Things To Do In SW Florida

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — More drops for superstars caught up in Wall Street’s artificial-intelligence frenzy are knocking the U.S. stock market off its record highs on Friday.

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The S&P 500 fell 0.9% from its all-time high set the day before and was heading toward its worst day in three weeks. The weakness for tech stocks yanked the Nasdaq composite down by a market-leading 1.4%, as of 12:48 p.m. Eastern time, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 153 points, or 0.3%, after setting its own record the day before. read more

By Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News

The rise in late auto loan payments is a symptom of an increasingly unaffordable vehicle market, experts say. Households with the lowest incomes are suffering the most.

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Auto loan debt is not yet at a crisis point, according to analysts. But economists are closely following late payments as a potential indicator of wider economic stress and trouble for the U.S. auto industry, which has become increasingly reliant on high-price, high-profit pickups and SUVs.

According to a Nov. 24 note from the Federal Reserve Bank, “auto loan debt increased to levels not observed since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), raising concerns about the health of household balance sheets.” read more

Walt Disney World has confirmed the last day for the Aerosmith version of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. Its final bow will be March 1.

The thrill ride, which debuted in 1999, will be getting a Muppet makeover and a tweaked name: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets. Disney had previously announced that park visitors will be able to board that version in summer 2026.

The changeover was first announced in November, and it was part of a ripple effect of attractions at Hollywood Studios. The park is adding a land (and suspended roller coaster) themed to “Monsters, Inc.” in the area that has been home to the long-running MuppetVision 3-D attraction. Construction has started on the “Monsters” area, although no completion date has been announced.

The revised Rock ‘n’ Roller, Disney says, will include the Electric Mayhem characters, including Animal and Dr. Teeth as well as Scooter’s uncle J.P. Grosse, who now owns G-Force records. A ride poster from Disney indicates special guests Miss Piggy, Kermit and Gonzo, while a rendering of the preshow studio in the queue shows penguins — animals seen in MuppetVision — at work. read more

The Tribute Store is back in business at Universal Studios theme park and organizers have gone nutty for nutcrackers.

The highly themed, seasonal merchandise stop known as the Holiday Market begins in a woodwork shop, travels through a wintery Harry Potter scene then past color-coordinated garland (pink for Hello Kitty goods, green for Grinch, etc.) in a town center scene and then, boom, it’s nutcracker mania.

There are hundreds of figures, large and small, all manner of colors and designs, tucked away in the store section dubbed Earl & Gerg’s Nutcracker Lodge and Emporium & Museum & Car Wash. Phil Daley, project supervisor of the visual merchandise department, walked us through the nuttiness.

Collecting nutcrackers

In the store’s backstory, Daley says, “Earl the Squirrel and Gerg the Llama, our holiday characters for Universal, have pretty much gone around the world and collected all of these nutcrackers and collected them together in a roadside attraction.”

In real life, Universal had large nutcrackers sprinkled amongst attractions as part of a scavenger hunt last year. read more

By JOSH BOAK and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — This holiday season isn’t quite so merry for American shoppers as large shares are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President Donald Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds.

The vast majority of U.S. adults say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Roughly half of Americans say it’s harder than usual to afford the things they want to give as holiday gifts, and similar numbers are delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more than they would normally.

It’s a sobering assessment for the Republican president, who returned to the White House in large part by promising to lower prices, only to find that inflation remains a threat to his popularity just as it did for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. The poll’s findings look very similar to an AP-NORC poll from December 2022, when Biden was president and the country was grappling with higher rates of inflation. Trump’s series of tariffs have added to inflationary pressures and generated anxiety about the stability of the U.S. economy, keeping prices at levels that many Americans find frustrating. read more