Robert Gemmell Acquires 20,000 Shares of Rogers Communications (TSE:RCI) StockLineage, Inc. ( NASDAQ:LINE – Get Free Report ) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.5275 per share on Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lineage Stock Performance NASDAQ LINE opened at $59.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.85. Lineage has a twelve month low of $56.67 and a twelve month high of $89.85. Lineage ( NASDAQ:LINE – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($3.22). Lineage had a negative net margin of 12.18% and a negative return on equity of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lineage will post 3 EPS for the current year. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Lineage About Lineage ( Get Free Report ) Lineage, Inc is the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehouse REIT with a network of over 480 strategically located facilities totaling over 84.1 million square feet and 3.0 billion cubic feet of capacity across countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Coupling end-to-end supply chain solutions and technology, Lineage partners with some of the world’s largest food and beverage producers, retailers, and distributors to help increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and, most importantly, feed the world. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Lineage Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lineage and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Josh Isner is the president of Axon Enterprise and has been with the company for over 15 years. In this podcast, he joins Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser to discuss: Why Axon is like the Apple of law enforcement. How immersive technology improves police training and retention. The role of drones and humanoids in public safety. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center . To get started investing, check out our beginner's guide to investing in stocks . A full transcript follows the video. This video was recorded on Dec. 15, 2024. Josh Isner: We're seeing virtual reality as a major disruptor in training. The reason is retention. We see that when you train in virtual reality, retention goes up about 40% versus conventional in person training, and it makes sense because you're living those scenarios in a very real, convincing way. You're not firing taser probes at a person running around in a Velcro suit or at a stationary target, instead you're confronting real world scenarios that are modeled after real incidents that have happened in policing, and you're training on those under tremendous stress. The best part of all is, you can do it as many times as you want in as many different locations as you want. Mary Long: I'm Mary Long, and that's Josh Isner. He's a president at Axon Enterprise. Axon builds tasers and body cameras for law enforcement officers. They also have a cloud based evidence management system and immersive augmented reality technologies that help police departments better train and prepare officers for stressful, very high stakes situations. Fool analyst Jason Moser caught up with Josh to discuss why Jason thinks of Axon as the Apple of its industry, the ways Axon is using artificial intelligence, augmented reality and drones to save lives, and how humanoids could be the next big innovation in law enforcement. Jason Moser: I like to view Axon as the Apple of public safety, and that's a compliment in every way. You guys make market leading hardware. You've developed a tremendous ecosystem of software and services to support it all. Can you just give us a quick breakdown of the actual business? What are the major segments of the business and what are you guys excited about these days? Josh Isner: For sure. We do a lot at Axon. I appreciate that compliment. That's about as lofty of a compliment as we could have. That's very nice of you. Thank you. We do look at Apple as a good analogy to how our products complement each other. We really have two core businesses. One is the iPhone, iTunes model for body cameras for police. You have your iPhone, which is your body camera, and then your version of iTunes as a police officer is called evidence.com, and that's all of your digital evidence is managed. All of the video coming off your body camera, video coming from CCTV, in car video, drones, really any source of video, it's all housed in evidence.com, and we house over 30 times the amount of video in the Netflix library currently on evidence.com. This is a massive, massive data set. That's core business number one, the core business number two is very different, it's our less lethal technologies business, and tasers or conducted electrical weapons are the thing there. We've been in that business since 1993. We're on our 10th version of the taser, aptly called Taser 10. Certainly, the intent there is to make this technology so good that a bullet will never have to be fired in policing. That's a very lofty goal, but that is what we're on a mission to do is to offer a police officer the same amount of stopping power, but make sure at the end of it that the suspect is alive. Those are the two core businesses. Then we've got these interesting businesses that we've built off of them on the taser side, virtual reality training is one of our fastest growing businesses. On the video side, AI, analytics, different tools that you can use within your digital evidence management platform like automated redaction and sharing and being able to view multiple feeds that are time sync. Those are the types of follow on opportunities there are, as well as a records management product that's very closely married to digital evidence. We operate those two businesses at the company in a way that allows them to be scrappy and entrepreneurial, and we've seen a lot of growth in both over the last five or seven years here. Jason Moser: Something we all think about as investors is your competitive landscape. There's no obvious Pepsi to your Coke or Coke to your Pepsi, if you prefer. But what I'm getting at is competition. Who