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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey gambling regulators have handed out $40,000 in fines to two sportsbooks and a tech company for violations that included taking bets on unauthorized events, and on games that had already ended. In information made public Monday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement fined DraftKings $20,000. It also levied $10,000 fines on Rush Street Interactive NJ and the sports betting technology company Kambi. According to documents released by the state, Rush Street accepted 16 bets worth $1,523 in Nov. 2021 on a college basketball game between the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Tennessee Tech University after the game had already concluded with a UNC victory. Kambi told the enforcement division that a trader had failed to manually remove that game from its betting markets, saying it had stopped receiving messages from its own sports data provider due to a network connectivity error. Kambi said it has updated its guidelines and retrained its traders to prevent a recurrence. Kambi, which is based in Malta, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday. Rush Street declined comment, and DraftKings had no immediate comment Monday. DraftKings stopped using Kambi in 2021. In March 2022 Rush Street took seven bets totaling just under $2,900 on three Magic City Jai Alai games after the results were already known. Kambi told the division it experienced a connectivity issue that allowed the bets to be accepted after the games were over. An explanation of what Kambi did to address the situation was blacked out in documents released by the division. A month earlier Rush Street took 13 wagers worth $8,150 with pre-match odds on a Professional Golf Association match after the event had already begun. In this case, Kambi told the division a newly hired trader failed to enter the correct closing time time for bets on the event. The trader and a supervisor underwent retraining. DraftKings was fined for taking bets on unapproved events including Russian basketball for nine months in 2020 and 2021. It eventually voided over $61,000 in bets and returned the money to customers after being directed to do so by the state. In this case, Kambi told the division it misidentified this particular Russian basketball league as one that was approved for wagering in New Jersey. DraftKings told the state it did not catch the error, either. In 2020, DraftKings accepted 484 wagers on unapproved table tennis matches. Kambi incorrectly enabled the events for wagering without conditions required by the state, the division said. In Feb. 2022, the division said DraftKings took pre-season NFL bets involving specific players but did not give the state specific information on what information was to be included in the bets, drawing 182 wagers worth nearly $7,000 that were later voided and refunded to customers. Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryACS&P/TSX composite up almost 150 at closing, U.S. markets also higher
Coming off a competitive performance in Buffalo, the New England Patriots hoped to carry some positive momentum into their final two-game stretch of the 2024 season. However, the first of those contest was another step in the wrong direction for the team of first-year head coach Jerod Mayo. Showing little signs of life on both offense and defense, the Patriots were blown out 40-7 by the visiting Los Angeles Chargers . New England has now dropped to 3-13 on the year. Here are our quick-hit observations from a rainy afternoon at Gillette Stadium. The 40-7 loss goes into the books as the most lopsided defeat in Jerod Mayo’s young career as Patriots head coach. The game was every bit the blowout the final score made it look like. Outside of beating New England by 33 points, the Chargers also out-gained their opponent 428 to 181 yards, had 29 first downs to 11, ran 77 plays to 48, and held the ball 40:34 compared to the Patriots’ 19:26. No matter how you look at it, the game was a train wreck from the home team’s point of view. In fact, the contest got so out of hand that the Chargers were able to pull starting quarterback Justin Herbert with almost a full quarter left (10:54). Up 37-7 at that point, there was no doubt the game was long decided. This, in turn, created some unease among the Foxboro Faithful. At one point, “Fire Mayo” chants began breaking out in the stands. Mayo going one-and-done still seems unlikely, but a noncompetitive loss in a standalone game surely will neither help him nor his coaching staff heading toward a pivotal offseason. New England has long been eliminated from playoff contention, meaning that the primary goals over the remainder of the 2024 season were two-fold: lay a strong foundation to build on in 2025, and get out of the season as healthy as possible. Both of those goals took a hit on Saturday, with the Patriots seeing their two best players get banged up. First up was quarterback Drake Maye, who exited the game after a third down scramble on his team’s opening possession. Maye took a hit to the head and left first for the medical tent on the sidelines and later the locker room. The rookie QB was ultimately cleared to return to the game, meaning he avoided a second concussion this season. Christian