Maverick McNealy Birdies the Last Hole at Sea Island to Finally Become PGA Tour WinnerThe city of Auburn plans to apply for a $1 million state grant that would support a local group's effort to reopen the historic Hunter Dinerant. The Auburn City Council voted Thursday to schedule a public hearing at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, on the grant application. The hearing will coincide with the City Council meeting that evening. Jennifer Haines, the city's director of planning and economic development, told The Citizen that a development group wants to rehabilitate and reopen the diner, which has been closed since the end of 2022 . More information about the plan will be provided at the public hearing. The entity is described as a group of local investors who want to "preserve and improve this local iconic landmark for the future enjoyment by the people of Auburn and visitors." To support the project, the city will apply for $1 million through the Restore NY Communities Initiative. The program, which is administered by Empire State Development, provides funding for municipalities to revitalize commercial and residential properties. The investor group says the Hunter Dinerant project is conditional on receiving the grant and securing other outside financing. Hunter Dinerant opened in 1951 at its Genesee Street location. It is connected to President Joe Biden through its longtime owners, Robert and Louise Hunter. Their daughter, Neilia, was Biden's first wife. Neilia Hunter Biden and the couple's daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car crash in 1972. For more than 50 years after Neilia's death, Joe Biden maintained his ties to central New York. In 2014, after attending his niece's wedding at St. Mary's Church in Auburn , Biden visited the diner and ordered a milkshake. The last owners of the diner were Bill and Rachael Juhl, who bought it in 2011 and operated it until its closure at the end of 2022. The city acquired the diner in May 2023 through a tax foreclosure and has been seeking a private buyer. One challenge is the city's desire to relocate the diner because of its location above the Owasco River. The main concern is that if there is a breach in the Mill Street Dam, the ensuing wave would hit the diner and nearby bridge. A request for proposals was issued in 2023, but the city rejected the lone bid because the firm would not take ownership of the diner and planned to temporarily relocate it to a city property. Auburn has received several grants through the Restore NY Communities Initiative over the years. In July, the city was awarded $1 million for a former downtown bank at 120 Genesee St. One of the largest Restore NY grants the city received is $8.5 million for the former Bombardier plant in 2023. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. The Hunter Dinerant in downtown Auburn. Government reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net . Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Online producer/politics reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC Revolutionizes Domestic Labor Recruitment in the UAE with Tadbeer Visa Services 11-25-2024 08:52 PM CET | Business, Economy, Finances, Banking & Insurance Press release from: ABNewswire Image: https://www.abnewswire.com/uploads/2eb1a646f743083761fe37e91f97f4da.png Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC, a licensed Tadbeer [ https://excellencecenter.ae/ ] service provider, is setting new standards for domestic labor recruitment in the UAE. By offering affordable and efficient Tadbeer visa services, the center streamlines the hiring process for families and businesses, ensuring full compliance with UAE labor regulations. 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Why Tadbeer Excellence Center Stands Out Renowned for its ethical recruitment practices, Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC ensures that every candidate meets the highest professional standards. Families and employers benefit from tailored services that connect them with workers suited to their specific requirements. In addition to recruitment, the center provides ongoing support to maintain smooth and productive employment relationships. "Our Tadbeer visa services are designed to empower families by offering professional domestic support solutions that are both cost-effective and compliant with local laws," said the Operations Team at Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC. Future Plans to Elevate Recruitment Services Since its establishment, Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC has built a reputation for professionalism and outstanding customer service. Looking ahead, the center plans to integrate innovative digital platforms to make the recruitment process even more efficient. It also aims to introduce professional training programs for domestic workers, ensuring the highest quality of service. Contact Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC for reliable domestic assistance. For inquiries, visit excellencecenter.ae [ https://excellencecenter.ae/ ], email contact@excellencecenter.ae, or call 04 347 4000. Stay updated by following their social media channels on Instagram [ https://www.instagram.com/tadbeerexcellencecenter/ ], Facebook [ https://www.facebook.com/tadbeerexcellencecentre ], and LinkedIn [ https://www.linkedin.com/company/excellence-center-tadbeer/ ]. With a commitment to transparency, professionalism, and affordability, Tadbeer Excellence Center continues to redefine domestic labor recruitment in the UAE. Media Contact Company Name: Excellence Domestic Workers Services LLC Contact Person: Nada Mushainesh Email:Send Email [ https://www.abnewswire.com/email_contact_us.php?pr=excellence-domestic-workers-services-llc-revolutionizes-domestic-labor-recruitment-in-the-uae-with-tadbeer-visa-services ] Phone: +971 4 347 4000 City: Dubai Country: United Arab Emirates Website: http://excellencecenter.ae This release was published on openPR.
USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher announces international retirementIndiana coach Mike Woodson is happy that his team has won three straight games but concerned that it's committing too many turnovers. Limiting miscues is at the top of his wish list for Monday night's Big Ten Conference opener against visiting Minnesota in Bloomington, Ind. While the Hoosiers (7-2) shot 53.8 percent and dominated Miami (Ohio) 46-29 on the glass during a 76-57 win at home Friday night, they also had more turnovers (16) than assists (15). Having played for Bob Knight at Indiana, Woodson is fanatical about his team executing its offense without making mistakes. "We were taking chances on passes that weren't there," Woodson said. "We have to fix it. If we start Big Ten play like that, it puts you in a hole." In between careless mistakes, the Hoosiers got a huge game out of Oumar Ballo, the Arizona transfer who had 14 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. It was his 35th career double-double but his first at Indiana. Ballo (12.7 points per game, 9.3 rebounds) is one of four players averaging double figures for the Hoosiers. They're led by Malik Reneau, who's hitting for 15.4 ppg on 58.9 percent shooting. While Indiana tries to fine-tune its game, the Golden Gophers (6-4, 0-1 Big Ten) aim to get to the .500 mark in conference play after absorbing a 90-72 beating Wednesday night against visiting Michigan State. There was good news for Minnesota in that game. Mike Mitchell Jr. returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a high ankle sprain and drilled 5 of 9 3-pointers in a 17-point performance. Mitchell's shooting should aid an attack that ranks 311th in Division I in 3-point percentage at 29.7 percent as of Sunday. "He's a difference-maker in terms of being able to space the floor," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said of Mitchell. "He provides offensive firepower and a guy who can make shots and take pressure off our offense." Dawson Garcia leads the team at 19 ppg, while Lu'Cye Patterson and Mitchell are scoring 10 ppg. The Hoosiers own a 109-69 lead in the all-time series. --Field Level Media
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Good looking out. It can sometimes be hard to see those tiny home problems that are hiding in plain sight. Whether it’s a hidden leaking faucet or a broken detector, there are tons of small problems around your house that are super easy to fix. But, let’s leave it to the experts. Handymen say these are the most common, hidden home problems you don’t realize you have — and how to fix them. 01 Problem: You aren't catching leaks around the house “One thing that I think could get more attention from homeowners is the detection of early signs of leaks or water damage,” says Shu Saito, CEO and founder at All Filters LLC . “Small leaks around plumbing fixtures or under sinks can easily go undetected yet create mold growth, structural damage, and increase your water bills in very short order.” One way to protect your interior is to lay this super absorbent water sock in front of places that let water in. The garage door, basements, the sliding patio door, and even big windows can be problematic and difficult to seal. And they are great to have on hand in case of sudden leaks from pipes or water heaters. They quickly grab any water before it causes a problem. This is a pack of six. 02 Problem: There are small leaks around your plumbing fixtures “As for small-scale prevention,” says Saito, “I also recommend installation of waterproof mats or liners beneath sinks and around appliances like washing machines. These inexpensive solutions can catch leaks early and protect your floors from water damage.” If an appliance leaks or a pipe bursts, you can set these in the water and they will soak it up quickly. You can wring them out and keep using them until the problem is contained and then dry them and keep them for future disasters. This is a pack of five. 03 Problem: You have a non-working CO2 detector “Other commonly overlooked areas include ensuring that detectors — such as those for carbon monoxide and smoke — are working correctly,” says Saito. “Regular testing of these potentially life-saving systems can help avoid the worst of disasters, but somehow they often fall through the cracks when it comes to home maintenance.” Not all smoke alarms catch carbon monoxide leaks. If yours don’t, plug this carbon monoxide detector into an outlet. It will let you to the indoor humidity and temperature of your space and will alert you — visually and audibly — if your home has worrisome levels of this noxious gas. 04 Problem: You have a non-working smoke detector If your smoke alarms are old or inadequate, upgrade to this smoke and carbon monoxide detector that looks for any problematic fumes in your home. It has a 10-year sealed lithium battery so you never have to change the batteries or be woken by a low-battery alarm. Replace the entire unit in 10 years. It’s easy to mount, can withstand high temperatures, and is corrosion-resistant. 