Barcelona manager Hansi Flick faces a defensive selection headache ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, with injuries to Eric Garcia and Jules Kounde leaving him short of natural right-back options.
Garcia is expected to miss three to four weeks with a muscle injury, while Kounde has been ruled out of the trip to the Parc des Princes with an ankle sprain.
Their simultaneous absences leave Flick needing to reshape his defence for one of Barcelona's biggest tests of the season.
On that note, the likes of Xavi Espart and Joao Cancelo are the leading alternatives at right-back, although neither has played regularly in that position this season.
For now, Mundo Deportivo explains that the likely solution could see the academy graduate deployed on the right, with the more experienced Cancelo filling in on the opposite flank.

#flick #garcia

Meghan Markle is reportedly facing fresh tensions with her US team after a promotional image for her As Ever brand drew criticism over its cooking setup. The reported fallout comes as the ******* ss of Sussex seeks to hire senior British staff. However, an insider claims her history of staff turnover could make it harder for her to attract experienced candidates.
According to sources cited by Naughty But Nice, Meghan Markle has grown frustrated with her US team after critics questioned an As Ever promotional cooking photo. The image appeared to show a gas stove that was switched off, leading critics to question the cooking setup. However, the photo alone does not confirm whether Meghan was actually cooking or whether she used the stove at another time.
An insider claimed Meghan expected her team to catch potential problems before the image reached the public. "She exploded," the source said. "It was, 'How did ******* ody catch this?' Meghan expects her team to protect her from exactly this kind of ridicule." However, her reaction may be making it harder for her to hire new staff. "She blames the American team when things go wrong, while prospective British employees are watching," the source explains. "Nobody wants to become the next person blamed — or the next departure that makes headlines."
Meghan is reportedly looking to strengthen her team in the UK, including by hiring an executive ******* istant. However, the insider claims that attracting experienced British candidates has become difficult because of the attention surrounding staff departures over the years. The source argued that a prestigious ******* le and the opportunity to work closely with Meghan may not be enough to convince top candidates to accept a role.
"Meghan can offer a glamorous ******* le, but the best people aren't biting," the insider told Naughty But Nice. "Her reputation gets there before the job offer does." The source added that prospective employees may wonder whether they would have a different experience from previous staff members. "People see the turnover and think, 'Why would it be different for me?'" the insider claimed.

#however

Celebrity comedian Sebastian Maniscalco has responded to this week's uproar in the comedy community over his takeover of a SiriusXM channel that for years supported up-and-coming stand-ups while providing them a minor lifeline in royalty checks. He joins the broadcaster in ****** uring those up in arms over the station's disappearance that the company axed it well before the superstar took over.
In April, Maniscalco's Comedy Radio replaced SiriusXM's Channel 99, the longtime home of the Raw Comedy/Raw Dog channel, a small corner of the satellite radio giant where up-and-coming comedians could not only launch their careers but make a few bucks doing it. SiriusXM replaced the "jukebox channel," which rotated sets from comics and had no host, with one now "curated and headlined by Maniscalco" that features mostly mainstream and well-known talent. The uproar came this week when the advocacy group Stand Up for Standup and big-name comedians like Patton Oswalt, Margaret Cho and Michelle Wolf took to social media to ask Maniscalco to bring Raw Comedy back to the platform. On Thursday, the superstar comic replied.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Patton Oswalt, Michelle Wolf Call on Sebastian Maniscalco to Reverse SiriusXM Channel Takeover
Stephen A. Smith Explains How SiriusXM Is Becoming a Home for Political Independents

#channel #comedy

Kat Graham may be stunning on the outside, but she's more focused on inner beauty.
During an exclusive interview with First for Women, the 37-year-old actress discussed her outlook after welcoming her son "Spero" Nyemah Wood with her husband, Bryant Wood, in March.
"I'm kind of learning inside out even more," she explains. "I've always tried to prioritize: if you feel good within, it'll show."
"If you're not drinking enough water, if you're not eating good food, it doesn't matter how much makeup or how many different hairstyles or whatever, you're not going to emanate health," she continues. "So for me, especially post-baby, I'm still taking all my supplements, all my vitamins."
Steven Bergman/AFF-USA.COM / MEGA

