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The Premier League table is starting to have a 1979 kind of feel to it — with Liverpool at the top of the standings and Nottingham Forest in second place as the closest challenger. Liverpool padded its lead with a 5-0 rout of West Ham on Sunday, while upstart Nottingham Forest climbed into second place by beating Everton 2-0 to continue its surprising push for a Champions League place. Forest was runner-up behind Liverpool in the English top tier in 1979 – the same year it won the first of two straight European Cups under Brian Clough – but hasn’t finished that high in the domestic first division since then. The club’s long-suffering fans finally have reason to believe that the good times are back under Nuno Espirito Santo. Although the Portuguese manager was the first to point out that his team may not stay in second place for very long. “It doesn’t mean anything,” Nuno said of his team’s position. “We haven’t achieved anything yet.” Forest could find itself back in fourth place by Jan. 1 as it is only one point above Arsenal and two ahead of Chelsea, with both London clubs having a game in hand. Liverpool could prove a lot harder to overtake, though, as Arne Slot’s team only seems to be growing stronger and stronger. The performance at West Ham was one of its most impressive yet, with five different players getting on the scoresheet — including Mohamed Salah, who netted the team’s third for his league-leading 17th of the season. Salah also had an assist to take his tally to 52 goal contributions in all competitions for the calendar year 2024 — 29 goals and 23 assists. Salah was asked after the match if he would soon have good news for fans about his future beyond the end of this season, when his contract expires. The Egyptian told Sky Sports: “No, we are far away from that.” “The only thing on my mind is I want Liverpool to win the league and I want to be part of that,” Salah said. “I will do my best for the team to win the trophy. There is a few other teams catching up with us and we need to stay focused and humble and go again.” Liverpool is nine points ahead of Arsenal and 10 above Chelsea, with all three teams having played 18 games. Manchester City is 14 points back having played 19 games, after beating Leicester 2-0 away. Guardiola marks milestone with win In his 500th game in charge of Man City, Pep Guardiola had some reasons to smile again. City marked Guardiola’s milestone with a win and a goal from Erling Haaland — things that the Spaniard used to take for granted but have been increasingly rare of late for the struggling four-time defending Premier League champions. Savinho also netted his first goal for the club in a much-needed win, although the team still looked far from the juggernaut that has dominated English soccer for much of the Spaniard’s reign. Leicester had several chances for an equalizer before Savinho set up Haaland for the second in the 74th as City ended a five-game winless run in all competitions. “Just relief, that is the word to express how all of us feel,” Guardiola said. “It was not the ideal performance but hopefully the victories will give our mood a better position. ... Hopefully in the new year we can bounce back a bit from a bad moment.” This was only the club’s second win in 14 games in all competition. And even against a team mired in the relegation zone, City was pegged back for much of the second half until Haaland’s header ended Leicester’s resistance. Savinho put the team ahead in the 21st minute by pouncing on the rebound after Phil Foden drove forward and tried a low shot from distance that Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk pushed to the side. The ball fell into the path of the onrushing Savinho, who lifted it over the goalkeeper and into the net. The winger then turned provider by lifting a perfect cross into the box for Haaland to head home the second, shortly after Jamie Vardy had missed a good chance for a Leicester equalizer. Spurs drop points again Tottenham’s roller-coaster of a season had another downturn as Spurs conceded a late equalizer to draw 2-2 at home against Wolves. Ange Postecoglou has come under increasing criticism of late because of his team’s all-attacking style of play and the team’s defensive vulnerabilities were on display again as Jorgen Strand Larsen was afforded space to beat Fraser Forster at his near post in the 87th minute. Wolves had taken the lead through Hwang Hee-chan after a well-worked free kick routine in the seventh minute, but Rodrigo Bentancur equalized five minutes later and Brennan Johnson gave Tottenham the lead on the stroke of halftime. Substitute Dango Ouattara netted an even later equalizer for Bournemouth to draw 2-2 at Fulham, while Crystal Palace came from a goal down to beat last-place Southampton 2-1.New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYMTL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 on January 15th
