Sept 15, 2026, 11:57 am EDT
Guggenheim ******* yst
Michael Ciarmoli
sees a lot of opportunity in the
beaten-up
defense sector. Monday, he launched coverage of almost two dozen stocks. He has a baker’s dozen buys, with some surprising price targets.
Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Higher borrowing costs could make it harder for restaurant chains to open new locations at the pace investors expect.

#dozen #guggenheim #jones #rights

Sept 15, 2026, 11:57 am EDT
Guggenheim ***** yst
Michael Ciarmoli
sees a lot of opportunity in the
beaten-up
defense sector. Monday, he launched coverage of almost two dozen stocks. He has a baker’s dozen buys, with some surprising price targets.
Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

#michael #jones

On September 15, CareTrust REIT (NYSE:CTRE) announced it had closed on a $400 million skilled nursing portfolio in the Southwest, effective September 1, and unveiled a reloaded $600 million investment pipeline behind it. The deal covers 2,622 licensed beds triple net leased back to the existing operator, sourced off-market and structured through a joint venture that put roughly $380 million of CareTrust's own capital to work. It is the latest entry in a buying spree that has now pushed the company's 2026 investment total past $1.9 billion.
The new portfolio is expected to generate a stabilized yield of about 8.6%, in line with the 8.7% blended yield CareTrust has posted across two dozen deals closed so far in 2026. That consistency matters more than any single transaction. The company has now closed roughly $710 million in investments in the third quarter alone, including a small UK care home purchase in mid-August, on top of the $899.6 million it closed in the second quarter at an 8.9% yield.
Management says the $600 million pipeline of near-term, actionable deals, about half of it aimed at the senior housing operating portfolio, does not even include a set of larger transactions still being pursued, so the deal flow may not be finished. The balance sheet backs up that ambition. CareTrust ended the second quarter, on June 30, 2026, with net debt to annualized normalized EBITDA of just 1.01x, and as of the September announcement it still had $725 million available under its revolver plus $612 million of remaining ATM capacity. That combination let the company raise its full year 2026 guidance on August 6 to normalized FFO of $2.03 to $2.06 per share, an increase of 16.2% at the midpoint over 2025, even before this latest acquisition was on the books.
This growth has come with a real cost to existing shareholders. Diluted weighted average shares outstanding rose from about 192.9 million in the second quarter of 2025 to 234.2 million a year later, as CareTrust leaned on forward equity offerings and its ATM program to fund the buying spree. The company still had $439 million of expected net proceeds sitting in unsettled forward equity contracts as of September 15, meaning more shares are still coming.
The second quarter also carried a $4.7 million provision for loan losses, a line that did not appear in the prior year period and is worth watching as the loan and financing receivable book grows alongside the property portfolio. Interest expense rose to $15.3 million in the quarter from $13.0 million a year earlier, and 2026 guidance leans on rent escalators of just 2.5% a year, a modest built-in growth rate once the acquisition pace eventually slows. The company's own risk disclosures flag reliance on tenants to keep meeting their lease obligations, along with exposure to healthcare reform, staffing requirements, and currency swings tied to its UK operations.

#closed

The Justice Department has charged dozens of people for suspected fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday.
Speaking with reporters in the White House Rose Garden, Blanche said that between mid-June and September, federal prosecutors from across the country helped facilitate the arrests of 160 criminal defendants, including around 80 who were newly charged over suspected COVID fraud in Missouri and neighboring states.
The suspected crimes involved more than $245 million in losses, Blanche said.
White House Launches Interactive Map Tracking Billions In Suspected Fraud
Attorney General Todd Blanche has announced charges against dozens of people connected to suspected COVID-19 relief fraud.