Gonzalez did not get that lucky. The standout cornerback hit his head hard on a tackle attempt against Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey. He too exited the game for the medical tent and locker room, but was eventually ruled out due to the injury he suffered on the collision. His status heading into the season finale against the Buffalo Bills next weekend is naturally in question. From top to bottom, their loss to the Chargers was arguably the worst game of what is already an underwhelming season. Through it all, however, Drake Maye continues to prove himself a player worthy of the “face of the franchise” label. After his brief injury scare in the first quarter, the youngster went on to complete all five of his pass attempts in the first half for 66 yards and a highlight-reel touchdown. That score showed both his awareness and ability to make something out of nothing. Getting a free play after an offsides call against the Chargers defense, the 22-year-old heaved a pass up the field knowing that a re-do was an option. No such re-do was needed: Maye found DeMario Douglas 36 yards down the field, and the sophomore wide receiver was able to haul the ball in and roll the final inches into the end zone. The touchdown pass was Maye’s 15th of the season, and helped him set a new Patriots rookie record: his streak of eight straight games with at least one TD pass bests Jim Plunkett’s mark set in 1971. On the day, the youngster completed 12 of 22 pass attempts for 117 yards with that one score. He also gained 32 yards on six carries, once again showing his ability and willingness to attack defenses more than one way. Speaking to 98.5 The Sports Hub ahead of Saturday’s game, head coach Jerod Mayo announced that Antonio Gibson would get the starting nod at the running back position over Rhamondre Stevenson. The change seemed like a logical one given Stevenson’s fumble issues this season, and the fact he was involved in two turnovers last week against the Buffalo Bills. When the Patriots offense first took the field, however, it was Stevenson who lined up in the backfield. The fourth-year man, who signed a four-year, $36 million contract extension in the offseason, also took a handoff on the play, gaining 5 yards in the process. “That was just a coaching decision,” Mayo said after the game. On the day, Stevenson ended up touching the ball twice for a combined gain of 1 yard. For comparison, Gibson finished with 12 carries for 63 yards. Losing Christian Gonzalez in the early second quarter did not make things easier for New England’s defense, but one would still have hoped to see more resistance out of the unit. After all, it once again struggled to play consistent football and found itself unable to slow the opponent on both the ground and through the air. Possibly the biggest issue on Saturday was a lack of pass rush. While Keion White managed to get a couple of pressures in, resulting in errant throws, the Patriots defense failed to sack quarterback Justin Herbert even once. Giving a quarterback of that caliber time to go through his progressions is a recipe for disaster, particularly when combined with a secondary incapable of locking receivers down. Upon initial viewing, veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones in particular had a rough day in that regard. Would increased pressure have helped? Possibly, but that is the story of the Patriots defense in 2024: complementary football on that side of the ball is wishful thinking. With Ben Brown out due to a concussion, the Patriots offensive line was forced to adapt yet again. It did so by inserting 2022 first-round draft pick Cole Strange, a 27-game starter at left guard over the first two years of his career, at Brown’s usual spot at center. The 12th different offensive lineman to start a game for the Patriots this season, Strange went wire-to-wire in his debut at the position. The 26-year-old had his ups and downs. While mostly quiet in the first half — a positive sign for any offensive lineman — he had some miscues in the second. He appeared to snap the ball early on a 3rd-and-5 in the third quarter, leading to a 7-yard sack. Later, he was flagged for illegally charging downfield to take a 19-yard pass from Maye to DeMario Douglas off the board. The Patriots entered the 2024 draft with a definitive need at the wide receiver position, and as the owners of the 34th overall selection in the second round were in a prime spot to invest in an intriguing prospect out of Georgia. However, Eliot Wolf and company decided not to take Ladd McConkey and instead trade with the Chargers. New England ended up picking wideouts Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker at 37 and 110, respectively, with the picks acquired in the move. Neither of the two registered any catches against L.A. on Saturday. McConkey, meanwhile, had an impressive outing. Leading his team in receiving, the speedy slot defender caught eight passes for 94 yards and a couple of touchdowns. In fact, his production in that one game compares favorably to the 12 catches for 87 yards and 2 scores produced by the Polk-Baker combination so far this season.Mozambique top court confirms ruling party disputed win