S ocial security pensions are grabbing headlines for the wrong reasons in Kerala. Towards the end of November, the State Finance Department published a list of 1,458 government employees, which included gazetted officers, assistant professors, and higher secondary teachers, who were drawing social security pension despite not qualifying for it. The list sparked outrage as the monthly payment of ₹1,600 per person is meant for the disadvantaged sections of society. A few days later, an audit by the State’s Finance Department revealed that many wealthy people, including owners of high-end cars, in Kottakkal municipality of Malappuram district, had snuck into the list of beneficiaries, presumably with the connivance of government officials. The Finance Department then issued instructions to government departments to initiate disciplinary action against all those who were fraudulently claiming pension and recover the money in full at a penal interest rate of 18%. Last week, the State Soil Survey and Soil Conservation Department suspended six employees who were illegally drawing social security pension. More departments are expected to follow suit in the following weeks. The government has also taken steps to weed out ineligible recipients from the list of beneficiaries. Over the years, Kerala has been a model State in the distribution of social security pension. The support system ensures that nearly 50 lakh people receive a monthly payment of ₹1,600. The beneficiaries include people who are 60 years or older, the disabled, widows, unmarried women above 50 years, and agriculture labourers. The government increased the pension amount from ₹600 per beneficiary in 2016 to ₹1,600 in 2017. A revised government order issued in 2017 was specific about ineligibility too, stating that income tax payers, service pensioners, and people with an annual family income of more than ₹1 lakh do not qualify for pension. According to the Economic Review published by the State Planning Board, the number of social security pensioners rose from 34 lakh in 2015-16 to 52.38 lakh in October 2022. It came down to 46.77 lakh in November 2023. If we add welfare fund board pension to this list, the number would be closer to 62 lakh. The latest Economic Review breaks up the categories as follows: 56.5% of the beneficiaries are those aged 60 years and above, 27.1% are widows, 7.8% are the disabled, and 6.8% are agricultural workers. A little more than 81,300 unmarried women are also among the recipients. Those who have been illegally drawing pension have been mostly doing so under the disability and widow category. These figures illustrate the enormous financial load on the Kerala government. The government needs more than ₹900 crore every month to pay social security and welfare fund board pension. Social security cesses on Indian-Made Foreign Liquor, petrol, and diesel, announced in the 2023-24 State Budget, scarcely cover even one month’s payment. The first two quarters of 2024-25 yielded just ₹549.71 crore from these levies. According to Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal’s office, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government, which came to power in 2021, has so far spent ₹33,800 crore on social security pension alone. The State government also claims that a Central share, albeit small, for which 5.88 lakh of the pensioners are eligible, is in arrears. All this means that the Kerala government, which is already battling a financial crunch, cannot overlook any leakage and pilferage in public funds. A January 2020 Finance Department circular indicates that the government was aware that government employees and service pensioners were illegally drawing social security support. The circular instructed them to return the money in full and get their names deleted from the beneficiary list. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India had also flagged the issue of ‘irregular disbursement’ of pensions to service pensioners and employees in a performance audit report for 2022. The latest developments yet again call for tighter surveillance on the outflow and utilisation of funds for social support schemes as well as periodic reviews and updates of the lists of beneficiaries. Further, action must be taken against government servants who were complicit in this. tiki.rajwi@thehindu.co.in Published - December 25, 2024 02:29 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Kerala / pension and welfare / wage and pensionEnergy stocks as a whole delivered an underwhelming performance in 2025. The average one in the S&P 500 has only managed to eke out a small gain (the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund -- an ETF that tracks energy stocks in the S&P 500 -- is only up about 1% on the year). Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has rallied more than 25%. A few Fool.com contributors expect a better performance from energy stocks next year. Chevron ( CVX 0.01% ) , Enterprise Products Partners ( EPD -0.23% ) , and Occidental Petroleum ( OXY 0.75% ) top their lists as the best ones to buy in the new year. Here's why they expect these energy companies to deliver a strong performance in 2025. Chevron has you covered through the energy cycle Reuben Gregg Brewer (Chevron): Energy stocks can be volatile, given that oil and natural gas prices are notoriously volatile. So you have to go in ready to handle the inherent ups and downs of the industry, regardless of whether you buy at the top of the energy cycle or the bottom. Chevron is built to ride the wave -- and keep paying you well throughout. The proof is in the $250 billion market cap energy giant's 37-year streak of annual dividend increases. There are a couple of important reasons for this reliable performance. First off, as an integrated energy company, Chevron has exposure across the energy sector, including the upstream (energy production), midstream ( pipelines ), and downstream (chemicals and refining). Each of the sectors operates a little differently from the others and, as such, having all three in the portfolio helps to soften the broader industry's peaks and valleys. CVX Debt to Equity Ratio data by YCharts Then there's Chevron's rock-solid balance sheet , with a debt-to-equity ratio that's a very low 0.2. That would be low for any company, but it gives Chevron the leeway to take on leverage during energy downturns so it can continue to support its business and dividend until the energy sector recovers, as it always has before. Add in an attractive 4.5% dividend yield , and there's even more reason to buy Chevron right now. Dual drivers should fuel more growth in 2025 Matt DiLallo (Enterprise Products Partners ): Midstream giant Enterprise Products Partners had a very solid year in 2024. The master limited partnership ( MLP ) grew its distributable cash flow by 5% in the third quarter. Meanwhile, it has increased its distribution payment by 5% over the past year. The company benefited from recently completed organic expansion projects, which supplied it with new sources of cash flow . That momentum should continue in 2025. The midstream company has several more organic expansion projects in the pipeline that should enter commercial service over the next year. Those projects will supply more sources of cash flow growth next year. In addition, Enterprise Products Partners will get a boost from its recently closed acquisition of Pinon Midstream. The $950 million deal will be highly accretive to its cash flow. The MLP expects it to add $0.03 per unit in 2025, with further upside potential from commercial and operating synergies. Those visible growth drivers should give the MLP the fuel to continue increasing its distribution in 2025. That would extend its growth streak, which reached 26 years in 2024. Its payout currently yields a very attractive 6.8%, putting it much higher than average (the S&P 500's dividend yield is around 1.2%). Enterprise Products Partners' lucrative income stream and visible growth drivers should give it the fuel to produce a solid return in 2025. That low-risk probability of earning a solid return makes it stand out as a top energy stock to buy for the next year. A compelling bounce-back candidate for 2025 Neha Chamaria (Occidental Petroleum): Occidental Petroleum stock turned out to be one of the largest underperforming large-cap energy stocks of 2024, losing 19% of its value in the year as of this writing. While falling oil prices in the second half of the year hit several oil stocks, Occidental Petroleum stock took a bigger hit partly because of debt, which zoomed after its multibillion-dollar CrownRock acquisition in August. At this point, however, Occidental Petroleum looks like the kind of energy stock you'd want to buy for 2025 for one big reason: Management is laser-focused on cutting down debt. Occidental announced a target of reducing debt by at least $4.5 billion within 12 months of closing the CrownRock acquisition. The company, however, hit 90% of its goal in less than three months, driven by strong cash flow generation in its third quarter. During its third-quarter earnings conference call, management stated that Occidental Petroleum has enough cash to repay debt maturing in 2025, and that it should be able to pare debt further next year even in a low-oil price environment. Meanwhile, CrownRock's key assets in the Permian Basin are already contributing to Occidental's production and cash flows, as was evidenced in the third quarter. Occidental also has other growth catalysts, such as its low-carbon ventures business and its chemicals business, called OxyChem. Given the backdrop, Occidental Petroleum looks like a value stock worth betting on for 2025 .
When Nebraska meets Oregon State on Wednesday in Honolulu in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic, it will have a chance to win its first tournament since the San Juan Shootout in 2000. If the Cornhuskers (9-2) pull it off, there's a good chance Juwan Gary will have something to do with it -- on both ends of the floor. The 6-foot-6, sixth-year senior averages 11.7 points per game and is coming off a 21-point outing in Monday night's 69-55 semifinal win over Hawaii. Gary is also an elite defender whose ability to guard multiple positions has Nebraska playing the best defense in coach Fred Hoiberg's six seasons. The Cornhuskers, who have allowed an average of 52.0 points per game in victories over Murray State and Hawaii at the tournament, are limiting the opposition to 36.3 percent field-goal shooting. "He can guard anybody one through five," Hoiberg said of Gary. "He does so many little things for his team and he's one of the elite offensive rebounders in the country." Fellow sixth-year senior Brice Williams (19.2 points) is coming off a 32-point outing Monday night for Nebraska, which is on a three-game winning streak. The Beavers (10-2) rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit in Monday's first semifinal to topple Oakland 80-74. Liutauras Lelevicius led a balanced attack with 17 points, producing a three-point play with 12 seconds left in regulation that forced overtime. Reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Week Michael Rataj added 13 points and seven rebounds one day after putting up 16 and 12, respectively, in a win over the College of Charleston. Winners of six in a row, Oregon State's hot start might surprise some, given the losses it incurred to the transfer portal after the program fell from Power 5 status. The departures included Jordan Pope (Texas) and Tyler Bilodeau (UCLA). But coach Wayne Tinkle felt the Beavers got deeper via their portal additions. "They're excited to be wearing the Oregon State uniform," he said. "Our balance of youth brings some real enthusiasm among with a good balance of mature guys." --Field Level Media