NEW YORK (AP) — Police don't know who he is, where he is, or why he did it. As the frustrating search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer got underway for a fifth day Sunday, investigators reckoned with a tantalizing contradiction: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma. One conclusion they are confident of, however: It was a targeted attack , not a random one. They know he ambushed Thompson at 6:44 a.m. Wednesday as the executive arrived at the Hilton for his company’s annual investor conference, using a 9 mm pistol that resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise. They know ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics . The fact that the shooter knew UnitedHealthcare group was holding a conference at the hotel and what route Thompson might take to get there suggested that he could possibly be a disgruntled employee or client, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. Police divers were seen searching a pond in Central Park, where the killer fled after the shooting. Officers have been scouring the park for days for any possible clues and found his backpack there Friday. They didn’t immediately reveal what, if anything, it contained but said it would be tested and analyzed. On Sunday morning, police declined to comment on the contents of the backpack, or on the results of the search in the pond, saying no updates were planned. Investigators have urged patience, saying the process of logging evidence that stands up in court isn’t as quick as it looks like on TV . Hundreds of detectives are combing through video recordings and social media, vetting tips from the public and interviewing people who might have information, including Thompson’s family and coworkers and the shooter’s randomly assigned roommates at the Manhattan hostel where he stayed. Investigators caught a break when they came across security camera images of an unguarded moment at the hostel in which he briefly showed his face. Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, police say, it appears he left the city by bus soon after the shooting outside the New York Hilton Midtown. He was seen on video at an uptown bus station about 45 minutes later, Kenny said. With the high-profile search expanding across state lines, the FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD has offered. Police say they believe the suspect acted alone. Police distributed the images to news outlets and on social media but so far haven’t been able to ID him using facial recognition — possibly because of the angle of the images or limitations on how the NYPD is allowed to use that technology, Kenny said. Late Saturday, police released two additional photos of the suspected shooter that appeared to be from a camera mounted inside a taxi. The first shows him outside the vehicle and the second shows him looking through the partition between the back seat and the front of the cab. In both, his face is partially obscured by a blue, medical-style mask.The singer said he is awaiting more tests to determine the extent of the issues. The Wanted star Max George has said he is “staying positive” while in hospital waiting for tests that could shine a light on issues with his heart. In a post to Instagram on Thursday the singer, 36, explained that he went to hospital after feeling “really unwell” and added that he needed “a lot more tests” to determine “what surgery I will need to get me back on my feet.” Updating his fans, George posted a video from his hospital bed on Friday, and said he “had a bit of a rough day”. He added: “My heart rate dropped a bit this morning, which was, it was a little bit scary. “But everyone here is amazing, so wanted to get it back up a little bit and get it stable again, which is great. “Reason I’m not... like a lot of friends and family are asking why I’m not just going in and having anything (like surgery) done yet, because there’s so many tests that need to be done before we do anything. “So I just need to get through till, I guess, next week. Get all the tests done, and then they’ll know exactly what to do, because otherwise, obviously, they’ll be able to do something, but it’ll be better doing it with all the information that they need. “But, yeah, it’s shit, but still here and staying positive. “And thanks everyone as well for all the lovely messages and any friends and family and that that have messaged that I haven’t got back to. “I see you all and yeah, means a lot. Much love and have a nice Friday night.” George rose to fame in the 2010s with The Wanted, who had a number of hit songs including All Time Low, Glad You Came and Heart Vacancy. His bandmate Tom Parker died in 2022 at the age of 33 after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. George, who helped carry Parker’s coffin at his funeral alongside fellow bandmates Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes, previously said on This Morning that he continued to message his late bandmate following his death as it brought him “a bit of comfort”. He also appeared in the US musical series Glee as Clint and in his band’s reality series The Wanted Life. Over the years, he has competed in a number of competition series including Strictly Come Dancing in 2020, Bear Grylls: Mission Survive and Richard Osman’s House Of Games. George’s girlfriend is former EastEnders star Maisie Smith, who appeared on BBC One dancing competition series Strictly Come Dancing in 2020 at the same time as George, though they have previously said that romantic sparks only began to fly in 2022. He was due to appear on a MasterChef Christmas special before the BBC pulled the show from its festive schedule amid allegations about the conduct of judge Gregg Wallace across a range of shows.Safety Micah Hyde rejoins the Buffalo Bills after being signed to practice squad
