
For those on the right side of the political aisle, 2024 was a mixed bag. On the one hand, we had to trudge through the final year of Joe Biden’s disastrous presidency while fighting tooth and nail to prevent the administration from inflicting further economic carnage. On the other hand, we also were given an enormous gift at the beginning of November with the victory of Donald Trump. Now, without further ado, I present the top five moments of 2024. First, it goes without saying that the election on Nov. 5 was, by far, the best moment of 2024. At the start of 2024, things did not look good for Trump as he faced a litany of felony charges across multiple jurisdictions. However, despite the legal onslaught, Trump refused to back down. Then, Trump pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in political history as he cruised to victory and helped the Republican Party gain control of both houses of Congress. This election will go down in history as a turning point, considering the vast inroads Trump made among voters who traditionally voted for Democrats. In second place among the best moments of 2024 comes Biden’s devastating debate performance. Although the polls were tight heading into the debate between Trump and Biden, the absolutely pitiful performance by Biden completely changed the state of the race. Soon after Biden flopped in front of millions of Americans, the Democratic Party pulled the plug on his reelection effort. Of course, this short-sighted move benefited Trump greatly. Even more important, it led to the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket. Considering that Harris flip-flopped on basically every central policy position, it really was a blessing in disguise that she inherited Biden’s place and was eventually destroyed by Trump. In third place , and this could have easily been first or second, comes Trump’s survival of two assassination attempts. In midsummer, Trump was crisscrossing the country, holding outdoor rallies. Unfortunately, Trump’s proclivity to engage with his supporters nearly cost him his life. However, despite two would-be assassins somehow evading Secret Service detection, and one getting several shots off, Trump was largely unharmed. While this was a blessing, we also must never forget that one person, Corey Comperatore, died at the Butler rally and two others were wounded. For the fourth-best moment of 2024, I suggest the incredible technological feat achieved by SpaceX. On Oct. 14, SpaceX launched its Super Heavy Starship, the most powerful rocket in the world. Then, in an unprecedented engineering marvel, the 23-story-tall Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad in an upright position and was “caught” without a hitch. It was like something straight out of a science-fiction movie, and it clearly demonstrated that the age of space exploration has entered a new chapter. Rounding out the best moments of 2024, in fifth place, let’s return to the political arena and the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency. For decades, conservatives and libertarians have been warning that the size and scope of the federal government is totally unsustainable and that big government is bad news for personal liberty. Finally, some significant spending cuts and institutional reforms are in the offing. With the national debt exceeding $36 trillion and trillion-dollar deficits the new normal, we need to downsize the federal bureaucracy and get back on sound fiscal footing before it is too late.
Groups break down barriers on Colorado’s slopes to diversify winter sports that are “just so hard to get into”So much so that F1 and Formula One Management could have a decision to grant the General Motors-backed entry a spot as the 11th team on the grid in the coming weeks. Dan Towriss, now the majority owner of the Andretti organization, was at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Thursday scoping his chances of entering the top motorsports series in the world. So was the FBI, allegedly, as part of a Department of Justice investigation into why F1 denied the Andretti organization expansion into the series. F1 currently has 10 teams that field 20 cars and only one — the organization owned by California businessman Gene Haas — is an American team. Las Vegas marks the third race this season in the United States, more than any other country, as F1 has exploded in American popularity over the last five years. Even so, Andretti could not get approval from F1 to enter the series. But, the situation changed in September when Andretti scaled back his role with his namesake organization. Now with Towriss in charge, talks have amplified, even though it is not clear what the name of an Andretti-less F1 team would even be. Cadillac would do the engines — but says it won't be ready until 2028 — which means a 2026 Towriss-led F1 team would be GM branded but with a partner engine supplier. Most of the existing teams have been largely opposed to an 11th team entering F1, citing a dilution in prize money and the massive expenses they've already committed to the series. But, Andretti among others believed the teams' position was personal in that they simply didn't like Andretti, who ran 13 races in the 1993 season. His father, Mario, is the 1978 F1 world champion. The Andretti application had already been approved by the FIA, which is F1's ruling body, but later denied by F1 itself. F1 promised to revisit the issue once General Motors had an engine ready to compete. The existing 10 F1 teams have no actual vote or say in if the grid is expanded, which Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reiterated Thursday when The Associated Press asked why the sudden chance of acceptance in a potential 11th team. "We have an obligation, a statutory obligation as directors, to present the standpoint that is the best for our company and for our employees, and we've done that," Wolff said. "I think if a team can add to the championship, particularly if GM decides to come in as a team owner, that is a different story. "And as long as it is creative, that means we're growing the popularity of the sport, we're growing the revenue of the sport, then no team will be ever against it. So I'm putting my hope in there." Wolff has been eager to hear from Towriss directly on what the plans for the organization are now that Andretti has a smaller role. "No one from Andretti or Andretti Global or whatever the name will be has ever spoken to me a single sentence in presentation of what the creative part is," he said. "But they don't need to because the teams don't decide. It is the commercial rights holder, with the FIA, we have no say. If I want to be invited to a party and go to the party, I'm sitting down at the table and telling who I am and why I'm really good fun and sitting here and everybody will enjoy my presence. "That hasn't happened, but you know, that's now my personal point of view, not a professional, because there's nothing we can do, nothing we can say," Wolff continued. "And I don't know the people. I've obviously spoken to Mario. I didn't speak to his son. I didn't speak to any other people that are behind that. I don't know who they are. So I know GM, GM is great." Fred Vasseur, team principal at Ferrari, said he's not opposed to another team if it adds value to F1. "The discussion is between FIA, the team, and FOM. It's not our choice," he said. "For sure, as Toto said, that if it's good for the sport, good for the show, good for the business, and adds value on the sporting side, that we are all OK."Martinez had gone eight matches since last finding the back of the net against Venezia on November 3 but after Alessandro Bastoni opened the scoring in the 54th minute, the Argentina international struck in Sardinia. The Inter captain took his tally against Cagliari to 10 goals in as many games after 71 minutes before Hakan Calhanoglu capped an excellent night for the visitors from the penalty spot a few moments later. Inter’s fifth-successive league victory led to them temporarily leapfrogging Atalanta, who reclaimed top spot but saw their lead cut to a single point following a 1-1 draw at Lazio. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were grateful for a point in the end after falling behind to Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s first-half strike, only drawing level with two minutes remaining thanks to Marco Brescianini. Lautaro Valenti’s last-gasp strike condemned rock-bottom Monza to a 10th defeat in 18 matches as Parma edged a 2-1 victory, while Genoa defeated Empoli by the same scoreline.
