Feds suspend ACA marketplace access to companies accused of falsely promising ‘cash cards’
Published 02:01 IST, December 1st 2024 US President-elect Donald Trump has met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where they discussed key bilateral issues Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump has met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where they discussed key bilateral issues, including trade, tariffs, border security, and drug trafficking. In a social media post on Friday, Trump described the meeting as "productive", highlighting Trudeau's commitment to address these issues. However, there was no indication of any resolution of the differences between the incoming US administration and the Canadian government. “I just had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, where we discussed many important topics that will require both countries to work together to address," Trump said. The topics include Fentanyl and drug crisis due to illegal immigration, fair trade deals that do not jeopardise American workers, and the massive trade deficit the US has with Canada, he said. Trump emphasised his administration's commitment to tackling the drug epidemic. “The US will no longer sit idly by as our citizens become victims to the scourge of this drug epidemic, caused mainly by drug cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” he said. “Too much death and hardship! Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US families. We also spoke about many other important topics like energy, trade, and the Arctic. All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in office, and before,” Trump said. According to The New York Times newspaper, the dinner meeting between the two leaders on Friday included senior Canadian officials and Trump’s close aides. Prominent among them were North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump's nominee for interior secretary; Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary; and Mike Waltz, his choice for national security adviser. Updated 02:01 IST, December 1st 2024WASHINGTON (AP) — A machinists strike. Another safety problem involving its troubled top-selling airliner. A plunging stock price. 2024 was already a dispiriting year for Boeing, the American aviation giant. But when one of the company's jets crash-landed in South Korea on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people on board, it brought to a close an especially unfortunate year for Boeing. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and aviation experts were quick to distinguish Sunday's incident from the company’s earlier safety problems. Alan Price, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines who is now a consultant, said it would be inappropriate to link the incident Sunday to two fatal crashes involving Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jetliner in 2018 and 2019. In January this year, a door plug blew off a 737 Max while it was in flight, raising more questions about the plane. The Boeing 737-800 that crash-landed in Korea, Price noted, is “a very proven airplane. "It’s different from the Max ...It’s a very safe airplane.’’ For decades, Boeing has maintained a role as one of the giants of American manufacturing. But the the past year's repeated troubles have been damaging. The company's stock price is down more than 30% in 2024. The company's reputation for safety was especially tarnished by the 737 Max crashes, which occurred off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019 and left a combined 346 people dead. In the five years since then, Boeing has lost more than $23 billion. And it has fallen behind its European rival, Airbus, in selling and delivering new planes. Last fall, 33,000 Boeing machinists went on strike, crippling the production of the 737 Max, the company's bestseller, the 777 airliner and 767 cargo plane. The walkout lasted seven weeks, until members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed to an offer that included 38% pay raises over four years. In January, a door plug blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight. Federal regulators responded by imposing limits on Boeing aircraft production that they said would remain in place until they felt confident about manufacturing safety at the company. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration regulators who approved the 737 Max. Acting on Boeing’s incomplete disclosures, the FAA approved minimal, computer-based training instead of more intensive training in flight simulators. Simulator training would have increased the cost for airlines to operate the Max and might have pushed some to buy planes from Airbus instead. (Prosecutors said they lacked evidence to argue that Boeing’s deception had played a role in the crashes.) But the plea deal was rejected this month by a federal judge in Texas, Reed O’Connor , who decided that diversity, inclusion and equity or DEI policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in choosing an official to oversee Boeing’s compliance with the agreement. Boeing has sought to change its culture. Under intense pressure over safety issues, David Calhoun departed as CEO in August. Since January, 70,000 Boeing employees have participated in meetings to discuss ways to improve safety.Islanders host the Red Wings after Palmieri's 2-goal game
Special counsel moves to abandon election interference and classified documents cases against Trump10-man Botafogo wins its first Copa Libertadores title