#white #House

Investors were quick to pull money out of spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) after the Clarity Act failed to advance in the U.S. Senate.
Market data shows that a dozen Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. saw outflows of $450 million U.S. on Sept. 15, the biggest one-day redemption since June 25th of this year.
The outflows came shortly after the U.S. Senate declined to advance the "Digital **** et Market Clarity Act" that would provide a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
More From Cryptoprowl:
MEXC Launches Earn Plus With Limited-Time Event Offering Up to 800% APR Booster

#outflows #sept

A few weeks ago, I used Uber Eats to deliver me a case of bottled water, a dozen Starbucks iced coffee bottles, and a 12-pack of Gatorade Zero.
It cost a little more than going to the store less than two miles from our house, but instead of having to lug those bulky items from the store to my car and then my kitchen, I only had to bring them in from the front door.
That was either a lazy choice or evidence of excellent time management skills, but it's a solid example of how people use the internet. Because while people generally think it's much higher (I've asked the question to thousands of people on various podcasts and live shows over the years), digital sales are still a relatively small percentage of total retail sales.
"E-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2026 accounted for 17.1 percent of total sales," United States Census Bureau data showed.
Consumers have shifted some of their purchases online, and they're looking for convenience.

#people #zero

NEW YORK — Forget the Honey Deuces and the celebrities-in-the-audience shots. The finest element of the U.S. Open — the Grand Slam held in the largest tennis stadium in the world — will always be the tennis itself. The trick, in 2026 and beyond, is how to get audiences to actually care about, you know, that tennis.
Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev did their very best on Sunday, bringing both narrative and firepower to the four-set men's final. Yes, the influencers were posing at every aisle on every changeover, and more than a few fans appeared unclear on the basic concept of "sit your ******* down while the point is going on." But when Shelton and Zverev locked in, unleashing serves that nearly hit 150 mph or lashing shots that skipped a fingernail's width in bounds, the crowd was right there with them, rising and falling, a living thing that pulsed with energy unlike any other stadium in tennis.
Less than 24 hours earlier on the same court, Elena Rybakina finished off Aryna Sabalenka in a three-set triumph of resolve and willpower over emotion and firepower. Sabalenka, who had won the previous two Opens, entered as the crowd favorite. But the fans in the stands at Arthur Ashe love hard-fought on-court battles as much as they love the endless scroll of celebrity cameos on the video boards. So after a couple dozen Hollywood and music stars took their turns to varying volumes of applause, the crowd focused in on the match. Sabalenka drew motivational cheers, and then, once the result was clear, Rybakina inspired celebratory ones.
The two matches ended this year's U.S. Open on a triumphant note. At last, the tennis tournament centered on actual tennis, not ticket prices or runway-style entrances to Arthur Ashe Stadium or hundred-dollar chicken nuggets. (Yes, I admit it, I was part of the problem with that last one.)
The influencers' presence dominated the early coverage of the U.S. Open, in large part because they did their job of drawing attention to themselves. But by the time the tournament reached its final crescendo, the influencers had moved on. Two hours before the men's final, the cheapest tickets to get in the stadium could be had for less than $400, suggesting that tennis for tennis' sake isn't the primary motivator for many attending the U.S. Open.

#crowd #shelton

A week after Nick Saban and Pat McAfee practically did an infomercial for the Protect College Sports Act during College GameDay, one of the bill's co-sponsors, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), was given the chance to make a full-throated defense of the bill and why it needed to be passed by the Senate and House, with Cruz previously saying that if passed, President Donald Trump would sign it into law on a future episode of ESPN's flagship college football show.
Even by the standards of College GameDay, which has been known to put its thumb on the scale when it wanted, this whole affair has been wildly inappropriate. It's one thing for Kirk Herbstreit to chastise football players for opting out of meaningless bowl games; it's another thing for the show to put its full weight behind a Congressional bill without providing ample time to those proponents and opponents, especially when those who oppose the bill do so on the grounds that it will negatively impact the earning ability of the athletes who make the sport work.
However, it helps you understand this all-out blitz when you realize where ESPN's parent company is putting its money.
Joedy McCreary at OpenSecrets recently laid out the fight surrounding the PCSA, spelling out which entities are pushing for it and which are pushing back.
Per McCreary, several major broadcasting and cable companies are putting their money where their mouth is. The National ****** ociation of Broadcasters (NAB) and NCTA – the Internet and Television ****** ociation lobbied for the legislation. Amazon, Paramount Skydance, and Disney (which owns ESPN) listed the college sports measure among the dozens of bills they worked on between April 1 and June 30.