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Con Edison Announces Common Share Offering with a Forward ComponentTrump voters increased most in Bay Area’s lower income citiesMANCHESTER UNITED'S flops were booed off following the 2-0 defeat at Wolves. And the result leaves the Red Devils just eight points above the relegation zone. After a drab goalless first half at Molineux, Bruno Fernandes' moment of madness when already on a yellow card changed the game. His careless lunge on Nelson Semedo 90 seconds into the second period, Tony Harrington sent him for a third early bath of the season . And that gave Wolves the boost they needed to go on and snatch all three points. Matheus Cunha scored directly from a corner before Hwang Hee-chan grabbed a second in the 99th minute . There was only just time for the restart as Harrington blew the full-time whistle as Ruben Amorim's men fell to a third defeat in a week - following the Carabao Cup exit at Spurs then the 3-0 humiliation at home to Bournemouth. And the end of the latest result saw patience run out for plenty of the travelling supporters who made the Boxing Day trip to the West Midlands. A chorus of jeers, whistles and boos sounded from the away end as United slumped to 14th in the Premier League table. They tally of 22 points from 18 games features six wins, four draws and eight defeats with a goal difference of -3. FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS That leaves them 17 points off leaders Liverpool but more worryingly just eight ahead of 18th-placed Leicester before kick-off between the two teams at Anfield in the late game on Boxing Day. And the complaints were not limited to inside the stadium. On social media, fans were quick to voice their growing concerns about the state of their team yet again. One said: "Another disappointing and frustrating game to watch. Team is clearly a bang average one and bereft of any ideas and creativity. Amorim has a huge job on his hands." Another wrote: "You owe Erik ten Hag an apology. This is genuinely embarrassing." A third added: "Woeful performance." A fourth replied: "Worst I’ve seen my club in 30 years." And a final user asked: "How long before Amorim is booted?" Things don't get much easier for the Red Devils with Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal in their next three fixtures. By Ken Lawrence WOLVES landed a shock Boxing Day knockout as Manchester United's struggles continued. The 2-0 defeat means Ruben Amorim has won just two of the seven Premier League games he has taken charge of. United find themselves 14th in the table and today were not helped by Bruno Fernandes' red card and Andre Onana letting one in direct from a corner. Here is how SunSport rated the performances... ANDRE ONANA: 4 He needed to make an agile save from Jorgen Strand Larsen in the first half, but badly misjudged the flight of Cunha’s corner for the opening goal - his claim that he was obstructed by Matt Doherty was rejected. LENY YORO: 5 Recalled but booked after only four minutes for a foul on Cunha, so he was walking on eggshells and was tested by Wolves throughout. Subbed just after the hour mark. HARRY MAGUIRE: 6 The England defender did his best to keep United in the game when they were under pressure for long periods - at least he helped to stem the tide until the dying seconds and had a header on target in stoppage time. LISANDRO MARTINEZ: 6 Teamed up well with Maguire to stop Wolves from winning this more easily, he stood his ground and produced some important challenges in the latter stages before Wolves caught him on the break with the last action of the game. NOUSSAIR MAZRAOUI: 5 Tenacious and determined, but was one of several players given a torrid time by the best player on the pitch - Cunha. MANUEL UGARTE: 5 Dispossesed too easily at times, struggled against a lively Wolves attack and was eventually taken off as one of Amorim’s subs following Fernandes’ red card. KOBBIE MAINOO: 5 Looked a threat early on, created some good openings, but he was booked after the break as United looked short on ideas. Faded and was subbed. DIOGO DALOT: 6 Brought a tremendous save from Jose Sa in the first half in what was a rare bright spot for United - but he had no major influence on a poor team display. AMAD DIALLO: 5 Lacked awareness of his team-mates sometimes and looked a shadow of the player who turned the Manchester derby around less than two weeks ago. BRUNO FERNANDES: 3 Sent off early in the second half for a second yellow after a challenge on Nelson Semedo, but the captain had cut a frustrated figure before that. RASMUS HOJLUND: 5 Became visibly annoyed at times at a lack of service from his team-mates, he had no joy up front and was subbed with 10 minutes left. SUBS Casemiro (for Mainoo, 63 mins): 6 Christian Eriksen (for Ugate, 63 mins): 6 Antony (for Yoro, 63 mins): 6 Alejandro Garnacho (for Amad, 79 mins): 5 Joshua Zirkzee (for Hojlund, 79 mins): 5 Amorim, though, was desperate to try and keep spirits up despite the nightmare triple header off the back of three painful defeats. He said: "Of course, when you lose, when we don't win, it's a step back. It was really hard with the sending off. "The goal was similar against Tottenham. Then, we tried. "Even with one less guy we tried to and I think we were near something but then Wolves scored the second one. "Then, in the end, we tried everything and the transition was 2-0. For us, let's continue."