As we near mid-December, it’s natural to reflect on the past year. While there were many major headlines in 2024, such as wars, lower interest rates, the election of a new president and the U.S. market hitting all-time highs, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest news. However, fixating on the short term is not constructive. Instead, it’s worth focusing on practical strategies to consider before the end of the year. Some of the following items may be applicable to you, while others may not be. The key is recognizing the opportunities that exist in this environment so you can make informed financial decisions and stay focused on what is important as you enter 2025. Investing considerations 1. Overall allocation. Does your investment mix of stocks, bonds, alternative investments and cash still make sense based on your goals? If your situation has changed, it may impact your portfolio. Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail. 2. Rebalancing. Though the S&P 500 is up meaningfully this year, that return has been driven primarily by several large technology stocks. Meaning there are areas of the market, such as REITs , international stocks and investment-grade bonds, that have meaningfully underperformed the S&P 500. Many investors’ asset allocation is probably out of whack, and it may make sense to rebalance your portfolio to ensure your allocation is brought back to its appropriate risk tolerance. 3. Investment policy statement (IPS). One way to stick to a disciplined plan is by developing an IPS. An IPS helps define an investors’ goals, risk tolerance and other considerations to ensure they are on track to achieve their objectives. Most important, it will help investors ignore the noise and the slick salespeople trying to sell them something imprudent. Speaking to your financial adviser today to set up an IPS before the New Year is a great way to start 2025 on the right financial foot. 4. Review your cash position. In today’s world, cash doesn’t need to earn nothing. Money market yields are now paying around 4%-plus. Proactively moving cash from accounts paying 1& to 2% to those paying about 4% is prudent. On the other hand, yields are much lower than they were last year. This may impact how much cash you should have on hand. Considerations for required minimum distributions (RMDs) 5. Don’t forget to take your RMDs from your retirement account. RMDs apply to folks who are 73 and older. If you are subject to RMDs and don’t take them before the end of the year, there will be a penalty. Considerations for charitable giving 6. Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). Individuals who are 701⁄2 or older can donate all, or a portion, of their RMD directly to charity via a QCD . Regardless of the amount of your RMD for the year, you can give up to $105,000 to charities from your IRA as QCDs. 7. Deduction for cash contributions. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act , the deduction for cash contributions directly to charity, including gifts to a donor-advised fund, increased from 50% of AGI to 60%. The limit will revert to 50% after the sunset of the TCJA at the end of 2025, so donors should consider maximizing their cash gifts today. 8. Donate appreciated stocks. Many investors may have long-held or concentrated stock positions with large imbedded unrealized capital gains. These folks should consider donating these highly appreciated securities directly to charity, which helps avoid capital gains tax that would otherwise need to be paid when selling the security. It also facilitates minimizing a large position, which helps derisk a portfolio. 9. Utilize a donor-advised fund (DAF). A DAF is an account where you can deposit assets for donation to charity over time. The donor gets an immediate tax deduction when making the contribution to the DAF and still has the ability to control how the funds are invested and distributed to charity. A DAF can be extremely useful if you hold a security with no cost basis, a highly appreciated stock or a concentrated position. In all these scenarios, the tax liability can be circumvented by moving that position to a DAF. A DAF may be particularly useful when “ bunching ” your charitable contributions, which involves donating several years’ worth of charitable contributions all at once, which is done for tax planning purposes. Considerations for Roth IRA conversions 10. Roth IRA conversions . A Roth IRA conversion is the process of transferring retirement funds from a traditional IRA, SEP or 401(k) into a Roth account. There is no early withdrawal penalty on this conversion amount. Since a traditional IRA is tax-deferred, while a Roth is tax-exempt, the deferred income taxes due will need to be paid on the converted funds at the time of conversion. This is typically done to avoid a potentially more onerous tax liability later or for estate planning reasons. Considerations for beneficiary designations 11. Beneficiary updates. Retirement accounts and insurance policies have beneficiary designations that pass outside of one’s will. Therefore, even if you did estate planning, it’s important to review your various beneficiary designations to ensure that your money is passing according to your wishes. It is not unheard of for assets to pass to the wrong party, such as an ex-spouse, because beneficiary designations were not updated. Considerations for estate planning 12. Changing family dynamics. If a family member passed away this year, you may want to reach out to your estate planning attorney to review and update your planning/documents such as a will, power of attorney , health care proxy, etc. 13. Aligning your financial plan with your investments. If you update your estate plans or have a trust, make sure that your investment accounts reflect your estate plan (i.e., the trusts should be funded and accounts titled correctly). 