05 Problem: You're heating your home unevenly “A smart thermostat can make a huge difference,” says Saito. This Google Nest thermostat lets you change the temperature with a turn of the dial or from your phone or by telling your smart home system to do it. It will automatically turn the heat or AC off when you leave the house and allows you to create a schedule that makes efficient use of your heating budget. “Although these upgrades might be minor,” says Saiuto, “they add much value to your house and can save you from highly expensive repairs, while at the same time offering a healthier living space.” 06 Problem: Mold is building up “Mold and air leaks [are] probably two of the most common hidden issues,” says Saito. “Mold tends to grow in damp, poorly ventilated areas — such as a basement — or sometimes behind walls when leaks haven't been noticed.” A good dehumidifier pulls the moisture out of the air so the mold won’t thrive. This large room version sits in a corner keeping the humidity within a range you set. It has a large tank or can be set to empty into a drain for continuous operation. It comes in five sizes. 07 Problem: Air is leaking through your windows “On the other hand, leaky windows and doors can drive up energy costs silently by allowing conditioned air to escape and outdoor air to seep in,” says Saito. “To this end, I would recommend frequent home inspections, sealing any gaps around windows and doors, and installing dehumidifiers in damp areas.” Keep this weather sealing tape on hand so you can quickly stop a window draft when you discover it. It’s easy to apply, easy to remove, and offers a terrific seal against wind, rain, or escaping heat and AC. 08 Problem: Air is leaking through your doors If the draft is in your door frame, use this weatherstripping seal to stop that. Tape it around the door frame so the door seals tightly and it will stop your expensive warm or cold air from escaping. It will also make your home quieter and prevent sound from escaping into apartment hallways. And it gets bonus points for keeping bugs out. It comes in two colors. 09 Problem: Your attic isn't insulated “One preventive home upgrade I'd love to see more homeowners consider is improved attic insulation and ventilation,” says David Shepherd, owner of Reliable Roofing Restoration . “Proper insulation not only helps with energy efficiency but also extends the life of your roofing by reducing internal temperature swings that can cause premature wear. Thoroughly addressing these areas can stave off moisture issues, which often lead to the dreaded mold growth or compromised structural integrity.” Insulating can be as easy as installing this foam core radiant barrier to the ceilings and exterior walls of the attic. This comes in a bunch of different lengths and widths, so you can find the perfect one for your space. 10 Problem: Water is pooling near your foundation In keeping with Shepherd’s advice, a downspout extender for your gutter is a smart idea. Directing water away from the bottom of your gutter is a smart way to prevent any water damage from happening to the foundation of your house. This popular downspout extender can be put underneath any gutter (or moved depending on your needs), and looks like it’s made of gray stone. It’s nearly 22 inches in length to redirect water away from your foundation. 11 Problem: Leaves are clogging your gutters in the fall “Neglected gutters can lead to water pooling and severe foundational issues,” says Shepherd. “I recommend considering a gutter guard,” he says, which helps “to reduce the frequency of maintenance and ensure water flows freely to the designated drainage areas.” These mesh gutter guards are polypropylene so they are easy to work with, durable, and rust-resistant. They will keep dirt and leaves out of your gutters for years. 12 Problem: You don't routinely clean your gutters “Many homeowners overlook the significance of routine gutter cleanings and ensuring the gutter system is correctly directing water away from the home,” says Shepherd. This chore is easy to add to your to-do list but easier to accomplish if you own this telescoping gutter cleaning wand that attaches to a hose and reaches up to 70 inches so you can clean out those gutters without climbing a ladder or braving the roof. 13 Problem: Your crawl space is poorly ventilated Aaron Lipman, owner of Two Brothers Foundation Repair , reiterates what many handymen have shared for this article: “Poor ventilation in crawl spaces is a silent issue that can lead to excess moisture, mold, and even wood rot. This often goes unnoticed until it causes significant damage.” He says, “I recommend homeowners check for musty smells or dampness under their home. Installing a vapor barrier or dehumidifier can prevent moisture buildup and extend the life of the foundation and flooring above.” This vapor barrier is easy to lay down in your crawl space and will prevent leaks from pipes or moisture from the ground from getting into your home. This comes in four different size and thickness combinations, so you can choose the perfect one for your needs. 14 Problem: Your home is missing preventative sensors Lipman also shares, “Water leak detectors are fantastic for preventing expensive repairs. These small devices can be placed under sinks, near water heaters, or in crawl spaces, and they alert you as soon as they detect moisture. I have seen cases where a simple detector prevented a minor leak from turning into a major flooring or foundation issue.” This smart water sensor is a great purchase, and comes with a sensor and a plug-in receiver that connects it to your Wi-Fi. You can set up notifications to your phone in case of any leaks, but this sensor also emits a 100-decibel alarm, so you’ll be sure to hear it. 15 Problem: You're waisting money on electricity “For preventative upgrades, installing LED lighting throughout the home is a small but impactful change,” says Tyler Tranni, owner of Tranni Home Remodeling . “LEDs consume less energy and last longer, reducing both electricity bills and maintenance needs,” he says. These LED light bulbs are also smart, which make them a hugely cool upgrade for your home. Not only will you be saving energy (and thus money), but these can be adjusted using an app on your phone to display one of 16 million color options. This is a pack of four. 16 Problem: Your pipes are getting clogged Tranni says, “Clogged drains and pipes are another common issue. These can cause backups or even burst pipes if they’re not addressed.” Take a few preventative measures for keeping your drains clear. This drain catcher is popular and can fit into your standard-sized bathtub drain. (There is also a version for your kitchen or bathroom sink.) This easy-to-remove drain hair catcher will catch hair and debris from going down your pipes and clogging them. 17 Problem: Your HVAC filter is old “I also see a lot of HVAC systems that haven’t been maintained properly,” says Andriy Boyko, owner of A.O. Handy Inc . “Something as simple as changing the air filter regularly can make a big difference in how well your system works and how long it lasts.” Assess your HVAC and identify which filter will work for it. This Filtrete replacement filter comes in more than 15 different sizes to fit many units, and is designed to trap unwanted air particles from circulating in your air. Another piece of advice from Boyko? “It’s worth setting a reminder to check these areas regularly to avoid bigger headaches down the road.” 18 Problem: Moisture is building up behind walls “There are definitely a few sneaky problems that homeowners don’t always notice,” says Boyko. “Mold is a big one. It can grow in damp basements, behind walls, or under sinks, and by the time you spot it, it’s often spread further than you realize. If you notice a musty smell, it’s worth investigating right away.” This digital moisture meter is a nice gadget to have on hand, and makes it simple to test if moisture may be in your walls. This has two modes, one for drywall and one for wood, and can test and easily read out the moisture levels in walls, studs, drywall, and even floors. 19 Problem: Air is leaking through your attic “Another issue is air leaks, especially around windows, doors, and in the attic. These leaks aren’t always obvious, but they can make your HVAC system work harder and drive up your energy bills,” says Boyko. It’s always smart to put some insulation between your attic and the area of your home that you want heated and cooled. This insulation cover goes on the attic stairway, preventing air from leaking through your attic door. 20 Problem: There are small cracks in your foundation “Another common issue is foundation cracks,” says Boyko. “What starts as a small crack can quickly turn into a bigger, more expensive problem.” If you notice a crack in your foundation or basement, always contact a professional. But it can be helpful to have an on-demand solution to prevent any water from leaking into those cracks while you wait. This foundation and basement sealant is a popular choice — just clean and dry the surface, brush on this sealant, and let it dry. This formula also has a rubbery texture when it dries, which makes it flexible and easy to use. 21 Problem: Your water is draining slowly “Homeowners often ignore slow drains, which can escalate into full-blown pipe blockages, costing $500-$1,000 to fix,” says Josh Mitchell, an HVAC and plumbing technician with AirConditionerLab.com . When it comes to drains and pipes, prevention is the name of the game. Invest in a drain hair catcher like this one, which will prevent hair and debris from coming down your pipes. You’ll regret not having one when your pipes start to drain more slowly. 22 Problem: Your home is too humid “Mold thrives in damp areas like basements, bathrooms, and attics,” says Mitchell. “It often grows unnoticed and can lead to health problems. Regularly inspect high-moisture areas and consider using a humidity monitor to keep levels below 60%.” In that regard, having a hygrometer nearby is a super smart idea. This hygrometer from Govee can be wall-mounted or stood on any surface, and easily reads both the humidity levels and temperature inside your space. You can even monitor the levels via a connected app on your phone. This is also a pack of three so you can disperse them throughout your house. 23 Problem: Your windows aren't sealed well “Drafty or poorly sealed windows increase energy bills by 25-30% annually,” says Mitchell. “Homeowners should check for cold drafts during winter or condensation between panes.” Check around your windows for any cold drafts that might be coming in. This window-sealing tape is great and can be trimmed to size to fit over the cracks in your windows. This features a strong rubber adhesive that adheres it to your window frame, blocking any cold air from coming through (or heat from getting out!). It comes in black, gray, and white, so you can match your woodwork. 