#first #spero

It took Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner a minute to get on the same page about coming clean about their love affair from decades ago.
In his new memoir One **** uva Ride, Michael, 82, revealed that he and Turner, 72, had a secret romance while filming the 1984 flick Romancing the Stone in Mexico, during which he considered himself separated from his then-wife Diandra Douglas, according to an expert on the book obtained by People.
A source tells Examiner that "at first" the Wall Street actor's "decision to come clean didn't go over well" with the Body Heat actress.
"She's an incredibly private person these days, the last thing she wanted was for people to be talking about her **** life, even if [it] was 40 years ago," the source explains.
Beitia Archives / Digital Press Photos/Newscom/The Mega Agency

#douglas #source #romancing

An expert believes Meghan Markle and Prince Harry should fund their own everyday security in the UK. According to a royal expert, British taxpayers should not cover the Sussexes' day-to-day protection. Her comments followed a security scare at their children's school.
A royal expert explains how the school scare affects Prince Harry's security argument. The Duke and **** ss of Sussex spoke out after photographers were seen looking into the grounds of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's school.
A spokesperson for the couple called the photographers "extraordinarily reckless." They also described the incident as an unacceptable intrusion into children's privacy.
Reports claim that two paparazzi were at the scene and appeared to work together. Lynn Carratt told The Express US that the incident strengthens Harry's case that his family faces genuine security and privacy concerns. She said photographers allegedly walking around the school perimeter and monitoring children makes the couple's need for proper security obvious.
However, Carratt does not believe that automatically means British taxpayers should fund the couple's day-to-day protection. She noted Harry and Meghan chose to step back as working royals and later chose to return to live in the UK.

#security #prince #carratt #fund

Like most Gen X-ers, 51-year-old Angelina Jolie likely had to study penmanship in elementary school. (As a fellow Gen X-er, I can attest that this particular class often lowered my grade point average.) But now that many schools place less emphasis on cursive, younger generations might struggle not only to write it, but to read it, too.
A recent post on the How Everything Works Instagram page shared a thank-you note reportedly written by Jolie for hotel staff. As the note goes viral, many have weighed in, calling it mostly illegible. This is causing quite a stir between generations, with some blaming a lack of education on this subject as the culprit.
The original poster added, for context, "Angelina Jolie left a handwritten thank you note for the staff after staying at a luxury hotel, but the internet quickly became more interested in trying to read it. Her distinctive cursive proved so difficult to decipher that people began sharing their guesses about what the note actually said, turning a simple message into an unexpected online puzzle. Some words were easier to make out than others, but the handwriting became the main attraction, with fans collectively trying to decode the entire note. What started as a thoughtful gesture from Jolie ended up becoming a viral guessing game over her handwriting."
Many commenters tried to transcribe the letter, which appears to have first been shared back in October, 2023. One commenter immediately notes how difficult it might be for Gen Z to read it. She first shares her take on what the note says. "'Thank you for a restful stay at your beautiful resort. The 'Maria' crew had a lovely time here. With love, Angelina Jolie' — With some context and if you know cursive, you can make most of it out. I don't think any GenZ's would know what this said."
Others suggested it was some kind of medical professional "script." This Instagrammer explains, in part, " This is NOT script. It's just her sloppy 'style' of writing. Yes. I'm a nurse."