14. Take advantage of the high federal unified estate and gift tax exemption. The federal unified estate and gift tax exemption for 2024 is at an all-time high of $13.61 million for individuals and $27.22 million for married couples. It’s going up next year (to $13.99 million for individuals and $27.98 million for married couples). However, while the incoming Trump administration may extend this high exemption amount, they are still scheduled to expire after December 31, 2025. At that point, the amounts are scheduled to revert to the pre-2017 level, which is about half of what they are today. Depending on a family’s assets, it may be a great opportunity for large lifetime gifts to capitalize on the historically high exclusion amount today to remove assets from their estate. Considerations for 529 plan contributions 15. 529 plan contributions. A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged college savings account. It may provide an opportunity for immediate tax savings if you live in one of the 30 or more states offering a full or partial deduction for your contributions to the home-state 529 plan. This is a nice option for using the annual gift tax exclusion, if you haven’t already used it. You can gift up to $18,000 a year tax-free per person in 2024 (in 2025, it’s $19,000). The annual exclusion recycles on January 1, so make sure to use your 2024 gift allowance by then so you don’t lose it. 16. “Superfunding” 529 accounts. In this strategy, you can spread a tax-free gift to a 529 account over five years for gift tax purposes. So, a married couple not making any other gifts to the beneficiary during the five-year period can contribute up to $180,000 in 2024 to a 529 plan for each child and, with the election, not run into gift tax problems. Considerations for tax loss harvesting 17. Tax-loss harvesting is the process of selling securities at a loss to offset a capital gains tax liability. In addition to offsetting any capital gains for the year, the loss can also be used to offset up to $3,000 of your ordinary income. Considerations for company retirement accounts 18. Assess contributions to employer retirement plans. Review how much money you contributed to your 401(k) or 403(b) this year. If you are financially able, it’s worthwhile to max out those accounts every year. In 2024, maximum contribution limits are $23,000 before any company match or $30,500 if you are 50 or older. 19. Plan for next year’s 401(k)/403(b) contribution limits. For 2025, the contribution limit increased to $23,500. Catch-up contributions will remain the same at $7,500 for those 50 and over. Interestingly, in 2025 the IRS will now permit an additional catch-up for employees ages 60 to 63 of $11,250, instead of just $7,500. Don’t forget to make the required tweaks within your plan to ensure you are making the maximum contribution for the upcoming year. 20. Roth IRA vs traditional IRA. It’s important to decide whether to make Roth IRA or traditional IRA contributions. As a rule of thumb, if you think you may have a high-income year, then a traditional IRA makes more sense since you’ll get an immediate tax deduction. However, if you anticipate a low-income year, then a Roth IRA makes sense. In that scenario, you’ll pay a more modest amount in taxes now and not have to pay tax on the withdrawals years later. 21. Review your 401(k)/403(b) investment lineup and current portfolio. Determine if it is sensible to make any investment changes in your plan. This is especially applicable if your firm switched 401(k) providers recently, if you rolled over an old 401(k) or if you are approaching retirement . In any of these scenarios, tweaking your investments may make sense. Considerations for other tax-advantaged accounts 22. Health savings account (HSA). Consider maxing out your HSA , which allows you to save and pay for qualified medical expenses with tax-free dollars. In order to contribute to an HSA, you have to be enrolled in an HSA-eligible health plan. You can only contribute a certain amount to your HSA each year, but all contributions roll over from year to year. In 2024, you can contribute up to $4,150 for yourself, or $8,300 if you have coverage for your family. In 2025, you will be able to contribute up to $4,300 for yourself or $8,550 if you have coverage for your family. 23. Flexible spending account (FSA). FSAs allow you to contribute pre-tax money, up to a certain amount, to an account that can be used to pay for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses or eligible dependent care services, such as childcare. However, FSA funds typically are “use it or lose it,” meaning you generally can’t roll the full amount into the next calendar year. To avoid losing any unspent funds, make a plan to use the money before December 31. Considerations for your budget 24. Sufficient emergency fund. Make sure you have adequate funds in your checking account. Three to six months’ worth of expense money is a good rule of thumb for those who are working. For retirees, this number should be sufficient to mitigate sequence of returns risk , which may require having a year’s worth of cash readily available. 25. Reflect on your expenses and plan ahead for next year . This is especially important for retirees who must evaluate how much cash they will need in the year ahead to ensure they are able to meet their cash flow needs. Since prices on many items skyrocketed this year, it’s imperative to ensure you have adequate cash on hand to meet these expenses. Reviewing the aforementioned strategies with your loved ones and financial adviser can help ensure that your financial house is in order. It will also help lay the groundwork for a financially successful year ahead. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. ParkBridge Wealth Management is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS. Investor Disclosures. Related Content Six Year-End Deadlines for Retirees in 2024 Your MAGI in Retirement: Year-End Tax Strategies to Save Money 10 Retirement Moves to Make Before 2025 Six Ways to Optimize Your Charitable Giving Before Year-End New Rules for Retirement Savings Taking Effect in 2025 This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA .Montreal police chief expects additional arrests following anti-NATO protest
