It's often said that football is a game of inches — so much so that it has become a cliche.
In Auburn's season-opening win against Baylor, it was more like a game of centimeters.
After scoring a touchdown with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to get within one, 17-16, Baylor opted for a 2-point conversion to win the game rather than an extra point attempt, which almost certainly would have tied the game and forced overtime.
REQUIRED READING: Auburn football report card: Grading the Tigers after Baylor win
The try was unsuccessful, with Matthew Klopfenstein catching a DJ Lagway pass and getting tackled just shy of the goal line to preserve the Auburn victory. The Tigers pulled out the win despite allowing 436 yards and finishing with three turnovers.

#tigers #required #grading

On August 25, Box Inc. (NYSE:BOX) reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 results that beat management's own guidance across the board, with revenue climbing 9% to $321.1 million as customers piled into the company's priciest tier, Enterprise Advanced. The bigger story sits underneath the headline number. Box is repositioning itself as the security layer that lets AI agents from Anthropic, Databricks, and Slack actually touch a company's files, and that shift is starting to show up in the billings line.
Billings jumped 17% to $309.5 million, a figure management tied directly to booking strength and record second-quarter wins, which suggests customers are signing bigger contracts rather than trickling in seat by seat. Net retention rose to 106%, ahead of the 105% the company had guided to, driven by both seat expansion and higher price per seat. That combination matters because it means existing customers are both growing their headcount on the platform and paying more per person, a dual engine that is harder to replicate than growth from new logos alone. Suites, Box's bundled higher-tier offering, now make up 69% of revenue, up from 63% a year earlier, and customers paying at least $100,000 annually grew 10% year over year.
A major federal agency illustrated the pattern in the flesh, upgrading to Enterprise Advanced with a fourfold seat expansion to replace several separate software vendors it had been using for contract management and research. Operating margin expanded to 29.4%, and free cash flow jumped 67% to $59.7 million, evidence that the growth is not being bought with discounts. Box also introduced new Model Context Protocol integrations with partners including Anthropic, Databricks, and Slack, letting AI agents execute multistep tasks directly inside a customer's Box environment rather than just answering questions about files stored there.
Not everything in the quarter was clean. CFO Dylan Smith flagged that gross margin faces a constraint tied to "limited access to certain components of the infrastructure," language that points to capacity limits at the cloud providers Box relies on to run its AI features, and management guided third-quarter gross margin down to roughly 80.5% from the 81.2% just posted. Operating margin guidance for the third quarter also steps down to about 28%, a full percentage point below the 29.4% Box just delivered, even as the top line keeps growing.
Currency is another drag that will not disappear on its own. The company absorbed a $0.04 per share hit from foreign exchange in the quarter and expects roughly $0.09 off full-year earnings per share, which is baked into the raised full-year EPS guidance of $1.54. And while 9% reported revenue growth beat expectations, it is still a business growing in the high single digits, a pace that leaves little room for stumbles if Enterprise Advanced adoption cools or larger AI platforms decide to build competing file-governance tools of their own rather than partner with B

KMI's 2% dividend raise earns a C+ while WMB's 5% raise and 52-year payment streak push it to an A-.
WMB carries 3.9x leverage after its $5.5 billion Momentum Midstream acquisition, though management expects deleveraging by 2028.
Just released. Our **** ysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
Two natural gas pipeline giants just cut checks to shareholders, and the fine print reveals why they deserve very different dividend grades. Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) sent investors $0.2975 per share on August 17, 2026, while Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) most recently paid $0.525 per share on June 29, 2026, with another $0.525 payment scheduled for September 28. Same sector, same customer base, same natural gas tailwinds. Very different scorecards.
The gap comes down to growth rate, payout coverage, and streak length. One is compounding faster and covering the payout more comfortably. The other is running a tighter payout ratio with slower raises. Here is the grading.

#stocks

Wall Street experts believe that AI adoption continues to create a cybersecurity spending cycle, with companies increasingly needing to secure AI agents, applications, and cloud workloads. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is benefiting from this trend, posting record net new ARR of $333 million in Q2 2027, up 51% year-over-year, and upgrading FY27 net new ARR growth guidance by 630 bps to 34%. Revenue also rose 26% to $1.47 billion, driven by elevated demand.
Scotiabank lifted its price objective on CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s stock to $250 from $227 on August 27, while maintaining a "Sector Outperform" rating. The firm sees broad-based enterprise demand and increased spending on AI security for CRWD. The firm also tagged the company as a medium-term compounder even though it commands a premium valuation.
Wall Street ***** ysts believe that the upside case for CRWD revolves around platform expansion and AI security. Falcon Flex ARR crossed $2.29 billion, implying a rise of 101% YoY. Notably, 51% of subscription customers are now using six or more modules. Moving forward, growth is expected to be backed by cross-selling, AI security adoption, and record FCF.
However, bears highlight valuation as the biggest risk. Since expectations for high growth remain elevated, this leaves room for multiple compression if ARR growth slows, module adoption disappoints, or competition intensifies. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) trades at a forward P/E of ~172.4x, significantly higher than that of competitor Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)'s forward P/E of ~87.7x.
CrowdStrike's strong ARR growth and expanding Falcon platform provide the company with a strong growth profile. On the other hand, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is benefiting from broader network-security exposure. Overall, CrowdStrike's strong presence across endpoint, cloud, identity, SIEM, and AI security cements its position as the consolidated cybersecurity platform.