24 Problem: Your basement is ripe for mold It may seem like an investment, but having a great dehumidifier that you can control from wherever you are is such a smart purchase. Chris Stevenson, professional roofer with 730 South Exteriors , says, “Another thing I see a lot of is hidden mold in basements, attics, or behind walls. These problems can develop in areas with high humidity or poor ventilation, and the signs aren’t always obvious.” This smart dehumidifier can pull up to 2 gallons of water from the air in your space before you have to empty the tank. It’s Energy Star efficient, and tracks both the humidity levels and temperature of your space, both easy to read from wherever you are via the associated app. Set your target humidity level for the space, and it will remove water from the air until you hit that level. 25 Problem: You haven't sealed around your chimney “Another product I recommend is roof sealant. It’s a great way to seal the areas around chimneys, vents, and skylights, where water often gets in,” says Stevenson. “These are small investments that make a big difference in keeping water where it’s supposed to be — outside.” This roof bonding sealant can be installed similarly to the way you might apply grout around your tub or toilet. You can use it around your chimneys, vents, gutters, or roof — the waterproof formula will prevent water from getting in or out of those areas. 26 Problem: Your HVAC ducts are clogged “Dirty or clogged ducts can severely affect airflow and indoor air quality,” says Allen Chennault, owner and founder of AC's Heating & Air LLC . “I recommend scheduling a professional duct cleaning every 3 to 5 years to ensure maximum efficiency and comfort.” In between cleanings, keep an eye on the quality of your air via this air quality monitor . It will monitor particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide levels, and even the humidity and temperature of your space. Use the associated app to view your home’s air quality levels — you can even get multiple monitors to monitor multiple rooms in your home, all from the same app. If you notice a problem with your air quality, consider scheduling another duct cleaning. 27 Problem: Your detectors need batteries One simple problem you might have? “Most homeowners fail to change the batteries of the detectors or even check them which poses risks to the safety of the house,” says Chennault. For detectors and other home emergencies, this battery super value pack is such a good buy. It features 108 batteries, with a mixture of AA, AAA, C, D, and even 9-volt batteries. You’ll have them on hand the next time your smoke or carbon monoxide detectors run out of batteries. 28 Problem: Your battery stash is dead If you’re stocking up on back-up batteries so your detectors are always working, this battery organizer is also a great purchase. It can hold 45 AA, 25 AAA, four 9-volt, eight C, six D, and five flat batteries, so you can keep your entire battery stash here. But what really makes it great is that it comes with its own battery tester, so you can ensure the batteries that you do have around have plenty of juice for when you need them. 29 Problem: You need to snake your drain “Check the pipes for leaks. If a pipe clogs frequently, don’t keep pouring drano down it. Call a professional or buy a snake,” says Tom Monson, owner of Monson Lawn & Landscaping . This drain snake is a good one to have on hand when your pipes seem clogged. It comes with four 18-inch snakes, which each fit into the convenient handle. Rotate the handle and lower the snake into your drain. It’ll grab the hair or debris clogging your pipe, and can be disposed of afterward. It’s no wonder this basic home repair item is so popular. 30 Problem: You need a dehumidifier “Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t realize they may have hidden issues like mold growth, which can develop in damp, poorly ventilated areas such as basements or behind walls. To address mold, it's important to control humidity levels with dehumidifiers and address any leaks immediately, often with the help of a mold remediation specialist,” says Peter Duncanson, founder of ServiceMaster Restore , a home and business restoration services company. As a preventative measure to prevent having to call professionals, keeping a dehumidifier in your space is always smart. While larger more industrial dehumidifiers are smart purchases for big spaces like your basement or attic, you can also work to lower your humidity levels with a portable dehumidifer like this one. The benefit to having a lighter-weight model is that you can move it from room to room easily whenever you need. This can pull up to 35 ounces of water from your air, has a quiet mode to minimize noise, and has an automatic shut-off feature. Use this in tandem with your hygrometer to determine which rooms of your house are the most moist, and remove moisture before mold starts to grow. 31 Problem: Your weatherproofing is worn down “Another common problem is air leaks around windows and doors, which can lead to higher energy bills and discomfort,” says Duncanson. “For air leaks, homeowners should check seals on windows and doors, and consider caulking or replacing weatherstripping to improve energy efficiency and comfort. Regular inspections can help catch these issues before they become more serious.” Take a look at the weatherstripping on your doors and windows. If it’s been a minute since you last replaced them, there’s a good chance your doors and windows are leaking air in and out of your space. This adhesive weatherstripping can be cut to size, and easily sits inside the jamb of your doors and windows. 32 Problem: Water is gathering where it shouldn't Ryan Meagher, a contractor with BVM Contracting , recommends “installing leaf guards (to prevent accumulation of debris in the eavestroughs) in tandem with extending downspouts away from the home.” This leaf guard goes over the downspout to prevent leaves and debris from clogging your gutter. This pack of eight make it easy to ensure all of your gutters are protected. Meagher has one more piece of advice: “Bonus points if you make sure that your entire foundation has a positive slope away from your foundation to allow water to drain away from the home.” 33 Problem: You need a downspout extender on your gutter In keeping with Meagher’s advice, these extensions are easy to install and suitable for most standard-sized gutters. The spouts are made of a high-quality ABS plastic that is durable, while their pipes are made from a flexible PE material that won’t snap, break, or develop holes. They’ll extend your gutter drain anywhere from 21 to 68 inches long, so you can direct water far away from your foundation. 34 Problem: Your house isn't on a graded slope “If homeowners can ensure that the grading around their home is sloping away from the home (versus into the home) this will go a long way to preventing water infiltration into a basement or crawlspace,” says Meagher. “It is an easy fix too, all you have to do is buy some soil and install it against your home's foundation and slope it away from your home. It is a lot more cost-effective to do this versus waterproofing the foundation wall, so start with this measure then add waterproofing if needed.” This lawn soil is easy to lay down wherever you want to build your slope — and you can use the remainder to fill in any uneven spots in you backyard. 35 Problem: Water is getting into your house “I highly recommend specifically for water leaks, waterproof sealants and pipe insulation,” says Eduard Mirzoian, CEO of Restorerz . “Waterproof sealants, especially those designed for windows, doors, and roof flashing, provide an essential barrier against water infiltration.” While the waterproof roofing sealant earlier on this list can work for this, as well, this handheld silicone sealant is great for getting into small areas like around faucets, pipes, or in tight areas where you can’t get the leverage to use a bigger bottle. 36 Problem: Your pipes aren't insulated In keeping with Mirzoian’s advice to insulate your pipes, this foil insulation is easy to wrap around pipes. It features 10 millimeters of foil insulation that wraps around your non-insulated pipes. This wrap is 6 inches by 25 feet, so you’ll have plenty for any piping you want to insulate, and it can even be used for other purposes like insulating your attic, windows, or garage. 37 Problem: You don't have a fire extinguisher “I always tell homeowners that two things that are absolutely needed for safety are, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers,” says Mirzoian. This fire extinguisher is a great buy and can easily sit in your kitchen or garage in case an emergency strikes. This is a single fire extinguisher, but it also comes in a pack of two, four, and six extinguishers, if you need to outfit a bigger space. 38 Problem: Your house number is hard to spot “I'm a former firefighter, so this question takes me back to items that are not roof related,” says Jason Verbeke, operations manager at The Allard Roofing Company . He recommends “reflective mailbox numerics and oversized house numbers for easy notification.” This easy-to-install house number comes with built-in LED lights that have a dusk-to-dawn sensor. When the sun sets, the light will turn on, illuminating your house number for any emergency personnel (or friends and family), to easily find. 39 Problem: Your mailbox is hard to see in the dark Another great solution to your house number being hidden is to add a reflective number to your mailbox. These reflective numbers make it easy to see your house number, even in the dark. This comes with five sets of 2-inch long stickers of all 10 integers, so you can build your home number. Then adhere it to a visible part of your mailbox, and any emergency trucks or first responders will more easily be able to find your home at night. 40 Problem: You're not checking for leaks often enough Verbeke also advises, “Leaks are very rarely caught in the early stages, especially if hidden in a closet or room less frequented. Set up a monthly or even bi-weekly schedule to just walk your entire home and look up. Early detection could save you thousands in the end.” The best way to remember it is time for a dedicated walk through of your house is to write it down on a schedule. Note it on this whiteboard on your fridge or set a reminder on your phone, and you’ll be sure to remember to walk around and check for any potentially dangerous water leaks. Internet Culture