It’s been the biggest year for elections in human history: 2024 is a “ super-cycle ” year in which 3.7 billion eligible voters in 72 countries had the chance to go the polls. These are also the first AI elections , where many feared that deepfakes and artificial intelligence-generated misinformation would overwhelm the democratic processes. As 2024 draws to a close, it’s instructive to take stock of how democracy did. In a Pew survey of Americans from earlier this fall, nearly eight times as many respondents expected AI to be used for mostly bad purposes in the 2024 election as those who thought it would be used mostly for good. There are real concerns and risks in using AI in electoral politics, but it definitely has not been all bad. The dreaded “ death of truth ” has not materialized — at least, not due to AI. And candidates are eagerly adopting AI in many places where it can be constructive, if used responsibly. But because this all happens inside a campaign, and largely in secret, the public often doesn’t see all the details. Connecting with voters One of the most impressive and beneficial uses of AI is language translation, and campaigns have started using it widely . Local governments in Japan and California and prominent politicians, including India Prime Minister Narenda Modi and New York City Mayor Eric Adams , used AI to translate meetings and speeches to their diverse constituents. Even when politicians themselves aren’t speaking through AI, their constituents might be using it to listen to them. Google rolled out free translation services for an additional 110 languages this summer, available to billions of people in real time through their smartphones. Other candidates used AI’s conversational capabilities to connect with voters. US politicians Asa Hutchinson , Dean Phillips and Francis Suarez deployed chatbots of themselves in their presidential primary campaigns. The fringe candidate Jason Palmer beat Joe Biden in the American Samoan primary, at least partly thanks to using AI-generated emails, texts, audio and video. Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan , used an AI clone of his voice to deliver speeches from prison. Perhaps the most effective use of this technology was in Japan, where an obscure and independent Tokyo gubernatorial candidate, Takahiro Anno , used an AI avatar to respond to 8,600 questions from voters and managed to come in fifth among a highly competitive field of 56 candidates. Play Video Nuts and bolts AIs have been used in political fundraising as well. Companies like Quiller and Tech for Campaigns market AIs to help draft fundraising emails. Other AI systems help candidates target particular donors with personalized messages . It’s notoriously difficult to measure the impact of these kinds of tools, and political consultants are cagey about what really works, but there’s clearly interest in continuing to use these technologies in campaign fundraising. Polling has been highly mathematical for decades, and pollsters are constantly incorporating new technologies into their processes. Techniques range from using AI to distill voter sentiment from social networking platforms — something known as “ social listening ” — to creating synthetic voters that can answer tens of thousands of questions. Whether these AI applications will result in more accurate polls and strategic insights for campaigns remains to be seen, but there is promising research motivated by the ever-increasing challenge of reaching real humans with surveys. On the political organizing side, AI assistants are being used for such diverse purposes as helping craft political messages and strategy , generating ads , drafting speeches and helping coordinate canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts. In Argentina in 2023, both major presidential candidates used AI to develop campaign posters, videos and other materials. In 2024, similar capabilities were almost certainly used in a variety of elections around the world. In the US, for example, a Georgia politician used AI to produce blog posts, campaign images and podcasts. Even standard productivity software suites like those from Adobe, Microsoft and Google now integrate AI features that are unavoidable — and perhaps very useful to campaigns. Other AI systems help advise candidates looking to run for higher office. Must Read Philippines faces rising AI-driven disinformation Fakes and counterfakes And there was AI-created misinformation and propaganda, even though it was not as catastrophic as feared. Days before a Slovakian election in 2023, fake audio discussing election manipulation went viral. This kind of thing happened many times in 2024, but it’s unclear if any of it had any real effect. In the US presidential election, there was a lot of press after a robocall of a fake Joe Biden voice told New Hampshire voters not to vote in the Democratic primary, but that didn’t appear to make much of a difference in that vote. Similarly, AI-generated images from hurricane disaster areas didn’t seem to have much effect, and neither did a stream of AI-faked celebrity endorsements or viral deepfake images and videos misrepresenting candidates’ actions and seemingly designed to prey on their political weaknesses. Play Video AI also played a role in protecting the information ecosystem. OpenAI used its own AI models to disrupt an Iranian foreign influence operation aimed at