The U.S. stock market has demonstrated a strong performance in 2024, with the benchmark S&P 500 posting a total return of about 25% as the year nears its end. Not surprisingly, the technology sector, especially artificial intelligence (AI) powered stocks, has been at the heart of this bull rally. There has been some increase in market volatility in December 2024 due to the Federal Reserve's indication of fewer-than-expected interest rate cuts in 2025. Despite these headwinds, there are some high-quality, fundamentally strong stocks to watch out for in 2025. Against this backdrop, these stocks can prove to be compelling picks for astute investors in 2025. Here's why. Nvidia Nvidia ( NVDA -2.09% ) has emerged as a standout stock in 2024, demonstrating exceptional financial performance and technological prowess. It is indisputable that the company's AI-optimized ecosystem (hardware, software, partners) has been at the heart of this dramatic growth trajectory. Nvidia's revenue soared by a solid 94% year over year to $35.1 billion in the third quarter of its fiscal 2025 (ended Oct. 27), driven mainly by 112% year-over-year growth of the AI-focused data center segment. The top-line growth trajectory may continue for several quarters, thanks to the staggering demand for the company's full-stack, full-infrastructure, and highly customizable AI data center scale Blackwell systems. The company has already shipped 13,000 samples of its next-generation Blackwell systems to customers including ChatGPT developer OpenAI. After dominating the AI training market, Nvidia now stands to benefit dramatically from the growing demand in the inference market (deploying complex AI models in the production environment) due to its large installed base and robust software ecosystem. The company has successfully transitioned its hardware chips and software from training to inferencing workloads -- implying that existing customers will not have to switch to competition. Nvidia's enterprise AI software solutions are also being increasingly adopted by prominent companies such as Salesforce , SAP , and ServiceNow . All these trends have helped to strengthen Nvidia's moat further. Considering Nvidia's diverse growth catalysts in the AI market and the excellent financial growth prospects, the company is well-positioned to deliver solid returns in 2025. Advanced Micro Devices Being the second-most prominent AI chip maker globally, Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD 0.10% ) is all set to benefit significantly in the rapidly expanding AI market (with a target addressable market estimated to be worth $500 billion by 2028). The company's data center revenue soared by 122% year over year to $3.5 billion in the third quarter, driven mainly by solid uptake of its Instinct GPUs and EPYC server CPUs. AMD now expects data center GPU revenue to be over $5 billion in 2024, an upgraded estimate from the previous $4.5 billion guidance provided in July 2024. Hence, although it's behind Nvidia, AMD is steadily expanding its presence in the AI market. Microsoft uses AMD's MI300X chips to power multiple copilot services. Meta Platforms has also chosen these chips to power its inferencing infrastructure at scale, especially for its most demanding open-source Llama model. AMD is also focusing on performance improvements to further boost adoption of its GPUs. The recently launched MI325X GPUs have demonstrated 20% better inferencing performance than H200 chips. AMD is also gearing up for the launch of the upcoming MI350-series GPUs scheduled in the second half of 2025. Looking ahead to 2025, analysts expect AMD's revenue to be around $32.56 billion, implying year-over-year growth of 26.88%. Plus, the company is profitable and free-cash-flow positive. Hence, AMD may be a worthwhile stock to watch out for in 2025. Alphabet Alphabet ( GOOG -1.55% ) ( GOOGL -1.45% ) has emerged as a formidable player in the AI space and is already earning money from its AI offerings. Although the company faces multiple headwinds, including antitrust challenges and adverse Department of Justice rulings (including a recent one wanting divestiture of its Chrome browser and Android mobile operating system), Alphabet's fundamentals are pretty strong. Google is still a leader in the global search market with an 89.9% share. Furthermore, the company has introduced AI Overview features in Search across 100 new countries and territories that will reach over a billion users every month. This translates into increased frequency and complexity of search queries -- which means more user engagement for the company's search business. Google Search revenue was up 12% year over year to $49.4 billion and represented 57% of the company's total revenue in the third quarter. Google Cloud is also becoming a major catalyst, with revenue growing an impressive 35% year over year to $11.4 billion and operating income soaring by nearly 631% year over year to $1.9 billion in the third quarter. Robust adoption of AI infrastructure and generative AI technologies across industries and use cases has played a pivotal role in Google Cloud's growth. Hence, Alphabet looks like an attractive pick based on market leadership in the AI-powered search market and growth prospects in the cloud business.
Bitcoin surges past $106,000 on strategic reserve hopes