Empowered Funds LLC decreased its holdings in NetScout Systems, Inc. ( NASDAQ:NTCT – Free Report ) by 82.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,140 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 191,473 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in NetScout Systems were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in NetScout Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in NetScout Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 52.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in NetScout Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in NetScout Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock. Insider Activity In other news, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.32, for a total value of $138,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,865.48. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock. Analyst Ratings Changes View Our Latest Report on NTCT NetScout Systems Trading Up 1.2 % NetScout Systems stock opened at $21.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.60 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.63. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.10 and a 1 year high of $24.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.13. About NetScout Systems ( Free Report ) NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NTCT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NetScout Systems, Inc. ( NASDAQ:NTCT – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for NetScout Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NetScout Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’The United States Space Force (USSF) was established just a short, five years ago on December 20th, 2019. Since that day, the youngest branch of the US armed forces has been steadily growing and developing as a fully independent arm of the American military. As a split off from the US Air Force, the Space Force has almost 10,000 men and women in uniform today. Known as Guardians, they steadfastly defend America’s interests in the domain of space and expand the limits of what is possible to safeguard national defense through space power. 6 Creation of the Space Force Where it all started When the US Space Force was created, it marked a transformative shift in the United States’ approach to space as a distinct domain of warfare. The establishment of the USSF aimed to unify and streamline space operations through a dedicated organization. From its inception, the Space Force was tasked with creating a unified command to manage and protect space assets while ensuring readiness to respond to emerging threats. Transforming departments of the US Air Force laid the foundation for the Space Force’s organizational structure. Building off an established pool of skills and resources enabled them to operate autonomously and integrate with existing military branches easily from the outset. The creation of the Space Force recognized space as a strategic frontier with unique operational and strategic specialization, focusing on resources and personnel to address the unique challenges it presents. 5 First Space Operations Squadron activation Taking action to secure the final frontier The First Space Operations Squadron is a component of Delta 9, headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. The squadron was first activated October 5th, 1987, and officially integrated on June 19, 2020. In comments to Defense.gov , Gen B. Chance Saltzman reflected on half a decade of accomplishments: "On average, we have tripled in size every year for the last five years in personnel, an astounding growth rate for any government organization. We have reimagined operations, redefined policies [and] reworked processes from the ground up to forge a service purpose-built for great power competition. All of this in just five years." Space Force squadrons manage vital national defense assets like communication satellites, navigation satellites, and space reconnaissance platforms. Their role is imperative to many layers of American defense and infrastructure. 4 Launching the GPS III satellites Renewed power for a legacy of excellence The USSF took over responsibility for the Global Positioning System (GPS) when they separated from the USAF and continued the program to launch the GPS 3 modernization project with Lockheed Martin . Just a few days ago, on December 16th , the Space Force and Lockheed Martin successfully launched the seventh satellite in the new GPS 3 network. With the first launches in 2020, the third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) is more robust, accurate, and resilient than the satellites that came before them. Integrating state-of-the-art technologies into the legacy GPS system has enabled the Space Force to achieve new levels of operational readiness for the Department of Defense (DOD): “GPS III vehicles provide three times greater accuracy and eight times greater anti-jamming capability over existing satellites in the constellation. To better address mission needs and emerging threats, Lockheed Martin intentionally created GPS III with a modular design, allowing new technology and capabilities to be added in the future.” The constellation of GPS satellites that circle the globe provides an essential navigation service for more than just the military. Commercial aircraft, ships, smartphones, and countless other devices rely on GPS to get from point “A” to point “B.” GPS is a household name because billions of people use it every day. Thanks to the Guardians of the US Space Force, we can count on it to always be there when we need it. 3 Space Domain Awarenesss Building the complete picture The Space Force has made it a primary mission to integrate a comprehensive network of observation, surveillance, and tracking systems into a complete network under the banner of Space Domain Awareness . This program covers an umbrella of over 60 ground and space-based systems. Some of the functions of this network include tracking debris and satellites in orbit and identifying hostile actions such as anti-satellite weapon tests and cyber intrusions targeting space systems. The newly centralized command of all these systems provides a consolidated and streamlined organization capable of providing real-time data about the orbital environment. This network can also accumulate historical data for analysis, enhancing its ability to anticipate and respond to threats. 