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The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — What a wonderful year 2024 has been for investors. U.S. stocks ripped higher and carried the S&P 500 to records as the economy kept growing and the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates. The year featured many familiar winners, such as Big Tech, which got even bigger as their stock prices kept growing . But it wasn’t just Apple, Nvidia and the like. Bitcoin , gold and other investments also drove higher. Here’s a look at some of the numbers that defined the year. All are as of Dec. 20. Remember when President Bill Clinton got impeached or when baseball’s Mark McGwire hit his 70th home run against the Montreal Expos? That was the last time the U.S. stock market closed out a second straight year with a leap of at least 20%, something the S&P 500 is on track to do again this year. The index has climbed 24.3% so far this year, not including dividends, following last year’s spurt of 24.2%. The number of all-time highs the S&P 500 has set so far this year. The first came early, on Jan. 19, when the index capped a two-year comeback from the swoon caused by high inflation and worries that high interest rates instituted by the Federal Reserve to combat it would create a recession. But the index was methodical through the rest of the year, setting a record in every month outside of April and August, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The latest came on Dec. 6. The number of times the Federal Reserve has cut its main interest rate this year from a two-decade high, offering some relief to the economy. Expectations for those cuts, along with hopes for more in 2025, were a big reason the U.S. stock market has been so successful this year. The 1 percentage point of cuts, though, is still short of the 1.5 percentage points that many traders were forecasting for 2024 at the start of the year. The Fed disappointed investors in December when it said it may cut rates just two more times in 2025, fewer than it had earlier expected. That’s how many points the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by the day after Election Day, as investors made bets on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and the world . The more widely followed S&P 500 soared 2.5% for its best day in nearly two years. Aside from bitcoin, stocks of banks and smaller winners were also perceived to be big winners. The bump has since diminished amid worries that Trump’s policies could also send inflation higher. The level that bitcoin topped to set a record above $108,000 this past month. It’s been climbing as interest rates come down, and it got a particularly big boost following Trump’s election. He’s turned around and become a fan of crypto, and he’s named a former regulator who’s seen as friendly to digital currencies as the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, replacing someone who critics said was overly aggressive in his oversight. Bitcoin was below $17,000 just two years ago following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Gold’s rise for the year, as it also hit records and had as strong a run as U.S. stocks. Wars around the world have helped drive demand for investments seen as safe, such as gold. It’s also benefited from the Fed’s cut to interest rates. When bonds are paying less in interest, they pull away fewer potential buyers from gold, which pays investors nothing. It’s a favorite number of Elon Musk, and it’s also a threshold that Tesla’s stock price passed in December as it set a record. The number has a long history among marijuana devotees, and Musk famously said in 2018 that he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 per share . Tesla soared this year, up from less than $250 at the start, in part because of expectations that Musk’s close relationship with Trump could benefit the company. That’s how much revenue Nvidia made in the nine months through Oct. 27, showing how the artificial-intelligence frenzy is creating mountains of cash. Nvidia’s chips are driving much of the move into AI, and its revenue through the last nine months catapulted from less than $39 billion the year before. Such growth has boosted Nvidia’s worth to more than $3 trillion in total. GameStop’s gain on May 13 after Keith Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty,” appeared online for the first time in three years to support the video game retailer’s stock, which he helped rocket to unimaginable heights during the “ meme stock craze ” in 2021. Several other meme stocks also jumped following his post in May on the social platform X, including AMC Entertainment. Gill later disclosed a sizeable stake in the online pet products retailer Chewy, but he sold all of his holdings by late October . That’s how much the U.S. economy grew, at annualized seasonally adjusted rates, in each of the three first quarters of this year. Such growth blew past what many pessimists were expecting when inflation was topping 9% in the summer of 2022. The fear was that the medicine prescribed by the Fed to beat high inflation — high interest rates — would create a recession. Households at the lower end of the income spectrum in particular are feeling pain now, as they contend with still-high prices. But the overall economy has remained remarkably resilient. This is the vacancy rate for U.S. office buildings — an all-time high — through the first three quarters of 2024, according to data from Moody’s. The fact the rate held steady for most of the year was something of a win for office building owners, given that it had marched up steadily from 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Demand for office space weakened as the pandemic led to the popularization of remote work. That’s the total number of previously occupied homes sold nationally through the first 11 months of 2024. Sales would have to surge 20% year-over-year in December for 2024’s home sales to match the 4.09 million existing homes sold in 2023, a nearly 30-year low. The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. A shortage of homes for sale and elevated mortgage rates have discouraged many would-be homebuyers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump reaches required agreement with Biden White House to begin formal transition handoff, but foregoes other support.