Given everything that had occurred in the previous hour or two, it made bizarrely perfect sense that Sione Tuipulotu’s grandmother would hand him the Hopetoun Cup trophy after beating the Wallabies at Murrayfield. “She whispered in my ear and said, ‘we got them’,” Tuipulotu said post-game. Sione Tuipulotu is presented with the Hopetoun Cup at Murrayfield by his grandmother Jaqueline Thomson. Credit: Getty Images The Scotland captain’s answer came with a broad grin, and an even broader Australian accent. And it all came after a memorable afternoon at Murrayfield where Tuipulotu – and his 77-year-old grandmother – were in the middle of absolutely everything, much to the delight of an adoring Scottish crowd. But first to re-cap. Born and raised in Melbourne, Tuipulotu played for the Junior Wallabies but couldn’t crack a regular spot for the Rebels in Super Rugby, and so he moved to Scotland to play. The son of a Tongan-Australia father and a mother with Italian-Scottish heritage, Tuipulotu qualified as eligible for Scotland due to his maternal grandmother Jaqueline Thomson, who was born in Greenock in the Scottish lowlands but emigrated to Australia as a child and settled in Frankston. The nuggety centre debuted for Scotland in 2021 and quickly became a fan favourite, and Thomson became something of a cult hero, too, often getting thanked on Scottish rugby social media after a big game by Tuipulotu. The 27-year-old was made captain ahead of the November internationals, and last week, Thomson was flown to Scotland by a sponsor, for the first time in decades, as a surprise for Tuipulotu and his brother Mosese, who both play rugby in Scotland and are close to their gran. Tuipulotu hadn’t seen her in years and after the reunion video did the rounds in Scotland, Thomson was given a rousing cheer when the video – and Thomson – were shown again on the Murrayfield screen on Sunday just before kickoff. When her grandson later scored a try and pointed to her in the stand, the camera found the overwhelmed grandmother; this time shaking her head. “It was super special,” Tuipulotu said. “I don’t really score many tries, to be honest. Not for Glasgow, not for Scotland. But that one was pretty special to score while my gran was here and knowing how much she also wanted to beat Australia.” Sione Tuipulotu scores for Scotland. Credit: Getty Images Divided loyalties have long been dealt with for Tuipulotu, but he appeared to set a physical, no-backward-step tone against Australia for his Scotland teammates. Early on he had a push-and-shove with Tom Wright, and Tuipulotu was heard to say on the ref’s mic “you forget I know who you are”. “We know who you are too lad,” Wright said. The microphone didn’t pick up a feisty episode later with big-money recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, when the Wallaby belted Tuipulotu with a chest tackle but immediately grabbed his injured arm. When play broke down, Tuipulotu came back over to Suaalii and exchanged words about who’d come off worse. With insult added to his injury, an angry Suaalii then sought to scrap with Tuipulotu. “I’ll see you next time”: Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Sione Tuipulotu trade words at Murrayfield. Credit: Getty Images “I will see you next time,” Suaalii said, before departing and setting a potentially spicy Lions series soap opera next year. Tuipulotu said: “I didn’t really know it was him that hit me. I don’t know how it looks on camera, but it felt humongous. And when I popped up, I was just kind of looking around at who it was and then I saw that he was on the ground, so I said something to him. And then he went off the pitch. That’s all I can really say about it.” What did you say? “I said, I hope you’re OK,” Tuipulotu said with a grin post-game. Later Thomson was enlisted to give her grandson the Hopetoun Cup, the trophy contested between Australia and Scotland. Asked afterwards if it all felt a bit strange seeing his grandma being on the big screen, cheered by 68,000 people and handing out trophies, Tuipulotu choked up. “It does feel weird. But I feel really blessed because of this all happening,” he said. Loading “And not just for me. Before the match, I was a little bit emotional about the fact that her life’s just gone full circle. That she’s back here watching me play for Scotland and watching me captain Scotland. I’m just happy that she gets to have that moment. “She moved over to Australia as a young girl and raised my mum with limited stuff. And now she gets to enjoy this, gets to sit in the stand and get some recognition. It makes me so happy.” Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Scotland rugby Australian rugby Wallabies Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. Connect via Twitter or email . Most Viewed in Sport LoadingMississippi State overcomes early deficit to down Prairie View A&MThe election of Donald Trump for his second presidential term has led to widespread fears of an imminent authoritarian descent in the United States. Quite how that might play out remains speculative, for now at least. But evidence from Trump’s first term, as well as his campaign policies and cabinet nominations since the election, suggest those fears are not without foundation. Another way of looking at this, however, is that Trump’s return simply echoes realities within the international system’s other great powers – China, Russia and India have all displayed similar political pathologies for some time now. Due to their collective power and influence in determining the nature of the world order, Trump’s victory thus marks the amplification of a deeply autocratic era in global politics. The hallmarks of what we might call this nascent “Pax Autocratica ” can be seen in a variety of ways, as these four horsemen of authoritarianism charge ahead with their policies and plans. Strongman politics Donald Trump and his counterparts – China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi – are all bombastic, divisive and confrontational leaders. They embody the archetype of strongman politics whereby power is focused on a single, would-be omnipotent individual. As well as sharing similar alpha-male psychological characteristics and developing cults of personality around themselves, they seek to rule for long periods. In 2018, Xi removed the presidential term limit from China’s constitution. In 2020, Putin amended the Russian constitution, allowing him to rule until 2036, leading to what’s been described as a “ politics of eternity ”. In power since 2014, Modi has won the past three elections in India. Accused of having a god complex , his success has rested on mainstreaming Hindu-first nationalism , capturing the legal system and rewriting Indian history . Trump, too, has flirted with ideas of a third term (impossible under current constitutional rules), saying, “ we just have to figure that out ”. Strongman politics: Donald Trump meets India’s Narendra Modi in New Delhi, 2020. Getty Images Constraining human rights Each of these leaders has overseen governments that have sought to narrow and constrain human rights. This includes limiting freedoms of speech and expression within Russian media, attacking journalists and protesters in India, and purging opponents in China. In all three countries, this involves using legal mechanisms to stifle dissent. Reports after Trump’s victory suggest he also wants to punish or suppress protest and dissent. The growing politicisation of the US Supreme Court matches similar trends in the other three countries. This has been likened to a shift away from the rule of law (which underpins a free and open society) towards “rule by law” (whereby the law becomes a tool of control). Globally, there have been warnings that reduced freedoms of speech, association and expression threaten the fundamental structures of civil society . The 2024 State of Civil Society Report by watchdog group Civicus estimates 72% of the world’s population now lives under authoritarian regimes. Attacking minorities The first Trump administration actively discriminated against minority ethnic groups, LGBTQ people, those with disabilities, and immigrants. Trump’s 2017 travel ban closed the US border to Muslims, while the planned deportation of up to 13 million illegal migrants was a mainstay of his 2024 campaign. In Russia, attacks against minorities and foreigners are commonplace, with racism in the country described as “ out of control ” by Amnesty International. Since 2014, violence and discrimination against India’s 200 million Muslims has significantly increased under Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Modi government’s actions actively discriminate against Muslim employment, education, justice and housing , especially in Kashmir and Assam. These chime with China’s actions in Xinjiang and Tibet where ethnic minorities are experiencing fundamental human rights violations . Beijing is also building a national social credit system designed to enhance public trust in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and create a society of “ compliant subjects ”. Social control: China’s Xi Jinping with Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Leader’s Summit, October 22. Getty Images Weakened electoral systems While ostensibly democratic, there are glaring weaknesses in the US, Indian and Russian political and electoral systems, which undercut claims of electoral equality, fairness and plurality. While not as blatantly authoritarian as China (under the one-party rule of the CCP since 1949, and which consistently silences its opponents ), elections in Russia are essentially non-competitive and only a fac ̧ade of democracy . In the US, the gerrymandering of electoral regions , voter suppression , and vast corporate donations tilt the political landscape towards particular interests. Much the same is true of India, which has shifted towards a form of “ electoral autocracy ”, and is described now as only a “ partially free democracy ” by monitoring group Freedom House. These trends are exacerbated by India’s persistent intergenerational political dynasties and powerful political donors . Surveillance and security All of these authoritarian trends are underpinned by modern surveillance structures , directed inward towards a country’s own citizens as much as outwards, and enabled by Big Tech and now AI. What has been described as “ algorithmic authoritarianism ” takes different forms. The Chinese social credit system uses such technology to instil social control mainly through financial levers. India’s Central Monitoring System allows government agencies to monitor all mobile phone, landline and internet communications with minimal legal restraints . The pervasive reach of Russia’s capabilities has resulted in a “cyber gulag” of “total digital surveillance” . In the US, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the mass surveillance of telephone records in 2013, which was found to be illegal in 2020. Now, Trump’s alliance with Elon Musk has potential implications for his administration’s approach to AI and national security – including Musk continuing to use his social media platform to boost Trump’s political support. Trump’s return has normalised and supercharged authoritarianism internationally, making it the rule rather than the exception. America’s autocratic drift is now part of a broader global pattern, one that threatens democratic forces everywhere. Chris Ogden is affiliated with the Foreign Policy Centre (London) as a Senior Research Fellow.