Kings hold off late rally from KrakenCopy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Over the past few weeks, concerned New Jersey residents have craned their heads skyward to track the movements of what appeared to be mysterious drones overhead, formulate theories about their origins and strategise about how to get rid of them. A few thousand miles away, just west of Phoenix, Amazon is on an ambitious quest to convince people that the 80-pound drones whirring over their houses not only are harmless but also represent the exciting future of online shopping. Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. Fetching latest articlesManmohan Singh, the former Indian prime minister whose economic reforms made his country a global powerhouse, has died at the age of 92, current leader Narendra Modi said Thursday. India "mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders," Modi posted on social media platform X shortly after news broke of Singh's passing. "As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people's lives." Singh was taken to a hospital in New Delhi after he lost consciousness at his home on Thursday, but could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at 9:51 pm local time, according to a statement by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, is credited with having overseen an economic boom in Asia's fourth-largest economy in his first term, although slowing growth in later years marred his second stint. "I have lost a mentor and guide," opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a statement, adding that Singh had "led India with immense wisdom and integrity." COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our
MONTREAL — Municipal officials are considering an end to water fluoridation on the Island of Montreal in a move spurred by a petition from a resident who claims he has the support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A council representing Montreal and the suburban municipalities on the island are scheduled to vote Thursday evening on whether the six West Island suburbs that treat their water with fluoride should stop the practice. The city’s water department has recommended that fluoridation be stopped, in part due to cost, though public health officials support fluoridation as an effective way to reduce tooth decay. But mayors of the affected suburbs say they only learned of the city’s plan in September, years after the department began studying the issue. They say residents haven’t been consulted and the process is undemocratic. In a report dated March 2024, the water department says it began considering the use of fluoride in the water supply after receiving a “citizen petition” in 2020. That petition was launched by resident Ray Coelho, who said in a recent Facebook post that his campaign is supported by Kennedy. “I’ve spoken to RFK on a few occasions, he congratulated me on ending fluoridation in Montreal,” he wrote earlier this month. The Canadian Press was unable to reach Coelho for comment. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has been tapped by United States president-elect Donald Trump to be his health secretary, claims that fluoride is an "industrial waste" linked to a range of health problems, and has said the Trump administration will remove the mineral from the U.S. public water supply. Coelho has an active social media presence, and he posts often about the Israel-Hamas war, calling Israel a “genocidal terrorist state.” He ran in the 2019 federal election for the now-defunct Canadian Nationalist Party, a far-right white nationalist party that was deregistered by Elections Canada in 2022. He told the Montreal Gazette he is no longer associated with the party. "I really question what type of due diligence Montreal does when they receive petitions," said Heidi Ektvedt, mayor of Baie d'Urfé, one of the six affected suburbs. She said Coelho appears to be "inspired by conspiracy theories," and said many of the residents in her suburb are "furious" about the city's plan. "What's going on in the United States should not creep into decision-making in our country," she said. Georges Bourelle, mayor of Beaconsfield, called Coelho a "far-right extremist," and said he doesn't put "a lot of credibility on petitions." None of the affected communities, including Beaconsfield, has ever requested that fluoride be removed from its water, he said. Only two of Montreal’s six water treatment plants use fluoride. Those two plants serve five per cent of the island’s population in six suburbs in Montreal’s West Island. There is only one other municipality in Quebec that puts fluoride in its water. In its report, the water department says it costs about $100,000 a year to fluoridate the water at the two treatment plants. The city also refers to problems with the supply of fluoridation products in recent years that have led to shutdowns at the two plants, health concerns for workers handling the chemicals, and a desire to offer a uniform water supply to residents across the island. The report acknowledges that major health organizations, including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Health Canada, support putting fluoride in drinking water. Montreal’s regional public health directorate told the department in November 2023 it favours fluoridation. But the report says that health considerations are "beyond the scope of expertise of the water department." Bourelle and Ektvedt said they were only told about the city's plan to stop putting fluoride in their communities' water during a September meeting — four years after the water department received Coelho's petition. Ektvedt said she was "speechless" when she learned of the recommendation. "It is an undemocratic decision made by the City of Montreal," Bourelle said. "It shows a complete lack of respect of the population affected." He said the affected suburbs have only a small percentage of the voting power on the council, calling the process "a flagrant example of abuse of power by the majority at the agglomeration council." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024. Maura Forrest, The Canadian PressWirex Adds 2 Stablecoins to Platform to Streamline Digital Currency Spending
A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel's “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel. The rare public challenge from the Biden administration of the work of the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning System, which is meant to reflect the data-driven analysis of unbiased experts, drew accusations from aid and human-rights figures of possible U.S. political interference. A finding of famine would be a public rebuke of Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population. U.S. ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized group inaccurate and “irresponsible." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza. Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions. “We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew said Tuesday. USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The report did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday, but the link to it remained active. The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October. FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. “FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!” Marmorstein said on X. In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report. “The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor in international affairs at Princeton University. “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy -- to interfere." Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border. North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels. International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza’s people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza. Cindy McCain, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, called earlier this month for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there. Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza’s crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain. USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted “discrepancies” in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said. “This was relayed before Ambassador Lew’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report.” Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there. “This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in,” he said, adding that “the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won’t feed anyone.” The U.S., Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections. ___ Sam Mednick and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.The figures included £50.3 million of Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) costs and £21.7 million for the Home Office for policing the “once-in-a-generation” event in May 2023. Charles was crowned at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world. A star-studded concert at Windsor Castle took place the following night. The DCMS annual report and accounts said the department “successfully delivered on the central weekend of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation, enjoyed by many millions both in the UK and across the globe”. DCMS was the lead government department working with the royal household on the coronation, which it described as a “once-in-a-generation moment which provided an occasion for the entire country to come together in celebration, and offered a unique opportunity to celebrate and strengthen our national identity and showcase the UK to the world”.
