What we learned as Steph goes cold in Warriors' loss to PacersAs TikTok bill steams forward, online influencers put on their lobbying hats to visit Washington
NoneA try, a scrap with a star and a trophy from grandma: Sione’s incredible day
Berry Tramel: Will Mike Gundy now learn to get along with his bosses?
As TikTok bill steams forward, online influencers put on their lobbying hats to visit WashingtonNone“W hat just happened? It was the economy, stupid!” CNN news anchor David Goldman declared when Donald Trump (Republican) won as president of the United States of America for 2025-2029 at the Nov. 5 national elections (CNN, Nov. 6). The American people want a change. Goldman said, “a signi fi cant number of voters blame President Joe Biden and Trump’s opponent, Vice-President Kamala Harris, for failing to make enough improvements to Americans’ financial situations over the past four years. Poll after poll suggested that Americans hold largely negative views about the US economy” (Ibid.). They jealously want a return to “the American dream” of prosperity and indulgence. “Americans are living in the moment, optimistic that Trump can ease the pain of high inflation over the past four years. Election polls consistently showed the economy and inflation were top of mind. In the last Forbes/HarrisX national poll released the Monday before Election Day, 36% of respondents said prices/inflation were their top concern, followed by immigration and the economy at 32% and 31%, respectively,” post-election news analyses said ( USA Today, Nov. 7). The Center for American Progress Action Fund (CapAction), an independent, nonpartisan (US) policy institute and advocacy organization, volunteered an analysis of Trump’s economic plan based on what he had focused on in his first term (2017-2021) as president. “The most significant piece of legislation former President Donald Trump signed during his first term had a dramatic cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% as its centerpiece. (This was supposed to create more jobs, bring down prices, stimulate the economy.) That corporate tax cut did not trickle down to ordinary workers but cost $1.3 trillion and helped fuel a record $1 trillion in stock buybacks the year after it passed ( americanprogressaction.org , June 12). “We know that ‘privately, Trump has told allies that he is keenly interested in cutting corporate tax rates again,’ according to The Washington Post , even as corporate profits hit near record highs in 2023... The Post also reported that Trump’s advisers... have discussed proposals to make deeper cuts to the overall corporate tax rate, potentially to as low as 15%. As antitax advocate Grover Norquist told The Post, ‘I would be very surprised’ if he abandoned the push for lower corporate taxes... ‘All the people advising him before for sure think the 15% is where we need to go’.” (Ibid.). Why the contretemps of Trump taking over the reins of the world’s leading economy, at this time of struggling out of the global recession caused by the four-year COVID pandemic and the disruption of world peace. The world economy will be affected by the US economy. Noam Chomsky, American professor emeritus (MIT) and a “public intellectual” known for his work in linguistics, political activism and social criticism, wrote a book, Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power (2017) in which he asks “why America seemed to reach the zenith of its economic and civic vibrancy in the 1950s and ’60s and then go into a decline that has left few except the top tenth of a percent of Americans truly fulfilled or satisfied.” Reviewer Godfrey Cheshire subtly connects Chomsky’s thesis of the change in American culture and thought to the socio-politics of Trump’s first term as President (coinciding with the launch of Chomsky’s book and the partner-documentary in 2017). “Chomsky aptly calls the process (the change) he describes a ‘vicious cycle’ — the more money that goes into politics with the intent of influencing it, the more our politics is ruled by money rather than any other definition of national welfare.” Is it suggested that Trump, being unchangeably a businessman, aka, a capitalist, will be guided by his affinity with the wealthy (as he was reportedly supported in the elections by “big business”) in guiding the economics of his country? Note that bringing down the US corporate income tax rate from the present 21% to 15% (the centerpiece of Trump’s economic plan) will give the largest 100 US companies (the Fortune 100) a total estimated annual tax cut of $48 billion. These corporations collectively reported $1.1 trillion in profits in their last annual reports ( americanprogressaction.org , op cit.). Cutting the corporate tax rate to 15% would cost roughly $1 trillion over 10 years based on Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and US Treasury estimates. Yet the shortfall in government revenues will be suffered by the people, as the tax cuts (from 35% to 21%) in Trump’s first term did not trickle down to boost productivity, employment, and lower-level household income. The (US) Center on Budget and Policy Priorities judged that “the 2017 Trump Tax Law was skewed to the rich, expensive, and failed to deliver on its promises.” Close to the elections, the Center warned that “A high-stakes tax policy debate will accelerate this year through 2025 over the pending expiration of the individual income and estate tax provisions of the 2017 Trump tax law. Policymakers should use this opportunity to work toward a tax code that raises more revenues, is more progressive and equitable, and supports investments that make the economy work for everyone” ( cbpp.org , June 13). America is told by its own sages to “make haste slowly” and to weigh and vet its strategies for economic development. Priority is to watch and avert the social degradation and undemocratic exclusion of the less privileged from opportunities for a better quality of life. The rich already have all they need and all they want. Some less-developed countries like the Philippines might still subconsciously look up to America for how to think or act in national situations or issues — perhaps a vestige of the “relief” from 300 years of Spanish colonization. (No Filipino bashing here, for wanting to be “Westernized,” as the whole world is now actually still led by America.) Is it surprising that our socio-politics and economics are pretty much like those of the US? President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. signed on Nov. 11 a new tax law called CREATE MORE, or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy Act. It will amend Republic Act 11534 or the original CREATE Act that was crafted to help enterprises recover from the impact of the pandemic by lowering the corporate income tax rates and making the country more appealing to businesses by rationalizing fiscal incentives ( manilatimes.net , Nov. 11). Its centerpiece policy is the reduction of the corporate income tax to 20% from the current 25%. There will be additional tax deductions and absolutely no taxes for specific registered business enterprises and incentives for foreign direct investors. Its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) will be released soon. Economist JC Punongbayan comments that official projections from Malacañang say the CREATE MORE will admittedly lower tax revenues by P5.9 billion. (Understated?) “That’s not a terribly large amount. In fact, such forgone revenues would be just 2% of the government’s revenues in September 2024. But still, it represents an erosion of much-needed revenues, at this time when the budget deficit and public debt remain too high compared to our nation’s income. If you check the latest debt statistics, you’ll see that the debt-to-GDP ratio has inched up to 61.3% in September 2024. That’s higher than the 2023 level of 60.1%.” ( Rappler , Nov. 15) Deloitte analyst Senen Quizon points out that CREATE MORE allows the president to grant incentives without the recommendation of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB), the government body with the authority to grant tax incentives to Registered Business Enterprises (RBEs). At present, the President has residual power to grant incentive packages based on the FIRB’s criteria and recommendations ( deloitte.com/ph , Nov. 4). Oops! Hope the RBE/ Foreign Direct Investors will not have to worry about the “unexpected costs” of doing business in the Philippines. Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines. ahcylagan@yahoo.com
Penn State kicks off Sunshine Slam by cruising past Fordham
On today’s You Asked: Why do so many movies considered to have great transfers to 4K Blu-ray look so noisy? Is there a problem with Hisense TV stock, just ahead of the holidays? How many calibrations should a TV get? Check that TV model again? John in the U.K. writes: How highly would you rate the 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED QN55D? I entered myself into a competition draw via Dolby. First, I think there may have been a typo there? I’m not aware of a QN55D — at least not in the North American market — and I don’t know of one in the U.K. or Europe either. Did you possibly mean the QN85D or QN95D? Let me know the exact model number. The “55” should go before the QN to signify size, I believe, and the following number is the model or series number. Out-of-stock Hisense Brendan wrote in about the Hisense 75U8N being out of stock at Walmart, and that they’re concerned they may miss out on a big employee deal, and also about the availability of that TV in general since it is highly rated. If you’ve been eyeballing a 75-inch Hisense U8N , my contacts at Hisense let me know that a restock order is due to ship in two to three weeks, which would place the item back in stock at Walmart during the first or second week of December. For a while there, I was wondering if Walmart’s acquisition of Vizio may have led to some Hisense models being edged out strategically, but happily this does not appear to be the case. How many times should you calibrate? Omar writes: Is it better to calibrate a TV twice, once for daytime/bright and once for night/dark? I have never seen anyone mention this before and would like to know. Also, is it common for TVs to have multiple preset “slots” for multiple calibrations? This is a great question. Yes, it is wise to have a TV calibrated for daytime or bright room use and also have a preset for nighttime or dark room use. That way, you can have a fully accurate mode and a mode that is better suited for viewing in the day, when scenes that are displayed at their intended brightness (by the creator anyway) would be too dark to see unless you were in a pitch black room. There’s plenty of content out there like that. And, yes, one of the things we got the TV manufacturers to do is create multiple preset options with labels that make sense for day and night use. But a good TV can have any mode calibrated to perform to your liking — so even the dreaded Vivid mode can be made more accurate, but still bright enough for daytime use. Soundbars in corners Omar writes: Do soundbar systems work in the corner of the room? My TV is wall-mounted, in a corner of the room, with the soundbar hanging underneath. Will Atmos soundbars work in a corner configuration? I’m interested in getting