2 Integration of Space Force with joint operations One team, one fight As a new service branch, forging a position in the combined strategy of the armed forces is not a simple task. Seamless integration with other military branches is essential for the Space Force to execute coordinated defense strategies effectively. Embedding space operations within joint missions ensures that space capabilities are leveraged across all domains of warfare. Integration entails collaboration on joint exercises, intelligence sharing, and the development of interoperable tactics and technologies. The Space Force ensures its assets are fully utilized to support ground, air, maritime, and cyber operations. This holistic approach not only maximizes the utility of space-based resources but also reinforces the strategic importance of space in achieving military objectives. The US Space Force protects its spacecraft from adversaries. 1 Key milestones Creation of the Space Force (December 20, 2019) First Space Operations Squadron Activation (June 18, 2020) Launch of the GPS III Satellites (2020-2024) Space Domain Awareness Initiatives (2019-2024) Integration of Space Force with Joint Operations (2019-2024) A quick review of the US Space Force's Boeing-built X-37B spacecraft
PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
What is Zacks Research’s Forecast for Exelon Q3 Earnings?MILAN — Shoppers laden with bags from Fendi, Loewe, Prada and other designer labels clog the narrow sidewalks of Milan's swankiest shopping street, bringing joy to the purveyors of high-end luxury goods this, and every, holiday season. There's even more to celebrate this year: a commercial real estate company crowned Via MonteNapoleone as the world's most expensive retail destination, displacing New York's Fifth Avenue. The latest version of American firm Cushman & Wakefield's annual global index, which ranks shopping areas based on the rent prices they command, is a sign of Via MonteNapoleone's desirability as an address for luxury ready-to-wear, jewelry and even pastry brands. A man walks past a shop Dec. 12 in Monte Napoleone street in Milan, Italy. The average rent on the Milan street surged to $2,047 per square foot, compared with $2,000 per square foot on an 11-block stretch of upper Fifth Avenue. Via MonteNapoleone's small size — less than a quarter-mile long — and walking distance to services and top cultural sites are among the street's key advantages, according to Guglielmo Miani, president of the MonteNapoleone District association. "Not everything can fit, which is a benefit," since the limited space makes the street even more exclusive and dynamic, said Miani, whose group also represents businesses on the intersecting side streets that together with Via MonteNapoleone form an area known as Milan's Fashion Quadrilateral. Women look a shop Dec. 12 in Monte Napoleone street in Milan, Italy. The biggest brands on the street make 50 million euros to 100 million euros in annual sales, Miani said, which goes a long way to paying the rent. Tiffany & Co. is preparing to take up residence on Via Montenapoleone, and longtime tenant Fendi is expanding. The MonteNapoleone District says 11 million people visited the area this year through November, but there's no way to say how many were big spenders vs. window shoppers. The average shopper on Via MonteNapoleone spent 2,500 euros per purchase between August and November — the highest average receipt in the world, according to the tax-free shopping firm Global Blue. The street is a magnet for holiday shoppers who arrive in Maseratis, Porsches and even Ferraris, the sports car's limited trunk space notwithstanding. A mannequin is seen Dec. 12 in a shop in Monte Napoleone street in Milan, Italy. Lights twinkle overhead, boutique windows feature mannequins engaged in warm scenes of holiday fun, and passersby snap photos of expertly decorated cakes in pastry shop displays. A visitor from China, Chen Xinghan, waited for a taxi with a half-dozen shopping bags lined up next to him on the sidewalk. He said he paid half the price for a luxury Fendi coat that he purchased in Milan than he would have at home. "I got a lot," Chen acknowledged. "It's a fantastic place, a good place for shopping." A man waits for a taxi Dec. 12 in Monte Napoleon street in Milan, Italy. A few store windows down, Franca Da Rold, who was visiting Milan from Belluno, an Italian city in the Dolomites mountain range, marveled at a chunky, yardslong knit scarf priced at 980 euros. "I could knit that in one hour, using 12-gauge knitting needles as thick as my fingers, and thick wool. Maximum two hours," Da Rold said, but acknowledged the brand appeal. Buildings are decorated Dec. 12 in Monte Napoleone street in Milan, Italy. Despite upper Fifth Avenue getting bumped to the No. 2 spot on the Cushman & Wakefield list, the organization that serves as the Manhattan street's guardian and chief promoter had praise for MonteNapoleone's achievement. "Milan's investment in its public realm is paying off, which is a win for their shoppers, businesses and city as a whole," said Madelyn Wils, interim president of the Fifth Avenue Association. She also expressed confidence that with new investments and a record year for sales on Fifth Avenue, "we'll be back on top in no time." The holiday season feels a little less jolly considering the amount of waste generated by gift-giving. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the amount of household garbage in the U.S. increases by 25% between Thanksgiving and New Year's. After the decorations come down, all that waste heads to landfills, producing a significant contributor to climate change: methane gas. "Greening" the holidays is essential, and one simple tip is to think more about how sustainable the materials are in your decorations, decor, and, of course, gifts. Instead of plastics, you could opt for items that can be reused, are made of renewable materials or natural fibers that boast a smaller environmental impact in both production and durability. Due to consumers' desires for more eco-friendly goods, sustainable materials are among the biggest trends in home decor. Fortunately, there are plenty of affordable—and earth-conscious—home goods that make perfect holiday gifts. Made Trade rounded up a list of sustainable home decor trends in 2025 that offer dozens of creative options for holiday gift-giving. Each trend includes examples of great gifts for the home and advice for ensuring items are sustainably produced or can help create a more eco-friendly space. In the depths of winter's gray days, it's a real gift to see a little green, which is why indoor gardening gifts are a wonderful idea. Not only are they eco-friendly and promote sustainability—the more food you can grow yourself, the less you have to buy—they also foster an appreciation of nature and bring the natural world indoors to enjoy. Sprouting kits and microgreens require minimal amounts of space and sunlight, but a sunny, south-facing window will permit a small herb garden or leafy greens for salads. If you're not sure what kind of light your recipient has access to, go with gifting indoor grow lamps along with the plants, or pick a hardy, low-water houseplant—some can act as natural air purifiers too. When buying gifts for the home, consider what materials the items are made from and how far away they come from—not only are natural materials like rattan, jute, palm leaves, clay, organic cotton and linen, and ceramics more sustainable, but if they are being used by a local craftsperson, gifters are also saving on fossil fuels for the transportation. Plus, you're helping the local economy by supporting local craftspeople, so it's a win-win. Natural fiber pillows, sheets, blankets, and even doormats offer comfort and consideration of the environment. The most sustainable and eco-friendly gift is one you already have, so get creative about reusing materials already in or around your home (raid the recycling bin, find nice pieces of wood outside, wash out and reuse glass jars) to fashion them into new, thoughtful goods. Similarly, think vintage and secondhand—what items can you give a second life to by passing them along to someone who will find new meaning in them? Some of the most thoughtful gifts are small heirlooms—pieces of jewelry or a beloved ceramic dish—passed along to the next generation that will appreciate them. Green technology offers ways to reduce our carbon footprint in everyday life, and smart thermostats, solar lights, smart sprinklers, and smart plugs all make great gifts, saving people money and conserving our valuable resources. For those looking into home renovations or updating decor, try a new light fixture paired with smart blubs, or a new window treatment with smart shades. Even something as simple as a rain barrel can reduce energy use—and while the technology for that isn't very sophisticated, it certainly is, like composting, "smart." Integrated outdoor living is the ultimate gift, allowing us to bring the natural world into our homes. However, doing so sustainably takes a little more effort than simply leaving the doors to the deck open all the time. First, find eco-friendly and sustainable outdoor furniture, perhaps thrifting it or buying it used and fixing it up for a one-of-a-kind gift. If you can't go secondhand, choose furniture made of sustainable materials such as reclaimed wood, recycled plastic (great for outdoor rugs), or bamboo. For smaller gifts, consider solar lights, a water feature that recycles water, a rain barrel, or even a set of handmade wind chimes made from seashells. Story editing by Carren Jao. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Clarese Moller. This story originally appeared on Made Trade and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
Police are investigating a shooting where bullets hit a number of parked cars and a house in Pitt Meadows in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 24. The Ridge Meadows RCMP say just after 4:30 a.m. officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 18800 block of 122nd Avenue, which is a residential neighbourhood. Responding officers found nobody was injured in the incident, however damage was located on "several" parked vehicles and a nearby residence. “We are thankful that nobody was injured in this early morning shooting that occurred in a residential area of Pitt Meadows,” said A/Sgt. Sunny Grewal with the Ridge Meadows Investigative Support Team. According to a social media report, a camera in the neighbourhood recorded about 10-11 shots from a firearm. The Ridge Meadows Investigative Support Team took conduct of the file, and attended the scene along with the Integrated Forensic Identification Section. “As this incident is still under investigation, we are asking for anyone who has information on this incident to please contact the police,” said Grewal. Police are seeking witnesses or persons who may have dash camera footage and/or surveillance video from the area. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the Ridge Meadows RCMP at 604-463-6251 and quote file number 2024-23981. In 2021, a house on the same street suffered damage from bullet holes after an overnight shooting, but police reported at that time it was the wrong address that had been targeted.OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Hexcel Co. ( NYSE:HXL – Free Report ) by 11.