do you consider your main competitors today? Josh Isner: Sure. There are plenty of competitors in the body camera space. The one I think people will have heard of before is Motorola . They're very active in this space, and that's probably our major competitor in the body camera space. But what I say a lot about Axon is our main competition is the status quo. Ultimately, government is not built to be on the front end of adoption. Their procurement cycles are lengthy and protracted and their budget cycles are such that things take time. A lot of times it's about convincing the end user that this technology they're deploying is going to have a return on investment is going to make them more efficient. It's going to allow them to keep communities safer. But a lot of times in government, it can be challenging to move the technological ball down the field. I'd say that's really the competition that we're most focused on. Jason Moser: Got you. Getting back to that immersive technology angle because I made a recommendation of Axon in our augmented reality and beyond service because of the work that you all have been doing in immersive technology, particularly in training. It seems like it makes perfect sense. But we've also seen that adoption of immersive technology, it's still slow going in many cases, particularly more with the mass consumer. But what does your future look like there? Do you feel like you all are reaping the returns on that investment? Is that something you plan to continue building out? Josh Isner: When we talk about our mission Jason, a lot of people think about the taser as the main apparatus to protect life. Certainly, you can make that argument very easily. But I would say there's a second component of that, which is revolutionizing the way police officers train. Historically, the idea of sending everyone in your department to one location in a city having them fire consumables once or twice a year and then certifying them to go out and perform at the highest level in the most stressful situations they could ever possibly imagine. Personally, I think that's a disservice to police officers, and I think they deserve better than that. We're seeing virtual reality as a major disruptor in training. The reason is retention. We see that when you're trained in virtual reality, retention goes up about 40% versus conventional in person training, and it makes sense because you're living those scenarios in a very real convincing way. You're not firing fake taser probes at a person running around in a Velcro suit or at a stationary target, instead you're confronting real world scenarios that are modeled after real incidents that have happened in policing, and you're training on those under tremendous stress. The best part of all is, you can do it as many times as you want and in as many different locations as you want. In terms of actually preparing police officers for what they're about to face in the field, we truly believe virtual reality is a major, major component of that and fast follow would be augmented reality. It's turned into a nice business. Our partner is HTC on the headsets, and then we build all the custom content for police officers. It's one of our fastest growing businesses. We've had at Axon, and I think it's only two or three-years-old. It's really still got a lot of white space looking ahead. Jason Moser: That's great. You actually answered a question I was going to ask in regard to the hardware and the software. It sounds like like you mentioned, you're working with HTC on the hardware side and then building out the software, those experiences on your end, is that right? Josh Isner: Absolutely. We're we've been in the police training business since 1993. All of our users go through taser certification training and so forth. For us, we feel like we're really close to the experience already, and that informs better content, better scenarios, and ultimately better outcomes in the field. Jason Moser: I'm curious, given the success that you all have witnessed in the immersive technology space, as it applies to your business, beyond Axon, are there any use cases for immersive technology that have caught your attention or the attention of leadership there at the company? Josh Isner: Sure. I think the big opportunities for us outside of just training police officers in immersive technologies is we serve other markets as well, whether it's military, whether it's enterprises that are doing private security details, international government. For us, it's about diversifying the content within VR to really hit home the major use cases for each one of our customer segments. We also actually offer VR training to civilians, and it's called community engagement training. What it allows you to is it allows you to put yourself as a civilian in the police officers shoes and then see the same event unfold from the civilians perspective. I think it builds a little bit of mutual understanding of what each side in some of these incidents is going through, and it's particularly valuable in terms training police officers on how to deal with subjects that are going through a mental health crisis or that are hard of hearing and that have Alzheimer's. Some of these edge cases that do happen commonly in America today. Then, it gives a person on the other side of the body camera that same benefit of being able to see how those scenarios unfold. Jason Moser: That's great. Then leaping from immersive technology on into AI because you knew this was coming. It's all about AI these days. In your recent shareholder letter, I was reading through, and you all noted the AI era plan, which I think is really compelling. For our listeners, can we dig into exactly what the AI era plan is all about, and how are you as a company investing in AI to make your business better? Josh Isner: Sure thing. We'll start with the AI era plan. We're really excited about what the future holds for this offering. We announced it in mid October, and actually this week, we've seen the plan already pass several city council meetings, and that is particularly encouraging because