#adoption

Scorpio Gold (NASDAQ:SGLD) reported new Goldwedge drilling results from its Manhattan District Project in Nevada, including 3.02 g/t gold over 48.92 metres and a separate 99.94-metre interval grading 1.19 g/t gold, adding evidence of both grade and mineralized scale within the target.
Scorpio Gold (NASDAQ:SGLD) hole 26MN-115 returned 3.02 g/t gold over 48.92 metres from 118.87 metres, including a higher-grade interval of 19.29 g/t over 5.24 metres.
Hole 26MN-118 produced a broad 99.94-metre intersection grading 1.19 g/t gold from 98.61 metres, including 5.13 g/t over 4.16 metres.
Additional mineralization was encountered at the faulted contact between the Zanzibar Formation and Manhattan Caldera Volcanics, including 5.14 g/t gold over 10.15 metres.
Phase Two drilling has reached 114 holes and 32,585 metres, with ***** ays now reported for 107 holes covering 30,889 metres.

#Gold #NASDAQ #reported

INDIANAPOLIS — Ball State's new starting quarterback, 5-10, 250-pound Keldric ****** er, has gained national attention for his size, but on Tuesday, online betting platform Polymarket posted what the football program says was a photoshopped image of ****** er, which majorly bloated his appearance.
The fake photo of ****** er on X resulted in backlash with people calling out Polymarket for the deception. Polymarket has since deleted the post. IndyStar reached out to the company, which describes itself as "the world's largest prediction market platform for real-time global events," but did not receive a response.
This is the company that ON3 got in bed with Fyi pic.twitter.com/Or3dAXzBJp
While ****** er and the Ball State football program declined to comment on the photo, Kevin Messenger, Ball State's ****** istant athletic director of communications, didn't mince words on social media.
"PolymarketBlitz your photoshop is a degrading, false, bullsh** representation of college football. Meet the real Keldric ****** er."

#luster #program

Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right provocateur who praised U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before recently being detained by the agency, said in an interview Sept. 1 that his time in custody left him "weeping like an old woman."
Yiannopoulos, a native of the United Kingdom, became a prominent political commentator in the lead up to President Donald Trump's first term in office. Known as a whisperer of the alt-right, including neo-Nazis, Yiannopoulos delivered controversial speeches at university campuses where he railed against everything, from Islam to trans people.
The Briton was arrested Aug. 27 by federal agents in Louisiana after overstaying a visa. He had previously been issued a final order of removal after failing to show up for an immigration hearing in July. After being detained, Yiannopoulos was deported to the U.K. on Aug. 28.
"I didn't really understand the physical reality of how institutionalized the brutality is in America," Yiannopoulos said in an interview with fellow British commentator Piers Morgan on "Piers Morgan Uncensored".
"It was physically degrading. It was frightening," he told Morgan. "I don't think I've ever been frightened like that before."

#interview

Following the conclusion of the preseason for the Jacksonville Jaguars, which players received the highest overall grades from Pro Football Focus, and which received the lowest?
Let's take a look, but first I do want to mention that while PFF's grading system is certainly helpful at quantifying a player's performance, it is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to evaluations. It is one tool out of many that are out there and should be treated as such.
For some context around these grades, below is the grading scale.
90.0+: Elite
80-89.9: High quality

#grades #jacksonville #high

Andoni Iraola and Richard Hughes still have a lot of work to do on Liverpool's squad before the transfer window slams shut.
Admittedly, they're now on the cusp of confirming a deal for Bradley Barcola which will instantly improve their attack.
However, the Frenchman can't be the only player that they bring in before deadline day.
There are several areas among their ranks that could still do with upgrading and, without these additions, it's hard to see how the Anfield outfit will do any better than they did last term.
Obviously, Iraola's style of football will probably help get the best out of his current crop of players but, without at least some new additions, it's hard to see how things are going to get any better for the Reds.