sowing division before the US presidential election. While anyone can use AI tools today to generate convincing fake audio, images and text, and that capability is here to stay, tech platforms also use AI to automatically moderate content like hate speech and extremism. This is a positive use case, making content moderation more efficient and sparing humans from having to review the worst offenses, but there’s room for it to become more effective, more transparent and more equitable. There is potential for AI models to be much more scalable and adaptable to more languages and countries than organizations of human moderators. But the implementations to date on platforms like Meta demonstrate that a lot more work needs to be done to make these systems fair and effective. One thing that didn’t matter much in 2024 was corporate AI developers’ prohibitions on using their tools for politics. Despite market leader OpenAI’s emphasis on banning political uses and its use of AI to automatically reject a quarter-million requests to generate images of political candidates, the company’s enforcement has been ineffective and actual use is widespread. The genie is loose All of these trends — both good and bad — are likely to continue. As AI gets more powerful and capable, it is likely to infiltrate every aspect of politics. This will happen whether the AI’s performance is superhuman or suboptimal, whether it makes mistakes or not, and whether the balance of its use is positive or negative. All it takes is for one party, one campaign, one outside group, or even an individual to see an advantage in automation. – Rappler.com This article originally appeared in The Conversation. Bruce Schneier , Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School Nathan Sanders , Affiliate, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University
One in 10 NSW test positive for illegal drugs17 Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. ( NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report ) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.2% of 17 Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. 17 Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Insider Transactions at Alphabet In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Alphabet Trading Down 1.7 % Alphabet ( NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year. Alphabet Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90. View Our Latest Report on GOOGL Alphabet Company Profile ( Free Report ) Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Alphabet How is Compound Interest Calculated? Vertiv’s Cool Tech Makes Its Stock Red-Hot How to Capture the Benefits of Dividend Increases MarketBeat Week in Review – 11/18 – 11/22 What is a Secondary Public Offering? What Investors Need to Know 2 Finance Stocks With Competitive Advantages You Can’t Ignore Receive News & Ratings for Alphabet Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alphabet and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
A 7-5 record feels a whole better than 6-6 for East Tennessee State football coach Tre Lamb. Lamb knows it’s important to finish his first season leading the Bucs with a victory. While they’ve doubled the number of wins which ETSU achieved each of the previous two seasons, a winning record is something everyone can hang their hats on. It’s not an easy task for the Bucs (6-5 overall, 4-3 Southern Conference) who play at Virginia Military Institute on Saturday at noon. Sure the Keydets are 1-10 and 1-6, but just two weeks ago they beat the same Furman team which defeated the Bucs in Johnson City last week. “Our guys have a lot to play for — winning record in the Southern Conference, pride, a winning day for our seniors and getting to seven wins,” Lamb said. “We can carry so momentum into recruiting into the offseason, 7-5 feels a lot better than 6-6.” The Bucs will have to take care of the football, which has been the most frustrating part of the season for Lamb. They rank second in the country for most interceptions with 20, while Lamb played three quarterbacks — Gino English, Jaylen King and Baylor Hayes — against Furman. He promised that won’t happen Saturday, although he is waiting until game day to name a starter. “We are playing three quarterbacks right now which tells you we don’t have one,” Lamb said. “We’re not going to do musical chairs. We’re going to give it to one guy and let him go play.” VMI has also played multiple quarterbacks this season with four of them attempting 20 or more passes this season. JoJo Crump came in to hit 9-of-14 passes for 138 yards after replacing starter Chandler Wilson in last Saturday’s loss to Western Carolina. Hunter Rice, a hard-nosed 235-pound senior running back, has been the most productive offensive player with 713 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Still, the Keydets have been nowhere near as effective as the Bucs running the football. ETSU is averaging 194.1 yards rushing per game, led by Bryson Irby with 722 yards on 130 carries and Devontae Houston with 544 yards on 101 rushes. VMI has a legitimate star on the defensive side of the ball with linebacker Eric Rankin, who leads the Southern Conference with 103 tackles. He was named the FCS National Player of the Week with 18 tackles in VMI’s game against The Citadel. He is a disruptive force with 11 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Defensive back Kouri Crump is next on the team with 85 tackles. ETSU has defensive standouts as well with linebackers Ray Coney with 89 tackles and William McRainey with 82 tackles. Zach West has 8.5 tackles, including 2.5 in the Bucs’ 24-21 win over Western Carolina two weeks ago. Among the defensive backs, Cam Sims has been responsible for 17 pass breakups, while Jaden