the new Sonos Arc Ultra complete system or the Bravia Quad. Any recommendations on which one I should get? You could go with either the Theatre Quad or the Sonos Arc Ultra system. The Theater Quad might be a little better since it can be placed more flexibly and you’ll still get killer Atmos surround sound. However, the Sonos Arc Ultra could work mounted under the TV. Any drivers shooting out of the sides of the Arc Ultra, though, would struggle to give you some extended width to the sound, as they would not bounce off at the intended angle — that might be hard for the Sonos TruePlay system to overcome. But it would still sound amazing, especially with the surrounds and sub in place. So don’t feel like you should skip it because of that one concern. Both would be great, but if this were my room, I would do Theatre Quad. Noisy 4K Blu-ray blues Max writes that he noticed when watching The Matrix – specifically in scenes like “The Construct” — that the white background is super noisy, even though the 4K Blu-ray version is known to be the product of a high-quality transfer. They noticed it on a Bravia 7 with a Sony UBP-X800M2 Blu-ray player and on a Hisense U8K with a Panasonic Blu-ray player. Is it normal for a movie to have these noise issues? This is something that keeps coming up, and I think that means we need to keep talking about it. The Matrix was shot on 35mm film and used a lot of effects. One of the things that made that movie interesting was its blend of traditional filmmaking and more modern digital special effects. That white background was not digitally manifested. It was an actual white background. That doesn’t necessarily account for it being noisy, though. When doing a transfer to digital, the grain in 35mm film is very difficult to reproduce well — digital scanning must be done very carefully to get a digital representation of it. The real issue, though, is that despite all the advances in TV image processing, digital capture of film grain is hard to perceive as anything but noise to the TV. And even if the TV’s digital noise filters are disabled, the TV still has a hard time knowing what to do with all that “noise.” The white background, even if it was digitally inserted, would need to have had digital film grain added in order for it to work with the rest of the movie — with actual film grain in the source image. The noise is always there. It’s just way, way more obvious with bright and light colors. I think that’s why it seems so severe. It’s just easy to see and, therefore, potentially more distracting. Where’s the Samsung QN90D review? Devon writes: Will there be a full review on the Samsung QN90D besides the one that I see was done for subscribers? The Sony Bravia 7 was my pick until I saw how bad the reflections are, so now I would really like to hear your full thoughts on the Samsung. Thank you for all that you do! First, a little correction. I have not done a review on the QN90D for members. I have shared some behind-the-scenes info, as I have been testing the TV and have talked a little about some specific experiences and some questions that have come up. The full review of the QN90D has now been published. Unfortunately, the review on the 98-inch version might not provide the information you’re looking for. If you think the Bravia 7 may be too reflective, the QN90D will be a better option. If you are getting a 75-inch model or lower, the QN90D will likely make you very, very happy.Health Catalyst, Inc. ( NASDAQ:HCAT – Get Free Report ) Director Duncan Gallagher sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $31,410.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 74,438 shares in the company, valued at $519,577.24. The trade was a 5.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link . Health Catalyst Trading Down 0.1 % Shares of HCAT opened at $7.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $430.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 1.31. Health Catalyst, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.42 and a fifty-two week high of $11.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. Health Catalyst ( NASDAQ:HCAT – Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $76.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.27 million. Health Catalyst had a negative return on equity of 7.51% and a negative net margin of 26.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Health Catalyst, Inc. will post -0.33 earnings per share for the current year. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades View Our Latest Stock Analysis on HCAT Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Health Catalyst by 6.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Health Catalyst by 21.3% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 2,064 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Health Catalyst by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Health Catalyst by 13.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Health Catalyst by 59.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610 shares in the last quarter. 85.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Health Catalyst Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Health Catalyst, Inc provides data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations in the United States. It operates in two segments, Technology and Professional Services. The company provides data operating system data platform which provides clients single comprehensive environment to integrate and organize data from their disparate software systems; and analytics applications, a software analytics applications build for data platform to analyze clients face across clinical and quality, population health, and financial and operational use cases. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Health Catalyst Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Health Catalyst and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