in government, generally, when you go to market with something, you're not seeing deals transpire two months later. But I think that the value of the plan and the types of efficiencies it lends to police officers. The AI era plan is essentially a collection of all of our AI tools today, but it also future proofs you. Meaning, if you sign up for today on a five year contract, every AI feature Axon makes over the next five years is included in that plan. It's a very economical way to lock in the future of AI as a governmental agency and have cost control around it. Some of the things in that plan our products like Draft one, which analyzes body camera video and audio transcripts and writes the first draft of the police report for the officer. Today, we hear police officers spend about 50% of their time writing reports, and we drive that number down to about 10-20% of their time. Essentially, we're giving police officers back more than a day a week of time to be out in the community, doing what they do best, which is fighting crime. The officer still has to edit the transcript, make sure everything looks right put in some key identifiers and so forth. That's a really big part of the process to make sure that revision occurs from the human. But you're starting with the ball on the 10 yard line and looking to go into the end zone here. It's a really compelling value proposition for the customer. We think over the next year, we're positioned to launch seven or eight more of those types of products. This AI bundle is really gaining a lot of interest, and we're very excited about what the future holds for it. Jason Moser: That's very exciting to hear the launches, the roll outs that you all are planning. That was my assumption was that this was something that would just continue to iterate and evolve. Something I love seeing in your shareholder letters are the testimonials from your customers regarding the products and the services. I wonder in regard to AI era, your investments in AI, are there any stories in particular? Is there feedback in particular that stands out to you? Something that makes you all say, "Yes, we are absolutely on the right path here." Josh Isner: I actually think it's feedback coming from the prosecutors themselves. We knew the police officers would be really excited about this in that it's less administrative work at the end of every shift. But we didn't know how prosecutors would feel about it, because they're saying, "hey, how should we think about this evidence? It's written by an AI model at least the first draft of it is." We've seen a lot of promising support and acceptance of these reports in the courtroom already. I think early on the critics were like, "hey, will this actually make it through the legal process?" We're seeing that it is. To see prosecutors say, "Hey, the quality of these reports is much better, and they're getting generated faster." It's a win, win, and that feedback is really encouraging because the workflows don't really stop with just the police department. They have to go to the DA's office. They have to go to the public defender or the defense firm's office, and eventually they have to go to the courtroom. Making sure that whatever we build really withstands the captured courtroom workflow, as we call it, is a really big part of the process. Jason Moser: That's terrific. When I wrote up a recommendation for Axon in August of 2023, and I noted in that piece that today Axon is a very US centric business with international operations representing really only around one fifth of total revenue right now, not even really, just around one fifth. But down the road, I saw where founder and CEO Rick Smith he anticipates those tables turning to where the international business represents closer to 80% of the overall total, which I mean, that's exciting from an investor's perspective because it gives us a very clear view of ultimately the market opportunity and what y'all are trying to do. I'm just curious, how is that international expansion going? Josh Isner: For sure, it's going great. We're excited about the results that we're seeing from our international team this year. They're on track, and we're feeling really good about the progress we've made. One of the highlights of the year was we hired a new chief revenue officer who's based in Europe named Cameron Brooks, and historically, he was the head of AMIA for Amazon Web Services, and our big push in Europe is to unlock the Cloud. There's some data sovereignty issues there. There's different objections to the Cloud market by market. To have someone who's been so successful driving cloud adoption in that exact customer base, that was a great fit for us. Cameron came in in April and we've rebuilt some of the team, we've rebuilt a lot of our go to market strategy and process, and we're already seeing that lend itself to better results. I certainly think International will continue to grow call it a 20-30% clip over the next couple of years as we build more of that foundation. But for the long term, we'll hit a much steeper part of that curve as some of these sales cycles to start to conclude. These are major customers. I think Rick's right. I think we will have failed if our international business is not bigger than our domestic business as just a function of a TAM. There's far more police officers internationally than there are in the United States. some of these countries, take Italy, for example, they have almost 200,000 officers spread across their two main police forces in the country that's five times the size of NYPD. The centralization of these police forces makes it a little harder to break in on the front end, and it's a slow process. But once you're in the sheer scale that you're looking at versus going city by city in the United States, it's a totally different ballgame. We're very optimistic that we're going to start to see some of these national police forces adopt our products in larger quantities over time and really propel our international business forward. Jason Moser: That's really encouraging to hear. Now, you mentioned earlier