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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants real estate developer Charles Kushner , father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker."
You’ve probably been discouraged to see the interest rate on your high-yield savings account fall during the past couple of months. But your money is still earning much more than it would in a traditional savings account — and more than inflation. Rates paid on cash in savings accounts have been dropping since the Federal Reserve began cutting its key interest rate in September as inflation cooled. The central bank cut rates again, by a quarter point, at its meeting this month, and another cut in December is seen as likely, though not certain because of a recent uptick in inflation. Banks are following the Fed’s lead in gradually reducing interest rates. Even so, the rates paid on federally insured high-yield savings accounts, many offered by banks that operate solely or mostly online, are still beating inflation, which was 2.6 percent on an annual basis in October. “High-yield savings accounts are still attractive relative to traditional savings accounts,” particularly for emergency or “rainy day” funds that savers want to be able to tap into quickly, said Alan Bazaar, CEO and co-chief investment officer at Hollow Brook Wealth Management in Katonah, New York. Online banks were offering rates of 4 percent or higher this week, compared with a national average rate of just 0.56 percent for all types of savings accounts, according to the financial site Bankrate. If you put $5,000 in a savings account for a year at the average rate, you’d earn just $28, compared with about $200 with a high-yield account. (At some of the biggest national banks, which are offering just 0.01 percent, you’d end up with a measly 50 cents.) Just a few years ago, savers were getting 1 percent on their deposits at best, so 4 percent is nothing to scoff at, said Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate. High-yield accounts can also be attractive for funds needed in the not-so-distant future — say, for a child heading to college or for retirees looking to set aside cash for living expenses. The accounts can generally be set up quickly online and funded by electronically depositing funds from your checking account. Withdrawals can typically be transferred out within one or two business days. Rossman advised pairing an online high-yield savings account with a traditional checking account at a brick-and-mortar bank so you can visit a branch if needed. A few banks and credit unions continue to offer rates of 5 percent or higher on savings accounts — but generally, they are less familiar institutions or have special requirements, like making a large initial deposit or minimum monthly deposits. LendingClub Bank offers 5 percent but may pay a reduced rate unless you deposit at least $250 a month. Pibank, an online brand of Miami-based Intercredit Bank, is advertising 5.5 percent nationally. Openbank, the new digital arm of Santander Bank, is advertising 5 percent with a minimum deposit of $500. (The rate isn’t available, however, in many states in the Northeast.) Savers shouldn’t be put off simply because a bank isn’t a household name, as long as their money is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Rossman said. Look for the logo on the bank’s website or check the agency’s BankFind tool. (Deposits are generally protected against a bank failure for up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. To check your coverage, use the FDIC’s calculator.) It’s true that more Fed rate cuts are anticipated, Rossman said, but the pace is expected to slow. Even as rates fall, banks are operating in a competitive environment, and some may still offer higher rates to attract customers. Openbank’s rates will change, “but we expect to remain very competitive,” said Swati Bhatia, head of retail banking and transformation at Santander. Despite the availability of higher rates, many people stick with low-interest accounts, perhaps because they don’t realize what they are missing, according to a recent survey of American adults from Openbank. The survey found that 40 percent of those with only a traditional savings account didn’t know what interest rate their account paid. Plus, more than half of those with traditional accounts said they thought they would have to leave their main bank to open a high-yield account at another bank. (The online survey of 2,206 adults was conducted for Santander by Morning Consult.) Here are some questions and answers about saving options: What other options are available for federally insured savings accounts? Savers can consider certificates of deposit, or CDs, which tend to offer higher rates than savings accounts but typically charge a penalty if you withdraw your funds before the term of the certificate is up. Penalties are typically a couple of months of interest but can be more for longer-term certificates. CDs commonly come in terms of three months to five years. Even brick-and-mortar banks are offering rates at 4 percent or higher for CDs, depending on the term. In some cases, banks may require larger minimum deposits to get those rates. To avoid locking up your cash, Bazaar said, you might consider “no-penalty” CDs, which pay a lower rate but don’t reduce your interest if you withdraw funds early. What is a CD ladder? You can lock in current rates but have periodic access to your money by opening CDs with different terms. If you have $15,000, for instance, you might open three $5,000 CDs at terms of six months, nine months and 12 months. When the six-month certificate matures, you roll the money into a new 12-month CD and so on. What other low-risk options are available for my cash? Money market funds, which you can open through a brokerage, invest in low-risk securities, like Treasury bonds, and are considered relatively safe investments. But they are not FDIC insured, and it’s possible — although rare — to lose money on them. (They are different from the similarly named money market accounts, which are bank deposit accounts that also offer checking account features and typically are federally insured.) Yields on money market funds have also been declining, but a group of large funds tracked by Crane Data still averaged 4.46 percent as of Thursday. Getting higher yields than those offered by money market funds means taking on more risk, Bazaar said. Options that are riskier than money market funds but less risky than investments like stocks include “short-duration” mutual funds, which typically invest in corporate bonds that mature in one year or less, Bazaar said. Currently, he said, yields of around 7 percent are available. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