#angelina #cursive #others

Kellon Deryck will never forget the day he met Megan Thee Stallion. It was 8 years ago, and the celebrity hairstylist was trying to keep it professional on his first job with the rapper. But Megan wasn't having it, he recalls, laughing.
"I'm normally pretty shy when I first meet someone, so the first day we worked together, I was quiet; I was just there to do my job," he explains. "She **** near tickled me into laughing and talking like, 'Who is this up in here? Who are you?' She made me show my personality. She pulled it out of me." And from that day forward, they were inseparable.
"Even when we're not at work, we're on FaceTime talking about what we're about to do next or how our night was, what we ate, and what TikTok we're about to do, and what food we want to try," says Deryck. "We literally do everything together."
Megan Thee Stallion on InStyle's September 2026 cover, hair styled by Kellon Deryck
The Boston-born, Atlanta-bred hair pro has been behind some of Megan's most unforgettable hair moments, from 2025's Met Gala, for which he crafted an artful, architectural copper-red ponytail inspired by Josephine Baker, to the towering, out-of-this-world sculptural updo he molded for InStyle's September cover. "I always know what story she's trying to tell with her hair," Deryck explains. And over the years, he and Megan, ever the hair chameleon, have done nearly "every kind of look." Their résumé runs the gamut from candy-colored finger waves and Marie Antoinette poufs to jet-black clouds of curls, glossy flipped bobs, Old Hollywood waves, and Rapunzel-length tumbles. His work has even made its way into Megan's lyrics: In "Don't Stop," she raps, "40-inch weave by Kellon, don't tangle."

#we 're #thee #even

Ever since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the UK, the Royal Family's response, or a lack thereof, has drawn plenty of attention. Prince William and Kate Middleton, however, have said nothing in public about the Sussexes. While some reports describe that silence as indifference, one PR expert reads it very differently, and her view shifts the focus from feelings to observable behaviour.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the UK in late August with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Since then, Prince William and Kate Middleton have stayed quiet, and according to reports, the brothers have no contact, despite living in the same country again.
It had earlier been reported that the Prince and Princess of Wales have "stopped caring," and are practicing indifference. The same report states that Kate is not "sitting around talking about Meghan." It stresses that this does not mean a reconciliation has taken place.
Now, PR specialist Grayce McCormick of Lightfinder Public Relations has offered a different reading to The Mirror. She cautions against calling the couple "indifferent." Doing so, she says, ******* igns an emotional state to people "based largely on unnamed sources and outward behavior." McCormick explains that silence can signal "boundaries, discipline, fatigue, acceptance or simply a decision not to participate publicly." It does not reveal what someone feels privately, she adds.
The expert also draws on her own client work. According to her, responding to every headline gives a story "more oxygen." McCormick points to the "illusory truth effect," in which repeated information can become more believable through repetition. She believes that in royal coverage, speculation can often harden into perceived fact.

#kate #mccormick

Vista Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:VGZ) announced on September 21 that it had agreed to be acquired by Artemis Gold Inc. (TSXV:ARTG). Under the agreement signed September 20, shareholders would receive 0.0966 buyer common shares for each existing common share and own approximately 5% of the combined company. That ownership calculation excludes the buyer's existing 4.95% stake in Vista Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:VGZ), which it intends to cancel at completion.
For shareholders, the trade-off is a smaller interest in a larger mining business with an operating ***** et and development expertise. The central question is whether that combination can supply the capital and execution needed to bring Australia's Mt Todd gold project into production.
Artemis Gold Inc. (TSXV:ARTG) operates the Blackwater mine in British Columbia and expects its future cash generation to support Mt Todd. That offers Vista Gold a potential funding source alongside a team experienced in building and operating mines.
The financial starting point explains the appeal. Vista Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:VGZ) ended June 2026 with $49.5 million in cash and no debt. Management described that cash as sufficient for interim development objectives. Joining an operating producer could broaden the resources available for the much larger task of construction.
The acquisition requires no cash consideration or new acquisition debt. Preserving the buyer's financial capacity could leave more room for investment, although the share exchange itself does not raise construction funding.