Washington : Mexico and Canada have hit back at Donald Trump’s tariff plans, warning about the potential economic impact and urging the president-elect to choose cooperation over the prospect of retaliatory trade wars. In an ominous but unsurprising development on Monday, Trump announced on social media that he intended to slap heavy tariffs on America’s neighbours and top trading partners as soon as he returns to the White House in January. Donald Trump speaks on the southern border with Mexico in August. Only a fraction of his “beautiful wall” was built during his first term – and mainly to replace older dilapidated sections. Credit: AP Under the plan, Trump says a 25 per cent tariff would be imposed on Canada to the north and Mexico at the southern border unless they crack down on drugs and illegal immigrants coming into the US. In addition, he threatened that China would receive “an additional 10 per cent tariff” on top of tariffs already in place on Chinese goods unless the country implements the death penalty for drug dealers connected to the fentanyl trade. But as global markets digested the news, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum warned the tariff hike would fail to curb illegal migration or the consumption of illicit drugs in the US. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said the tariffs would hurt her country and the US. Credit: Getty Images She also described the plan as “unacceptable” and something that “would cause inflation and job losses in Mexico and the United States”. “One tariff will follow another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” Sheinbaum said in a letter to Trump, which she read at her daily press conference and planned to send to the president-elect later in the day. “Dialogue is the best path to achieve understanding, peace and prosperity for our two countries ... I hope our teams can meet soon.” Mexico is currently the United States’ top trade partner, representing 15.8 per cent of total trade, followed by Canada at 13.9 per cent. But Trump made it clear during his election campaign that he would readily use tariffs as leverage to tackle the tide of illegal immigrants coming into America. After Trump’s social media post, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to the president-elect as he sought to tamp down concerns about the potential impact on his country’s economy. Trevor Tombe, an economist who authored a report on the consequences of US tariffs on Canada’s economy, warned a recession was likely if Trump followed through on the 25 per cent tariff. The country’s premiers have warned a trade war would cause immense damage to their respective economies, while the Canadian dollar fell to its lowest level since May 2020. Trudeau, who has called an emergency meeting with worried provincial premiers for Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), told reporters he had a “good call” with Trump. Then-president Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019. Credit: AP “We obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth,” he said. “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.” In an echo of Trump’s politics, Trudeau initiated a U-turn on immigration, restricting flows of new migrants. He said last week Canada’s system had been exploited by “bad actors”. Trump’s vision for tariff hikes on Mexico, Canada and China were laid out in a Truth Social post on Monday night. “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he said. In a follow-up post, he also announced that the US “will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America”. The reason, he said, was China’s failure to curb the number of drugs entering the US. China is a major producer of precursor chemicals that are acquired by Mexican drug cartels and others to manufacture fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that accounts for about 70 per cent of all drug overdoses in the US. “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before,” Trump said. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here .
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. has been placed on injured reserve after hurting his hamstring Sunday in a 30-27 overtime victory over the Chicago Bears. The move announced Tuesday means that Pace must miss at least the Vikings next four games. The Vikings also activated outside linebacker Gabriel Murphy from injured reserve and signed linebacker Jamin Davis off the Green Bay Packers practice squad. Pace, 23, had started each of the Vikings nine games this season. The 2023 undrafted free agent from Cincinnati had 56 tackles — including six for loss — and three sacks. Murphy, 24, signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent this spring. He was placed on injured reserve Aug. 27. Davis had joined the Packers practice squad Oct. 29 after getting released by the Washington Commanders a week earlier. Washington selected him out of Kentucky with the 19th overall pick in the 2021 draft. The 25-year-old Davis has 282 tackles, seven sacks, one interception, two forced fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles in his NFL career. He led the Commanders with a career-high 104 tackles in 2022. The Vikings (9-2) host the Arizona Cardinals (6-5) on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Washington, Dec 13 (PTI) US President Joe Biden has issued clemency to nearly 1500 people, including four Indian-Americans. These four Indian-Americans are Meera Sachdeva, Babubhai Patel, Krishna Mote and Vikram Dutta. Also Read | 'Maverick Diplomacy': Donald Trump Invites China's President Xi Jinping to Inauguration for 'Open Dialogue' Despite Tariff Threats. "America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses," Biden said in a statement on Thursday. "That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer. I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences – many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today's laws, policies, and practices,” he said. Also Read | Donald Trump Named Time Magazine’s Person of Year, Rings New York Stock Exchange’s Opening Bell. This was the largest single-day act of clemency in recent times. In December 2012, Dr Meera Sachdeva was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to repay nearly USD8.2 million for fraud at a former Mississippi cancer centre she ran. She is now 63. Babubhai Patel was sentenced to 17 years on 26 convictions for a healthcare fraud conspiracy, a drug conspiracy, and related fraud and drug violations in 2013. Also in 2013, Krishna Mote, 54, was sentenced to serve life in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine and more than 500 grams of cocaine, and distribution of crack cocaine as an aider and abettor. Vikram Dutta, 63, was in January 2012 sentenced in a Manhattan federal court to 235 months in prison after he was found guilty of conspiracy charges stemming from his use of his perfume distribution business to launder millions of dollars for a Mexican narcotics organisation. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The losing run may have been halted – but the questions remain for Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players. From 3-0 up, City contrived to throw away victory with self-inflicted mistakes, three goals conceded in 14 minutes underlining the scale of the ongoing crisis facing Guardiola. Catastrophic defending allowed Feyenoord a way back into a game that should have been beyond them, but Guardiola's side proved obliging opponents with their late collapse. City travel to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, where a repeat of such mistakes will be punished ruthlessly by Arne Slot 's formidable side. An error from Josko Gvardiol 15 minutes from time, a sloppy backpass that allowed Feyenoord to score, showed City's propensity for self-inflicted damage. More defensive chaos, seven minutes later, allowed Feyenoord to pull another goal back and leave City fans fearing another home implosion, after Saturday's 4-0 mauling to Spurs. Those fears were well-founded with the Dutch side grabbing an equaliser a minute from normal time, after more slapstick defending from City saw them punished once again. Feyenoord always looked threatening, even when they went behind and the game seemed beyond them, Brian Priske's side deserving huge credit for refusing to accept they were beaten. They had to wait until midway through the first-half for their sight of the City goal, Igor Paixao sending a spectacular volleyed effort high and wide under pressure from Foden. A minute later, at the other end, Wellenreuther came to his side's rescue with another stunning save, diving at full-stretch down to his left to turn away a low goal-bound strike from Foden, Guardiola unable to contain his despair at another near-miss. After a bright start to the game, City's passing began to go awry, with Ederson, Silva, Akanji and Matheus Nunes all guilty of conceding possession cheaply, to the increasing dismay of Guardiola. Paixao was presented with another opportunity to score just after the half-hour, but his half-hearted attempt a a lob was gathered easily by Ederson. A thunderous shot from Hwang was deflected behind off Nunes, as City continued to live dangerously and invite pressure. What's going wrong for Man City? Share your thoughts in the comments below When Haaland was put through on goal by Foden, it seemed inevitable he would score, but the forward's shot was blocked by David Hancko. But Haaland was not to be denied a third time, converting from the penalty spot in the 44 th minute after he was adjudged to have been fouled to win a fortuitous spot-kick. City doubled their lead five minutes after the restart, when a volley from the edge of the area from Ilkay Gundogan took a deflection off Hancko, leaving Wellenreuther no chance of saving it. Haaland made it 3-0 two minutes later, sliding to turn the ball into the net from a Nunes cross, who was set scampering down the right courtesy of a sublime pass from Gundogan. Gvardiol's mistake allowed Anis Hadji Moussa to pull a goal back, then the nerves were further shredded when sub Santiago Gimenez chested the ball in from close range after more slapstick defending from City. Feyenoord completed the miracle comeback in the 89 th minute when Paixao got to the ball ahead of Ederson and crossed for Hancko to head into the empty net. There was no show of anger from Guardioa, who simply scratched his head, seemingly incredulous at how his side had imploded at home for the second time in four days. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £240 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.The Reform UK leader pushed back against reports suggesting that legal action would be the next step, saying he would make a decision in the next couple of days about his response if there is no apology for the “crazy conspiracy theory”. Mr Farage also said the party has “opened up our systems” to media outlets, including The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times, in the interests of “full transparency to verify that our numbers are correct”. His remarks came after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform claiming they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”. A digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Mr Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. “I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added: “All I’ve said is I want an apology. If I don’t get an apology, I will take action. “I will decide in the next couple of days what that is. So I’ve not specified what it is.” Mr Farage, on the move to make membership data available to media organisations, said: “We feel our arguments are fully validated. “She (Mrs Badenoch) has put out this crazy conspiracy theory and she needs to apologise.” The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. I am now demanding @KemiBadenoch apologises. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 27, 2024 On why Mrs Badenoch had reacted as she did, Mr Farage said: “I would imagine she was at home without anybody advising her and was just angry.” Mr Farage, in a statement issued on social media site X, also said: “The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. “Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.” A Conservative Party source claimed Mr Farage was “rattled” that his Boxing Day “publicity stunt is facing serious questions”. They added: “Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.” Mrs Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Thursday, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn. Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. Elsewhere, Mr Farage described Elon Musk as a “bloody hero” and said he believes the US billionaire can help attract younger voters to Reform. Tech entrepreneur Mr Musk met Mr Farage earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, amid rumours of a possible donation to either Mr Farage or Reform. Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on and, frankly, that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course, you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything. “And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real – Elon helps us with that mission enormously.”GCC hiring momentum to continue next year with 18-20% surge in uptake