#bill #sports

Aryna Sabalenka is hitting the tennis court for the final showdown in the women's singles division of the US Open on September 12. She's the No. 1 seed in women's singles, but she's got to beat Kazakhstani player Elena Rybakina to win that coveted US Open trophy. If Sabalenka wins, the 28-year-old will be celebrating a three-peat in the division, having already won in 2024 and 2025.
Throughout the tournament, Sabalenka has had the support of her fiancé, Georgios Frangulis, who has been proudly watching from the stands. Below, we rounded up everything to know about Frangulis and his relationship with the Belarusian tennis star. Scroll down for more.
Frangulis is a Brazilian entrepreneur who founded the company Oakberry in 2016. Although he studied law in Brazil, he never completed his degree or took the bar exam.
Oakberry is a brand that specializes in açaí products. Açaí berries are harvested in the Amazon rainforest, the majority of which is located in Frangulis' home country of Brazil. Oakberry, which sells açaí bowls, smoothies, and more, has hundreds of stores in dozens of countries.
In August 2016, right before Oakberry was launching, Frangulis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He had surgery to remove a four-centimeter nodule that October.

#oakberry #tennis #september

When the Miami Dolphins take the field on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, a trio of first-year players have the potential to collectively make NFL history. Three of Miami's 13 selections from the 2026 NFL Draft were wide receivers Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr.
Douglas was Miami's first receiver taken during this past April's draft when the Dolphins used pick No. 75 on the Texas Tech product. Bell from Louisville was selected with pick No. 94, and Coleman Jr. with pick No. 177 out of Missouri.
While a rare occurrence in any team class, there have been several instances where three receivers were selected by one team in a single draft. In fact, the Dolphins last tripled up at the position in 1975 with Freddie Solomon, Morris Owens and Leonard Isabell.
What has never happened before in league history is three drafted receivers each recording a reception during Week 1 of their rookie season. Douglas, Bell and Coleman could be that lone trio come Sunday. There have been a few close hits, but in the dozen or so cases, Miami's young trio could break the ice.
For Miami in 1975, none of these three recorded a catch back in Week 1 when they lost to the Oakland Raiders. Back in 2014, the Jacksonville Jaguars had three wideouts haul in a catch during Week 1 as rookies, but only two were actual draft selections.

#week #trio #receivers

The FedExCup Fall series tees off at the The Cliffs at Walnut Cove next week as the PGA Tour's inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville features plenty of big names.
The Blue Ridge Mountains will serve as a backdrop for U.S. Presidents Cup players Justin Thomas, Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun, who will be tuning up their games ahead of Medinah after getting the nod from captain Brandt Snedeker earlier in the month.
Also in the field are Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover, players No. 100 and No. 101 in the FedExCup points with less than a dozen events left to play this year. Those who sit inside the top 100 secure Tour cards for 2027, while players ranked 101st through 125th earn conditional status.
Following a couple weeks off, the Tour's action returns with plenty at stake, including a $5 million purse. Here's who else will be teeing off in Arden, North Carolina, next week.
2026 Biltmore Championship full field

#fedexcup #biltmore #fall

If you think Army is going to run over, around and through the South Florida defense the way the Black Knights did against Bryant in week one, think again.
There were a lot of positives to draw from as Army rolled up a school-record 648 yards of total offense and 569 rushing yards on the way to a 59-3 victory over Bryant. With a rout in progress, Army went deep into its bench and utilized 16 different ball carries, including three quarterbacks.
South Florida is not Bryant. The Bulls feature a defensive front that averages 6-foot-3, 293 pounds per man (Major Dillard is 330 pounds at nose, Asani Redwood is 300 at tackle and Michael Williams is 250 at end), compared to the Bryant squad that averaged 30 pounds less. Jump to the linebackers, and USF features a group that averages 6-3, 233 pounds, more than a dozen pounds heavier than the similar Bryant unit. You can also expect South Florida's defenders will be quicker to close off the edges, perhaps cutting off Army's success on the perimeter.
The Bulls held Florida International to 80 yards on 25 carries in a 19-9 win on the evening of Sept 5. FIU did roll up 301 yards of passing, on 62% of completed throws, but run-dominant Army has not been a passing threat for many years.
Based off last week's starting lineup (the Bulls do not release depth charts to the media), the South Florida defense fields nine starters who transferred in from other Division I schools. Linebackers C.J. Hicks (Ohio State), Grayson Howard (South Carolina and Florida) and Sam Robinson (Rutgers) played Power 4 ball, as did Redwood (West Virginia) up front. Corner Teddy Foster (Florida) and 'Star' Amanio Fortenberry (Kansas State) help anchor the secondary.