#cash

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) dropped 5.55% to $15.82 on September 16, 2026, close to its 52-week low. The price movement was triggered by a profit warning at a Barclays conference. Huntington brought down its 2027 EPS guidance from above $1.90 to the range of $1.75-$1.83, and its 2026 net interest income growth from 39%-43% to roughly 35%. What matters more than these numbers is the reason behind them. Deposit costs are rising, and loan pricing is tightening, and it landed on the day the Fed delivered its first interest rate hike since 2023. The drop therefore raises the question: is this an oversold bank or the opening crack in regional-bank margins?
A well-run bank has just lowered its guidance, citing intense competition for deposits and loans. If Huntington feels the margin pressure, then it is likely that its peers feel the same. This explains why Fifth Third shares slid 4.1% on the same afternoon alongside the whole financials group. The Fed's new hike makes the environment more unfavorable for the group in the near term. While rate increases eventually lift ***** et yields, banks must immediately offer higher deposit yields to retain balances, squeezing net interest margins in the near term. Furthermore, accelerated commercial real estate loan payoffs reduced total earning ***** ets, though these early payoffs lower credit risk on the loan book.
The selloff leans too much into the reset. A move to $1.75-$1.83 from above $1.90 is a modest single-digit trim. Huntington sustains its profit as well as its operational performance. Loans reached $189 billion from $50 billion in 2015. Deposits touched $222 billion. And one of the company's biggest growth engines, value-added fee income, compounded at a 14% annual rate since mid-2024, with year-to-date growth near 32%. The income helps offset a notable portion of the spread pressure and offers a competitive edge against pure spread lenders.
A higher-for-longer rate environment carries trade-offs for commercial banks. It drives up deposit expenses, reflecting the margin pressure Huntington reported. It also expands loan yields as credit ***** ets reprice. Deposit beta determines the net effect by measuring how much of each benchmark rate increase the bank transfers to depositors. After the rate hikes, deposit costs typically rise further, so betting on a near-term peak takes some faith. A lower beta allows fee revenue to support earnings, whereas a higher beta keeps the squeeze sustained over multiple quarters.

#bank #interest #Growth

The 'half-a-loaf' plan gifts roughly half of excess ***** ets to children, then uses a Medicaid-compliant annuity to bridge the penalty period.
Keeping retained cash in a bank account prevents the penalty clock from starting, since ***** ets above $2,000 disqualify the applicant outright.
One flawed annuity term or miscalculated divisor can unravel the entire plan, making elder law attorney guidance essential before any money moves.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Picture a common scenario in a state where this type of crisis planning is welcome: Dad moves into a nursing home with roughly $200,000 sitting above the $2,000 countable-asset limit that most states use for single Nursing Home Medicaid applicants. His family gifts about $100,000 to the children, then uses the other half to buy a short-term Medicaid-compliant annuity that pays the nursing home while the gift penalty runs. When the penalty ends, Medicaid picks up the bill. The children keep the gift.

#annuity #roughly

On August 6, Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) reported second-quarter net earnings of $543 million on $929 million of revenue, both records. Through the first half, net earnings rose 106% to $1.1 billion. During the quarter, the company also made net upfront cash payments of $4.5 billion relative to mineral stream interests, and it now carries $2.0 billion of total debt against $100 million of cash on hand. Here is what that trade looks like up close.
Start with what the streaming model does when prices climb. Wheaton sold 14% more gold equivalent ounces than a year ago, but the average realized gold equivalent price jumped 61% in Q2, and that higher price explains most of the revenue surge. Costs per ounce rose from $406 to $568, yet the cash operating margin per ounce still grew 65% to $3,875, faster than gold itself appreciated. Operating cash flow hit $650 million in the quarter and $1.4 billion for the half.
The second argument is that plenty of growth hasn't arrived yet. Only about 3% of this year's production comes from **** ets still in construction or ramp-up, and the company forecasts a rise of roughly 50% to 1,200,000 gold equivalent ounces by 2030. Some of that ramp has dates attached. Ivanhoe now expects commercial production at Platreef in the fourth quarter of 2026, and Montage Gold is targeting first gold at Koné in late Q4. Effective April 1, Wheaton expanded its share of silver production from Antamina from 33.75% to 67.5% through the newly acquired BHP Antamina PMPA.
Growth on this scale wasn't free. Wheaton had no bank debt at the end of 2025. On April 1, it drew $1.5 billion on a new two-year term loan to help pay for Antamina, and finance costs that were negligible a year ago now take a real bite. Net debt stands at $1.9 billion. Taxes are heavier too. Wheaton paid $109 million of global minimum tax on June 24, and another Cdn$346 million is due around March 31, 2027.
Operations also gave investors a few reasons for caution. Gold ounces produced slipped 2.6% year over year, so the 6% rise in gold equivalent production leaned heavily on the Antamina purchase. Gold output at Salobo fell 11% on lower grades. At Constancia, it fell 35% after mining at the higher-grade Pampacancha pit finished in the fourth quarter of 2025. Hemlo Mining said on July 20 that its second-quarter output fell below the first quarter's, and Rio2 said on May 15 that Fenix missed planned tonnes and grade in Q1. And because the revenue jump came mainly from price, the same leverage works in reverse if metals slip.