Shares in Navitas Semiconductor Corporation saw a skyrocketing ascent of up to 24.6% on Monday, concluding with a hefty 20.4% gain by mid-afternoon EST. This surge wasn’t driven by any direct announcements from Navitas but rather by broader geopolitical developments that incited a wave of investor optimism across the semiconductor industry. In a strategic maneuver, the Biden administration initiated an investigation into the practices of Chinese semiconductor firms focusing on trailing-edge chips crucial to numerous industries. These chips, based on materials like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), although considered “less advanced,” play pivotal roles in sectors such as automotive, industrial, and medical systems, among others. Navitas, which specializes in these specific chip types, emerged as a key benefactor from this news. The market responded with enthusiasm, pushing Navitas’s stock higher along with other players in the trailing-edge semiconductor space. Unlike its larger counterparts, Navitas—being a smaller entity—experienced a sharper increase. This can be attributed to its higher risk profile and the severe downturn it faced earlier, being down over 50% earlier this year. The high short interest rate of 18.8% in November potentially triggered a short squeezing phenomenon, amplifying Monday’s gains. Despite the exuberance, Navitas remains a volatile choice for investors. Profits have been elusive, and the company’s trajectory could be swayed by external factors like geopolitical tensions and economic shifts. Caution might be advisable, as retaliatory actions by China could pose risks to U.S. chip firms, including Navitas, which has significant business ties with Chinese manufacturers. Explosive Surge in Navitas Semiconductor’s Stock: What’s Driving the Gains? In a recent dramatic stock market event, Navitas Semiconductor Corporation saw its stock prices soar by up to 24.6%, finally settling at a 20.4% increase by mid-afternoon EST. While the company itself did not release any announcements to spark this rise, broader geopolitical events significantly affected investor behavior in the semiconductor sector. Navitas, a specialist in trailing-edge chips utilizing materials like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), has directly benefitted from the Biden administration’s investigation into Chinese semiconductor practices. This focus on the trailing-edge technology, crucial for industries such as automotive, industrial, and medical systems, created a ripple of optimism among investors, boosting Navitas shares. FAQ: Understanding Navitas Semiconductor’s Stock Surge 1. What caused Navitas’s stock to rise? – The recent increase in stock value was linked to the U.S. government’s probe into Chinese semiconductor companies. Navitas, a leader in trailing-edge chip technology, was favorably impacted by this development. 2. Why did Navitas experience a sharper increase than its competitors? – Being a smaller company, Navitas had a higher risk profile and has suffered a significant downturn earlier this year. This situation, coupled with a high short interest rate, triggered a short squeeze, further propelling its stock gains. Pros and Cons of Investing in Navitas Semiconductor – Pros: – Specialization in Key Technologies : Navitas focuses on SiC and GaN chips, critical for multiple industries’ future growth. – Potential Growth Opportunities : Geopolitical developments could restrict competitors, offering Navitas a chance to capture more market share. – Cons: – Volatility : The company’s stock remains highly volatile, influenced by geopolitical and economic uncertainties. – Profitability Challenges : Navitas has yet to achieve consistent profitability, adding an element of risk for investors. Market Analysis and Future Predictions With a trajectory marked by sudden gains, Navitas’s future in the market relies heavily on external geopolitical and economic forces. While investor enthusiasm has buoyed its stock price, potential retaliations from China could disrupt operations, given the company’s business ties with Chinese manufacturers. Moving forward, Navitas must navigate these global complexities while striving towards profitability. The semiconductor sector is under continual evolution, and the ability to innovate and adapt will be key to sustaining growth. Investors are advised to stay informed about geopolitical shifts and global market trends that could impact Navitas and other semiconductor players. For further details on the semiconductor industry and trends, visit the Navitas Semiconductor Corporation website.