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 584 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hexcel by 277.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,695,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $105,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,765 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 307.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,079,598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,421,000 after buying an additional 814,402 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hexcel by 215.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 865,235 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $54,034,000 after buying an additional 590,975 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hexcel by 280.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,290 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,107,000 after acquiring an additional 532,550 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Hexcel by 151.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 344,342 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,086,000 after acquiring an additional 207,434 shares during the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Hexcel Stock Performance NYSE:HXL opened at $61.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.72, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.66. Hexcel Co. has a twelve month low of $57.50 and a twelve month high of $77.09. Hexcel Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms have commented on HXL. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Hexcel from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Hexcel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Hexcel from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered Hexcel from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hexcel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.31. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Hexcel Hexcel Company Profile ( Free Report ) Hexcel Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets carbon fibers, structural reinforcements, honeycomb structures, resins, and composite materials and parts for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications. It operates through two segments, Composite Materials and Engineered Products. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HXL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hexcel Co. ( NYSE:HXL – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Hexcel Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hexcel and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Hawks have little trouble pinning Raptors with 10th straight lossPM orders strict action against tax defaulters
Three episodes into Dexter: Original Sin , it’s clear the show has a good sense of humor about itself — this episode has a lot of talking-parrot moments — and also isn’t afraid to embrace the gruesomeness of the original series. But as we delve further into flashbacks involving Harry and his doomed informant, Laura Moser, it’s becoming less clear what story the show is trying to tell that we don’t already know. At least “Miami Vice” delivers a brand-new victim for Dexter’s burgeoning serial-killer journey, not to mention the first time I’ve seen a jai alai ball used as a weapon in anything. The episode begins with a press conference about Judge Powell’s son, Jimmy, who is still missing, minus the severed finger. Miami Metro is on high alert, with Harry particularly concerned about how the whole situation might trigger Dexter. (Harry’s misunderstanding of how past the point of no return Dex is kind of irks me — like, you did train him to be a serial killer!) But the cops are also on edge thanks to the arrival of a new detective, Maria LaGuerta, played here by Christina Milian. She’s transferred over after a scathing opinion piece lambasting the department for its abysmal clearance rate when it comes to N.H.I. (No Humans Involved) victims: drug users, sex workers, and the homeless. Good for her, even if this particular storyline does feel quite progressive for 1991 Miami. Dexter is still interested in finding Jimmy’s kidnapper, but his primary focus is “Handsome Tony” Ferrer, the loan shark he’s decided to make his second victim. Because of the code, Dex has to be sure anyone he kills is actually guilty of murder, so he begins his own investigation. That involves breaking into Ferrer’s house and getting startled by a parrot who keeps saying, “Honey, I’m home.” (Dexter’s voiceover replies, “Polly want a killer?” Cute.) Dex finds Ferrer’s book of clients, and he’s able to determine that there have been disappearances and deaths tied to Handsome Tony’s aggressive collection tactics. But he’ll need more concrete information before he can make his move. Back at home, Dexter is cooking breakfast for dinner — we even get an origin story for the opening credits! — when Debra and Sofia arrive, with Sofia wearing Nurse Mary’s earrings. Dex is horrified to see his murder trophies on his sister’s bestie’s ears, but of course she takes his interest in her jewelry as flirtation. Harry is equally distressed when he learns the truth, reiterating that the first rule of the code is not getting caught. But he’s specifically upset to discover that his serial killer son is doing serial killer things. (Harry! Catch up!) Dexter demands that Deb get the earrings back from Sofia, and she agrees to help ... if he can score her some coke for her volleyball team party. In the episode’s silliest storyline, Debra wants to make playoff captain to win a scholarship to FSU, but she’s in a tight competition with the cooler, richer Tiff, so she’s promised cocaine to the rest of the team to earn their votes. It’s like an R-rated family-sitcom plot. Dexter has more pressing