#still #hard #iraola #hughes

Two telecommunications giants recently showcased the contrasting sides of the 5G and connectivity ecosystem. On August 6, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced it selected Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) to supply 600 MHz dual-band radios to support the deployment of its newly acquired spectrum from EchoStar. The partnership reinforces AT&T's ongoing network modernization while keeping Ericsson deeply embedded in U.S. carrier infrastructure.
Shortly after, on August 10, AT&T demonstrated real-world execution by upgrading wireless connectivity at Mississippi State University's Davis Wade Stadium using a Distributed Antenna System powered by Airspan's MobileAccess 6000. While AT&T is actively converting network upgrades into sticky, high-margin subscriber growth, Ericsson faces the capital-intensive burden of hardware delivery.
Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is showing a stronger financial trajectory and cash-generation profile than its equipment vendor partner, Ericsson. In Q2 2026, AT&T's consolidated revenue increased 2.3% year over year to $31.6 billion, supported by a 5.1% increase in Advanced Connectivity service revenue. Adjusted EPS surged 20.4% to $0.65, beating the $0.59 consensus estimate, while adjusted EBITDA rose 5.2% to $12.3 billion, producing a strong 39.1% margin. Free cash flow reached $4.7 billion, enabling management to raise its full-year share buyback target to $10 billion while maintaining its forecast for more than $18 billion in full-year free cash flow.
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC), meanwhile, faced weaker operating momentum in Q2 2026, with net sales declining 6% year over year to SEK 52.7 billion, or approximately $5.0 billion, due to lower IPR licensing revenue and uneven carrier capital spending. Net income fell 12% to SEK 4.1 billion, or approximately $390 million, although adjusted gross margin remained resilient at 48.4%. Free cash flow before M&A, however, plunged from SEK 2.6 billion to just SEK 385 million, or approximately $36.7 million.

#year

Kaden Wetjen finally gave Mike McCarthy exactly what he had been asking for. After spending much of the preseason hearing criticism about his decision-making as a returner, the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie broke loose for a huge punt-return touchdown against the Buffalo Bills, and even during the play, McCarthy was still barking the same message he had been drilling into Wetjen all summer.
And the funny part? Wetjen didn't exactly follow the instructions. McCarthy was yelling for him to get north and attack vertically. Instead, the rookie bounced toward the sideline. However, this time, that decision worked perfectly.
Aug 13, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy watches the action against the Green Bay Packers during the first half at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
McCarthy explained what happened on August 28, after the Steelers' 28-27 preseason loss to the Bills. Wetjen broke a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter, giving them the explosive special-teams play the Steelers had been waiting to see from their fourth-round rookie.
"Sometimes coaches say things on a headset they probably shouldn't say, like 'get north, get north' or 'get vertical,' which I was screaming at him at that time. And then he obviously bounced it to the sideline. I saw it on the Jumbotron. I saw why he bounced it, because he didn't have anywhere to go in front of him. He's been under some criticism just for being a young guy on a veteran team, so some tough love. I'm proud of him. I was really happy to see the return unit get that. Obviously, that was just a heck of a return by him, because if you're grading the tape, the coverage unit was in excellent position right there. And he gets around a corner and, obviously, finishes it off. That was a big-time return."

#pittsburgh #north #time

Morgan Stanley is forecasting that Cisco (CSCO) could be entering a new period of lasting growth. According to **** yst Meta Marshall, the company appears to be entering a "more durable growth phase," as quoted by Seeking Alpha. The firm also has an "Overweight" rating on the tech giant with a price target of $135. Fueling that call are several key catalysts, including upgrades with networking equipment, demand for artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.
One of the biggest catalysts for Morgan Stanley's bullishness is that Cisco's customers are still in the early stages of upgrading their networking equipment. As of now, Marshall says that only about 7% of Cisco's Catalyst 4K and 6K (switches that are used by companies to connect computers, phones, servers, and other devices together) have been updated so far. That means there are still plenty of other companies that will need to upgrade.
Walmart Stock Is More Expensive Than Nvidia Amid Earnings Miss
SpaceX Stock Just Crashed Below Its IPO Price: Here's the Bull Case **** ody Can Ignore
A Major Bitcoin Short Squeeze Is Taking MicroStrategy Stock Higher. What Comes Next.

