiny from Britain’s data privacy regulator, which opened formal investigations into how they handled personal data when they developed and deployed Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok. read more