#wheaton

HDV has outpaced VYM by nearly 9 points year-to-date in 2026 while paying a 3.34% yield versus VYM's 2.20%.
HDV's 75-stock tilt toward energy, healthcare, and staples drives its 2026 edge but can lag equally in growth-led markets.
Taxable investors switching from VYM should redirect new contributions into HDV rather than selling lots with large embedded capital gains.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
If you own the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEARCA:VYM), you own it for a good reason. VYM tracks the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index, holds roughly 500 above-average payers, and delivers a broad, cheap slice of dividend-paying American stocks. It is one of the most widely held income ETFs on the market, and for buy-and-hold investors who want a diversified basket of yielders without thinking too hard about it, VYM has done its job. But in 2026, VYM is losing ground to a much smaller, more concentrated peer from BlackRock that pays a higher yield and follows a very different rulebook.

#same

JEPI, DIVO, and GPIX each pay near 8% monthly yields while growing share price by writing calls on only a portion of holdings.
GPIX has beaten SPY with an 80% return since its 2023 launch by capping its options overlay at just 25 to 75% of the portfolio.
DIVO's tactical options sleeve delivers a lower 6% yield but drives 72% five-year price appreciation, nearly matching SPY's gains.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Covered call ETFs have a reputation problem. For years, the category was defined by funds like QYLD and XYLD that wrote at-the-money calls on entire index portfolios, harvested rich premiums, and quietly bled principal every time markets rallied. Investors got their monthly check and watched their share price drift lower. That is the trap worth avoiding.

#gpix #calls #lower #years

A $10,000 SPY investment at its 1993 launch would have compounded to $312,667 today, representing a 3,027% gain without adding a single dollar.
SPY's 0.0945% expense ratio costs roughly three times more than VOO or IVV, a gap that quietly compounds against long-term buy-and-hold investors.
RSP owns the same 500 stocks as SPY but weights each equally, cutting megacap dominance and serving as a hedge against a leadership rotation.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
A $10,000 stake placed in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) on its opening day in January 1993 would be worth roughly $312,667 today. That works out to a 3,027% **** ulative gain, or about 10.8% a year compounded across 33 years. No stock picking, no market timing, no additional contributions.

#roughly #years #january

A home Medicaid excludes from **** et tests during life becomes fully exposed to estate recovery after death, potentially consuming most of an inheritance.
Transfers of a home within 60 months of a Medicaid application trigger a penalty period, and a stroke can eliminate the legal capacity needed to act.
Penalty-free exceptions exist, including spousal transfer, caregiver-child, and protected-relative rules, but qualifying circumstances must be in place well before a crisis.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
An 82-year-old widower has a stroke. From the hospital he moves to rehabilitation, then to permanent nursing-home care. His paid-off house is worth $340,000. His daughter asks the elder-law attorney whether they can deed her the house or drop it into an irrevocable trust before Medicaid pays a dime. The answer is the one no family wants to hear: probably not, because Dad no longer has the capacity to sign, and his durable power of attorney authorizes bill payment but not gifts or trust transfers.

#home #stroke #free

Ramsey warns that depreciating ****** ets like cars erode wealth, and 84% of millionaires credited ditching car payments as key to building it.
A $30,000 car loses roughly $18,000 in value within five years, and average annual ownership costs hit $11,577, making cars a major wealth drag.
Since Micah maxes retirement accounts, carries zero debt, and pays cash, buying the sports car is defensible if he maintains those financial habits.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
A caller to the Dave Ramsey Show recently sparked a pointed conversation about cars, wealth, and what it actually means to earn a solid income. The caller was Micah, a 24-year-old earning $80,000 per year. He maxes out both his 401(k) and IRA and carries zero debt. His question was simple: he has $30,000 in cash and wants to put it toward a 2019 Nissan 370Z as a weekend car, but he wonders whether investing the money instead would serve him better long-term.

