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Neal Maupay: Whenever I’m having a bad day I check Everton score and smileAs New York City prosecutors worked Thursday to bring murder charges against Luigi Mangione in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson , supporters of the suspect are donating tens of thousands of dollars for a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Several online defense funds have been created for Mangione by anonymous people, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that as of Thursday afternoon had raised over $50,000. The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself "The December 4th Legal Committee," apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly ambushed and gunned down Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the executive walked to his company's shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel. "We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation," the anonymous group said in a statement. The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves "A frustrated citizen" and thanked Mangione for "sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation." The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before it was restored on Thursday. GiveSendGo did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment. Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione's defense. "GoFundMe's Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes," the crowdfunding website said in a statement. "The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded." Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading "Free Luigi" and the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson's homicide. "Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It's deeply disturbing," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. "And what I would say to members of the public, people who as you described are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready." Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney's office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News on Thursday. Mangione's attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested Monday following a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to any charges filed against him. Mangione is contesting extradition to New York. Asked about people contributing to Mangione defense funds that have popped up, Dickey said, "People are entitled to their opinion and, like I said, if you're an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in their shoes. So, I'm glad he had some support." But law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Someone this week pasted "wanted posters" outside the New York Stock Exchange naming other executives. A bulletin released Wednesday by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency law enforcement intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass reading, "Deny, Defend, Depose." "Many social media users have outright advocated for the continued killings of CEOs with some aiming to spread fear by posting 'hit lists,'" the bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reads. Meanwhile, New York Police Department investigators continue to build a murder case against Mangione, who is being held in Pennsylvania on charges stemming from his arrest there, including illegal possession of ghost gun and fraudulent identification. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the three shell casings recovered at the scene of Thompson's shooting matched the gun found in Mangione possession when he was arrested. She also confirmed that Mangione's fingerprints were recovered from a water bottle and the wrapper of a granola bar found near the crime scene.
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AP News Summary at 4:42 p.m. ESTHave you seen claims that Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was shot on Dec. 4 in New York, was killed because he was about to testify against Rep. Nancy Pelosi for insider trading? It’s gone viral on several social media platforms over the past week. But it’s not true. The oldest example of this false claim that Gizmodo could find dates to the night of Dec. 6, two days after the shooting. The X account HustleBitch wrote “ BREAKING: Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was set to testify against Nancy Pelosi for insider trading.” From that claim around 10:00 p.m. ET, other X accounts that went viral seem to have made their posts about it a couple of hours later. Politifact also found the claim being made on Threads and Instagram, though those posts were made on Dec. 7, the day after the earliest tweets spreading the false story, which were happening well before the arrest of Luigi Mangione , who’s been charged with the murder and is currently fighting extradition to New York from Pennsylvania. But the claim that Thompson was killed over this motive related to a sitting congresswoman isn’t true. There’s no evidence Thompson was going to testify against Pelosi for insider trading or anything else. But, oddly enough, Thompson was himself accused of insider trading before he was killed. The Hollywood Firefighters Pension Fund filed a lawsuit against Thompson and other executives at UnitedHealth back in May . The lawsuit alleges that the executives sold about $120 million worth of UnitedHealth shares when they learned the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the company for anti-competitive practices. The stock went down only after it became publicly known the DOJ had opened an investigation. The suit states Thompson sold about $15 million worth of stock. Pelosi and other members of Congress have indeed received scrutiny over their activity trading stocks, and some Democrats have called for a ban, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who wrote back in 2021 , “There is no reason members of Congress should hold and trade individual stock when we write major policy and have access to sensitive information.” Some versions of the false claim on social media also use a video that purports to show Thompson talking about Nancy Pelosi providing help to UnitedHealth. The only problem, of course, is that the video doesn’t show the Thompson that was killed, as anyone with eyes can see. Matt Wallace , a conspiracy theorist who often spreads disinformation on X, helped spread the misidentified video along with several others. Wallace also made a video on Rumble claiming that Nancy Pelosi brainwashed the shooter with techniques from MKUltra, the mind control experiments of the CIA from the 1960s. There were also claims that the man who took a shot at Donald Trump over the summer in Butler, Pennsylvania. The CIA told Gizmodo after those claims went viral that any claims about MKUltra being involved in the assassination attempt were, “utterly false, absurd, and damaging.” Why are people online spreading this false story about Pelosi? We can only assume they’re either actively or unintentionally spreading false information that helps Trump. Many of the accounts that were sharing the false claim in its earliest iteration appear to have bios and images promoting the former and incoming president. HustleBitch, the account that appears to have shared the claim very early (if not possibly the first), has a history of sharing lies on the internet. That account was also one of the first to share a claim that a body double was actually used for Trump’s visit to watch a SpaceX launch with Elon Musk last month . But it’s not clear who’s actually behind the account. All we know for certain is that there’s no evidence that Thompson was killed because he was going to testify. And while Mangione’s lawyer has said his client intends to plead not guilty, all the available evidence seems to suggest that he may have been killed because his company makes billions of dollars in profits while denying life-saving medical coverage to Americans who are fed up with a broken healthcare system.