It’s a new era for the Sparks once again. Longtime collegiate head coach Lynne Roberts enters into the spotlight as the Sparks ’ new coach, making the leap to the WNBA with the mission of revitalizing a franchise coming off its worst season in history. Over her 27-year coaching career, Roberts has successfully transformed college programs, achieving complete turnarounds at Chico State, Pacific and Utah. Now she faces the challenge of replicating that success at the next level, navigating the heightened pressure that comes with coaching in Los Angeles. “No one’s going to put more pressure on me than I put on myself,” Roberts said. “I put a ton of pressure on myself to succeed. As a competitor and someone who thrives under pressure, being in this market, being in L.A. — it sounds like heaven to me.” Although entering a rebuild once again, Roberts has lofty goals for a franchise she feels should be the premier organization in all of the WNBA. “This should be the best organization, program, [and] team in the W,” Roberts said. “I’m here to do what I can and do my part to win as many games as you can and get that championship culture back.” Before accepting the job, Roberts faced questions about why she would take on such a daunting challenge. Not shying away from the challenge, her response was simple: “Why wouldn’t I do this?” “Basketball is basketball, [and] I think coaching is coaching,” Roberts said. “For me, everywhere I’ve coached, it’s about developing relationships with the players and creating a true, genuine, authentic connection with each one of them.” Roberts inherits a team that finished last in the WNBA (8–32) but possesses an abundance of untapped potential. The team is led by a young core featuring second-year players Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson , alongside veteran and WNBA All-Star Dearica Hamby . “We’re going to do just fine, and I want to compete,” Roberts said. “I want to win now. I know that’s easier said than done, but I’m up for the challenge, and I can’t wait to get started.” Roberts came with glowing reviews, which general manager Raegan Pebley , who has known Roberts for more than a decade, read aloud at the presser. Words such as “caring,” “high standards,” “confident” and “helpful” were attached to Roberts’ makeup. “That’s how she’s always shown up as I’ve known her for over a decade,” Pebley said. “I know that’s how she’s walked through this entire process.” For Pebley and managing partner Eric Holoman, Roberts checked all the boxes the organization outlined during its exhaustive coaching search, which took Pebley across the country and around the globe. Roberts possessed all the characteristics Pebley was looking for in a new head coach: forward thinker, developer of people and leader. These traits made the decision a no-brainer as the choice to bring the Sparks back to relevancy. Finding the right head coach is just one of the committed investments the franchise is making in its future. Another is the team’s search for a location for its new practice facility, which has yet to be announced. With plans to move from renting space at El Camino College in Torrance, Pebley says the initiative aims to create a space with the best resources for a successful team and coaching staff. “We want to build a home that is reflective of who they are, the direction we’re going, the excellence they strive for and model all the time,” Pebley said. “We want to put memories in there, and we’re really thrilled that we are well on our way.”SEBI completes all 24 investigations in Adani-Hindenburg caseThe cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is 29% more expensive since 2020, according to a new survey of holiday meal costs by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving dinner price survey found holiday meal staples to serve 10 people total $58.08 nationally. That is down from a record high meal cost of $64.06 in 2022 when the post-pandemic inflation wave was at its highest. But holiday meal prices are still 24% higher than they were in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic and social shutdowns. Thanksgiving meals cost $46.90 in 2020. Those prices are based on 10 Thanksgiving food items such as turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie ingredients. But if the food list expanded to include potatoes, green beans and ham the average cost in 2024 is $77.34, according to the Farm Bureau. The same 13 items cost $60.11 in 2020, according to the agriculture group. That’s a 29% rise. Turkey prices have come down compared to 2023. Inflation was a top concern of voters in the 2024 presidential election with economically stressed voters preferring now President-elect Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. Overall, U.S. prices are up 22% since before the pandemic in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “While inflation has slowed down, it really hasn't slowed down enough to bring costs back down to these pre-pandemic levels. So it's really important to remember that our farmers and ranchers, like our consumers, are also dealing with inflation, so the cost of supplies to grow food has gone up, while USDA predicts that net farm income is going to be down nearly 25 percent compared to just two years ago,” said Bernt Nelson, a Farm Bureau economist. Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.