in the interview drones, and that's been another topic of discussion, obviously, as the drone space starts to mature and become a little bit more of a thing. Your company Axon, you recently acquired a little drone company called Dedrone, which I feel like that was really fascinating acquisition from a number of angles, has expanded your market opportunity considerably. That total addressable market. It's expanded that considerably, and it feels like that business could go a lot of different ways. We see in the shareholder letters, this idea is drone as a first responder opportunity. But what's the initial strategy with your drone aspirations today? Josh Isner: Sure, thing. Drone as a first responder, DFR is at the center of it. We really believe that the first police technology to include humans that arrive to a scene is going to be a drone. the reason that's so important is because it can give the police officer and the dispatcher more situational awareness as they arrive to a scene. One of the things we see a lot today, unfortunately, is very sad is police officers tend to be ambushed. There's a call for domestic violence or something like that, police officer walks up to the front door and they're ambushed and killed, and something like a drone as a first responder could mitigate that. Some of our customers using DFR already, we also saying some of these calls for service get resolved by the drone versus ever having to send a human there in the first place. Maybe it was an erroneous call or maybe it was something broke out, but then people scattered. Whatever the case is to not have to send a police officer when they're not needed is also very valuable. When you take that workflow of drones as a first responder, there's really a couple components. There's the actual drone hardware, and that's a space as far as outdoor drones we're not in right now. We partner with the premier US made drone company called Skydio. But we do all the infrastructure to allow those drones to fly. Part of DFR is actually what's called BV loss beyond visual line of sight. Today, if you can believe it, a police officer to run a DFR mission needs to be standing on a rooftop and watching the drone the whole time. If the drone flies out of sight, there better be someone down range on a different rooftop pending it off and watching this drone fly. Essentially what Dedrone does is it allows you to watch the drones and have complete situational awareness through a user interface, as opposed to humans conducting these missions. You can get a waiver from the FAA to be able to administer DFR this way. Think of Dedrone as the blueprint for how and where the drones are actually going to fly and the awareness around them. That's a big part of the process. Then the third part is all of the streaming and video and situational awareness capabilities coming from the drone camera to your dispatch a real time crime center. That's our power alley. We have a product called Axon Respond that allows the live streaming of those drones back to RTCC. It's really those three components. It's the drone, it's the infrastructure, and it's the streaming and situational awareness. Jason Moser: The drone opportunity is obviously just getting really started today. It's exciting. As I mentioned, it's really expanded your total addressable market, rather significantly. I'm going to ask you to try to predict the future here a little bit. What I'm going to try to do? Let's see it around the corner, if we can. Beyond drones, what would you say could? Not necessarily will be, but what would you say could be Axon's next big market opportunity? Josh Isner: Sure. It's funny you say see around corners because that's one of our core expressions for that. That's one of the things we ask our employees to do every day. I think when we do that well, it's a major competitive advantage for us. In this case if we're looking far out into the future, I bet humanoid robots will be major parts of public safety. Jason Moser: That's fascinating. Josh Isner: When you think about what's the best way to ensure a safe outcome? In an intense policing scenario, it's to get the human out of there. It's to have the human in a place remotely where they can control the robot. But the amount of stress they're feeling in that moment, versus if they were there and there was a threat to their own safety, it's just two different environments. When you can remove the human and make them remote and then still be dictating the use of force decisions because necessarily foresee a future where humanoid robots will be making their own use of forced decisions. If we can put the human in a far better environment to make those decisions, I think we see much safer outcomes for everyone. Certainly it'll be a few years before the technology is there, and it's available at a price that can be deployed in mass, but I certainly think that day is coming. Jason Moser: That makes a lot of sense, and certainly something exciting that we shareholders can keep an eye out for. I want to wrap our interview up here on a little bit of a lighter note. I understand you love golf. I feel like this interview was meant to be I was a PGA club professional in a former life, so I've been playing golf all my life as well. [laughs] For me I've always drawn parallels between golf, life and investing. I wonder if you ever think of it that way and if so, how do you feel like golf makes you better at your job or better in life? Josh Isner: Sure thing. I love that question. I owe a lot to the game of golf. I'm not sure I would have gotten into the college that I got into if I wasn't a golfer, and I played golf there for a little while, and it's still a major part of my life to this day. In general, whether it's golf or other sports, one of the things we say a lot at Axon is next play. I don't know that there's a game where that's more relevant than golf. Your last shot, whether it was good or bad, no longer matters. The only thing that matters is what you're going to do when you're standing over the ball this time at that moment especially given how much success we've