Dow Jones futures will open Sunday evening, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. The final Federal Reserve meeting of 2024 is on tap this week. The stock market rally had a mixed week. The Nasdaq edged higher as ( ) and ( ) surged on news while ( ) hit a record high. But otherwise the market fell back somewhat as Treasury yields roared back. ( ) was a notable laggard among AI chip stocks and megacaps, as investors turn their attention to custom, in-house AI chips from Broadcom, ( ) and others. ( ) and some superhot stocks fell back, though PLTR stock slashed losses to just 0.35% by Friday's close. Palantir and ( ), two of the hottest stocks in 2024, are . The Nasdaq late Friday could announce Friday night that ( ) and ( ) will exit. Moderna stock has plunged in 2024, while Supermicro has dived from its March peak amid major accounting woes. SMCI stock fell solidly late Friday — ahead of the Nasdaq 100 rebalancing — on a Bloomberg report that it's hired Evercore to help raise capital. Nvidia stock is on , but the position has been reduced and is hedged. Google and Axon also are on IBD Leaderboard, with Tesla stock on the watchlist. Google stock is on . Palantir stock and Axon Enterprise are on the . Fed Meeting The final Fed meeting of 2024 is on Dec. 17-18, with markets seeing another quarter-point rate cut as a virtual lock Wednesday afternoon. That would be 100 basis points in Fed rate cuts over three meetings. But with economic growth solid and inflation sticky, investors are betting that policymakers will stand pat through next spring. The latest economic projections and "dot plot" rate forecasts will be key, along with Fed chief Jerome Powell's comments. Dow Jones Futures Today Dow Jones futures open at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures. Remember that overnight action in and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular session. Stock Market Rally The stock market rally generally retreated this past week, with weakness apparent aside from some megacap stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8% in last week's , now down seven straight sessions. The small-cap Russell 2000 sank 2.6% Both undercut their 21-day line and neared their 10-week averages. The S&P 500 index declined 0.6% but is trading tightly near record highs. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.3%, but below the 20,000 level after hitting a record high Friday morning. ( ) jumped 8.65%, ( ) 12.1% and Broadcom stock 25.2%, all hitting record highs and propping up the Nasdaq. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF ( ), not so swayed by those megacaps, gave up 1.6% for the week, testing its 50-day line. The First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index ETF ( ) also slumped 1.6%, testing its 21-day line. That's vs. a 0.8% gain for the QQQs. All in all, market breadth has deteriorated considerably in December. The 10-year Treasury yield surged 25 basis points to 4.4%, the biggest weekly gain since October 2023. The 10-year yield is moving rapidly back toward a six-month peak of just over 4.5%. Rising Treasury yields are among the reasons for the broader stock market's struggles this past week. U.S. crude oil futures jumped 6.1% to $71.29 a barrel last week. ETFs Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF ( ) slumped 4.5% last week, but steadied after Tuesday. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( ) fell 3.9% as ( ) and ( ) plunged on results. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF ( ) edged up 0.35%. Nvidia is the No. 1 stock in SMH, but Broadcom and Marvell also are notable holdings. ARK Innovation ETF ( ) retreated 2.5% last week and ARK Genomics ETF ( ) sold off 6.5%. SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF ( ) skidded 5.2% last week. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF ( ) shed 3.95%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF ( ) gave up 2% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( ) lost 2.3%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( ) dropped 2.2%. The Financial Select SPDR ETF ( ) finished off 1.7%. Nvidia Stock An AI Laggard? Nvidia stock fell 5.75% to 134.25 last week. On Friday, shares once again hit resistance at the and other key levels, reversing for the lowest close since Oct 31. NVDA stock is now 3.8% below the 10-week line, but hasn't undercut its Nov. 27 low of 131.80. Falling below that also would also mean triggering the for those who bought at the 140.76 . Nvidia's decline is striking given the strength in Broadcom and Marvell stock, as well as ( ), ( ) and ( ). While demand for Nvidia chips remains high and will remain so for some time, Broadcom and Marvell are surging in part because key Nvidia customers are looking to build up in-house AI chips from Broadcom, Marvell and others. Of course, this past week might be the shakeout that Nvidia needed before making a move. It's still just a good day or two from looking strong. In another week, NVDA stock could have a new next to the top of the prior consolidation. But you can't invest on maybes. Right now Nvidia stock is lagging. It could be set for a much longer break, and perhaps a significant pullback. What To Do Now The market rally had a mixed week, with the Nasdaq edging higher and a number of leaders showing strength. The S&P 500 is right at highs. The weak market breadth, including weakness in small caps and RSP equal-weight ETF, is a concern. Not many stocks are flashing buy signals, while many are extended. A market pause or modest pullback could help leaders forge handles, round out bases or decline in a dignified fashion to key moving averages. So keep working on watchlists while remaining heavily exposed. The Federal Reserve meeting is the main focus for the final five-day market week of 2024. ( ) is a notable earnings report, but Micron stock has been a laggard for months. Read every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.None
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