#morgan #Growth #catalysts

Charles Barkley blasts DiJonai Carrington over Sophie Cunningham foul and controversial post originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Charles Barkley believes DiJonai Carrington made a bad situation significantly worse after her controversial collision with Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. Carrington was ejected from the Chicago Sky's Aug. 8 game against Indiana after striking Cunningham in the head while contesting a shot late in the first quarter. Cunningham was airborne when the contact occurred and fell hard to the court.
Officials initially called a common foul before upgrading it to a Flagrant 2 following a replay review. The ruling resulted in Carrington's immediate ejection. Carrington then posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE" on Threads and tagged the Fever, adding another layer to an incident already generating plenty of debate.
Barkley addressed both the foul and the social media post during an appearance on Michael Smerconish's radio show. The Basketball Hall of Famer did not leave much room for interpretation.
"It was a dirty play. Period," Barkley said.

#foul #charles #dijonai #indiana

Liverpool still need to do a lot of work to their team before the summer window slams shut at the end of the month.
Most people thought that the Reds would make a lot of changes to their ranks and, while they've already welcomed three new players, four have left.
And, to make things even worse, Mohamed Salah still hasn't been replaced yet.
Indeed, Rio Ngumoha was used on the right against Newcastle on Sunday but, since he's still only 18 years old, it's a lot of pressure to make him the Reds' first choice for that position.
However, it's not only the Reds' attack that could do with upgrading.

#still #make #mohamed #salah

Tesco Ireland has signed a three-year, €45m ($52.5m) agreement with Freshways to supply sandwiches, wraps, salads and pasta dishes for its meal deal range.
The deal builds on a supplier relationship between the two companies spanning more than two decades.
Headquartered in Finglas, Dublin, Freshways provides more than 40 product lines to the meal deal range under its Crust & Co brand, covering sandwiches, wraps, salads and pasta dishes.
Tesco Ireland fresh category director John Brennan said: "Freshways has been a trusted and valued supplier to Tesco Ireland for many years, consistently delivering high-quality products that our customers love. Their commitment to innovation, quality, and service has helped us build the strongest meal deal offerings in the market."
The contract comes after Freshways put €8m into its Finglas production site, adding "high-care" manufacturing **** e, increasing storage capacity and upgrading refrigeration systems.

#ireland #deal #finglas #pasta

First Phosphate Corp (NASDAQ:PHOS) (OTC:FRSPF) on Monday filed an updated technical report revealing resource expansion at its Bégin-Lamarche project in Quebec, Canada.
The latest mineral resource estimate highlights a 378% surge in indicated resources compared to the company's initial ****** sment released on September 9, 2024.
The updated estimate demonstrates substantial resource growth for the deposit, located 50 kilometers northwest of Saguenay.
The technical report outlines 6.2 million tonnes of measured pit-constrained resources grading at 7.70% phosphate.
Furthermore, indicated resources reached 198.5 million tonnes at a 6.00% grade, while inferred resources hit 89.5 million tonnes at 6.16%.

#resources #resource #tonnes #estimate

You'll recall Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Taylor Swift are pals, with the pair sharing a suite at Kansas City Chiefs game and Clark attending an Eras Tour show. Clark also plugged Swift's new album back in 2025 and credited the music megastar with upgrading her "drip."
So when Clark spoke with SLAM for a cover story in Kicks 29, she had to shout out Swift when asked who she'd want to see wearing her Caitlin 1s.
"Well, Travis Scott tried on the all-black pair. Obviously, we saw that in my Instagram post, "she said. "I wouldn't mind seeing Taylor Swift in a couple versions that I think she would probably like."
Of course fans loved it, and we'd all like to see Swift in some Caitlin 1s sometime.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Caitlin Clark has a Taylor Swift sneaker thought 'she would probably like'

#swift #pair #indiana #fever

In my day job, I am an English professor. This is relevant because in my hobby of writing about football, I frequently encounter people who forget that words mean things. ESPN just released a ranking of NFL positional groups that includes this statement: "you would be surprised by what you can learn sitting down and objectively grading and/or ranking each positional unit of all 32 teams."
This is probably true. The author of the article should try it some time. "Objectively," per Merriam-Webster, involves "evaluation with a basis in observable facts rather than feelings or opinions." He then proceeds to just rattle off a bunch of rank lists without actually providing any criteria for how the lists were composed. To be clear–this is an author writing to the standard of "trust me bro" and vibes, and it says a lot about the state of ESPN and sports journalism in general.
Because a detailed ***** ysis of everything wrong with the article would take framing and ***** ysis that exceeds what the low quality of its argumentation deserves, I am simply going to focus on three Bears-centric rankings that make me wonder whether or not the author was even bothering.
ESPN ranks Chicago's running back room as 24th in the NFL. In 2025, Chicago had the 4th-best rushing attack in the league by EPA/run, and it was one of only ten teams in the league that had positive value in EPA per run. Not only was Chicago third in total rushing yards, it was one of only three teams in the league with two running backs (Swift and Monangai) with at least 25 attempts in the top twenty in terms of success rate and EPA per rush. Those two were 12th and 21st in terms of yards per carry in terms for backs with at least 50 rush attempts, and 3rd and 19th in terms of total EPA.
Either would be the basis of a rushing attack above 24th in the league, and Chicago has both of them. By any objective standard, Chicago has a 1-2 punch at running back that is near the top of the league. If the concern is that Chicago's third running back is going to bring down the rest of the group, we would need to believe that 23 teams in the NFL have third-string running backs sufficient to make up the difference over this pairing.