World News | Special Counsel Moves to Abandon Election Interference, Classified Documents Cases Against TrumpHENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Aidan O'Connell will start at quarterback when the Las Vegas Raiders visit their AFC West rival and two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Friday. Raiders coach Antonio Pierce made the announcement Wednesday, saying O'Connell had progressed well after breaking his right thumb on Oct. 20 in a 20-15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams . “He’s been dialed in obviously throughout this time that he’s been on (injured reserve),” Pierce said. "He’s been at all the meetings. He’s been very encouraging on the sideline. He’s got that laser-eye focus right now. Great opportunity for him.” Gardner Minshew broke his left collarbone on Sunday in a game against the Denver Broncos and is out for the season . The Raiders could have gone with Desmond Ridder to replace Minshew. Las Vegas signed Ridder off Arizona’s practice squad on Oct. 21. He started 13 games for Atlanta last season, passing for 2,836 yards and 12 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Pierce opted for O'Connell, who became the starter midway through last season and went 5-4 the rest of the way. Minshew beat him out for the job in the preseason but then struggled through five games. Pierce then put O'Connell in the starting lineup on Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. O'Connell completed 27 of 40 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown with an interception in the 32-13 loss . Then O'Connell was injured early the following week at Los Angeles and was placed on IR, sidelining him for at least four weeks. The Raiders on Monday designated him to return to practice, opening a three-week window in which O'Connell could be activated. That came this week. “He carried himself like a starter, even when he was on IR," Pierce said. "He did that when he was a backup. He did a great job of just being engaged with the players, engaged on the sideline, in meeting rooms. He’s the one speaking up, talking. You could just look at his eyes. You can look at his demeanor. "He wasn’t a guy like: ‘All right, I’m out for the season. I’m not going to play. No, I’ll be back. I’m ready to be back.’ And he worked his tail off to get back.” O'Connell has a short week to prepare, complicated further because the Raiders aren't having full practices. He was the last opposing quarterback to win at Arrowhead Stadium. Even though he didn't complete a pass after the first quarter, the Raiders walked away 20-14 winners in that Christmas Day game. Las Vegas can only play a little bit of a spoiler this week. The Raiders at 2-9 have lost seven consecutive games, and the Chiefs have their sights on becoming the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row. “Let’s call a spade a spade,” Pierce said. "The best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, right? Let’s go out there and make it a dog fight. Let’s make it ugly. Let’s make it scrappy. It’s Black Friday. Let’s create a little chaos. Let’s get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality. Let it loose.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLBy LOLITA C. BALDOR and FATIMA HUSSEIN WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has chosen Keith Kellogg, a highly decorated retired three-star general, to serve as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, who is one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book that lays out an “America First” national security agenda for the incoming administration, will come into the role as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its third year in February. Trump, making the announcement on his Truth Social account, said, “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!” Kellogg, an 80-year-old retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence , was chief of staff of the National Security Council and then stepped in as an acting security adviser for Trump after Michael Flynn resigned. As special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Kellogg will have to navigate an increasingly untenable war between the two nations. The Biden administration has begun urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of those as young as 18. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more before Biden leaves office in less than two months. The U.S. has recently stepped up weapons shipments and has forgiven billions in loans provided to Kyiv. Trump has criticized the billions the Biden administration has spent in supporting Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. As a co-chairman of the American First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security, Kellogg wrote several of the chapters in the group’s policy book. The book, like the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” is designed to lay out a Trump national security agenda and avoid the mistakes of 2016 when he entered the White House largely unprepared. Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” Trump’s proposed national security adviser , U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, tweeted Wednesday that “Keith has dedicated his life to defending our great country and is committed to bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution.” Kellogg featured in multiple Trump investigations dating to his first term. He was among the administration officials who listened in on the July 2019 call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump prodded his Ukrainian counterpart to pursue investigations into the Bidens. The call, which Kellogg would later say did not raise any concerns on his end, was at the center of the first of two House impeachment cases against Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate both times. On Jan. 6, 2021, hours before pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Kellogg, who was then Pence’s national security adviser, listened in on a heated call in which Trump told his vice president to object or delay the certification in Congress of President Joe Biden ’s victory. He later told House investigators that he recalled Trump saying to Pence words to the effect of: “You’re not tough enough to make the call.” Baldor reported from Washington. AP writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Belfast News Letter, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Danny Gibson kicked off the scoring for Carrick but Daithi McCallion grabbed a Ballymena equaliser. Nedas Maciulaitis was the Carrick hero on the scoresheet – but only a collective effort helped the visitors leave Ballymena with full points following a red card for goalkeeper Ross Glendinning at 2-1. Advertisement Advertisement Here’s the verdict of Carrick Rangers boss Stephen Baxter (as told to BBC Sport NI): OVERALL PERFORMANCE... "We played very well here today...we came with a game plan, letting them have the ball a bit and springing them on the counter attack – which worked well. "Second half we got ourselves in front, we had to absorb some pressure and we are disappointed with the goal we conceded. “But the reply was superb." NEDAS MACIULAITIS’ WINNER... "The quality of the goal, it should win any game.” 10-MAN SUCCESS.. "But then you go get your goalkeeper sent off and you have to see the game out with 10 men. "Which we did, so it’s a pleasing result.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Clara Strack scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Teonni Key added a double-double and No. 14 Kentucky pulled away from No. 19 Illinois 76-53 on Wednesday night to go unbeaten in the Music City Classic. The Wildcats had a 50-44 lead after three quarters but used an 18-0 run to blitz the Illini 26-9 in the fourth quarter. Kentucky went 11 of 22 in the fourth quarter when Dazia Lawrence scored 10 points. The Wildcats also forced the Illini into eight turnovers and turned those into 13 points. Illinois was 3 of 15. Lawrence finished with 15 points for the Wildcats (7-0) and Key had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Amelia Hassett added 10 points. Illinois scored the last seven points of the first quarter to lead 18-14 and Gretchen Dolan's layup pulled the Illini into a tie at 28 at halftime. Kentucky slowly built the lead to 10 late in the third quarter but a three-point play by Dolan helped cut the deficit to six entering the fourth. Adalia McKenzie scored 18 points for Illinois (6-1), which went 1 of 16 on 3-pointers and shot 27% overall. Makira Cook added 11 points and Kendall Bostic had 10 with 12 rebounds. Illinois plays at Canisius on Sunday and Kentucky goes to North Carolina on Thursday for the SEC/ACC Challenge. ——- Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
Kansas City Chiefs floor Dallas Cowboys as new top NFL team as latest live ratings are revealedNEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Gross Law Firm issues the following notice to shareholders of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated ELAN . Shareholders who purchased shares of ELAN during the class period listed are encouraged to contact the firm regarding possible lead plaintiff appointment. Appointment as lead plaintiff is not required to partake in any recovery. CONTACT US HERE: https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/elanco-animal-health-incorporated-loss-submission-form/?id=113423&from=3 CLASS PERIOD: November 7, 2023 to June 26, 2024 ALLEGATIONS: The complaint alleges that during the class period, Defendants issued materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Zenrelia, a once-daily oral inhibitor for canine dermatology, was less safe than the Company had led investors to believe; (ii) Elanco was unlikely to meet its own previously issued timeline for the U.S. approval and commercial launch of both Zenrelia and Credelio Quattro, a broad spectrum parasiticide product for dogs; (iii) accordingly, the Company's business and/or financial prospects were overstated; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. DEADLINE: December 6, 2024 Shareholders should not delay in registering for this class action. Register your information here: https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/elanco-animal-health-incorporated-loss-submission-form/?id=113423&from=3 NEXT STEPS FOR SHAREHOLDERS: Once you register as a shareholder who purchased shares of ELAN during the timeframe listed above, you will be enrolled in a portfolio monitoring software to provide you with status updates throughout the lifecycle of the case. The deadline to seek to be a lead plaintiff is December 6, 2024. There is no cost or obligation to you to participate in this case. WHY GROSS LAW FIRM? The Gross Law Firm is a nationally recognized class action law firm, and our mission is to protect the rights of all investors who have suffered as a result of deceit, fraud, and illegal business practices. The Gross Law Firm is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a company lead to artificial inflation of the company's stock. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: The Gross Law Firm 15 West 38th Street, 12th floor New York, NY, 10018 Email: dg@securitiesclasslaw.com Phone: (646) 453-8903 © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.