What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride alongThe Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
FORT MYERS Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
FORT MYERS Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FILE – In this Oct. 19, 1987, file photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. What if the stock market plunged 20 percent tomorrow? The question may seem absurd when the market is in the midst of one of its calmest runs in history and at record highs. But it’s what investors had to deal with 30 years ago, when “Black Monday” blasted stocks on Oct. 19, 1987. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File) NEW YORK (AP) How long can this nirvana last for investors? The stock market keeps ticking methodically higher into record territory, and the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 23,000 for the first time on Wednesday. It’s been nearly 16 months since S&P 500 index funds had a pullback of even 5 percent over the course of days or weeks, the longest such streak in two decades. Many analysts expect the market to keep climbing, at least for the next year. The global economy is improving, corporate profits are rising and inflation remains low but not so low that it makes economists nervous. MORE: Dow cruises past 23,000 for the first time in its 121-year history But as investors learned so painfully 30 years ago, markets can shift quickly. On Oct. 19, 1987, the S&P 500 plummeted 20.5 percent to wipe out what had been sizeable gains for the year. Virtually no one is predicting a repeat of “Black Monday,” which was the stock market’s worst day in history and happened when conditions were different from today. But several worries are circulating underneath the market’s placid surface. While they may not cause a 20 percent drop in one day, they could be the spark for the market’s next drop of 5 percent or more, whenever it ends up happening. Here are a few potential stumbling blocks for a stock market that’s more than tripled since its 2009 bottom in the Great Recession, including a surge of 20 percent over the last 12 months: — Stocks are expensive. Even the most optimistic analysts wouldn’t call the market cheap. Stock prices tend to follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term, but stocks have been rising more quickly than earnings recently. The S&P 500 is trading at 31 times its average earnings over the last 10 years, after adjusting for inflation, according to data compiled by Yale economist Robert Shiller. That’s the highest level since the summer of 2001, when the dot-com bubble was deflating. By themselves, stock prices rising faster than earnings aren’t enough to cause markets to buckle. The stock market stayed at or above this level of price-to-earnings for years following the summer of 1997. But they’re enough to give some strategists pause. — The Fed is tightening. The Federal Reserve slashed short-term interest rates to near zero in response to the 2008 financial crisis. It also took the unprecedented step of purchasing trillions of dollars of bonds to keep rates low. Those low rates meant bonds were paying little in interest, and investors moved into stocks in search of greater returns. Now the Fed is slowly pulling back. This month it started paring back its $4.5 trillion in bond investments. And many investors expect the central bank to raise short-term interest rates at its meeting in December, which would be the third increase this year. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive for companies, and those bigger interest payments could erode profits, at least modestly. Some investors are even talking about the slim possibility that the Fed will raise rates more quickly than it anticipates, if inflation picks up from its current slow pace. “Our downside scenario is that inflation becomes too hot and central banks wake up to the fact that they’re behind the curve,” said Jon Adams, senior investment strategist at BMO Global Asset Management. MORE: Another milestone for stocks: Most boring market in decades — The leadership of the Fed may soon change. Janet Yellen’s term as chair of the central bank expires in February, and whoever sits in the seat next will have great influence over how quickly the Fed moves. President Donald Trump said he’ll likely choose from a field of five candidates, one of whom is Yellen. Many analysts and investors expect the next chair to stick to the Fed’s announced schedule for bond-investment reductions, but any uncertainty could unnerve investors. — Tax reform may fail, or the dollar may jump in value. Stocks have recently received a boost from rising expectations Washington will be able to cut tax rates. Lower taxes could mean bigger profits for companies and likely launch another round of stock repurchases by businesses. But if Washington stumbles, the disappointment could drag down stocks. Strategists at Goldman Sachs say the S&P 500 may end the year at 2,650 if tax reform passes, which would be a roughly 3.5 percent gain from Tuesday’s close. But if reform doesn’t happen by then, the index may end the year at 2,400, down 6.3 percent from Wednesday’s close of 2,561.26. If the dollar jumps in value, meanwhile, it would cut into the profits that multinationals have been making from their overseas sales. — North Korea and other hotspots around the world remain big unknowns. Analysts call this “geopolitical risk,” and one of the reasons it’s so scary for investors is that it’s not possible to predict. “There are a lot of dangerous things going on,” said John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management. Besides the worsening war of words between North Korea and the United States, he listed Ukraine and Syria as other areas with the capability of drawing the world’s big powers into conflict. So far, investors have shrugged off such worries, but for how much longer?