#author

HGTV stars Tarek El Moussa and his wife, Heather El Moussa, have relisted their Newport Beach, CA, property on the rental market—this time trimming back their asking price by $7,500.
Tarek, 45, and Heather, 38, purchased the coastal dwelling back in August 2020 for $3.1 million, according to records, and quickly set about renovating the property in order to turn it into their dream beach escape, they previously revealed to Realtor.com®.
However, after upgrading to a new $5.2 million home in the same beachfront neighborhood, the duo decided to try and use their former home as a source of rental income, initially listing the dwelling for rent in August 2025 with an asking price of $25,000 a month.
Remarkably, in December of that same year, they then increased the asking price, raising it to $30,000 a month, before the property was taken off the market. Now, it has returned, with a significantly reduced ask of $22,500 a month, records show.
The move comes just a few weeks after another of Tarek and Heather's homes in Newport Beach was targeted in a robbery, which took place while they were away on vacation—however, the rental is not thought to have been the home that was broken into.

#rental #asking

Eagle Capital Management, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, Eagle Capital Management discussed how enthusiasm around AI capital spending has driven strong S&P 500 earnings growth while also increasing risks from elevated valuations, concentrated demand, and aggressive investment ******* umptions. Eagle remains a strong believer in AI but prefers constructing a portfolio that can perform across multiple outcomes rather than relying on one forecast. The firm believes current earnings can overstate underlying economics because semiconductor equipment is depreciated over several years, while free cash flow growth remains much weaker. It also expects competition and additional capacity across AI labs, hyperscalers, and semiconductors to eventually create winners and losers. These dynamics are encouraging Eagle to recycle capital toward attractive opportunities outside the most crowded AI trades while maintaining selective exposure to high quality beneficiaries. The portfolio trades at a 20% market discount with faster expected EPS growth. Please review the Strategy's top five holdings for key selections.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Eagle Capital Management highlighted ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML). ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) provides lithography solutions for the development, production, marketing, sales, upgrading, and servicing of advanced semiconductor equipment systems. On August 18, 2026, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) closed at $1,802.98 per share. One-month return of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) was 0.06% and its shares gained 140.56% over the past 52 weeks. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has a market capitalization of $682.12 billion.
Eagle Capital Management stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Half of our capital here is invested in TSMC and ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), two of the most dominant businesses in the semiconductor supply chain. The other half is invested across the three major hyperscalers. We ascribe a portion of the value of each of these three companies to their cloud business and the balance to the remainder of the company; i.e., 60% of the value of Amazon is from AWS and 40% is from retail.
TSMC and ASML are two of the best businesses in the semiconductor industry. ASML has a monopoly in extreme ultraviolet lithography ("EUV"), which is required for leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing. Both companies are well positioned over the next 5-10 years to participate in the sector's secular growth while maintaining their competitive positions. That said, they will face pressures when the next downturn comes.

#holding #capital #Growth

Eagle Capital Management, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, Eagle Capital Management discussed how enthusiasm around AI capital spending has driven strong S&P 500 earnings growth while also increasing risks from elevated valuations, concentrated demand, and aggressive investment **** umptions. Eagle remains a strong believer in AI but prefers constructing a portfolio that can perform across multiple outcomes rather than relying on one forecast. The firm believes current earnings can overstate underlying economics because semiconductor equipment is depreciated over several years, while free cash flow growth remains much weaker. It also expects competition and additional capacity across AI labs, hyperscalers, and semiconductors to eventually create winners and losers. These dynamics are encouraging Eagle to recycle capital toward attractive opportunities outside the most crowded AI trades while maintaining selective exposure to high quality beneficiaries. The portfolio trades at a 20% market discount with faster expected EPS growth. Please review the Strategy's top five holdings for key selections.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Eagle Capital Management highlighted ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML). ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) provides lithography solutions for the development, production, marketing, sales, upgrading, and servicing of advanced semiconductor equipment systems. On August 18, 2026, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) closed at $1,802.98 per share. One-month return of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) was 0.06% and its shares gained 140.56% over the past 52 weeks. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has a market capitalization of $682.12 billion.
Eagle Capital Management stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Half of our capital here is invested in TSMC and ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), two of the most dominant businesses in the semiconductor supply chain. The other half is invested across the three major hyperscalers. We ascribe a portion of the value of each of these three companies to their cloud business and the balance to the remainder of the company; i.e., 60% of the value of Amazon is from AWS and 40% is from retail.
TSMC and ASML are two of the best businesses in the semiconductor industry. ASML has a monopoly in extreme ultraviolet lithography ("EUV"), which is required for leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing. Both companies are well positioned over the next 5-10 years to participate in the sector's secular growth while maintaining their competitive positions. That said, they will face pressures when the next downturn comes.