What to know about Scott Turner, Trump’s pick for housing secretary
UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) Shares Sold by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLCCorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 461 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1%. Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia’s revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another “flawless” profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls “the Godfather of AI.” The stock meandered through Thursday as well, dragging the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. How Nvidia’s stock performs has more impact than any other because it’s grown into Wall Street’s most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.7% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ’S Wholesale Club rose 8.3% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ended up rising Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 4.7% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company’s oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. All told, the S&P 500 rose 31.60 points to 5,948.71. The Dow jumped 461.88 to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite added 6.28 to 18,972.42. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Bitcoin got a further boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January . Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors. Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In stock markets abroad, shares of India’s Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world’s richest people is accused of concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Global Payments Inc. ( NYSE:GPN – Free Report ) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 194.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240,388 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 188.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,857,000 after buying an additional 755,898 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 316.7% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 609,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,981,000 after acquiring an additional 463,568 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 171.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 561,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,279,000 after acquiring an additional 354,648 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on Global Payments from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Global Payments from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.41. Global Payments Stock Up 1.7 % Shares of GPN opened at $117.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. Global Payments Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%. Global Payments Company Profile ( Free Report ) Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GPN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Global Payments Inc. ( NYSE:GPN – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Global Payments Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Global Payments and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
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The wine , finally, was on the move. For two weeks, a team of 14 professionals had been in the mountains, methodically transferring thousands of rare bottles from a cavernous cellar into a nondescript box truck that shuttled the cargo to a pair of tractor trailers several miles away, tucked in a private way station overseen by an armed protection detail. Even the security team didn’t know what they were guarding. All they saw were scores of black-wrapped pallets slowly filling the giant holds. When the last of the wine was finally secured and the drivers strapped in, the semis, each escorted by an armored truck, rumbled past the steel gates and then diverged, assigned to separate routes down the mountain, across more than a thousand miles and three state lines, headed for California. In Boston, Brahm Callahan received a GPS ping every 30 minutes with the trucks’ locations and the temperatures inside the cargo bays; they were holding steady at 55 degrees. The deal had been nearly two years in the making and killed and resurrected over half a dozen times during that span. Callahan, master sommelier, 35 years old, had seen some of the most incredible wine collections in the world, but never anything like the cellar he had just bought. He knew from the moment he stepped inside it that he would never encounter another collection so miraculous, so meticulously curated, so impeccably cataloged and stored, and so impossibly stocked with unheard-of rarities. Now he and his partners were about to take possession of the entire haul. The first step of the plan was nearly complete. The trucks would converge again at a bonded warehouse in Sonoma County, where Dan O’Brien, 40, was waiting to take possession of eight figures’ worth of wine while trying not to think about all the money they owed, or everything that needed to happen before they could pay it back. First, the wine had to show up as planned—the convoys were taking separate routes at the insistence of the insurance companies, to mitigate risks such as avalanches and hijackers—and then the designated portion, several thousand bottles of valuable rare wines, had to make its way by boat to Hong Kong in time to be received and cataloged for a Sotheby’s auction in February. The various lots needed to sell for enough to cover the money they owed to the hard-money lender who had financed the deal at terms that would make a loan shark shudder. From his condo in Boston, Scott Leverenz ran the numbers again, out of habit. He took into account the projected auction figures, that Mafia rate of monthly interest, the roughly $700,000 they had already accrued in legal fees, the potential appreciation of the remaining portfolio, and every other variable he could think of. As usual, Leverenz, 34, was gaming out the worst-case scenario, but the numbers looked good: Even if the total from the auction came in at the low end, and even assuming it took the full 90 days to collect all the money, the three of them would hit their target: They could use the sale of the bottom two-thirds of the cellar to clear the debt and keep the most valuable top third—millions of dollars of wine—for free. The wine arrived in Sonoma as scheduled, where it was stored for 72 hours before being taken to Oakland and put on a container ship headed to Hong Kong, due to dock just before Christmas. It was late November 2019 and the juice was running. The loan would reset every 30 days, the principal growing each month alongside the compounding interest in a convoluted death trap of penalties, fees, and clawbacks. Time was not on their side. Shortly after the wine arrived, the news began reporting an unknown respiratory illness killing people in China. The country would lock down a few weeks later. Callahan, Leverenz, and O’Brien had just borrowed $12.5 million to buy a store of wine that now might as well be on the moon. The Crew Callahan first outlined his plan to Leverenz one morning in 2016 in the Amtrak bar car heading back to Boston from Philadelphia. They were fending off hangovers after a Guns N’ Roses concert; neither had slept. But kicking ideas back and forth across a bartop was how they had always done their best thinking, going back to when they first met as Boston sommeliers in 2009. Callahan had made master sommelier by 30, pin number 222 of 228 in the world at the time. There is nothing achievable in the wine world above it. The final examination, administered by the Court of Master Sommeliers, is like trying to prove a physics thesis by doing backflips, meant to plumb the depth of one’s theoretical understanding, sensory abilities, and practical skills simultaneously. Callahan had lived like a monk while studying for it, forgoing shaving and taping laminated study guides throughout his apartment—on tables and mirrors, lining the cupboards, inside the shower—so there wasn’t a minute he couldn’t be learning. In the blind-tasting portion alone, candidates must correctly identify six different wines by grape variety, country of origin, district, appellation, and, finally, vintage. Not only had Callahan passed the test, he had eventually become a member of the Court. Leverenz had a head for numbers. He and Callahan had both passed through Grill 23 & Bar , a revered Boston steak house that operated as a sort of elite boot camp for those forging a career in wine. Unlike most restaurants with encyclopedic wine lists, Grill 23 actually moved the juice, and opportunities to taste rare and notable vintages were frequent. Leverenz went on to become a somm and wine director for some of Boston’s top restaurants before managing national sales for major importers; he also traded in rare and fine wines. Having experience in both buying and selling had stripped away the varnish of romance that dazzled so many people into ostensibly bad business decisions: Leverenz liked to say that the best way to end up with a million-dollar winery was to start with a $2 million winery. He loved the industry and wasn’t immune to the glamour, of course—he just preferred to understand it for what it was, and to make a profit off of it when he could. Like Callahan and Leverenz, O’Brien had cut his teeth at Grill 23 and had a natural allergy to all of the stupid money sloshing around the wine industry, though unlike the other two, he wasn’t much for sitting on appreciating assets for the sake of a tidy profit down the line—he’d rather drink a Dujac Grand Cru immediately after buying it, maybe with a burger. With his beard and glasses and easygoing grin, the onetime Boston somm now looked the part of an affable San Francisco garage winemaker, but there were few areas of the industry he hadn’t touched, from developing wine programs for luxury hotel groups to producing blends for private-label clients to revamping a historic Calistoga vineyard as COO. He had extensive experience buying, storing, and transporting wine—easier said than done given that alcohol is a highly regulated substance, which makes moving it across state lines a costly, time-consuming, and tediously complicated bureaucratic process. He had the