#south #Bulls #linebackers

LAS MINAS, Cuba (AP) — Liexer De La Cruz took a deep breath as he entered a federal courtroom in Miami, where life as he knew it would end.
It was Jan. 9, and he thought he was attending a routine immigration hearing — not deciding on the rest of his life in just seconds, having to choose between returning to Cuba or risking deportation at any moment. He didn't have a chance to confer with his wife and sister who were waiting outside.
De La Cruz had spent five years putting down roots in the United States after crossing almost a dozen countries by car, foot, bus and boat. He thought of what he and his wife had accomplished after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas in August 2021, obtaining the immigration forms in hopes of requesting green cards via the Cuban Adjustment Act.
"The first thing I did was call my aunt and I told her, 'I'm in the United States. I'm in the United States.' And we began to cry," he recalled.
Cubans have historically received preferential access to a pathway to U.S. citizenship via the Cuban Adjustment Act, but they have been increasingly targeted under the second Trump administration.

#cuban

BOSTON (AP) — On the 25th anniversary of September 11th, Boston College hosted Rutgers in its annual Red Bandanna Game on Friday night.
It had special meaning for both schools.
The Eagles honor the memory of former lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who died rescuing more than a dozen people in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The BC grad was known for carrying a red bandanna.
"It's so uplifting," said Alison Crowther, the mother of Welles, on the field an hour before the game. "The love that our whole family feels here at Boston College."
She spoke on the sideline with Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" playing in the background as fans were making their way into Alumni Stadium holding red bandanna giveaways.

#college #welles #game #september

Today, of course, is the anniversary of an event that means so much more than baseball. Twenty-five years ago, the September 11th attacks rocked the US, especially in New York. There are commemorations of all sort taking place around the country today. While the tragedy of that day in 2001 means more than baseball, in New York, the two baseball teams will honor the day in their own way: playing baseball. Starting tonight, the Subway Series is back for a weekend set, beginning on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
To go to the baseball for a minute, Carlos Rodón will get the start for the Yankees in this one. For the season, Rodón's numbers are generally pretty good, but his habit of taking a little too long to put away batters tends to prevent him from going long. While the Yankees didn't have to use too many crucial arms, the bullpen did have to pitch a decent amount of innings yesterday, so they could use a good day from Rodón.
As for the rest of the lineup, Aaron Judge is back after getting last night off, while Anthony Volpe is at second again after his five RBI performance.
For the Mets, Nolan McLean will take the mound. He's been really good for them, posting a 3.06 ERA in 161.2 innings. Across his last dozen starts, the rookie has been even better, with an even lower ERA of 1.87.
Here's everything to know on how to catch tonight's action, and we hope you'll come join us in the game thread.

#back

Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Israeli military destroyed Hezbollah underground infrastructure at the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister ‌Israel Katz said on Thursday, adding that the operation completed the consolidation ‌of a security zone in the area.
Israeli forces would remain in the area to prevent the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militant group from re-establishing its presence and rebuilding its capabilities, the two officials said in a joint statement.
The Ali al-Taher ridge, about 15 km (10 miles) from the Israeli border, has become one of the most contested areas of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah ‌is believed to have built ⁠an underground command centre and weapons stores there, according to Lebanese security sources who spoke to Reuters in July.
Lebanon's state news agency ⁠NNA said the Israeli military carried out a powerful blast at the ridge, with tremors and the sound of the explosion felt across Nabatieh and surrounding areas.
The Israeli military said its forces had established "operational control" over the ridge, both above and below ground, before dismantling the ‌infrastructure. The network extended for more than 2 km (1.24 miles) and contained dozens of rockets, missiles and drones, as well as anti-tank missiles, mines and explosive devices, it said.