#asml #NASDAQ #management #letter

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received a major vote of confidence from Rothschild Redburn today, with the firm upgrading the stock from Neutral to "Buy" and raising its price target to $400 from $260. The upgrade rests on two major catalysts for Apple: its entry into premium foldables and a strategic reset to the Apple Intelligence platform.
Apple's bull case lies within its tight integration of premium hardware, proprietary silicon, and its rapidly expanding services layer. For the near future, **** yst James Cordwell anticipates iPhone sales to grow at a 12% five-year annual compound rate, roughly 3-14% above consensus expectations between fiscal 2026 and 2030.
This anticipated increase is backed by Apple's potential entry into the premium foldables market, particularly with the launch of iPhone Ultra. Not only will Apple gain a new product category with the launch, but will also be able to lift its average selling prices for the broader iPhone lineup.
This thesis is backed by numbers. The **** yst firm noted how Apple already boasts a base of 2.55 billion devices, supported by a degree of customer retention only few competitors can rival.
The second part of Apple's bull thesis, according to the firm, is its Services business. The firm believes that it is the most valuable part of Apple's franchise, growing at roughly three times the rate of Products. The business generates gross margins of roughly 75%, more than double of that earned on Product sales.

#firm #product #entry

Following the Washington-led removal of Venezuela's previous president, Nicolás Maduro, from office on 3 January this year, U.S. firms are pushing hard to keep increasing oil production from the hydrocarbons giant, in line with President Donald Trump's grand plans for the country within his new world order. The foundation for such output increases is extremely solid, as Venezuela still holds the world's largest proven crude reserves -- roughly 303 billion barrels, or about 17% of the global total. Most of this is extra-heavy crude oil from the Orinoco Belt that requires more technical expertise to handle than lighter grades but is cheaper to lift and often more profitable to process, with the challenge lying in transporting, upgrading, and refining it, not extracting it. Moreover, of its 14 supergiant oil fields, 11 retain more than half of their original reserves. Once up and running to something approaching full capacity, the country is to play a key role in the 'Americas' geographical sphere -- one of three such regions, as delineated recently in the U.S.'s '2025 National Security Strategy' -- so where are we now in this development arc following comments in the past week or so from U.S. oil and gas giant, Chevron?
According to chief financial officer Eimear Bonner, during a recent earnings call, the U.S. supermajor has increased its oil production in Venezuela from 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 250,000 bpd over the past few years. And, based solely on its three current joint ventures in the country, output has risen over just the past six months by 12% year on year to 280,000 bpd. This followed the mid-April announcement of an **** et-swap agreement with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), under which Chevron received an additional 13.21% interest in the Petroindependencia joint venture, increasing its total stake to 49%. The U.S. firm's other two joint ventures include Petropiar (in which a Chevron subsidiary holds a 30% interest and has the rights to develop the adjacent Ayacucho 8 area in the Orinoco Oil Belt), and Petroindependiente (in which it has a 25.2% non-operated interest in the west of the country). Looking ahead, Bonner added that Chevron expects its production across Venezuela to rise by 50% between now and the end of 2028, which would bring the total up to 420,000 bpd. Across the country as a whole, July saw average crude oil production by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and its foreign partners increase by 20,000 bpd to 1.21 million bpd, according to Ministry of Hydrocarbons data. Nearly all of this is now exported, compared to an average of 847,000 bpd in 2025. That said, back in the early 2000s, Venezuela's crude production was running at over 3 million barrels per day.