concerns, however, namely killing Ferrer. After Masuka hooks him up with a fake ID — turns out “Patrick Bateman” was his earliest alias, and a very timely one, since American Psycho came out in March 1991 — Dexter heads to a jai alai game. There, he strikes up a conversation with Ferrer and pretty quickly asks to borrow some money. Handsome Tony gives him $500 but makes it clear there will be severe consequences if he can’t meet the payment schedule. While Dex swears he’s going to use the money for a job interview, he takes some of it to buy Sofia replacement earrings at Limited Too. This is Deb’s plan to get the Nurse Mary earrings back after Dexter smartly lies and says he had bought them as a gift for their mother, so they have sentimental value. He also makes the wise choice to not procure actual cocaine for his teen sister and her friends, instead whipping up a concoction of crushed caffeine pills and benzocaine that should be able to fool a bunch of high-schoolers. At Ernie’s Taproom, Dexter makes sure that Ferrer sees him lose money at pool, so that when the loan shark tries to collect, Dex can explain that he just lost what he was about to pay him. Ferrer takes Dexter outside, and kudos to our budding sociopath for his brilliant performance as someone genuinely fearful for his life. In what seems like a very risky plan, he coerces Ferrer into firing a warning shot — the man loves warning shots! — into a tree. Dex recovers the bullet and is able to use Miami Metro forensics lab technology to compare it to the bullet that killed Rene’s mother. He calmly explains this all to Harry, noting that the code has now been satisfied, and he has free rein to kill Ferrer. Harry thinks Nurse Mary would be enough (what show are you watching!) and then offers to come with Dexter to keep him safe. I am having some serious concerns about this man’s judgment. Thankfully, Dex insists that he’s killing Handsome Tony tonight and doing it solo — but Harry says everything his son does will now have to go through him first. When Ferrer arrives home that evening, he’s surprised to find his beloved parrot out of her cage — but he’s even more startled by Dexter, who somehow manages to subdue him with a chokehold. (I’m not sure I buy Young Dexter being this efficient at overpowering a violent criminal, but whatever, this is not a documentary.) Dex also frees the “honey, I’m home” parrot with a poignant, “Find yourself a new home, honey.” I love his whimsy. He’s a lot more serious once he has Ferrer on the kill table, confronting him about his past crimes and even lobbing a jai alai ball right into his face. (Easter egg alert: It cuts his cheek much like Dexter will later do with his scalpel.) Handsome Tony naturally offers Dex money for his life, but that was never going to work. “I’ve got an itch that money can’t scratch,” Dexter tells him before going in for the kill. Dexter’s prep work and second murder take up the bulk of “Miami Vice,” but we also get ample flashbacks throughout. Harry has gotten Laura to start selling drugs to high-end buyers, all to attract the attention of Estrada, Miami Metro’s ultimate target. He even puts a wire on her when she meets with Councilman Aldana, assuring her that “You’re making Miami safer for everyone, for your boys.” (Dramatic irony!) Laura’s odd behavior soon gets clocked by the higher-ups, and she’s picked up by Santos, who starts driving her to the shipping yard (with a frantic Harry in pursuit). Those of us who know what Santos eventually does to Laura in a shipping yard have alarm bells going off, but we’re not at that point in the story yet — and Laura is surprisingly adept at talking her way out of trouble. Harry realizes he’s overly attached to his informant, though he turns down her sexual advances. I realize that prequels are tough in that the events are already prescribed, but the Harry-Laura scenes, in particular, feel like they’re dragging the show down. I’m just not sure what these flashbacks are meant to unlock about Harry beyond the fact that he made a lot of reckless choices and is, on some cosmic level, responsible for Dexter becoming who he is. That’s information we’re getting in Original Sin ’s main timeline and something we already knew from the parent series. Perhaps there’s a twist ahead that will make it all worthwhile — until then, I’ll remain more interested in Dexter’s storyline. After killing Ferrer, he dumps his body parts in Alligator Alley: “Alligators eating alligator shoes ... circle of life.” Unfortunately for Dex, Tony’s arm floats up out of the water after he’s gone, so Ferrer’s murder is likely to become a case for Miami Metro. Sounds like a crime Detective LaGuerta might be very keen on solving. • LaGuerta is here, and not a moment too soon. Lauren Vélez is a tough act to follow, but we’ll see what Christina Milian brings to the table. • Meanwhile, I remain concerned about Tanya’s longevity. I winced when she said, “It’s a fucked-up world, Dexter. Glad you’re team Miami Metro.” Just sounds like the kind of thing she’ll come to regret later! On the other hand, this show needs to give SMG more juicier material, and having her square off against Dex would be a delight to watch. • Even though her storyline in this episode is goofy, it’s nice to see Deb and her brother getting along. That was a core part of the original series and the sibling rivalry stuff can get tiresome pretty quickly. • At the same time, I don’t buy the one-sided Sofia romance at all. It’s not that Patrick Gibson isn’t dreamy; it’s just that Dexter’s awkwardness and borderline asexuality make it hard to believe a 17-year-old would throw herself at him with, “God, you are so fucking sexy.” When he responds to her kiss with a fist bump, that should be the end of it, but Debra certainly thinks Sofia and Dexter are dating now. • Shoutout to the effects team for some really impressive grotesquerie, including Ferrer’s severed head at the end of the episode. The original Dexter did a good job of balancing humor and gore — and finding the humor in gore — so it’s nice to see the spinoff doing the same. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.By BILL BARROW, Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter’s in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter’s path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That’s a very narrow way of assessing them,” Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn’t suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he’d be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter’s tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter’s lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor’s race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama’s segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival’s endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King’s daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters’ early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan’s presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan’s Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF ( NYSEARCA:BILZ – Free Report ) by 112.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,270 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,612 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 3.33% of PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF worth $8,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BILZ. Beacon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Slagle Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $205,000. ABLE Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Addison Capital Co purchased a new position in PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF during the second quarter worth approximately $303,000. Finally, FSA Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF during the first quarter worth approximately $319,000. PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF Stock Up 0.0 % Shares of BILZ opened at $101.14 on Friday. PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF has a 52-week low of $100.59 and a 52-week high of $101.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.97. PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF Profile The PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active Exchange-Traded Fund (BILZ) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in investment grade fixed income. The fund is an actively managed fund that invests in treasury bills and notes, repurchase agreements, and cash collateralized by the US government. Securities selected have a maximum maturity of six months. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Betty White Forever: New stamp will honor the much-beloved 'Golden Girls' actor
With two months left in his term, O’Malley’s effort to fix the system has made inroads but remains a work in progress.‘Gladiator II’ review: Are you not moderately entertained?( MENAFN - GetNews) Amid the challenges of today's competitive economic environment, Victoria Liu has quickly established herself as one of the most influential figures in the financial investment sector, demonstrating extraordinary abilities and strategic acumen. She has displayed exceptional analytical prowess, insightful decision-making capabilities, and strong leadership qualities, positioning her as one of the most standout leaders among the new generation of financial professionals redefining the industry. Victoria's exceptional leadership and expertise have been recognized on a global stage, earning her the Globally Acclaimed Award in the 2024 Best Financial & Accounting Management category at the Titan Women in Business Awards, presented by the distinguished Titan Women in Business Awards jurors. 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This continuous learning loop ensures that the platform remains relevant in dynamic, fast-changing market conditions. As a result, financial institutions using this platform gain access to more forward-looking and sophisticated forecasts, reducing the lag time between market events and investment decisions. This aspect of autonomous learning is a key differentiator that distinguishes Victoria Liu's platform from traditional financial models. While most predictive models are limited by static datasets and fixed logic, her platform harnesses AI-driven neural networks to continuously improve itself, ensuring it can anticipate future changes rather than merely reacting to past events. This innovation places her at the forefront of financial technology, reinforcing her position as a leader in the financial analysis field. II. Real-Time Dynamic Strategy Adjustments & Competitive Advantage Another critical feature of Victoria Liu's platform is its ability to make real-time adjustments to investment strategies. Traditional financial models operate on batch data or lagged data, often requiring manual updates or human intervention to incorporate new market conditions. In contrast, Victoria's platform processes live data streams, enabling it to react to fluctuations in stock prices, breaking news, regulatory announcements, or unexpected global events as they happen. The real-time processing capabilities of the platform are driven by cutting-edge streaming data technology that allows for the continuous ingestion, analysis, and synthesis of large, high-velocity datasets. This ensures that the platform can provide immediate updates and strategy shifts to users, allowing investors to make timely adjustments to their portfolios. For instance, if a major geopolitical event occurs - such as a central bank interest rate decision or a policy shift in a key market - the platform can instantly detect the change, reassess its market forecast, and update its investment strategy recommendations in real time. This level of agility allows investment managers to stay ahead of the