#israeli #hezbollah #minister #infrastructure

More than a dozen states have begun distributing millions of free eggs across local food banks following a settlement with three major producers over alleged collusion, but legal experts say this "unusual" remedy faces a logistical hurdle of making sure those eggs reach the American people.
"There are huge administrative problems with making sure that a settlement of this nature goes according to plan," Katherine Speegle, an antitrust lawyer and partner at Duane Morris, told Fortune.
In June, the U.S. Justice Department and 17 states settled a lawsuit alleging three major egg producers—Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch—illegally colluded to inflate the price of eggs, which reached record heights last year. The complaint claimed the companies coordinated on bids submitted to Urner Barry Publications, which runs an index key that reports prices for grocery stores and restaurants.
Soaring egg prices became a key metric for how American consumers have experienced five years of above-trend inflation — with this case raising the prospect of collusive behavior on the egg front. None of the producers admitted to wrongdoing and maintained they acted legally.
"When powerful corporations collude behind the scenes to raise prices, working families suffer the costs," New York Attorney General Letitia James, who helped lead the investigation, said in a statement at the time. "These egg producers manipulated the market to squeeze even more profit out of consumers and businesses."

#states

Every ETF.com fund page follows the same simple pattern: etf.com/[TICKER]. Want the Invesco QQQ Trust? Go to etf.com/QQQ. Want the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF? etf.com/VOO. Each page pulls together the fund's real-time market data, fundamentals, holdings, cost, and **** ysis into one place — so you don't have to hunt across a dozen websites to research a fund. Using QQQ as our example, here's what you'll find.
At the top of every fund page is the live quote — the fund's current price, daily change, and an intraday chart showing how it's moved through the trading day. Alongside it you get the essential trading data: previous close, opening price, volume, the day's range, the 52-week range, and real-time bid/ask prices and sizes. This is the information you need to actually place a trade intelligently — especially the bid/ask spread, which tells you how cheaply you can get in and out.
The Summary Data section gives you the fund's vital statistics in seconds: the issuer (who runs the fund), the inception date (how long it's existed), the expense ratio (what it costs you annually), the AUM (assets under management — a proxy for size and liquidity), the index tracked, the segment, and the fund's legal structure. For QQQ, this is where you'd instantly see it's an Invesco fund tracking the Nasdaq-100. These are the first things any investor should check before buying.
One of the most useful features is the Competing ETFs list. Rather than making you research alternatives on your own, the fund page shows you similar funds side by side — with their AUM and expense ratios — so you can immediately see whether a cheaper or larger competitor exists. On the QQQ page, for example, this is where you'd spot alternatives like QQQM. It turns a single-fund lookup into instant comparison shopping.
Right on the page, the built-in Compare ETFs tool lets you pit the fund against any other ticker — QQQ vs. VOO, QQQ vs. QQQM, whatever you choose — and see the differences in cost, holdings, and performance line by line. It's the fastest way to answer the question every ETF investor eventually asks: "Which of these two should I actually buy?"

#page #invesco #qqqm #real

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The competitive field to build out the tech infrastructure to ease the use of alternative investments in the wealth channel just got a little more crowded as New York-based fintech Aqua announced a $18.8 million Series A to back what it's calling a turnkey alternative investments platform.
The AI-native platform seeks to be a single solution that brings fund creation, operational workflows, investment lifecycle management, marketplace access, document intelligence and investor servicing into a single environment. In addition to managing off-the-shelf private market funds, advisors using Aqua can build special purpose vehicles, registered funds, fund of funds and feeder funds.
The $15 million Series A, led by Arthur Ventures with participation from Alumni Ventures, follows a 2021 $3.8 million seed round backed by Google's AI Fund, Y Combinator. It plans to use the funding to accelerate business and platform development, expand its engineering and partnership teams, and deepen integrations across custodians and fund sponsors. (The firm started as a team of six, but now has two dozen employees and it plans to continue to staff up as it onboards more advisors and fund managers.)
To be sure, Aqua is far from alone in attempting to streamline the alternative investments process. The **** e continues to be led by well-known players iCapital and CAIS, which service thousands of wealth firms through their marketplaces, and each has continued to add tech to support the lifecycle of alternative investments. Firms including SUBSCRIBE, Canoe, Gridline, Allocate, Alto, Arch, Opto, GLAS Funds, Altigo/SEI and Apex Alts also compete in the area, focusing on streamlining all aspects of the investment process. In addition, traditional TAMPs like InvestCloud, Envestnet, Orion, Addepar and Black Diamond have made enhancements to support private markets.