#zero

Two years of Synopsys (SNPS) earnings calls show management changing what it explains. The company used to open on problems, some outside its control and some its own. The August 2026 call is built around a joint product with Ansys, agentic AI, and a new way to charge for its design IP. Most of that switch is earned, but parts of it are still a promise.
Synopsys Once Opened Its Calls With Bad News
Management used to point to underperformance in the IP business, where expected deals did not arrive, and to challenges at a major foundry customer that were having a sizable impact. The CEO said it plainly on an earlier call: "new export restrictions disrupted design starts in China."
None of that comes up on the August 2026 call. China does not come up. The closest thing to the old worry is that design starts outside AI have stopped declining.
Synopsys Now Leads With Multiphysics Fusion And Agentic AI

#China

SCHD delivers nearly double VIG's forward yield at roughly 3% compared to 1.7%, making it the stronger cash anchor for retirees funding withdrawals today.
Despite radically different portfolios, both funds produced nearly identical 10-year returns: VIG at 243% versus SCHD's 237%.
With the 10-year Treasury at 5%, rising rates are punishing VIG's growth tilt, and SCHD leads year-to-date by a wide margin of 25% to 8%.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Retirees weighing a dividend anchor keep landing on the same two funds: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) and Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEARCA:VIG). They look like siblings but diverge sharply under the hood. SCHD screens hard for cash-flow quality and pays a meaningfully higher current yield. VIG buys only companies with 10-plus consecutive years of dividend increases and explicitly kicks out the highest-yielding quartile. That single rule sends the two funds toward very different portfolios, and it is showing up in the returns.

#Dividend #same #nearly #cash

Merck (MRK) stock returned about 87% over the past twelve months, climbing from roughly $79 to about $147. Nothing in the year's results looks like that. The medicines Merck sells today grew at their usual pace. Investors spent the year repricing what comes next.
Revenue over the trailing twelve months was $66.6 billion, up 4.6% and in line with its own three-year pace. Profitability did not follow. Its operating margin over the same twelve months was 10.5%, versus a three-year average of 22.4%.
Most of that gap is one purchase. Merck took a $5.7 billion charge in the second quarter of 2026, about 9% of a year's sales. It bought Terns Pharmaceuticals, and with it MK-4208, a candidate for chronic myeloid leukemia. The bill hits earnings now and the medicine arrives later.
The proof matters because of the risk hanging over this stock. The KEYTRUDA family was just over half of Merck's revenue in the second quarter of 2026. The company is openly planning for the end of that exclusivity when Keytruda loses primary U.S. patent protection in 2028. Management describes the stretch as more of a hill than a cliff, with a shallow dip and a fast return to growth.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) returned 56% over the same twelve months and Pfizer (PFE) 23%, so a good year for pharmaceuticals explains some of this but not Merck's lead. What separated Merck was evidence. The FDA approved LIPFENDRA, the first and only oral PCSK9 inhibitor. In the CORALreef Lipids trial it lowered LDL cholesterol by up to 60% when added to a statin.

#year #johnson

TIPS held in taxable brokerage accounts generate phantom income from inflation-adjusted principal, potentially pushing up to 85% of Social Security benefits into taxable income.
30-year TIPS currently yield 2.96% above inflation, but account placement determines how much of that real return retirees actually keep after taxes.
Holding TIPS inside a traditional IRA defers inflation-adjustment taxation until withdrawal, shielding annual principal increases from the Social Security provisional income formula.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
A 71-year-old retiree did what the textbooks suggest. He built a ladder of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities in his brokerage account to keep inflation from quietly eating away at retirement. The timing looks unusually attractive. As of August 28, Treasury's real-yield curve put 10-year TIPS at 2.42% and 30-year TIPS at 2.96%. Those are yields above inflation for an investor buying at current market prices and holding to maturity. That 2.96% is a real yield, meaning it sits on top of the inflation adjustment rather than competing with the inflation rate itself.