#crude #past #joint

On August 7, Hawaiian Electric (NYSE:HE) reported second-quarter net income of $123.2 million, or $0.71 per share, numbers that look strong at first glance. Much of that gain traces back to a non-cash Maui wildfire settlement adjustment, not the underlying business, and core net income actually dropped once it's stripped out. The quarter tells the story of a utility making real regulatory progress on wildfire recovery and grid investment while its day-to-day operating costs keep climbing.
Hawaiian Electric has cleared several regulatory hurdles this year. In June, the Public Utilities Commission approved recovery of roughly $350 million in Wildfire Mitigation Plan spending, and the company now plans to finance that spending through securitization under Act 258 rather than the more limited Exceptional Project Recovery Mechanism, a move it says lowers the cost to customers.
The commission also accepted the company's rate rebasing methodology in June, and Hawaiian Electric resubmitted its request last month seeking a total base rate increase of $170 million phased in over two years, with $125 million taking effect in 2027 if the commission issues an interim decision by December 18. On the generation side, the company submitted a request for proposals on July 17 ahead of the August 7 issuance date, seeking nearly 1,650 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy, one of the largest competitive procurements in state history. Credit agencies have taken notice, with S&P upgrading Hawaiian Electric one notch in July, following Moody's upgrade in April.
The cost side of the ledger tells a rougher story. Core net income and earnings per share fell to $22.5 million and $0.13 in the quarter, down from $35.4 million and $0.20 a year earlier, and utility core net income slipped to $32.6 million from $42.5 million. Higher interest expense from last September's high-yield debt issuance is part of the drag, along with increased spending on vegetation management, generation overhauls, and inspection and maintenance. The company also lost a deferral it used last year for roughly $28 million in wildfire-related expenses, including insurance premiums, and it is now absorbing storm response costs from the severe flooding that hit Hawaii in February and March.
Management expects to hit the maximum penalty under its Fuel Cost Risk Sharing Mechanism this year and to book a loss under its performance incentive mechanisms. Regulators are also pushing back in places. On August 5, the commission told Hawaiian Electric it needs to demonstrate a clear need before it can proceed with a proposed request for up to 500 megawatts of additional firm generation capacity on Oahu.

#million #wildfire #august #core

The Cincinnati Bengals have spent the bulk of the offseason upgrading toward the idea of getting back into the playoffs and contending.
But other accolades come with such a push, including major award chances for the likes of Joe Burrow.
That's a topic that made the rounds recently at ESPN, with Mina Kimes and Ben Solak attempting to predict next year's award winners and providing some pretty interesting thoughts on Burrow in the process.
Bengals fans will find themselves nodding along with the commentary, especially when Solak noted that the MVP award is all about narratives and Kimes highlighted some positives for the Bengals.
"My feeling about Burrow was this—one, he's never won it," Kimes said. "…I just feel that, everything is in place. There's no contract drama with the wide receivers."

#award #solak #espn #spent

How promising is the Arizona Cardinals' future? According to ESPN's future power rankings, it isn't very promising.
Looking ahead to the 2027-2029 seasons and grading teams by their situations at quarterback, the rest of the roster, their front office and their coaching staff, the Cardinals come in dead last at No. 32.
Their quarterback situation is their lowest percentage at 63, which falls into the very bad range. All other categories range from 70.75 to 72.75, barely average.
Yes, the Cardinals have some young offensive talent in running back Jeremiyah Love, tight end Trey McBride and receivers Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. However, the QB situation dampens that excitement. Their fortunes improve significantly if they land a top rookie quarterback in 2027 or if Carson Beck proves to be a franchise guy.
Defensively, Walter Nolen and Will Johnson are the only young guys to build with. Josh Sweat and Budda Baker are aging.

#quarterback #future #according

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (TSXV:LVG) (OTCQB:LVGLF) (FSE:E1K) has released the maiden National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) Mineral Resource Estimate for its wholly owned Tembo Gold Project in northwestern Tanzania, outlining an initial resource of nearly 580,000 ounces of gold across three deposits.Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. has outlined its first NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource at the Tembo Gold Project in Tanzania, establishing nearly 580,000 ounces of contained gold and giving the company a second defined development **** et alongside its fully permitted Imwelo project.The resource is centered on the Ngula 1, Nyakagwe Village, and Nyakagwe East deposits, all located on four granted mining licences covering approximately 34 square kilometers within the Lake Victoria Goldfield. The project borders Barrick Gold's Bulyanhulu Mine, one of Tanzania's largest underground gold operations, although mineralization on adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization at Tembo.
Gold bars. Photo by Zlaťáky.cz on PexelsAmong the three deposits, Ngula 1 represents the most advanced target, accounting for approximately 331,000 ounces, or roughly 57% of the project's total resource and nearly two-thirds of the Indicated ounces. According to the company, the deposit extends for approximately 600 metres along strike, remains open at depth and along strike, and will serve as the focus of a planned 5,000-metre infill drilling program designed to improve geological confidence and support future mine planning.Beyond the headline resource estimate, the company highlighted the presence of a higher-grade component within the deposit. Using progressively higher cut-off grades, the resource estimate outlines 400,400 ounces grading 2.13 grams per tonne at a 1.0 g/t cut-off and 280,500 ounces grading 3.08 g/t at a 1.5 g/t cut-off. These figures are reported as grade-tonnage sensitivities within the same conceptual open-pit shells as the mineral resource estimate and do not represent separate mineral resources or mineral reserves.Lake Victoria Gold said much of the current resource remains classified as Inferred because of drill **** ing, particularly at the Nyakagwe Village and Nyakagwe East deposits. Planned infill drilling is intended to improve confidence in the geological model and support future resource conversion, although there is no **** urance that additional drilling will upgrade existing resources.The company also continues to advance a previously announced toll-milling initiative with Nyati Resources (T) Limited involving a proposed 500-tonne-per-day processing plant located on a Tembo mining licence. The proposed arrangement is intended to provide a processing option for potential near-surface material from Ngula 1, subject to additional drilling, permitting, financing, and the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements.Tembo represents Lake Victoria Gold's second principal development **** et alongside its fully permitted Imwelo G