bonded storage, insurance premiums, and drawers full of licenses and permits to attest to that. Callahan had worked with both separately, but despite all being Grill 23 alums, the trio had never worked together until now. They sealed their partnership over omelets and coffee at a grungy diner down the street from an impound lot. The Plan What Callahan pitched was this: Raise enough money to buy a white whale of a cellar, a highly secretive monster collection somewhere in the Rocky Mountains—one of those murmured opportunities that surface from time to time in the tight, clubby world of master somms and elite collectors. It supposedly contained vast quantities of vanishingly rare wine, the kinds of bottles that simply didn’t come to market anymore or were never supposed to have existed in the first place: unheard-of large-format Burgundies; decades of Hermitage; massive stores of cult Champagne. The collector had started acquiring in the ’80s, back when you could just show up in Vosne-Romanée, knock on the door of some family producer that had been making Burgundy in the region for hundreds of years, and walk off with however many cases you felt like shipping home. Provenance and documentation were said to be perfect. And yet the cellar had been quietly on the market for some time, with no takers. Why? First, the asking price, a vast sum even in the voracious world of high-stakes wine collecting, kept rising—first $8 million, then $10 million, now likely more—the longer the collection sat and the more the wines inside kept appreciating. More challengingly, it had to be all in one go, to one buyer: no cherry-picking, no allocation, a single check for the entire lot, non-negotiable. The seller didn’t need the money and seemed in no rush to part with the wine. Normally, anyone walking into a cellar with an eight-figure check is going to expect to set some of the terms of the deal, so the sheer ego slap delivered by the take-it-or-leave-it nature of the offer cleared a host of private buyers from the table. Resellers are more pragmatic, but it was still a huge amount of cash, and a significant chunk of the inventory wouldn’t reach peak profitability for years; gray-market prospectors rarely buy and hold, preferring to flip bottles for quick profit rather than leave capital tied up in a basement. Callahan figured he had a way to leverage the volume of the cellar. A collection of that size and caliber would otherwise take decades to procure, and this one was said to be composed of some of the best-performing wines on the market, heavily over-indexing for Burgundy, Northern Rhônes, and Champagne. If you could price the inventory correctly, acquire it at reasonable value, then engage an auction house to move the most immediately profitable tranches of wine in one push, you could repay the loan plus interest while holding on to the best long-term investments. Essentially, between loan, acquisition, and auction, you could triangulate an extremely small aperture through which it would be possible to come into a few million bucks’ worth of unbelievable rare wine, for free—but if you miss the window, don’t bother preparing for impact. Taking on the whole thing at once meant they could play the long game. The cellar had such vast stores of specific vintages that you could effectively corner the market, taking advantage of short-term price fluctuations by strategically liquidating bottles at their most lucrative while continuing to accrue yearly appreciation on the rest. The remaining top slice of inventory, the cream of a once-in-a-lifetime crop, could be used as the basis for a wine-backed investment fund, or a high-end wine retailer. Or, put the profits into a négociant winery, buying grapes or juice and bottling under their own brand, and for private labels. Or, depending on how the auction went, all three. But first they needed to get their hands on a whole lot of cash. The Money You can’t just walk into a bank and ask for, say, $10 million to buy a bunch of fine wine—or Picassos or vintage Ferraris or ancient Sumerian manuscripts—even if everyone knows they’re going to appreciate. It’s just not what banks are set up for, which mostly is to deal in simple, stable assets like homes and cars and small businesses. So Callahan went to Dave S. instead. Callahan first met Dave S. over a magic trick of sorts at Grill 23. A bearded, broad-shouldered hedge-fund type, he had ordered a beguiling 1998 Bordeaux, a great Right Bank vintage—enough to pique Callahan’s interest. Either this guy made a lucky guess, he thought, or he knew something about wine. Dave S. knew enough to see an opportunity to stump the somm. He pulled out his phone and flashed a picture of himself from a recent shooting weekend, barely hoisting a gargantuan Nebuchadnezzar of ’67 Château d’Yquem—had Callahan ever seen a bottle like that in person? Callahan said he had, and then did Dave S. one better: He told him where the picture had been taken. The hedge funder, who was a professional magician in his youth, felt the hairs go up on the back of his neck—now that was a magic trick. Callahan explained that he knew the total number of bottles of ’67 Yquem in the 15-liter format in existence, plus who owned them around the world—including a certain prominent billionaire with three in his New Jersey cellar, which is where Dave S. was standing in the picture. He and Callahan became fast friends after that. Yet despite his decades allocating capital and executing complex financial deals, Dave S. wasn’t the one to finance this play—but he knew who was. The guy who connects the pipes that make the money flow. The man they called the Plumber. When the federal government needs to underwrite some sprawling, unprecedented, staggeringly complex program—say, a nationwide rebate for used-vehicle trade-ins, with all the labyrinthine financing that entails—the secretary of the Treasury picks up the phone and calls the Plumber. A math whiz since his teens, he was legendary in New York banking for never assuming risk and always making money, a deal-structuring genius who could put 28 hooks into you without your ever realizing, until God forbid something bad happened and suddenly your pecuniary guts were sliding all over the floor. The Plumber had a sideline in exotic investment plays—heady, esoteric, out-of-the-box stuff. Like backing the acquisition of a multimillion-dollar wine cellar for an unprecedented flip. Dave S. didn’t mince words: The numbers would have to work, down to the penny. These people didn’t care about wine except insofar as it represented collateral for the deal—and as a regulated substance it made for complicated surety. The path of custody would need to be rigorously established and precisely controlled, and execution would have to be flawless or the various frictions would eat them alive: First, the buyer needed to assess and document over 12,000 bottles of wine, checking fill rates and bottle stamps and backtracking the ownership trail, then take and retain legal control of it through several stages of storage and transport across state lines and national borders—a notorious minefield of red tape—all while insurance, taxation, fees, governmental regulation, and the rest gnawed away at the bottom line from all angles. Every shipment, every transaction, every license, every insurance policy, every fee—thousands of variables—had to be accounted for, across all conceivable scenarios, until the sale was complete, the money collected and transacted, and everyone repaid. And the three of them were going to be put through their paces. The Plumber’s people needed to understand who they were giving their millions of dollars to. Did they have a grasp of the details? Could they problem-solve under pressure? Were their industry contacts as solid as they claimed? The Plumber only dealt with people vibrating at the highest frequency, Dave S. said, and his crew would mess with them—changing deadlines at the last minute or giving them 24 hours to turn around a half dozen pages of analysis for no reason—just to see how they reacted to stress. The deal would come down to numbers, sure, but it wasn’t the only consideration. The Plumber wanted to know: How badly did they want it? Which meant, even as Callahan and Leverenz were cautiously wooing the seller with polite correspondence and the occasional highly orchestrated visit, and O’Brien was laying the groundwork for the eventual possession and transport, they were simultaneously being put through rigorous crash courses in debt financing and tax law. The seller, meanwhile, was rarely available and seemed to have a knack for going dark the moment they felt any momentum begin to build. The deal was always under threat of collapsing from one end or the other—either because the seller had walked away or because the loan-to-value ratio had tipped a cent into the red and the money did. At one point, the deal hinged on whether Callahan could procure luxury portable toilets on short notice; at another, the cost of an overlooked California permit—the difference of maybe a few thousand dollars in a deal worth millions—was enough to get the Plumber’s people to start packing up, until O’Brien realized he had the necessary paperwork via another company he owned. This dragged on for months. Then a year. Then longer. The motivation to press on, reenergized every time Callahan and Leverenz were able to inspect the wine, was that the cellar was even more impressive than advertised, unlike anything either had seen in both quality and scale, in fundamentally pristine condition. The attrition rate of unsellable bottles due to oxidation, lack of proper documentation, breakage, or improper storage was basically nil; even the small percentage of bottles they couldn’t send to auction—say, due to a detached label—they knew to be genuine. And then, just like that, a switch flipped and it was go time. The seller agreed to the terms; in response, they wired $1 million into an escrow account as a sign of good faith. A short time later, a cashier’s check in the low eight figures was delivered by hand to the seller’s lawyer; there was the flurry of planes and trucks and boats; and the plan for a massive 90-day flip was in motion at last—until Covid reared its head and the entire world came screeching to a halt. The Auction The early days of pandemic lockdown for Callahan, Leverenz, and