#real #taxable

Without a signed, prospective contract, Medicaid treats family caregiver payments as gifts, exposing $60,000 in payments to a six-month nursing home ineligibility penalty.
A defensible care agreement must be signed before services begin, specify duties and market-rate pay, and be backed by time sheets and traceable payments.
At 20 documented hours per week, $2,500 monthly works out to roughly $29 per hour, defensible against the 2025 national median caregiver rate of $35.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Picture a widow in her 80s who pays her adult daughter $2,500 a month for two years to handle bathing, meals, medications, driving to appointments, and overnight supervision. The care is real. The daughter cuts back her own job to provide it. One year later, mom breaks a hip, lands in a nursing home, and applies for institutional Medicaid. The caseworker pulls five years of bank statements, spots $60,000 in recurring payments to the daughter, and finds no signed agreement, no time sheets, no invoices. In that state, the agency treats every dollar as an uncompensated transfer, effectively a gift.

#signed #daughter

Leaving $650,000 in IRAs untouched for 11 years grew the balance to $1.11 million, forcing a $42,000 first-year RMD on top of pension income.
The couple missed 11 years of Roth conversion opportunities at the 12% rate, pushing RMD dollars into the 22% bracket instead.
When one spouse dies, the survivor files under single brackets where the 22% rate starts at $50,400, making the same RMD far more costly.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Let's start by considering a couple retiring at 62. His pension covers the mortgage, the groceries, the property tax, and the trip to see the grandkids twice a year. Two traditional IRAs, hers and his, hold a combined $650,000 on the day they stop working, and they never take a distribution. Now imagine that eleven quiet years have passed, and then the first required minimum distribution letter arrives, followed by a second, and the number attached to those letters is larger than either of them planned for.

#iras

Gov. Abbott says Texas data centers "dug their own grave" by expanding too fast, with fewer than 10% responding to a state electricity demand survey.
Claiming Social Security at 63 instead of 67 permanently locks in just 75% of the full benefit, costing a $2,500 earner roughly $625 monthly.
A long-term ground lease can bridge the income gap to delay Social Security claiming, and passive rental income generally avoids the Social Security earnings test.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Texas spent years courting the data-center boom. Now Gov. Greg Abbott says the industry "dug their own grave" by expanding too quickly without winning over the communities expected to host the projects. The backlash is real.

#texas #grave

Owning a $400,000 Villages home costs owners roughly 4.5% annually in forgone investment income alone, before taxes, insurance, or CDD bond payments.
Annual rentals run between $2,200 and $3,000 a month, but renting beats owning only for stays under eight years once all costs are counted.
A 75-year-old facing a forced sale in a narrow buyer pool at 3.98 million existing home sales risks losing the flexibility a lease ending provides.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
At the end of the day, renting versus buying in The Villages comes down to one thing: math. More owners are running the numbers and finding that renting wins on the spreadsheet, so here is what the comparison actually looks like when every line is filled in.

#income

When developers hand governance to residents at build-out, HOA fees spike as homeowners absorb true amenity costs and cover reserve underfunding through special ****** sments.
HOA fee increases in post-transition communities routinely outpace the 2027 Social Security COLA of roughly 3%, squeezing retirees on fixed incomes.
Demand the reserve study, CC&Rs, and community development district bond balance before signing. If the sales office stalls, the pitch was rehearsed, not substantiated.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
Readers in their late fifties and early sixties ask weekly: Can I retire to a Margaritaville community, and what will it cost over twenty or thirty years? The brochure sells one version, while the sales center sells another. The real question a retiree should ask is what happens once marketing wears off and the structural issue the sales presentation almost never covers emerges.