TimesofIndia.com in Colombo: Big strides, ****** ured footwork, smart use of the crease, fluent shots and solid defence. These were the highlights of Devdutt Padikkal's unbeaten 142 off 164 ****** at the Nondescript Cricket Club in Colombo on Saturday. The classy left-hander was not a starter when the squad was picked for the series. Still, the moment team management received the update on Sai Sudharsan's niggle, all efforts focused on keeping Padikkal ready for the opportunity. When the chance came, he delivered. And how.

It wasn't a raging turner, nor were the opposition spinners posing tough questions, but runs always do the confidence a world of good, especially when they coincide with the update on Sudharsan. Since coming into bat in the first over of the second day's play, Padikkal exuded confidence and scored his runs at a brisk pace even when KL Rahul was happy to buy time at the other end.

He controlled the ball and showed equal confidence against both spin and pace, remaining unfazed by the off-spin challenge when Ramesh Mendis and Keshara Nuwantha bowled in tandem. He met most ****** under his eyes, and the side-on view of his big strides and the balance with which he operated made it a treat. The 26-year-old hasn't featured in a multi-day fixture for India since November 2024 but has been making the right noise with the India A side and Karnataka in the domestic circuit.

Keeping the calendar in mind, he specifically worked on his game against spin and spent a lot of time perfecting the craft. Even when the management persisted with Sudharsan as the No.3 bat, Padikkal was busy upgrading. When he played the two multi-day fixtures at Galle last month, the left-hander hit two half-centuries and served another reminder of his readiness.

It was more of the same at the NCC; in front of a handful of spectators, the timing was ideal. Before the fixture got underway, there was optimism around Sudharsan joining the camp, if not in Colombo, then in Galle. Little did Padikkal know that as he closed in on a brilliant century, Sudharsan's hopes of boarding the flight evaporated.

Come August 15, India won't need to sweat much over the No. 3 position with Padikkal ready and raring to go. A lot of hard work went on behind the scenes, which was reflected in the ease with which he operated.

Back in 2024, chief selector Ajit Agarkar's addition of Padikkal to India's Test squad for the home series against England was a surprise pick. The Indian camp was hit by injury concerns, and KL Rahul's unavailability opened the door for Padikkal, who then made his debut in Dharamsala. One knock in the Ranji Trophy was all it took for the chairman to fast-track the left-hander into the set-up. Padikkal would have certainly thanked his stars that Agarkar's rare appearance for domestic games included the Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka game in Chennai.

The left-hander, at No.3, hit a 218-ball 151 which included 12 boundaries and six sixes. The oppos

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
The Cubs made three major acquisitions before Monday's MLB Trade Deadline: starting pitchers Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes, and reliever Ryan Zeferjahn. These moves appear to be very positive in an effort to help bolster the oft-injured Cubs pitching staff.
Earlier this week I asked you to give a grade for Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer's moves.
And in general, you approve:
That's a huge vote of confidence in Hoyer, with 94 percent grading his moves at B or higher — and nearly a plurality with an "A" vote, very close to the number who chose "B".

#sign

Huddersfield Giants will play at Dewsbury Rams' Flair Stadium from next season.
The Giants made the announcement at half-time in their Super League fixture against Catalans Dragons at the Accu Stadium, which has been their home since 1994.
They let fans in for free to mark the occasion and hope the supporters will follow them the 10 miles to Dewsbury's 5,100-capacity stadium, despite the mixed reaction in the ground at the news.
Director Rebecca Jackson, who is the grand-daughter of owner Ken Davy, claimed the Giants will spend over £10m upgrading the Flair Stadium and said their ultimate aim is to return to a new home in Huddersfield.
Jackson told Sky Sports: "The Huddersfield Giants will be moving to the Dewsbury Flair Stadium for the medium term.

#flair #home