Things To Do In SW Florida

By STAN CHOE AP, Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish on Friday in a quiet return to trading following the Juneteenth holiday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to close out a second straight week of modest losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.

Treasury yields also held relatively steady in the bond market after President Donald Trump said he will decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in Israel’s fighting with Iran. The window offers the possibility of a negotiated settlement over Iran’s nuclear program that could avoid increased fighting.

The conflict has sent oil prices yo-yoing over the last week, which has in turn caused see-saw moves for the U.S. stock market, because of rising and ebbing fears that the war could disrupt the global flow of crude. Iran is a major producer of oil and also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s crude passes. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — More and more celebrities are looking to attach their names to your phone. Or rather, wireless services that could power it.

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From cosmetics to snacks and signature spirits, brands launched or co-owned by high-profile figures are just about everywhere you look today. But several big names are also venturing into the market for mobile virtual network operators — or MVNOs, an industry term for businesses that provide cell coverage by leasing infrastructure from bigger, more established carriers.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s family was the most recent to join the list with the launch of Trump Mobile this week. Here’s what to know. read more

By GABE LEVIN

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hackers with possible links to Israel have drained more than $90 million from Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to blockchain analytics firms.

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The group that claimed responsibility for the hack leaked on Thursday what it said was the company’s full source code. “ASSETS LEFT IN NOBITEX ARE NOW ENTIRELY OUT IN THE OPEN,” the group wrote on its Telegram account.

The stolen funds were transferred to addresses bearing messages that criticized Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic wrote in a blog post. It said the attack likely was not financially motivated as the wallets the hackers had poured the money into “effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message.” read more

By CORA LEWIS and ADRIANA MORGA

NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of Americans are seeing their credit scores drop now that the U.S. government has resumed referring missed student loan payments for debt collection. But there are things you can do to help your score rebound.

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Courtney Alev, consumer advocate at Credit Karma, said it’s understandable that people have missed payments because of the mixed messages around student loans.

“We’re really at a moment of enormous empathy for the consumer,” she said. “But now it’s critical to make a plan.”

The U.S. Department of Education paused federal student loan payments in March 2020, offering borrowers relief during the economic chaos of the coronavirus pandemic. read more

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 90 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.

Trump disclosed the executive order on the Truth Social platform Thursday morning.

“He’s making an extension so we can get this deal done,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. “It’s wildly popular. He also wants to protect Americans’ data and privacy concerns on this app. And he believes we can do both at the same time.”

It is the third time Trump has extended the deadline. The first one was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — took effect. The second was in April when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trump’s tariff announcement. read more