Editor's note: A separate story highlighting each signee can be found online at hjnews.com . Developing high school talent has been a long-standing priority of Utah State interim head football coach Nate Dreiling. After all, Dreiling grew up in the midst of a successful high school program as his father, Randy, is one of the most decorated head coaches in the history of the state of Kansas. In fact, Randy Dreiling recently helped guide St. Thomas Aquinas to a second straight 4A state championship, which was his 10th state title as a head coach. Dreiling and his staff and USU has certainly made recruiting high school talent, especially with the Beehive State, a priority. That was very evident as 12 of the 20 athletes that finalized their commitment to the Logan-based program Wednesday are from the state of Utah. Additionally, all but three of these 20 players are current prep seniors. Wednesday was the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period, which will end Friday. The traditional signing period for the recruiting class of 2025 starts on Feb. 5. “What a fun day for Utah State football and especially the state of Utah,” Dreiling said during his Wednesday press conference. “Our plan going in since July was to make sure we put a fence up around this state and get the top players to make sure they don’t leave home and (instead) they just head to Logan for their college experience, and that’s what this class is going to look like.” Getting 20 athletes to sign on Day 1 of the early period was a noteworthy accomplishment for Dreiling and his staff, inasmuch as nothing is guaranteed for these coaches in the very near future. The Aggies are expected to name a permanent replacement for former head coach Blake Anderson, who was fired in July, within the next few days, and Dreiling and company could soon be out of jobs. Regardless of what the future holds for Dreiling, he is confident Diana Sabau, USU’s athletics director, will help ensure there is a future in Logan for these 20 signees. “I had a great talk with Diana kind of midway through the year because I wanted to make sure these players were getting the right information and making sure that they were covered, regardless of the outcome of this head coaching search,” Dreiling said. “And she agreed that anybody that’s committing to this staff was not necessarily committing to Nate Dreiling, but committing and signing to Utah State. And I wanted to get that point across to players and their families, so they know, worst case scenario, that if we’re not here to develop their sons that they’ll still have a spot here that they’re guaranteed coming to this university.” The Aggies were able to sign seven athletes that had at least two scholarship offers from current Power 4 Conference or former P-5 programs in JUCO linebacker Tymere Burton, plus current high school seniors Eric Harris (cornerback), Paxton Naegle (offensive line/tight end), Tommy “Rock” Olsen (OL), Toby Mealer (OL), Ravian Larry (running back) and Charger Doty (safety). On the flip side, several of these 20 signees were under-the-radar recruits, which is just fine with Dreiling. “I wanted players that are going to play because they have so much pride for this university, as opposed to pissed off that they’re not at Texas or Oklahoma,” Dreiling said. “I think a chip on your shoulder and pride in your mind goes a long ways on the football field and that’s what this class is made of. So, hats off to this coaching staff for being persistent. It’s not easy recruiting when you have an interim tag head coach and the uncertainties behind it, but we did a great job, I feel like, of being transparent with these players and letting them know what’s going to happen here regardless (of who the head coach is). And, either way, if they come here, it’s a special place and a place that’s going to excel.” Of USU’s 17 high school signees, six are offensive linemen and all six played in the Beehive State this past season. Mealer, a former Arizona State commit, moved to Utah prior to his senior season and played for 6A state power Lone Peak. The other five O-linemen are Sam Brousseau (Murray High), Joakim Green (Cooper Hills), Naegle (Corner Canyon), Olsen (Lehi) and Fillmore Fangupo (Skyridge). This is the first year Brousseau, who stands a towering 6-foot-9, has played football. Additionally, Green (6-5, 325 pounds), Olsen (6-6, 300), the great-nephew of former Utah State legends Merlin and Phil Olsen, and Mealer (6-5, 340) will immediately provide the Aggies with considerable size and length. “The state of Utah puts out so many top talent offensive and defensive linemen, so we thought we could pretty much sign our whole O-line high school class in the state and have everyone be about an hour-and-a-half (drive away) from home,” Dreiling said. “So, I think coach (Cooper) Bassett did obviously an unbelievable job of that. It was awesome getting Rock Olsen on board right away. He helped tremendously with the recruiting process, but then the rest of them just kind of kept coming and coming in. (Utah) is a place where you can go get the guys up front, man, and that’s how you build a roster (is) with O-linemen. And if you can develop your high school O-linemen, then you have the ability to be a pretty dang good football team.” Several of the high school seniors that signed Wednesday come from the best programs in Utah. For starters, Corner Canyon has captured five of the last seven 6A state titles and are nationally ranked year in and year out, Lone Peak barely lost to Corner Canyon in the finals and Lehi and Skyridge both made it to the 6A semifinals. The Aggies also inked a pair of players from 5A power Orem. “You not only want to recruit unbelievable talent, you want to recruit talent that has won and has been in systems that knows what it takes to win,” Dreiling said. “... Obviously, they typically put out some talented players, but they also have a mindset and culture that comes with them knowing that they’re playing for more than themselves; they’re not playing for stats, they’re playing for outcomes, they’re playing for victories. And that’s what we need here at Utah State if we’re going to get this place rolling. It can’t just be independent contractors with players coming up here for themselves, but with the bigger picture (in mind).” The Aggies signed twice as many O-linemen Wednesday as any other position. The ’25 class is also composed so far of a trio of linebackers and tight ends, a pair of running backs and defensive tackles, plus one quarterback, safety, cornerback and wide receiver. Two of the linebackers are JUCO products in Burton, who completed his redshirt freshman season at East Mississippi Community College, and true freshman Mataira Brown of Snow College. Brown is from Pleasant Grove. The other linebacker is Orem High’s Ryker Mikkelsen. Burton, who spent his true freshman season at Charlotte, choose the Aggies over several other FBS programs. “Tyreme, in a lot of data bases, was voted as the No. 1 linebacker in the JUCO class this year out of East Mississippi,” Dreiling said. “He is a ball hawk, he’s someone that flies around the field (and) is a very smart football player. As you guys know, we graduated our top two guys (at linebacker) that were injured at the end of the season, but we needed a guy that (could) come in that’s played a lot of ball, but most importantly is extremely tough. “And that’s the one thing we wanted to make sure we hit home on this recruiting class (is) that if they were going to come in here, that means their coaches said they are the toughest kid on the team. If we can get 120 people thinking like that, man, you are going to have success.” The other junior college transfer the Aggies signed is tight end Kache Kaio, who was a freshman this past season at Snow. USU’s other just inked tight ends are Alex Faiivae, who is from American Samoa, and Logan High standout Reed Olsen. Olsen could play any number of positions, Dreiling asserted, after returning from his mission for The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mikkelsen and fellow Orem High star Feleti Longi, a running back, will also serve missions before enrolling at USU. “We signed him and we just put tight end next to him, (but) he could grow into an offensive lineman, he can play D-end, he’s athletic enough to play linebacker,” Dreiling said of Reed Olsen, who also plays baseball and basketball for the Grizzlies. “He’s a guy that you just take and you figure it out down the road. Once he gets into our weight program and a college nutrition system where he’s constantly getting calories in his body, he’s just going to blow up. And the fact that, that guy slides through the crack and comes to Utah State, doesn’t have any bigger offers just goes to show you, man, if you want to put your homework in on your (local) area kids and your in-state kids, you can get some dang good football players that in a year or two are going to be top notch.” In addition to Longi, the other tailback who finalized his commitment with the Aggies was Larry, who has rushed for 3,371 yards and 43 touchdowns during his prep career. USU’s two new defensive tackles are Layton Christian Academy’s Iverson Rapport and the 305-pound Jackson Saterfield, who is from Florida. Dalton Anderson, who is from Washington, is Utah State’s newest signal caller, while Arizona native Nikko Boncore is the newest receiver, Harris, who is from Oklahoma, the newest cornerback and Doty the newest safety. All three JUCO transfer plan on enrolling for the upcoming winter semester, as do prep seniors Harris, Mealer and Naegle.Hardship: PDP govs urge Tinubu to review economic policies
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Shares of CMC Markets Plc ( LON:CMCX – Get Free Report ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as GBX 349 ($4.38) and last traded at GBX 333.50 ($4.18), with a volume of 253988 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 338.50 ($4.24). The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of GBX 3.10 ($0.04) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. CMC Markets’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,705.88%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of CMC Markets in a research report on Thursday. CMC Markets Trading Down 8.5 % The business has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 313.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 304.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of £738.72 million, a P/E ratio of 1,585.29 and a beta of 0.51. Insider Activity at CMC Markets In related news, insider David Fineberg bought 94 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 318 ($3.99) per share, for a total transaction of £298.92 ($374.73). Also, insider Albert Soleiman purchased 98 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 303 ($3.80) per share, for a total transaction of £296.94 ($372.25). Insiders bought 288 shares of company stock valued at $89,922 over the last 90 days. 64.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. CMC Markets Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) CMC Markets plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online retail financial services to retail, professional, stockbroking, and institutional clients in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, and internationally. The company offers its clients with the ability to trade contracts for difference and financial spread betting on a range of underlying shares, including indices, foreign currencies, commodities, and treasuries through its trading platform. See Also Receive News & Ratings for CMC Markets Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CMC Markets and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Supermarket giant Carrefour’s support for French farmers’ protests against a trade agreement between the European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur has sparked a strong reaction in Brazil, including a refusal to supply beef to Carrefour stores in Brazil. Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard announced in social media posts last week that the French company would stop buying beef from all Mercosur countries, which also include Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Bompard wrote that he agrees with French producers' arguments that Mercosur beef is an unfair competitor due to lower production costs resulting from fewer environmental and sanitary requirements. The executive encouraged other retailers to follow suit. Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture called Bompard's move protectionist, saying it was made “without any technical criteria.” The decision also angered Brazil's meatpackers. Though France makes up just a tiny sliver of Brazil’s beef exports, meatpackers worried that Carrefour’s decision would hurt its reputation in other markets. Beef giants JBS and Marfrig halted supplies last Friday to Carrefour's extensive supermarket chain in Brazil, including the food warehouse giant Atacadao. Both companies refused to comment on the boycott to The Associated Press, but Minister of Agriculture Carlos Fávaro confirmed it. “We support the reaction of the meatpackers. If Brazil ́s beef isn’t good enough for Carrefour’s shelves in France, it isn’t good enough for Carrefour’s shelves in Brazil either,” Faváro told Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Monday. Carrefour Group in Brazil acknowledged the boycott in a statement, though it said there's not yet a shortage of beef in stores. It said it has “esteem and confidence in the Brazilian agricultural sector, with which it maintains a solid relationship and partnership.” “Unfortunately, the decision to suspend the meat supply has an impact on customers, especially those who rely on the company to supply their homes with quality and responsible products,” the statement said. “It is in constant dialogue in search of solutions that will make it possible to resume the supply of meat to its stores as quickly as possible, respecting the commitments it has to its more than 130,000 Brazilian employees and millions of Brazilian customers countrywide.” The backdrop for the conflict is the EU-Mercosur trade deal , which would increase agricultural imports to EU countries from South America. French farmers fear it will affect their livelihoods. An initial agreement was reached in 2019, but negotiations have faltered since then due to opposition that also includes some European governments. Brazil’s agribusiness sector also fears that the pending European Union Deforestation Regulation will outlaw the sale of forest-derived products within the EU’s 27-nation bloc if companies can’t prove their goods are not linked to deforestation. Its scope includes soy and cattle, Brazil’s top agricultural exports. Almost half of the country’s cattle is raised in the Amazon region, where 90% of deforested land since 1985 has turned into pasture, according to MapBiomas, a nonprofit network. The date of its implementation remains uncertain. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .
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