#Investments #subscribe #series

Blaming declining mall traffic for retail store failures ignores what's actually happening.
"Malls' H1 2026 momentum continued going into the second half of the year, with year-over-year (YoY) visits to shopping centers up across all three formats ******* yzed (indoor, open-air, and outlet) in July 2026," according to data from Placer.ai.
Retailers like Claire's, Joann, and Macy's, which have either fully closed or have shut down dozens of locations, may have failed to capitalize on mall foot traffic, but it's unfair to say that people did not visit malls.
"Open-air shopping centers — which have led the category since the beginning of the year — continued their outperformance, with YoY traffic up 5.1%, followed closely by indoor malls (+4.3%)," the data showed.
Francesca's, a mall staple since its launch in 1999, closed all its more than 450 stores in March and has now received court permission to liquidate its remaining ******* ets.

#year #mall #continued #indoor

Michigan high school football scores from Week 3 of the 2026 season are coming in with statewide final results.
The MHSAA football schedule for Week 3 has just more than a dozen games Thursday, Sept. 10, but for the first time this season, most teams are playing under the lights Friday.
As he does each week, Free Press preps beat writer Jared Ramsey revealed our state-of-Michigan Super 25 rankings and top 10s in each division after Week 2, and picked the scores of five of the best Week 3 games.
THE PICKS: Michigan high school football Week 3 score predictions
Below you'll find final scores statewide, including both 11-player and 8-player football.

#michigan

Aryna Sabalenka is hitting the court once again in the Semifinals of the US Open on September 10. She's the No. 1 seed in women's singles, but she doesn't have an easy road ahead of her, as she'll have to beat No. 3 Jessica Pegula, an American playing with home-court advantage, to make the Finals.
Throughout the tournament, Sabalenka has had the support of her fiancé, Georgios Frangulis, who has been proudly watching from the stands. Below, we rounded up everything to know about Frangulis and his relationship with the Belarusian tennis star. Scroll down for more.
Frangulis is a Brazilian entrepreneur who founded the company Oakberry in 2016. Although he studied law in Brazil, he never completed his degree or took the bar exam.
Oakberry is a brand that specializes in açaí products. Açaí berries are harvested in the Amazon rainforest, the majority of which is located in Frangulis' home country of Brazil. Oakberry, which sells açaí bowls, smoothies, and more, has hundreds of stores in dozens of countries.
In August 2016, right before Oakberry was launching, Frangulis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He had surgery to remove a four-centimeter nodule that October.

#court #semifinals #open

CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) dealt with significant headwinds after the COVID-19 pandemic. The company's financial results suffered as sales of coronavirus-related products (such as diagnostic tests) declined, while expenses in its insurance business rose substantially, resulting in lower profits and margins. However, CVS Health has done a good job of addressing those problems, and the stock has rebounded. Shares are up 31% over the past 12 months. Wall Street thinks there may be even more upside on the horizon. CVS Health's average price target is $116.04 (according to Yahoo! Finance), implying a meaningful 20% upside from current levels. Is now a great time to buy the stock?
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Over the past 18 months (or so), CVS Health has implemented several initiatives that have helped improve its business. For instance, the company closed dozens of stores, many of which were unprofitable. The pharmacy chain specialist also scaled back its insurance division, notably by exiting the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The results have been pretty impressive. Consider the company's second-quarter results. CVS Health's revenue increased by a healthy 7.3% year over year to $106.1 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share were $2.58, 42.5% higher than the year-ago period. Note the improvement in CVS Health's healthcare benefits segment, which offers health insurance services. Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue declined slightly to 12.4%, down from 12.5% in the prior-year quarter, even as revenue grew 3.5% year over year. And operating margins within this unit came in at 5.8%, up from the 2.8% reported in the year-ago period. Also, CVS Health's medical benefits ratio -- the percentage of insurance premiums the company spent on medical care (the lower the better) -- declined to 87.4% in the second quarter, down from 89.9% in Q2 2025.
CVS Health also increased its guidance for the full fiscal year 2026. The company now expects its adjusted EPS to fall between $7.90 and $8.10, up from its previous range of between $7.30 to $7.50. The company is also now projecting cash flow from operations of at least $11.5 billion, up from the previous lower bound of $9.5 billion. These are signs of a much-improved business.