had at Axon over the last two or three years, it's like, "Hey, we're next play." Nobody is patting themselves on the back right now. one of the things we say loud is you don't get a pat on the back for doing your job. That's what's expected here. That next play mindset is particularly important. When you're having a lot of success. It's really easy look past what just happened and focus on the future when something didn't go well, when something's going great, you tend to wallow in the success, and that's not the behavior we're looking for here at Axon. Learn that from golf, learn that from other sports. But certainly if you don't have that mindset in golf, as it's going to be a really long day out there. Jason Moser: Josh, this has been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for your time today. Josh Isner: Thank you very much, Jason, and congrats on all of your success, and thanks for letting me be a part of it today. I appreciate it. Jason Moser: Absolutely. Mary Long: As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and the Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against. Buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. All personal finance content follows Motley Fool editorial standards and are not approved by advertisers. The Motley Fool only picks products that it would personally recommend to friends like you. I'm Mary Long. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow, Fools.
Maschmeyer's 34 saves carry Ottawa Charge past New York Sirens, 3-1
Maschmeyer's 34 saves carry Ottawa Charge past New York Sirens, 3-1
The chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi, on Sunday, said the forthcoming Local Government elections will hold across the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 LCDAs in the state. According to him, the impacts and contributions of the LCDAs cannot be discounted in the political and socio-economic development of the state. Ojelabi, who made this known in a statement, disclosed that the Local Council Development Areas have not only been the closest to the grassroots but have also brought the desired developments across the state. With this move, the leadership of the party contradicts the earlier position of the Lagos State House of Assembly, which held that local government elections will not be conducted in the state’s 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in 2025. The decision of the party also dishonours a recent Supreme Court judgement, which granted financial and administrative autonomy to the state’s 20 constitutionally recognised Local Government Areas (LGAs). Setting the record straight, he said, “We wish to inform all and sundry that the Local Government elections will hold across the state in the 20 Local Government Councils and the 37 Local Council Development Areas in the year 2025. ALSO READ: Don’t be sycophant, Wike fires back at Odili We observed with keen interest the recent debates on the desirability of the existence of the LCDAs and the need to hold elections in their political offices. Our landscape is dotted with several infrastructural projects by the LCDAs, which include road, drainage and market construction, school and housing projects, primary education and health facilities, and various social service interventions, etc. The various collaborative efforts with the state government on refuse disposal, drain clearing and security are also pointers to their continuous relevance. We hope this release will put paid to further speculations as regards the local government elections in order not to unnecessarily heat up the polity.”My dear 2024, By Dakuku Peterside Letter writing may be a lost art in this digital age, yet there are moments when the weight of reflection demands the intimacy of a letter. So, dear 2024, consider this a heartfelt note from a Nigerian seeking to encapsulate the whirlwind of emotions, events, and transformations that have unfolded over the past twelve months. As I pen down these words, I do so with the awareness that you are not an ordinary year. Your arrival brought hope, but as the days rolled, that hope was replaced with hardship, struggle, perseverance and lessons. In this letter, as tricky as it may be, I will attempt to recount the key events that shaped you – the milestones that defined not only my life but the collective experience of a nation grappling with economic hardship, political uncertainty, and social upheaval. Nigeria stands at a crossroads, and you will be remembered as a year that tested our spirit and resolve. This is not just a recollection of facts but a narrative of survival in a land where, at times, the future seemed uncertain. You were, indeed harsh, but we, the Nigerian people, have shown remarkable resilience and perseverance. Despite the economic hardships you brought, with inflation, unemployment, and rising living costs affecting all, we have stood strong. Your visitation of economic hardships worsened by 34-40% inflation rate and supply chain disruptions, an embarrassing unemployment rate of 40%, and rising living costs affected both the high and the low. Almost all households felt your pinch. Nigeria’s food inflation rate rose to close to 40% by mid-year, pushing millions into poverty. National Bureau of Statistics reports indicated that over 71 million Nigerians faced food insecurity by the third quarter. The exchange rate rose by over 60%. Yet, amid these challenges, the Nigerian people showed remarkable resilience and perseverance. To put it into context, essential commodities such as rice, maize, and garri doubled in price within months. The petrol price fluctuated between ₦700 to ₦1200 per litre, severely impacting transportation and logistics. Even sachet water, popularly called ‘pure water’, became a luxury for many, reflecting the depth of economic strain. You made our economic thinkers and planners look clueless. Thank God we, the people, showed understanding with them. You brought needless political contentions –the Rivers crisis, contentious elections in Edo and Ondo states, the Kano Emir drama, the Old-New-Old national anthem, and “Endbadgovernance”demonstrations. An attempt to reform our tax system highlighted our stubborn ethnic fault lines. You were not short of drama, both relevant and irrelevant. The reinstatement of the old national anthem left citizens divided, as critics viewed it as distracting from pressing governance issues. However, amid these contentions, the Nigerian people stood united, showing remarkable solidarity. Despite the divisive nature of some of these events, we have remained a united front. Poverty and hunger became our companions, resulting in three deadly stampedes during palliative distributions in Oyo, Anambra, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), leaving no fewer than 60 people dead. Unemployment among the youth reached over 45%, with many university graduates resorting to menial jobs or leaving the country in search of greener pastures, contributing to the ongoing ‘Japa’ wave. At the global scene, you delivered historic elections and global unrest. People in more than 60 countries—representing almost 50 per cent of the world’s population—went to the polls during the year. Voters in Mexico and the United Kingdom picked new leaders, while a former U.S. president was invited by voters back to the White House. In Nigeria, voter turnout in local elections dipped to a record low of 28%, reflecting growing disillusionment with governance. This disinterest was amplified by widespread insecurity, with over 1,500 reported cases of abduction and banditry disrupting daily life. Villages in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Borno faced relentless attacks, forcing thousands into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. “Lakurawa” gained a strong foothold in parts of North-West states. Some strange things happened that we did not foresee. Greece extended adoption rights to same-sex couples, and Thailand legalised same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to do so. You gave LGBTQ+ rights activists something to celebrate. This felt strange in this part of the world, where same-sex relations remain criminalised, and social acceptance lags far behind. In Nigeria, lawmakers intensified efforts to uphold conservative values, with proposed bills aimed at further restricting LGBTQ+ rights. The disparity in cultural values highlighted the widening gap between regions of the world, reflecting the complex layers of societal evolution. You saw the world in turmoil, and the Russian vs Ukraine war continued unabated. This war brought about lots of military posturing, leading some to fear nuclear conflict between Russia and NATO. The conflict between Israel, Hamas, and Iran ramped up to greater heights. The Middle East is in commotion, with the war extending to Lebanon and Israel vowing not to stop until it wipes Hamas and Hezbollah out. Iran has shown its willingness to confront Israel, framing itself as the watchdog of the Middle East against Israel’s aggression. You also witnessed the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, raising fears of extremist groups seizing power. Reports from the UN suggested that over 300,000 Syrian refugees fled to neighbouring countries by year-end, adding to the growing refugee crisis. But amid it all, you allowed some of my compatriots to think and look at things differently, to learn that hard work does not kill and bad governance is for a season. Despite the odds, small businesses grew by 7% in sectors like agriculture and technology, offering a glimmer of hope. Despite the increase in tariffs and persistent collapse of the national grid, there has been a marginal improvement in power output in homes and factories. The healthcare sector witnessed significant transformation in the past few months of 2024 because of incisive, superlative reforms and programmes. So far, 53,000 health workers have been re-trained—an impressive number—to deliver integrated, high-quality services. The Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Initiative, which offers free caesarean sections to all eligible Nigerian women meeting the criteria, and the Nigeria Climate Change and Health Vulnerability and Adaptation (V&A) Assessment Report were launched. These initiatives represent a step forward in our healthcare system, offering hope for the future. Your successor, 2025, is shaping up to be quite the mixed bag — it’s like the year is expecting a baby, but no one knows if it’ll be a bundle of joy or a handful of trouble. Nigeria is trying really hard to stop putting all its eggs in the oil basket. There’s a lot of noise about agriculture, tech, and manufacturing stepping up. With this African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) getting more action, we might see Nigeria flexing as West Africa’s trade big brother. But let’s be honest — oil and gas aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The Dangote Refinery finally kicking into gear might help us cut down on those expensive imported petroleum products. If it plays out right, that could mean fewer trade deficits and more jobs, which we desperately need. But you know how it is with oil — prices are like Lagos traffic, unpredictable and everywhere. Plus, the world’s moving towards greener energy, so we’ve got to figure out how to keep the money flowing long-term. Now, on the money front, I won’t sugarcoat it. Inflation and the exchange rate will probably keep dancing around, and not in a fun way. The Central Bank will try to keep things under control, but they’ll need serious foreign investment and more non-oil exports to make it work. The tech space is looking exciting, though. With all these young, sharp minds and everyone glued to their phones, Lagos and Abuja are becoming mini–Silicon Valley — fintech, e-commerce, aggrotech, you name it. Politically, Nigerians are still out here demanding real change. Anti-corruption will stay a hot topic — we’re all tired of the same old stories. There’s also this growing pressure for electoral reforms and better public services. Civil society is getting louder, and I’m here for it. But security? Whew. That’s going to be a big one. Between insurgency in