Woods ranks fourth on the team in tackles. “I’m super proud of our guys for their effort this year,” Lamb said. “We could be sitting here realistically at 9-2 and 10-1 is not too far out of our reach if the ball bounces our way a couple of times.” To reach the goal in front of them, Lamb knows a game at VMI’s Alumni Memorial Stadium in late November provides a different challenge than a lot of other venues. Part of that is due to the Keydets and part of that is the environment. “They’re very chaotic defensively and do a good job of creating negative plays,” Lamb said. “It’s a really hard place to play. The grass is dormant this time of year, a slow track, typically overcast with gray skies, 35-40 degrees. They have a lot of tough military kids who are giving their best effort every week. We can’t let our circumstances of weather and location affect the way we prepare.”NoneLAS VEGAS — Players Era Festival organizers have done what so many other have tried — bet their fortunes in this city that a big payoff is coming. Such bet are usually bad ones, which is why so many massive casino-resorts have been built on Las Vegas Boulevard. But it doesn't mean the organizers are wrong. They're counting on the minimum of $1 million in guaranteed name, image and likeness money that will go to each of the eight teams competing in the neutral-site tournament that begins Tuesday will create a precedent for other such events. EverWonder Studios CEO Ian Orefice, who co-founded Players with former AND1 CEO Seth Berger, compared this event to last year's inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament that played its semifinals and final in Las Vegas by saying it "did really well to reinvigorate the fan base at the beginning of the year." "We're excited that we're able to really change the paradigm in college basketball on the economics," Orefice said. "But for us, it's about the long term. How do we use the momentum that is launching with the 2024 Players Era Festival and be the catalyst not to change one event, but to change college basketball for the future." Orefice and Berger didn't disclose financial details, but said the event will come close to breaking even this year and that revenue is in eight figures. Orefice said the bulk of the revenue will come from relationships with MGM, TNT Sports and Publicis Sport & Entertainment as well as sponsors that will be announced later. Both organizers said they are so bullish on the tournament's prospects that they already are planning ahead. Money made from this year's event, Orefice said, goes right back into the company. "We're really in this for the long haul," Orefice said. "So we're not looking at it on a one-year basis." Rick Giles is president of the Gazelle Group, which also operates several similar events, including the College Basketball Invitational. He was skeptical the financial numbers would work. Giles said in addition to more than $8 million going to the players, there were other expenses such as the guarantees to the teams. He said he didn't know if the tournament would make up the difference with ticket sales, broadcast rights and sponsorship money. The top bowl of the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be curtained off. "The math is highly challenging," Giles said. "Attendance and ticket revenues are not going to come anywhere close to covering that. They haven't announced any sponsors that I'm aware of. So it all sort of rests with their media deal with Turner and how much capital they want to commit to it to get these players paid." David Carter, a University of Southern California adjunct professor who also runs the Sports Business Group consultancy, said even if the Players isn't a financial success this year, the question is whether there will be enough interest to move forward. "If there is bandwidth for another tournament and if the TV or the streaming ratings are going to be there and people are going to want to attend and companies are going to want to sponsor, then, yeah, it's probably going to work," Carter said. "But it may take them time to gain that traction." Both founders said they initially were met with skepticism about putting together such an event, especially from teams they were interested in inviting. Houston was the first school to commit, first offering an oral pledge early in the year and then signing a contract in April. That created momentum for others to join, and including the No. 6 Cougars, half the field is ranked. "We have the relationships to operate a great event," Berger said. "We had to get coaches over those hurdles, and once they knew that we were real, schools got on board really quickly." The founders worked with the NCAA to make sure the tournament abided by that organization's rules, so players must appear at ancillary events in order to receive NIL money. Strict pay for play is not allowed, though there are incentives for performance. The champion, for example, will receive $1.5 million in NIL money. Now the pressure is on to pull off the event and not create the kind of headlines that can dog it for years to come. "I think everybody in the marketplace is watching what's going to happen (this) week and, more importantly, what happens afterwards," Giles said. "Do the players get paid on a timely basis? And if they do, that means that Turner or somebody has paid way more than the market dictates? And the question will be: Can that continue?" CREIGHTON: P oint guard Steven Ashworth likely won’t play in the No. 21 Bluejays’ game against San Diego State in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Ashworth sprained his right ankle late in a loss to Nebraska on Friday and coach Greg McDermott said afterward he didn’t know how long he would be out. Get local news delivered to your inbox!