curve, significantly enhancing their ability to mitigate risks and seize opportunities. By reducing the time lag between market events and decision-making, the platform allows firms to achieve more precise portfolio rebalancing, improving returns while protecting against downside risks. This capability has been heralded as a game-changer in risk management since most financial models rely on retrospective data, which often leads to delayed responses. Victoria Liu's innovation, specifically the dynamic, real-time functionality of the platform she designed and pioneered, represents a form of major competitive advantage. It allows firms to shift from reactive decision-making to proactive, forward-looking strategy adjustments. This functionality is especially critical in volatile, fast-moving markets where even a few seconds of delay can have material consequences for returns. Her platform's ability to provide rapid, data-driven recommendations has positioned it as one of the most advanced real-time strategy systems in the field of financial analysis. III. Industry-Wide Impact, Validation & Recognition Perhaps the most profound indicator of Victoria Liu's influence in the financial analysis field is the industry-wide impact of her platform. Historically, financial analysts have relied on traditional modeling approaches like regression analysis, technical charting, and spreadsheet-based forecasting. However, the introduction of Victoria's platform has set a new technological standard for predictive modeling and investment decision-making. Her platform's success has inspired other financial firms to replicate its capabilities. Competing firms have since sought to develop or license similar machine learning-based decision platforms to remain competitive. This shift reflects the influence and market leadership of Victoria's work, as the industry's leading firms recognize that failing to adopt AI-driven tools would leave them at a strategic disadvantage. Victoria's approach has changed not only how firms analyze data but also how they allocate resources toward building internal AI and data science capabilities. Additionally, Victoria's platform has raised industry expectations for accuracy and speed. Once firms witnessed the success of her model, it became clear that traditional predictive tools were no longer sufficient. Her platform's machine learning-driven predictions and real-time adaptation have redefined best practices in financial analysis. Today, firms that fail to implement similar tools are perceived as lagging behind industry standards. By driving this shift in expectations, Victoria has played a pivotal role in reshaping the competitive landscape of the financial industry. The industry-wide impact of her platform extends beyond just imitation. Many firms have reported that incorporating AI-driven decision systems similar to Victoria's model has led to enhanced portfolio performance, improved client satisfaction, and reductions in operational risk. As more firms adopt this new standard, Victoria's role as a trendsetter and innovator becomes even more apparent. Her influence is no longer confined to a single firm or organization - she is shaping the future of the financial analysis industry at large. One of the indicators of industry prominence is peer validation, and Victoria Liu has received it in abundance. The fact that multiple firms have adopted her platform is a clear testament to the efficacy and practicality of her innovations. In an industry where firms are often slow to adopt change, this level of uptake is rare. Moreover, her contributions have been recognized by leaders across the financial and fintech sectors, with several industry experts citing her predictive modeling capabilities as“game-changing.” Her status as a thought leader is also underscored by invitations to participate in industry panels and leadership forums where she discusses the future of fintech, AI, and predictive analytics. The adoption of her platform not only affirms her technical capabilities but also elevates her profile as a trailblazer and an influential voice in industry conversations about the future of financial analysis. Victoria Liu's career trajectory is notably faster and more impactful than that of her peers, including those at mid- and senior-level positions. While most professionals at her stage in their career focus on refining existing analytical skills, Victoria has already achieved the rare distinction of being a creator and innovator. Her development of an innovative financial decision-making platform - a feat typically reserved for senior data scientists or fintech executives - places her ahead of seasoned professionals. Not only has she built this platform, but she has also seen it adopted across the industry, a level of achievement that few analysts achieve even after decades in the field. This success highlights her unique combination of technical mastery, strategic foresight, and business acumen, positioning her as one of the few top individuals in the industry landscape of financial analysis. While many financial analysts react to industry trends, Victoria Liu is shaping them as one of the most standout leaders in financial analysis. Her ability to merge fintech innovations, such as AI and machine learning, with the principles of traditional financial analysis has allowed her to redefine the role of an investment analyst. Her work has inspired firms to rethink their approach to predictive analytics, setting a new industry precedent for how data science and financial analysis should be integrated. By demonstrating the power of AI-driven insights, Victoria has introduced a model for "intelligent decision platforms" that is now being imitated by others in the industry. Her influence extends beyond individual firms, as her work has sparked a broader conversation within fintech circles about the potential for machine learning to transform financial