the Northeast, banditry up North, and secessionist noise in the Southeast, the government has its hands full. It will take more than military action — they must dig into why these issues keep popping up. On top of that, some states are pushing harder for more control over their resources and policies. The whole decentralisation and restructuring debate might heat up. Meanwhile, you can bet politicians are already gearing up for 2027. Alliances will shift — it’s like watching chess, but with higher stakes. Look, Nigeria has its share of problems—inequality, environmental issues, governance struggles. But the potential? It’s huge. We’ve got the people and the energy, and if we can channel it right, the sky’s the limit. Here’s hoping 2025 is more of a blessing than a headache. As I look ahead to 2025, I do so with cautious optimism. While the road ahead remains uncertain, I am reminded that even in the darkest of times, resilience shines through. So, to everything we have passed through, thank you, 2024, for setting us free. 2025, if you’re reading, please be more liberal to us as a nation and as a people. May our leaders listen more and apply more wisdom. May 2025 usher in real hope, stability, and progress for Nigeria and the world. Wishing Nigerians a happy, peaceful, and prosperous new year. DAP .Starting Jan. 1, older adults on Medicare will spend no more than $2,000 a year on prescription drugs when a new price cap on out-of-pocket payments from the Inflation Reduction Act goes into effect. Experts say the change is expected to provide major relief for cancer patients who often struggle to afford their medications due to the high cost of cancer drugs. Diana DiVito, of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, recalls the shock she felt after she got her first co-payment for the cancer drug Imbruvica in 2016. The 83-year-old was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, in 2005. She underwent treatment, including chemotherapy, and went into remission. When she had a recurrence, she started taking Imbruvica. By 2021, DiVito had spent $56,000 out-of-pocket on the daily pill. “The co-pays blew me away,” said DiVito, who added she’s been on limited income since her husband died in 2023. “It started out the first year was $8,500 out of pocket, and then it went up about $1,000 every year after that.” The new price cap will apply to all prescription drugs under Medicare Part D; it won’t apply to drugs given to patients in the hospital or other health care settings, such as chemotherapy or anesthesia. Medicare recipients will also have the new option of spreading their payments out over the course of the year , rather than paying a large co-payment all at once. Before the change, people on Medicare typically had to spend $7,000 or more out of pocket on their prescription drugs before they qualified for so-called catastrophic coverage, when insurance kicks in and covers most of the drug’s cost. Under this coverage, patients are charged a small co-payment or a percentage of a drug’s cost, usually 5%. Typically, DiVito would hit catastrophic coverage almost immediately after her plan reset each January. While that helped with costs for most of the year, it meant the first few prescriptions she filled were financially painful. Anticipating the cap next month, DiVito said she has much less stress and is spending a little more freely. “I’m being a little more generous with my grandchildren this Christmas,” she said. The Inflation Reduction Act’s $2,000 price cap comes after years of public outcry about the soaring cost of prescription drugs , including cancer medications, in the United States. The law introduced the cap gradually, starting with a cap of $3,250 on out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs in 2024. More than 65 million people, mainly older adults, are enrolled in Medicare. A study published in September in JAMA Network Open found that annual out-of-pocket costs for cancer medications averaged $11,284 for Medicare Part D beneficiaries in 2023. (Part D refers to coverage for prescription drugs.) A separate report from the nonprofit group AARP found that 3.2 million Medicare recipients are expected to see savings from the out-of-pocket cap in 2025. By 2029, the number is expected to increase to 4.1 million enrollees. The report didn’t break down savings for people with certain conditions, such as cancer. However, research shows about 60% of cancer cases occur in adults 65 and older. On average, 1.4 million enrollees who reach the out-of-pocket cap from 2025 to 2029 are estimated to see annual savings of $1,000 or more, the AARP report found, and just over 420,000 will see savings of more than $3,000. Mary and Jim Scott of Oregon are among the Medicare enrollees expecting to see savings next year. In 2023, the couple’s out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses skyrocketed to $8,000, up from their previous annual average of $240. It was a difficult year during which Jim, 83, faced multiple serious health issues, including congestive heart failure, an acute kidney injury and bladder cancer. The new cap won’t apply to drugs given in a health care setting (these are covered under Medicare Part B), meaning Jim will still be responsible for the costs of chemotherapy not covered by his insurance. Still, Mary, 73, said the change offers a sense of relief after more than a year of struggling with the soaring costs of cancer care, making it easier for the couple to stay afloat and focus on what matters most: Jim’s health, their grandchildren, their dog and their garden. “We’re not planning any amazing trips. We’re still needing to live our low-key lives,” Mary said. “But by the end of the summer, maybe we’ll be able to put up some new siding on the house and do a few things that we’ve deferred.” Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Medicare policy program at KFF, a nonprofit group that researches health policy issues, noted that in the nearly 20 years since Medicare Part D was introduced, there has never been an annual cap on out-of-pocket costs. She co-wrote an analysis that found about 1.5 million people on Medicare had out-of-pocket prescription drug costs exceeding $2,000 in 2021 and would have benefited from the cap. Of the 1.5 million, about 200,000 Medicare enrollees spent $5,000 or more for their prescriptions that year. “So, for people who need really expensive drugs or who take a lot of medications where the monthly cost adds up, they may have had to pay several thousands of dollars out of pocket each year,” she said. Many people on Medicare are retired and live on fixed incomes, Cubanski said, meaning people often go deep into debt or even bankrupt. Arthur Caplan, the head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said that’s especially true for cancer patients: A survey from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network published in May found that nearly half of cancer patients have medical debt, despite most being insured. “We have many emerging treatments for cancer,” Caplan said. “They are hugely expensive.” Cubanski said that even for those who don’t spend more than $2,000 a year, the cap is still important. “The unfortunate truth is we’re all one scary diagnosis away from needing an expensive drug,” she said. George Valentine, 73, of Philadelphia, said he was at his annual physical in 2002 when his doctor noticed something unusual in his test results. Further testing revealed he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The medications he needed came with a hefty price tag — around $14,000 a month. While he was working in the information technology industry, this wasn’t a major issue because his job-based health insurance included an out-of-pocket maximum, which he hit every year. However, when Valentine retired in 2019, he discovered a significant gap in Medicare’s coverage. Unlike his previous insurance, Medicare had no out-of-pocket spending limit, leaving him responsible for 5% of his medication costs after reaching the catastrophic coverage phase. “Five percent of $14,000 is a lot of money,” he said. “I would get to the catastrophic phase by February in any given year, and for the rest of the year I had this burden of $700 or around there every month and it never ended.” Valentine, now an advocate for the PAN Foundation, a patient financial assistance group for people with life-threatening chronic conditions, said he would prefer the out-of-pocket cap in the New Year to be “zero.” Still, he added, with the $2,000 cap he can now at least sleep at night. “All that matters is when I hit $2,000, I’m done,” he said. This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:
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Energy Transfer LP ( NYSE:ET – Get Free Report )’s share price fell 0.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $19.10 and last traded at $19.24. 1,999,282 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 13,669,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.26. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth ET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.55. View Our Latest Analysis on ET Energy Transfer Price Performance Energy Transfer ( NYSE:ET – Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year. Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ET. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $594,769,000 after buying an additional 4,141,715 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1,491.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,175,731 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $67,020,000 after buying an additional 3,913,266 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after buying an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,787,000 after buying an additional 3,013,973 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Energy Transfer ( Get Free Report ) Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users. See Also Five stocks we like better than Energy Transfer Dividend Screener: How to Evaluate Dividend Stocks Before Buying Buffett Takes the Bait; Berkshire Buys More Oxy in December REIT Stocks – Best REIT Stocks to Add to Your Portfolio Today Top 3 ETFs to Hedge Against Inflation in 2025 Insider Selling Explained: Can it Inform Your Investing Choices? These 3 Chip Stock Kings Are Still Buys for 2025 Receive News & Ratings for Energy Transfer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Energy Transfer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Almost three quarters of Scottish businesses are confident about their prospects next year, a survey has suggested. The Bank of Scotland’s business barometer poll showed 73% of Scottish businesses expect to see turnover increase in 2025, up from 60% polled in 2023. Almost a quarter (23%) of businesses expect to see their revenue rise by between six and 10% over the next 12 months, with just over a fifth (21%) expecting it to grow by even more. The poll found that 70% of businesses were confident they would become more profitable in 2025, a two per cent increase when compared with the previous year. Revenue and profitability growth was firms’ top priority at 52%, though 40% said they will be targeting improved productivity, and the same proportion said they will be aiming to enhance their technology – such as automation or AI – or upskill their staff (both 29%). More than one in five (22%) want to improve their environmental sustainability. Other areas businesses are hoping to build upon AI-assisted technology (19%), and 24% will be investing in expanding into new UK markets and 23% plan to invest in staff training. The business barometer has surveyed 1,200 businesses every month since 2002, providing early signals about UK economic trends. Martyn Kendrick, Scotland director at Bank of Scotland commercial banking, said: “Scottish businesses are looking ahead to 2025 with stronger growth expectations, and setting out clear plans to drive this expansion through investments in new technology, new markets and their own teams. “As we enter the new year, we’ll continue to by their side to help them pursue their ambitions and seize all opportunities that lie ahead.”