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$340K in grants given to charities helping at risk youthStockhead Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. Small caps poised for a rebound in 2025, says Shaw and Partners Falling interest rates could boost small cap growth Small caps offer better diversification and strong returns Shaw and Partners' 2024 stock picks have performed exceptionally well, with the investment advice and wealth management firm's 10 emerging company selections up an average of 49%, highlighted by Metro Mining's (ASX:MMI) standout 210% gain. Name Ticker YTD Return 2024 Metro Mining MMI 210% Gentrack GTK 96% FireFly Metals FFM 70% MMA Offshore MRM 65% Austin Engineering ANG 64% Silex SLX 50% AIC Mines A1M -4% Readytech RDY -15% Chrysos C79 -44% Peninsula PEN -50% Looking ahead, Shaw and Partners is even more optimistic about 2025, predicting a strong rebound for ASX small-cap stocks. With several key factors at play, the research firm believes 2025 could be the ideal time to invest in these often-overlooked opportunities. One of the most compelling reasons to invest in small caps is their recent underperformance compared to large caps. Over the past three years, small-cap stocks have lagged behind by 10% per year. This is an unusually large gap, especially when considering historical trends. Shaw and Partners research analysts point out that such underperformance has often been followed by a swift rebound when market conditions improve, particularly when interest rates start to fall. Smaller companies tend to be more reliant on external financing, so when interest rates fall, their borrowing costs decrease, giving them more room to expand. “The relative performance can mean revert quickly given favourable fundamentals,” the wealth management firm explained. “Over the past decade, there have been two periods of RBA interest rate cuts, each case resulting in Australian small cap stocks rising strongly and outperforming large caps.” Another key reason to look at small caps right now is their superior growth potential. Historically, small companies have outpaced large companies in earnings growth, as their smaller size allows them to grow faster from a smaller base. “Equity markets look forward, and consensus estimates forecast stronger EPS growth for small caps relative to large caps as the economy normalises post-Covid,” Shaw and Partners said. Small-cap stocks often have exposure to niche industries, which can lead to faster growth when conditions are right. Diversification and upside Small-cap stocks also provide greater diversification compared to large caps. The biggest stock in the ASX 100, BHP (ASX:BHP) , has a weighting of over 10%, which means its performance can dramatically impact the index. On the other hand, the largest stock in the small-cap index is Life360 (ASX:360) , which makes up just 1.6%. This means small-cap investors can access a broader range of companies across sectors, from technology to consumer products, without being overly exposed to any one company. “This diversification can help investors capture growth across a wider spectrum of the economy,” noted Shaw. Also, the firm said that small-cap managers have consistently delivered strong returns. The “median small-cap manager has outperformed their benchmark across 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15-year timeframes,” Shaw said, largely due to the inefficiencies in the small-cap market, such as lower liquidity and less analyst coverage. This creates opportunities for active managers to generate ‘alpha’ – returns that exceed the market average. Also, current valuations offer attractive entry points, particularly as small caps are trading on a 2-year forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.2, which is below the 17.9 P/E for large caps. Historically, small caps have traded at a premium to large caps, so this discount could represent a solid buying opportunity. Shaw and Partners’ Top 10 small cap ideas for 2025 As 2025 approaches, Shaw and Partners has selected its top 10 small-cap stocks to watch, and provided the following comments for each: Amaero International (ASX:3DA) leads in metal additive manufacturing, targeting aerospace defence, and energy sectors. Leveraging advanced materials and strategic partnerships, it benefits from re-shoring trends and increased defence spending, driving significant growth opportunities. Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) is developing an Australian battery industry utilising vanadium flow batteries that will be used for grid-scale storage. The energy transition requires both electricity generation and matched storage to balance the grid. Beforepay Group (ASX:B4P) is now profitable with its core pay advance lending product. B4P is using its AI algorithms for two new businesses that can double revenue by (1) supplying larger/longer personal loans and (2) supplying AI credit risk modules to US financial institutions. Bannerman Energy (ASX:BMN) is developing the Etango Uranium Project in Namibia. Etango is one of only a handful of construction ready uranium projects globally. It is a large (~215Mlb) and long life (~40 years) asset. The uranium price is expected to continue rising due to strong demand coupled with limited supply. Chrysos Corporation's (ASX:C79) proprietary photon assay technology is making mineral assays faster, more accurate and more environmentally friendly. C79 trades on FY25 EV (expected value) revenue multiple of 8.4x and we forecast a 3-year revenue CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 46%. We see considerable upside as our $7.20 PT (price target) only assumes 265 terminal units vs a current TAM (total addressable market) of 610 units. Humm (ASX:HUM) is a value investment emerging from restructuring and turning to growth. It is trading on a PE (price earnings) of 4x with earnings growth looking solid for FY25. It is Australia’s leading non-bank financial in secured asset lending to SME’s. Metro Mining (ASX:MMI) ships bauxite to China and is trading at just 3.7x PE and 1.5x EV/EBITDA in 2025. Bauxite prices are rising due to strong demand from China at a time of supply disruptions in Guinea, China and an export ban from Indonesia. Santana Minerals (ASX:SMI) is an advanced gold developer. The company is continuing to develop the 100% owned Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project in New Zealand that boasts 2.5Moz in resource. Shaw sees SMI rerate as it rapidly progresses to production whilst simultaneously continuing to explore its sizeable land package. Silex Systems (ASX:SLX) has the potential to be a generational investment, Shaw says. Its technology is "likely to revolutionise the uranium enrichment industry". There are positive catalysts in 2025 as the pilot plant proves up the technology, Cameco exercises its option to increase its stake in the joint venture and the US government provides financial support. Southern Cross Electrical Engineering (ASX:SXE) is a leading national electrical, instrumentation, communications, and maintenance services group. SXE is exposed to the electrification and decarbonisation of the economy. We are attracted to SXE due to the quality of its management and the strength of its industry tailwinds. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the research firm and do not represent the views of Stockhead. Stockhead has not provided, endorsed or otherwise assumed responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article. Originally published as Shaw says 2025 could be the year to feast on ASX small caps and these are its 10 favourites More related stories Stockhead Argentine lithium junior drawing major eyes Pursuit Minerals says its increased resource in Argentina opens the door to significant offtake discussions despite sluggish lithium prices. Read more Stockhead Net zero goals still need hydrogen Heavy transport and displacing fossil fuel-derived hydrogen are some of the key areas where clean hydrogen can shine. Read more
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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justice when he was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday. Thompson — who was killed in what police called a targeted shooting outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown — exercised stock options and sold shares worth $15.1 million on Feb. 16, less than two weeks before news of the federal antitrust probe went public, according to a Crain’s New York Business report from April. The stock price dropped sharply after the revelation that the DOJ was investigating whether the company had made acquisitions that consolidated its market position in violation of antitrust laws, a source familiar with the probe told the outlet. Thompson’s stock options reportedly had several years until expiration, and the sale of shares was his first since assuming the helm of parent company UnitedHealth’s insurance division in 2021. Thompson, 50, along with UnitedHealth Group chairman Stephen Helmsley, Chief People Officer Erin McSweeney and Chief Accounting Officer Tom Roos, sold a combined $101.5 million in shares, with Helmsley personally netting just shy of $85 million, according to the report. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, told Crain’s that share sales by firm principals are typically scrutinized by a company’s general counsel, who can determine whether any additional disclosures to the market may be required before the trades are executed. Earlier this year, UnitedHealth was hit by one of the largest healthcare data breaches in US history, the company estimating as many as one-third of Americans’ private data — potentially including Social Security numbers — were compromised in the ransomware attack. Follow the latest on the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson : The company wound up paying the hackers a $22 million ransom, CEO Andrew Witty told a Congressional panel in May. The massive firm — with annual revenue of around $372 billion — later said it estimated its financial cost as a result of the hack to be around $705 million, Reuters reported.76ers' Paul George hyperextends left knee for second time in a month, will miss at least two games
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