analysis. Through speaking engagements, technical workshops, and thought leadership articles, she has emerged as one of the foremost advocates for technological adoption in finance. As a result, her role in shaping fintech trends is as much about direct contributions as it is about influencing the collective direction of the industry as a whole. With each step, Victoria is poised to leave a lasting impact, shaping the industry's evolution as one of the most extraordinary financial analysts in the field. MENAFN20122024003238003268ID1109018468 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Will Riley scored his 19 points in the second half and No. 25 Illinois beat Maryland Eastern Shore 87-40 on Saturday. Kylan Boswell added 13 points, Tomislav Ivisic had 11 and Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Illini (4-1), who shot 25% (10 for 40) from 3-point range but committed just nine turnovers. Tre White grabbed 11 rebounds and Kasparas Jakucionis seven for Illinois, which outrebounded the Hawks 59-38. Jalen Ware scored 10 points and Christopher Flippin had 10 rebounds for Maryland Eastern Shore (2-6), which had its lowest point total of the season. The team's previous low came in 102-63 loss to Vanderbilt on Nov. 4. Illinois is unbeaten in four home games. Maryland Eastern Shore is winless in six road games. Takeaways Illinois: Coming off a 100-87 loss Wednesday to No. 8 Alabama, the Illini had no trouble dominating the overmatched Hawks. They led 35-15 at halftime and extended the lead to as many as 52 points in the second half. Maryland Eastern Shore: The Hawks couldn’t match Illinois’ height and depth and were slowed by 15 turnovers. Key moment After struggling at the start of the game, the Illini went on a 17-0 run over a seven-minute stretch to move in front 25-8 with 5:15 to go in the first half. Key stat Maryland Eastern Shore struggled from the field, shooting 22% (15 for 68), including 5 for 20 on 3-pointers. Up next Illinois hosts Little Rock on Monday. Maryland Eastern Shore plays at No. 20 Arkansas on Monday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up . AP college basketball: and Steve Stein, The Associated PressJudge grants dismissal of election subversion case against TrumpLondon restaurant given loads of fake Google ratings by criminal gang
By Alan Baldwin (Reuters) -General Motors plans to enter Formula One with its Cadillac brand in 2026 after announcing on Monday an agreement in principle with the Liberty Media-owned sport. Hailing a landmark move to become the 11th team on the starting grid, the carmaker said it had also registered with the governing FIA as a power unit manufacturer to become a full works outfit by the end of the decade. They will be the first new team since U.S.-owned Haas debuted in 2016 and GM the sixth engine maker after Audi, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes and Red Bull/Ford. GM will partner with TWG Global and Mario Andretti — the last U.S. world champion in 1978 — will serve as a director on the team’s board. “My first love was Formula One and now, 70 years later, the F1 paddock is still my happy place,” said Andretti in a Cadillac statement. “To still be involved at this stage of my life; I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.” General Motors bosses were at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend to put the seal on a project that was rejected by Formula One last January despite FIA approval. “With Formula One’s continued growth plans in the U.S., we have always believed that welcoming an impressive U.S. brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport,” said Liberty Media’s outgoing CEO Greg Maffei. “We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula One. “We are excited to move forward with the application process for the GM/Cadillac team to enter the Championship in 2026.” FIA SUPPORT FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who was an early backer of an Andretti bid and has continued to push behind the scenes to get a deal over the line, expressed full support for the latest development. “All parties, including the FIA, will continue to work together to ensure the process progresses smoothly,” he said in a statement. An investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee into possible ‘anticompetitive conduct’ also concentrated minds and changed the dialogue, sources said. Formula One had said in January it doubted the original Andretti bid would be competitive or add value but kept a door open for 2028 when partner General Motors could provide an engine. That bid was presented as an Andretti Cadillac entry, with Andretti Global led by Mario’s son Michael — a former F1 racer and 1991 CART champion who was seen by some as a more confrontational figure. Michael Andretti has since taken a step back from his day-to-day operational role and handed over to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Global which owns and operates Andretti Global. The BBC separately quoted senior sources as saying GM and TWG will pay an anti-dilution fee, split between the 10 existing teams, of $450m to secure the entry. The current fee is 200 million, but new rules will apply from 2026. GM will also need to buy in an engine for 2026 and 2027, with Ferrari seen as a leading candidate given that they will have a spare supply when Sauber become Audi. “This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level,” said GM president Mark Reuss. Cadillac has already assembled a team to work on aerodynamics, chassis and component development, software, and vehicle dynamics simulation. Andretti also has a base at Silverstone in England with a number of personnel employed, including former F1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds as executive engineering consultant (Additional reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Alex Richardson and Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );