Putra Brand Awards results imminent, with some surprises in storeWhat to Consider When Purchasing a Mobile Phone Signal Booster for Basements or Underground Parking LotsSt Kilda have admitted they got a little surprised after they reached out to one of their new players on the second night of the AFL’s draft . After bringing in Tobie Travaglia with pick No. 8 and Alixzander Tauru with No.10 on the opening night, the Saints then added James Barrat, Hugh Boxshall, Alex Dodson and Patrick Said to the club on Thursday. The draft’s second night is a little less glamorous than the opener with hopefuls typically glued to their TVs, waiting for their names to be called out along with family and friends. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today It can, however, make for exciting homemade videos with wild scenes of celebrations when a player’s AFL dream is suddenly realised. The Saints certainly had a busy couple of days and after securing Dodson — a 203cm basketball-convert from South Australia — the social media team decided to reach out to their new ruck option to see if he had any videos of the moment his name was called. But there was a problem ... “Hey Alex, welcome to the Saints from the media team here,” the text message read. “If you have any videos from the reactions at your place tonight that we could share on our social channels please send it through!” But the response wasn’t quite what the social team was expecting. “You’ve got the wrong number, my names Garron and im a professor at ***** plus l’d only sign for the Pies!” fired back the reply. “Best to find Alex’s real number because this is a big moment for him and he deserves your credit and support. Congratulate him from me :),” professor Garron amusingly continued. St Kilda replied: “Whoops! Always welcome to jump on the Saints though...” Later revealing to fans: “We eventually got onto Alex Dodson don’t worry.” While the number may have been wrong, the Saints were certainly happy to snap up the big man. Dodson captained South Australia and represented Australia‘s U18 basketball team before proving his football talents in the SANFL and for his state in the AFL U18 Championships. He ended the year with under-18 All-Australian honours to go along with his basketball AA recognition. “We’re pleased to have James, Hugh, Alex, Patrick and their families join us at St Kilda,” St Kilda’s football boss David Misson said. “James is a powerful intercept defender whose aerial numbers were elite for Bendigo. Combined with his powerful kicking, it makes him an exciting player to watch at the Saints. “Hugh is an athletic and tough inside midfielder who is a very exciting prospect and will be a great addition to our midfield mix. “Alex is the elite ruck in this year’s draft and his ability to not only win the hitout but also follow up on the ground is a great asset for us. “Patrick is a hard-running, skilful half-forward who has played some time in the midfield for Calder and played well. A very exciting prospect for us who adds versatility. “We wish James, Hugh, Alex and Patrick all the best at St Kilda and look forward to welcoming them to the club very soon.”
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Gen Threat Report shows emerging trends in cyberattacks Attackers are increasingly involving AI in their attack vectors Consumers and businesses alike are being hit harder and more often Cybercriminals are increasingly leveraging AI technologies to enhance their attacks, experts have warned. A report from Gen has underlined a growing need for vigilance as scammers integrate voices, images, and videos using AI. It warned attackers are leveraging the technology to create deepfake videos, often featuring celebrities, to endorse fake cryptocurrency schemes. Scammers have also been spotted exploiting global events and hijacking platforms such as YouTube to run scams, such as the SpaceX Starship integrated flight test (IFT-4) scam, which stole over $1.4 million via fake crypto campaigns. Cybercriminals expand attacks with AI Scammers are not just adopting new technologies but also revamping older tactics, the report warns. For instance, the antivirus scam, which was popular in the 2000s, has made a comeback, as cybercriminals now deploy aggressive pop-up alerts mimicking legitimate antivirus programs, falsely claiming the victim's computer is infected. These alerts abuse the Windows notification system to appear as... Efosa Udinmwen
Shares of small and mid-sized banks in the Nifty Bank index including IDFC First Bank, AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) and IndusInd Bank have tanked by as much as 29-40 per cent on a year-to-date (YTD) basis in the current calendar year on account of higher stress in unsecured segment and weak earnings outlook, analysts say. “Shares of mid-sized lenders like IndusInd Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bandhan Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL Bank have not fared well in current year due to the stress in the MFI sector and its impact on asset quality, while for Kotak there is an active RBI directive hurting business growth,” said Nitin Aggarwal, Head-BFSI, Institutional Equities at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Asset quality, profitability concerns Concerns on these banks’ unsecured loans, he says, will have an impact on their profitability going ahead. While micro loan sector is expected to recover in Q4FY25, Q3FY25 numbers are not as bright as expected a quarter back. “Mid-sized banks which have done well have reported strong profitability and growth numbers. These include Federal Bank, City Union Bank to be some extent, and Karur Vysya Bank. Among large banks, shares have risen of those who kept performance steady,” he said. According to Dnyanada Vaidya, Research Analyst - BFSI, Axis Securities, most of 2024 was characterised by challenges on deposit mobilisation and margin pressures for banks. “We believe mid-sized banks’ NIM compression was marginally higher vs larger banks, owing to elevated cost of funds with a lower share of CASA deposits and continued deposit repricing alongside some impact of reclassification of penal interest as penal charges. Additionally, certain mid-sized banks have also seen credit growth momentum decelerate,” she said, adding that Opex ratios continued to remain higher for most mid-sized banks, given continued investments in franchise and tech, which weighed on earnings. HDFC Securities’ Head of Research Deepak Jasani shared similar views. He said that SFBs and mid sized private banks have suffered lately due to high deposit rates. Their deposits rate are 100-120 basis points (bps) higher than that offered by the large banks, impacting their net interest margin (NIM), a core indicator of banks’ profitability. “Banks who have a large exposure to microfinance loans have been at the receiving end of asset quality issues due to over leveraging by borrowers. This has resulted in higher delinquencies and lower collection efficiencies. Return ratios of these banks are also impacted due to lower NIMs and high provisioning,” he said. 2025 Outlook According to Aggarwal, while public sector bank (PSB) earnings are holding up well, cyclical concerns due to lower economic growth may lead them to monitor segmental credit cost, especially in SME and MSME segments, due to their volatile cash flows. “Regulatory guidelines like ECL provisioning will have bearing on PSBs. Overall, from earnings standpoint, PSBs are well poised at least in FY25 and you will see maybe marginal earnings cuts in FY26-27,” he said. “Banks like RBL, Bandhan, IndusInd, IDFC First can see double digit earnings cuts, and larger banks will see moderate cuts,” he added. State Bank of India (SBI) remains the top pick for HDFC Securities, while Axis Securities prefers ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Federal Bank and City Union Bank. “We are more positive on the private banks as compared to the public banks due to the fundamental performance of the banks and the gain in the market share by the private sector banks. In the large-cap private banks, we like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank while in the small-cap banks, we are positive on City Union Bank and Karur Vysya Bank,” said Akshay Tiwari, BFSI analyst, Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates. Comments
At least one woman raped nearly every 9hrsMumbai, December 28: Leading brokerage Ventura Securities Ltd has set a bullish target of Rs 3,801 for Adani Enterprises Ltd's (AEL) stock, which is a potential upside of 57.8 per cent over the next 24 months. The share of Adani Group's flagship company is currently trading at Rs 2,409 apiece. In a bull case scenario, the target price rises to Rs 5,748, which would mark an upside of 138.6 per cent, the brokerage said in its note. “We have assumed revenue of Rs 1,66,615 crore (FY24-27E CAGR of 20 per cent) and an EBITDA margin of 20 per cent at an EV/EBITDA of 23.4X, which will result in a bull case price target of Rs 5,748," said the brokerage. Adani Enterprises is on a strong growth trajectory, as per the note by Ventura. RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao Says Climate Change Risks Started to Impact Financial System, Stresses Need for India-Specific Data Over fiscal years 2024 to 2027, its consolidated revenue is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 17.5 per cent to Rs 1.56 lakh crore. "EBITDA and net margins are projected to expand by 647 basis points to 18.3 per cent and 255 bps to 5.9 per cent, respectively," it said, adding that "return ratios – RoE and RoIC – are expected to improve by 563 bps to 14.5 per cent and 99 bps to 11.3 per cent, respectively". Bench Shutdown: Canada-Based Fintech Firm Providing Accounting, SaaS Services Abruptly Shuts Down Its Operations, Puts Users in Difficult Situation. According to the note, this growth will be driven by the company’s expansion of airport, solar, and wind turbine businesses, as well as revenue contributions from copper business. The Adani Group’s flagship company is targeting Rs 6.5-7 lakh crore in capital expenditure over the next decade, primarily focusing on airports, data centres, copper, and green hydrogen, Ventura said. "This expansion will be funded through debt, which is expected to lead to an increase in the company's debt-to-equity and debt-to-EBITDA ratios over the next few years," it added. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2024 06:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com ).