O’Brien were pretty much the same as for everyone else—awkwardly wiping down groceries, uncertain about whether you were supposed to buy masks or not buy masks because medical personnel needed them. Without its normal daily punctuations, time became a run-on—except for that charged moment every month when they recalculated what they owed to the Plumber. That always had a way of standing out. The monthly interest alone, which had started around $110,000, had jumped to $115,000, then to over $125,000, then to $130,000. The months dragged on. February came and went. Then March, then April, then May, then June, the debt ballooning. Dave S. kept the mood up: Keep finessing the numbers, keep working the plan, these are just obstacles, you’ll find your way around. The Sotheby’s people pushed the auction, then pushed it again, then said they weren’t quite sure when it would take place despite being very upbeat that it would, in fact, happen; they were storing a gargantuan haul of wine they weren’t selling and so were as desperate as anyone to see it all across the auction block. Finally, the dates were set—a two-day affair, July 5 and 6, 2020. There was only one problem: Online auctions were still a fairly new format, and a remote wine sale of this size was unprecedented. Hong Kong is 13 hours ahead of the east coast of the U.S. and 16 hours ahead of the west, which meant that it was July 4, America’s Independence Day, when the Summit: A Complete Cellar auction kicked off in Asia. O’Brien was at a backyard cookout in California wine country; Callahan and Leverenz were at a party at Dave S.’s house in Massachusetts. Everything they had done to this point, work now measured in years, hinged on these results. Had their proprietary valuation system—based on an intricate matrix of scarcity, reputation, current and future market interest, time to peak drinkability, and profit potential—priced the wine correctly? Difficult enough to gauge under normal circumstances, but this situation was sui generis. There was literally nothing to compare it to. As it turned out, it was a perfect storm. The stir-craziness of isolation, collector appetite bottled up to bursting, and a global customer base newly comfortable with spending serious cash over the internet meant that the entire wine world was watching—and desperate to bid. It was a frenzy from the opening hammer. The guys streamed the action on laptops, O’Brien holed up in a TV room as the party carried on outside, Leverenz and Callahan roaming the halls of Dave S.’s sprawling house and dipping into his pool in between calculating conversion rates. The numbers exploded from the jump and never relented, with world records shattering one after the other. In the six-liter format alone, a 1989 Ramonet Montrachet hammered for over $61,000, a 1999 La Tâche for over $90,000, and a 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg for over $154,000. The final sale clocked in over $15.6 million; they would clear $3.1 million in profit, minus some additional friction, while still holding what they considered to be the most valuable third of the original cellar, calculated to be worth between $3.5 million and $4 million. Of course, they couldn’t actually get their hands on the money yet, which would be collected in dribs and drabs by the auction house over the next 90 days and deposited into a Hong Kong bank, in Hong Kong dollars. That currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar and therefore reliably stable—unless the President of the United States starts antagonizing China by threatening to decouple the HKD, as then-President Trump did later that month. It was a new emergency: If Trump carried out his threat, the stroke of a pen would catastrophically evaporate their profits—meaning that, despite an auction bonanza far beyond their most optimistic projections, which set scores of world records, the three would still find themselves deeply in the red. The bulk of the wine was gone, they were out of money and had paid off virtually none of the debt—which was still accruing all sorts of replicating interest and spring-loaded fees. Even the inventory they had held back was out of reach: Until he got his money back, everything belonged to the Plumber. This was the point at which O’Brien tapped out. Whatever happened between now and the end, he said to Callahan and Leverenz, whether it all worked out or everything collapsed, he didn’t need to know. He would be in California. Wake him when it was all over. Coda On a warm Boston night this past May at Grill 23 & Bar, I sat with the three cofounders of Faucet Wine —CEO Brahm Callahan, CFO Scott Leverenz, and COO Dan O’Brien—as they recalled the party they threw when the dust finally settled. Callahan and Leverenz had gone back to the Plumber asking for a $1 million hedge against the currency decoupling, and he was only too happy to oblige: The move further protected his investment, and the interest charged on the extra million would net him even more profit. In the end, Trump moved on from poking China, all of the auction money was collected, a check was issued from the Hong Kong bank and converted to U.S. dollars. All outstanding bills were paid. The Plumber was made whole. For the first time, some four years after Callahan had initially launched his scheme on the train, they were money good. They even wound up making a tidy six-figure profit from the hedge thanks to all the volatility. The victory party took place in November 2020, still at the height of Covid, when congregating in person required nasal swabs and temperature checks and weeks of negotiation. A small group gathered at O’Brien’s house. The celebration was wine-country casual—tiki torches, a sprawling deck overlooking a creek, dogs clambering up and down stairs, a rap-heavy playlist bumping in the background—though few if any Sonoma Valley cookouts before or since have poured a magnum of 1990 Bâtard-Montrachet alongside a 1949 Musigny from Camille Giroud. Or a dream-haunting 1974 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet “Les Ruchottes.” And these were just some of many astonishing and wondrous vintages. They were the best of the authentic but unsellable stock, plus a small number of bottles they had held back for themselves, even if it sliced into the profit margin. The three had survived a long swim with some of the biggest sharks in the financial world, but they were ultimately all wine geeks at heart: If now wasn’t the time to finally taste your greatest-hits list of once-in-a-lifetime vintages, when would be? O’Brien in particular relished the chance to share these treasures with his friends and neighbors—farmers and blenders and small winemakers who otherwise might never get the chance to experience a 1971 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St.-Vivant or a 1991 Chave “Cuvée Cathelin.” As he watched the fall sun inch below the horizon, sitting with friends and contemplating some of the greatest wines ever made, all seemed right with the world. They were in the black. He could exhale at last. And now, finally, they could get to work. Securing the auction money wasn’t the end of things, after all, but the beginning. They still had a company to build. The profit from the sale eventually produced Faucet, a wine-focused venture-capital fund with a portfolio of proprietary businesses, from négociant winery Where With All to investments in rare bottles to the Sonoma Valley producer Gail Wines . There’s even a fine-wine purveyor, Berkeley and Stuart , named after the intersection where Grill 23 sits, and where each of the partners got his start in the industry. Where, in some sense, it all began. Callahan is now an investor in that restaurant and stores some of the group’s wine there. After dinner, he walked me through the cellar, showing off various bottles. One label stood out, faded yellow and black, with an image like an Art Deco clamshell opening over a twinkling cosmos. It read: “25th Anniversary, Windows on the World, 1976–2001,” part of a store Faucet had acquired of custom Veuve Clicquot produced for the famous restaurant that once straddled the 106th and 107th floors atop the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which collapsed into rubble along with everything else on September 11, 2001. Another marvel in a seemingly never-ending saga of them. As I walked down the steak-house steps into a humid late-spring evening, passing under the lamplit street signs, a snippet from the auction catalog popped into my head: “Put simply,” wrote Serena Sutcliffe, honorary chairman of Sotheby’s Wine, “it would be beyond comprehension if it did not exist in reality.” Exactly so.December historically brings the Santa rally for the ASX200 The month makes up 29% of annual gains for the ASX Why you should stay invested through December Anyone who’s been around the block a few times in the stock market knows about the so-called 'Santa rally' – the tendency for markets to gain some momentum as we roll into the end of the year. And, as eToro points out, this isn't just some vague market folklore. According to fresh data from the broker, the month of December has historically delivered some sweet returns for the ASX 200, and this year’s shaping up to be no different. The ASX 200 has averaged a solid 1.78% return in December over the last 50 years. That’s more than double the average monthly return for the other 11 months of the year, which clocks in at just 0.42%. If that’s not enough reason to crack open another cold one, here’s another stat to think about: December typically accounts for 29% of the ASX 200’s annual gains. To put it simply, almost a third of the year’s profits often come in this final month. But the Santa rally isn’t just a homegrown phenomenon, and before you wonder if we’re all getting too carried away, let’s take a look at the numbers in a global context. Across 14 major stock markets worldwide, including the ASX, December returns average 1.63%, which makes up 23% of the annual gains for global markets. Aussie investors have it a little better than the rest, at 29% of the annual returns. “Although past performance does not guarantee future returns, December has historically been a strong month for stock markets around the world, including the ASX 200,” said eToro analyst, Josh Gilbert. “This is reflective of what experienced