#insurance

CNBC reported that Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) shares surged as much as 29% after the identity security company beat fiscal second-quarter estimates.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.05 versus $0.97 expected, and revenue rose 11% to $805 million versus $795 million expected. Net income totaled $116 million, up from $67 million a year earlier, and remaining performance obligations, a measure of backlog, climbed 17% to $4.86 billion, beating the $4.70 billion **** ysts anticipated. Okta made its "Okta for AI Agents" tool available to all customers during the quarter, with new products accounting for 30% of total bookings and "dozens" of AI-related deals closed, including a multi-million-dollar healthcare contract. The company raised full-year revenue guidance to $3.22 billion to $3.23 billion. CEO Todd McKinnon said, "As AI agents transform every layer of technology, every agent needs a trusted identity."
The beat was broad-based across current results and future visibility. Earnings, revenue, and backlog all topped estimates, with remaining performance obligations up 17% to $4.86 billion. It showed that both this quarter's performance and Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA)'s forward revenue pipeline are strengthening together.
AI-driven demand is showing up in quantifiable deal activity and not just management commentary. New products made up 30% of total bookings, and the company closed dozens of AI-related deals. It includes a multi-million-dollar healthcare contract, concrete evidence that customers are actually paying for Okta's AI agent security tools rather than merely expressing interest.
Management raised guidance and reinforced its position with an acquisition, backing confidence with action. Okta lifted full-year revenue and earnings guidance while closing its purchase of threat-detection startup Permiso Security. It is extending its platform into identity threat detection specifically relevant to securing AI agents.

#okta #million #security #year

Comedian and former professional football player Lou Young is giving his two cents on the fiasco around fake NFL player Daejon Labrayae Love. After Love's arrest for defrauding dozens of women out of over $1 million dollars, social media users flooded platforms with jokes and memes about their "careers" in the football league. In a recent interview with VIBE, Young shared his thoughts on the wild story and how it's made him question his own career choice.
"To actually develop in your mind a lie and say that you're really playing on the team and swindle over a one-point-something million, that's more money than I ever made in the league," he said candidly. "Honestly, I might have been in the wrong profession. I got on the wrong boat. ******* !
"I worked my whole life to put that NFL shield on, and get all the issue gear and ******* . That was like armor. You felt like somebody when you got yours. He just ordered his ******* offline and put it on."
Young also addressed how dozens of women fell for his facade and failed to use common sense before sending money to Love.
"Who's raising [y'all]? We're losing recipes. That's why, as a girl dad," he said. "I'm leading by example. If my daughter ever got swindled by a ******* like Daejon Love, it's going to be ******* to pay for a lot of people because I worked too hard to show her that that is a fraud.

#young #million

Citigroup is expected to secure Chinese regulatory clearance for its fully owned brokerage operation in mainland China as early as this month, with plans to recruit several dozen employees for the business in the coming months, according to Reuters.
Sources told Reuters that the final approval may come around the period of Chinese President Xi Jinping's scheduled trip to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump in late September.
Reuters said the prospect of approval this month had not been previously disclosed.
Citi declined to comment.
The US lender, already active in China through corporate, institutional and related banking services, applied in late 2021 for a licence to establish a fully owned mainland brokerage arm as part of a broader effort to deepen its operations in the country.

#China #fully

Eighth-seeded Ben Shelton overpowered former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to book a US Open quarter-final date with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Shelton -- riding high after a strong August that included a ***** le at the ATP Montreal Masters, where he didn't drop a set -- dominated on serve.
The American blasted a dozen aces and never faced a break point in a match lasting just one hour and 52 minutes.
Shelton put 71 percent of his first serves in play and won 84 percent of those points.
"I was focused today," said Shelton, a 2023 US Open semi-finalist. "I played a complete match from start to finish."

#eighth #tsitsipas #sunday #alcaraz

Barcelona remain perfect to start the season and have won their fourth straight La Liga game to open up a three-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a dominant 5-0 win over Valencia at Mestalla on Sunday afternoon. The Blaugrana put on another attacking show and created over a dozen giant chances, and Lamine Yamal (twice), Raphinha, Fermín López and Pedri found the net to give the leaders three more points in spectacular fashion.
Barça played a fantastic opening period, establishing their dominance from the opening whistle and creating huge chances early and often against Valencia's low block.
Lamine Yamal scored a brilliant first goal and had a second disallowed for a very narrow offside, and came very close three other times. Fermín López also found the net with a powerful finish in the box, and almost scored a glorious solo goal but was denied by the keeper and the post.
The Catalans had a couple of scares at the back but Joan Garcia was up to the task with a couple of big saves. Barça were in control for the entire half, however, and dominated midfield thanks to Rodri, who was simply fantastic in the opening 45 minutes of his first start.
There was only one piece of bad news when a freak accident caused Eric Garcia to suffer a broken nose in a collision with Rodri in the box, but Barça were fully in control and had a deserved two-goal lead at the break.

#opening #lamine #yamal #start

SV Telfs 1-15 FC Red Bull Salzburg Women (H/T:1-6). Tore: Monz (16.) - Triendl (4.), D'Angelo (21.), Kobler (22., 39.), Pamminger (37., 57./pen), Plattner (45.), Schwarz (64., 73., 84., 88., 89.), Wienerroither (78., 81.), Grünwald (86.)
Our FC Red Bull Salzburg Women easily advanced to the round of 16 of the Austrian Women's Cup against third-division side SV Telfs. From the outset, Dusan Pavlovic's team left no doubt about the outcome of the match. After the Tyrolean side's surprising equaliser, five-goal scorer Magdalena Schwarz and her team-mates added more than a dozen goals. The draw for the next round will take place on September 10th, live on ÖFB TV from 14:00 CEST.
"This isn't an outing - our approach can be no different than for a top-of-the-table clash in the league." – coach Dusan Pavlovic's instructions were put into action by our team. Although the motivated hosts briefly equalized with a 30-yard wonderstrike - a clever chip from Monz over goalkeeper Annika Bräunlinger (16') - the home side naturally couldn't keep up with our pace. Our set pieces also worked well, and our coaching staff celebrated three goals from well-rehearsed routines.
The substitutions brought additional attacking power to our Salzburg team, with Magdalena Schwarz scoring a particularly impressive goal. After a one-two with Katja Wienerroither, the summer signing slipped into ****** e and slotted the ball home – just one of Schwarz's five goals. While our team squandered several clear-cut chances, last year's finalists ultimately capitalised on their superior footballing abilities in the final stages of the match, scoring almost by the minute. With a 15-1 win, we put our 2026/27 cup opener behind us.
We put in a good performance, and the girls were focused. Some players who haven't started much recently got to play, but they all performed well and were on top form for the full 90 minutes. The girls always wanted to attack and go for the next goal – that's not something to take for granted, and it was a well-deserved win!

#schwarz #goal #bull

Washington — A federal judge on Friday extended her block on the U.S. Postal Service's new requirements for mail voting, as states prepare to begin sending mail ballots to voters for the November midterm elections.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction barring the agency from enforcing the rules, which were finalized and published late last month, during the midterms. Talwani had temporarily blocked the measure on Aug. 26 and, following a hearing Thursday, agreed to grant a request for longer relief sought by two dozen Democratic-led states and voting rights groups.
In her 49-page decision, the judge said the Postal Service's new rules are likely unconstitutional and said states' difficulties with implementing the regulations so close to the November elections "nearly guarantee[s] significant disenfranchisement for eligible voters."
The judge also said the Postal Service likely exceeded its authority by moving ahead with the new requirements because "the Constitution reserves election regulation to Congress and the States, Congress has not authorized the USPS to make requirements of States before permitting use of the USPS for mailing their ballots, and ... the Final Rule impermissibly establishes a new category of nonmailable material."
"Unauthorized by the Elections Clause, the Final Rule clashes with Congress's statutory scheme, and is unconstitutional where it intrudes not only on Congress's Elections Clause powers but also that power left to the States," she wrote.

#november #congress