#retirees #community #years #sells

McDonald's (MCD) stock fell 14.2% over the past 12 months, versus roughly 14.3% for the S&P 500, and now sits near its 52-week low. Over roughly the same stretch, management changed how it explains weak traffic. It used to point at customers outside its control. It now points at its own restaurants, and that makes the stock a different bet.
Who Did McDonald's Say Was Pulling Back?
About a year ago, on the second-quarter 2025 call, the lead worry sat outside the company. The CEO put it this way: "Visits across the industry by low-income consumers once again declined by double digits." The value message of that period leaned on core menu pricing, which management said shapes how customers judge value most.
So What Does McDonald's Say Went Wrong Instead?
In the latest call, for the second quarter of 2026, low-income consumers did not come up by name. The backdrop still comes up: industry traffic in several of its largest markets stayed flat to negative. The lead, though, is a miss of its own making. U.S. comparable sales grew 0.8%, and the CEO said the company did not execute at the level it needed.

#TRAFFIC

Amazon Business is now a $60B operation serving 11 million customers worldwide. In this FreightWaves Today interview, Amazon Business exec Daniel Silverfield breaks down what that scale means for procurement, supplier consolidation, same-day grocery delivery and AI-driven savings.The big takeaway: business buyers want fewer suppliers, better visibility and less waste in purchasing. Silverfield explains how Amazon Business is pitching exactly that to everyone from small companies to Fortune 100s.
Amazon Business has hit $60 billion in annualized gross sales and now serves 11 million customers worldwide, with 1.8 million organizations added this year alone — a growth rate that puts it on par with a Fortune 100 company if it were standalone. The platform, which launched roughly a decade ago after Amazon noticed businesses already shopping on amazon.com, is increasingly central to how companies across sectors manage procurement, from office supplies to same-day groceries.
The scale matters to shippers, carriers, and brokers because Amazon Business is driving a fundamental shift in B2B purchasing behavior — consolidating supplier pools, centralizing data, and moving procurement from quarterly reporting cycles to an always-on, AI-powered model. Every order that migrates to the platform is one fewer touchpoint for traditional distributors and one more shipment flowing through Amazon's own logistics network.
Daniel Silverfield, head of value and selection for Amazon Business, said the platform saved customers $880 million on Prime free shipping last year and $1 billion through business-specific discounts. The company added 30% new items year over year and recently launched same-day grocery delivery across 2,300 U.S. cities in the first half of this year, a capability customers had been requesting for some time.
"The big shift that we're seeing is that people are moving to a continuous, always-on, conversational-powered procurement journey where agents may be looking for the best price while they're asleep, maybe negotiating on their behalf while they're asleep, and then surfacing to them the best product to buy," said Silverfield.

#customers

Investors continue to ask for more timely information, even as the volume available to them expands. A 2026 CFA Institute survey of 2,500 **** ysts and portfolio managers found that 62% opposed replacing quarterly reporting with semiannual reporting. Nearly 85% expressed concern about comparability if companies and investment managers could determine their own reporting frequency and format. Access remains important, while interpretation requires a separate discipline.
The demand also concerns the quality of disclosure. PwC's 2025 Global Investor Survey, covering 1,074 investment professionals across 26 countries and territories, found that only 37% believed companies disclosed enough about artificial intelligence strategies and policies. Respondents wanted greater transparency around innovation strategies, AI investment, and expected returns. These findings suggest that investors can face abundant commentary while still lacking the evidence needed to **** s a thesis.
Commercial incentives add another layer. A 2025 CFA Institute report examined continuation funds, in which a manager can oversee both the vehicle selling an **** et and the vehicle buying it. The report recognized the structure's liquidity role and identified conflicts requiring fair processes and governance. The example illustrates why informed **** ysis and aligned incentives are separate considerations.
That distinction applies beyond any single investment structure. Managers often possess valuable operational knowledge because they work directly with **** ets, tenants and financing markets. They may also be raising capital for the strategies they discuss. Their commercial interest becomes additional context for investors weighing forecasts, market narratives and recommendations alongside independently produced evidence. That context can help an investment committee separate a source's knowledge of the market from the confidence it should place in the source's preferred outcome during capital allocation.
Geoffrey Dohrmann, chairman, CEO and editor-in-chief of Institutional Real Estate, Inc., has watched those narratives develop across several market cycles. IREI is a media and market intelligence company covering institutional real estate and infrastructure through publications, research, data, events and consulting. Dohrmann explains its editorial role as independently recording where real-asset capital is moving and examining the explanations offered for those decisions.

#real #institute