Things To Do In SW Florida

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. held steady this week, not far from its highest levels this year, but below where it was a year ago.

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The rate stood at 6.76% for the second week in a row, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.09%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, eased. The average rate dropped to 5.89% from 5.92% last week. It’s down from 6.38% a year ago, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including global demand for U.S. Treasurys, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions and bond market investors’ expectations about the economy and inflation. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying Thursday after the United States and United Kingdom announced a deal on trade that would lower some tariffs and restrictions between the two countries, the first of what Wall Street hopes will be enough agreements to keep a recession from hitting the economy.

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The S&P 500 was 1.4% higher in midday trading and on track for an 11th gain in the last 13 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 566 points, or 1.4%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% higher. read more

By LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union published on Thursday a list of U.S. imports that it would target with retaliatory duties if no solution is found to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war, which could include aircraft maker Boeing.

At the same time, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, said that it would begin legal action at the World Trade Organization over the “reciprocal tariffs” that Trump imposed on countries around the world a month ago.

“The EU remains fully committed to finding negotiated outcomes with the U.S.,” commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “At the same time, we continue preparing for all possibilities.”

The commission manages trade deals and disputes on behalf of the 27 EU countries.

In early April, Trump imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his tariff onslaught against global trading partners. A week later he paused them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to U.S. trade concerns. read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would sign a bill into law to prohibit doing exactly what his administration had proposed last year: building golf courses, hotels and other destructive amenities on state park land.

His signature would represent another step in an extraordinary — and rare — reversal of course for DeSantis that came after a tsunami of pressure exerted by politicians and the public against the plans, which were first revealed by the Tampa Bay Times before being released and promoted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

In the face of that overwhelming backlash, DeSantis shelved the designs and said, contrary to former environmental employees who worked on the plans, that he had nothing to do with their creation.

DeSantis was asked by a Times reporter Wednesday if he’d sign the bill following a roundtable event in Tampa. He settled the months of speculation and politicking in a single word, replying “Yes.” He did not elaborate.

Eric Draper, who served as the former director of Florida’s state parks under DeSantis, said the governor’s comments are “a big relief.” read more

The year’s first moon landing was a big success. The second not so much. Now a third commercial lunar lander has entered orbit around the moon ahead of its chance for glory next month.

Japanese company ispace’s Hakuto-R lander Resilience looks to touch lunar dirt following the landings of American companies Firefly Aerospace with its Blue Ghost lander and Intuitive Machines with its lander named Athena.

The Tokyo-based private company announced Resilience had successfully entered lunar orbit late Tuesday. A landing attempt is planned for no earlier than June 5.

“I am very proud of the crew for successfully completing the most critical maneuver and entering lunar orbit,” said ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada in a press release. “We will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the lunar landing.”

Blue Ghost and Athena flew as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, with Blue Ghost delivering the best success to date with its March landing. The Athena lander suffered a more difficult landing just days later and that mission was declared over soon after touchdown. read more