investors know as the Santa rally." December is all about positioning for 2025 There are a number of potential reasons behind this seasonal boost, said Gilbert, such as optimism around the new year and the 'January effect' of new investor allocations. In other words, the view of investors positioning for the year ahead is one of the key drivers for the Santa rally. So the December rally is more than just a chance for quick gains. It’s about setting the stage for the year ahead as it's the month when investors start thinking about positioning for the next 12 months. “Christmas may have already come early for some investors this year, with new record highs for the ASX 200, Bitcoin, and the S&P 500 all before December,” said Gilbert. “But, that seasonal joy doesn’t look to be over as we head into 2025", and the stage for markets remains positive, said the eToro analyst. For those holding on to your ASX 200 stocks, now’s the time to sit tight and enjoy the ride, he added. The data doesn’t lie: if you’re in for the long haul and stay invested through December, there’s a good chance the Santa rally will deliver a nice bonus to your returns. “It’s clear that retail investors who miss out on this period may not maximise their yearly returns.” Now read > 2025 in the eyes of mining bigwigs Bill Beament and Simon Lawson This story does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decision. Originally published as Hot Money Monday: Why the ‘Santa rally’ delivers ASX’s December gift that keeps on giving Stockhead Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. More related stories Stockhead How Trump changes landscape for investors Chris Judd joins Stockhead for a special MoneyTalks on what Donald Trump’s election win could mean for investors. Read more Stockhead Copper production goal for these companies Junior companies with the right mix of resources, location and exploration potential are racing towards the line to be the next mid-tier ASX copper producer. Read moreCoronation Street star to be 'killed off' as character is diagnosed with dementia
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This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here . Speed skater Ivanie Blondin captured a complete set of medals, figure skaters Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha clinched a spot in the Grand Prix Final, and Brooke Henderson finished the golf season with a big payday. Here's a look at the top performances by Canada's Olympic athletes over the weekend: Speed skating: Ivanie Blondin starts strong Canada's most decorated active skater won a medal of each colour as she accounted for three of Canada's four podium appearances at the long track World Cup season opener in Japan. Blondin took gold in the women's 3,000 metres, silver in the mass start and teamed with Yankun Zhao for a bronze in the mixed relay. Laurent Dubreuil picked up a silver in the men's 500m. Blondin's gold in the 3,000 marked her first World Cup victory in an individual race other than the mass start (her signature event) in five years. The mixed relay bronze was Canada's first-ever medal in the discipline, which joined the World Cup program last season. It was also the first World Cup medal for the 20-year-old Zhao. Last season, Canada's long track skaters averaged about four medals per World Cup stop and went on to win a national-record 10 medals at the single distances world championships in Calgary. The World Cup tour continues this Friday through Sunday in Beijing. Figure skating: Lajoie and Lagha grab a spot in the Grand Prix Final Ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha took silver while Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud earned the pairs bronze on Saturday at the Cup of China, the final regular stop on the Grand Prix of Figure Skating tour. Lajoie and Lagha were also the runners-up at Skate Canada International in October, giving them enough points to join ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier and reigning pairs world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps at next month's Grand Prix Final in France. Pereira and Michaud did not qualify for the Final, and no Canadians made it in the individual men's or women's events. Golf: Brooke Henderson closes the year with a nice payday The three-time Olympian earned just shy of $120,000 US for tying for eighth place at the LPGA's season-ending Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., on Sunday. Henderson finished nine shots behind Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul, who went eagle-birdie on the final two holes to beat American Angel Yin by one shot. Thitikul, 21, pocketed $4 million for the victory — the biggest winner's prize in women's golf history. Other Canadian results: * Reigning women's skeleton world champion Hallie Clarke finished seventh in Saturday's World Cup race in Beijing. The 20-year-old was sixth and 14th in the season openers a week earlier in South Korea. * 2023 ski jumping world champion Alexandria Loutitt began a new World Cup season by finishing eighth and 10th in a pair of women's large hill events in Lillehammer. Abigail Strate, who won an Olympic team bronze alongside Loutitt in 2022, placed ninth and 18th. * Laurence St-Germain finished 11th in Saturday's women's slalom in Austria as American star Mikaela Shiffrin picked up her record-extending 99th career World Cup win . Shiffrin will go for No. 100 later this week in Vermont. * Freestyle skiers Olivia Asselin and Megan Oldham were eighth and ninth, respectively, in the women's slopestyle World Cup opener in Austria. Max Moffatt finished 12th in the men's competition.
Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter plans to turn pro and prefers to continue a dual role, playing wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL. Hunter could be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and is the favorite for the Heisman Trophy. Speculation about his future quieted as he gained notoriety by the week this season. Field Level Media projects Hunter as a top-three pick in the draft, and he confirmed Thursday this will be his last season at the college level. "That's definitely for sure," Hunter said on a conference call with reporters. Hunter is consistently playing between 100 and 125 snaps per game for Colorado. He has three interceptions on defense with 74 receptions, 911 yards and nine touchdowns playing wideout for quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Also a projected early first-round pick, Sanders committed to play in the East-West Shrine Game in Dallas. The son of Colorado head coach and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders said Thursday he would cast a Heisman vote for Hunter. "If it's between me and him, I would want him to get it," Sanders said. "He does a lot of amazing things and things that haven't been done before. I'm not a selfish guy. I know what he's capable of, so I would rather him win." Hunter said he would invite his QB to New York if he's not named a Heisman finalist before they go about the business of finishing the season, possibly in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Shedeur Sanders said he's the best quarterback in the draft, and doesn't believe that's anything new. "I feel like I was the best quarterback in the last draft, too," said Shedeur Sanders. "Ever since I was draft eligible, I knew I'm the best quarterback. It's not up for me to prove myself to talking about why." Former teammates at Jackson State where Deion Sanders also coached, Hunter said he felt his draft stock began to rise only after critics moved past "the hate" for his coach. A flashy, charismatic cornerback in the NFL after starring at Florida State, Deion Sanders was the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Hall of Famers Troy Aikman (first, Cowboys), Barry Sanders (third, Lions) and Derrick Thomas (fourth, Chiefs) were chosen ahead of "Prime Time" along with offensive tackle Tony Mandarich (second, Packers). Hunter has picked the brain of Deion Sanders about a dual role in pro sports. Sanders was used selectively as a wide receiver and returned punts but was primarily a cornerback in addition to playing Major League Baseball. There's no base-stealing in Hunter's future, but he does believe he can push the envelope as a full-time two-way NFL player. "It's never been done," Hunter said. "I understand that it will be a high risk, (teams) don't want their top pick to go down too early, and I know they're going to want me to be in a couple packages. But I believe I can do it. Nobody has stopped me from doing it thus far. I like when people tell me I can't do it." --Field Level MediaValvoline ( NYSE:VVV – Free Report ) had its price objective decreased by Mizuho from $50.00 to $46.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Several other research firms have also commented on VVV. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Valvoline from $52.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded Valvoline to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Valvoline from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Valvoline from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Valvoline in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valvoline has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.25. Get Our Latest Report on VVV Valvoline Price Performance Valvoline announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valvoline Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 92.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Valvoline by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Valvoline in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 1,617.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valvoline during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Valvoline ( Get Free Report ) Valvoline Inc engages in the operation and franchising of vehicle service centers and retail stores in the United States and Canada. The company, through its service centers, provides fluid exchange for motor oil, transmission and differential fluid, and coolant; parts replacement for batteries, filters, wiper blades, and belts; and safety services, such as tire inflation and rotation, bulbs, and safety checks. 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