The Golden State Valkyries responded to back-to-back losses with consecutive wins, their latest coming Wednesday night against the Connecticut Sun, 89-64.
The Valkyries' losses to the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx really tested the team – one a loss to a marquee team in Minnesota, which boasts the best-record in the league, then losing on a game-winning, step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer to the Sky.
Golden State responded to those tough losses with some get back against the Lynx, returning the "L" back to them and getting its first win against Minnesota in the franchise's short, two-year history.
The Valkyries capitalized on that momentum with Wednesday night's rout against the Sun, with the Valkyries (27-11) scoring a franchise-record 54 bench points.
"We have had some slow starts in the past few games, and given the team energy, so we wanted to make sure that we punch first today, and then continue punching all four quarters, so that was an emphasis, to really set the tone and dictate and not react," Kaila Charles told reporters after the game.

#valkyries #losses #responded

UNCASVILLE - Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane didn't hold back.
"I appreciated a lot of things last night. Tonight, I will say that I hated a lot of things: how we started the game without good energy, and we didn't respect ourselves," Meziane said. "I want to say skills, but we don't respect ourselves. So yeah, for me, the game was over at halftime."
Just 24 hours after the Sun played one of its better games of the season and defeated the Chicago Sky, it suffered one of its worst losses in terms of effort, falling 89-64 to Golden State at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Sure, the blowout was the second game of a back-to-back for Connecticut, yet the Sun's shortcomings went beyond exhaustion.
On Wednesday, the loudest cheers inside Mohegan Sun Arena were for the opposing team's former UConn women's basketball players. The next loudest roars came as a collective groan when a Sun player missed a pair of free throws.

#game #meziane #didn 't #Respect

Shares of Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) fell 1.3% on August 18 as Klarna plunged more than 22% after reducing its 2026 volume and revenue forecasts. Klarna now expects full-year gross merchandise volume of $149 billion-$151 billion, down from more than $155 billion, and revenue of $4.08 billion-$4.16 billion, down from $4.34 billion. Yet the warning was not cleanly industrywide. Klarna's second-quarter revenue increased 27%, overall volume rose 18%, and U.S. volume grew 27%. Management tied the weaker outlook primarily to soft German retail conditions, while currency translation reduced projected volume by approximately $600 million. Affirm shares rebounded 5.1% the next session. For Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM), the August 27 earnings report must show whether the initial decline reflected a broader consumer-credit warning or an opportunity to capture share from a slowing competitor.
Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) enters the report with stronger momentum than Klarna's guidance might suggest. Fiscal third-quarter gross merchandise volume increased 35% to $11.6 billion, while revenue rose 33% to $1.04 billion. Active consumers grew 22% to 26.8 million, and active merchants increased 44% to 515,000.
The strongest argument for Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) is that its growth is spreading beyond the online checkout ****** on. Affirm Card volume jumped 146% to $2.1 billion, while active cardholders more than doubled to 4.4 million. Direct-to-consumer volume increased 48%, and wallet and software partnerships helped expand the merchant network.
Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) also has substantial funding capacity to support further share gains. Capacity reached $28.2 billion in March, up from $23.3 billion a year earlier, while the average annualized cost of funds declined 126 basis points to 5.8%. The company estimated that its funding arrangements could support more than $65 billion of annual volume. If Klarna prioritizes profitability over aggressive near-term growth, as some ****** ysts inferred, the slower volume outlook could create room for Affirm without requiring the company to strain its balance sheet.
Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) remains exposed to the same consumer and financing pressures affecting the broader BNPL category. The 30-plus-day delinquency rate on monthly installment loans, excluding Peloton and Pay in X, increased 29 basis points year over year to 2.8%. The allowance for credit losses rose to 6.0% of loans held for investment from 5.7% a year earlier.

#NASDAQ #year #increased #klarna

The Oklahoma Sooners are a popular pick to make the College Football Playoff. One of the more popular college football ***** ysts, Josh Pate, is continuing the trend, listing the Sooners as the 11-seed in his college football playoff predictions for the 2026 season.
Josh Pate, of the Josh Pate College Football Show, has Oklahoma heading to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks. Pate has the Ducks beating Oklahoma, then going on to beat Georgia, and then Texas in the semifinals before falling to Miami in the national championship game.
To make the playoff, Oklahoma would likely have to go 10-2. But Pate has the Sooners in the field as a 9-3 team, which would be a first for the 12-team era.
That means the Sooners probably lose to both Georgia and Texas and maybe drop either the Ole Miss or Texas A&M game later in the season. All three of those losses would likely be to top 15 teams, certainly giving the Sooners a case for making the playoff as a 9-3 team.
"Oklahoma is the only three-loss team that I have in the playoff," Pate said. "That means your Ole Misses, your A&M's, your LSU's, they're on the outside looking in."

#playoff #college #texas #team

Good morning. Stocks began trading on a more upbeat note on Tuesday as falling oil prices and Treasury yields lifted sentiment, helping markets shake off concerns about US tensions with Iran and Canada.
Here's a check of the markets in the first few minutes of trading, based on a heat map powered by Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace data.
Tech (XLK) stocks bounced back after posting losses on Monday, showing broad strength across semiconductor, software, and hardware stocks. Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose by about 2%, putting shares on track to end a seven-day losing streak if today's gains hold.
Investors fled Consumer Staples (XLP) names, reversing Monday's trading pattern. As Treasury yields and oil prices pull back and inflation jitters subside for now, it's creating a rotation into growth and technology plays.
Here are some notable stocks that Yahoo Finance readers are viewing this morning: Sandisk (SNDK), Marvell (MRVL), Intel (INTC), SK Hynix (SKHY), AMD (AMD), Bloom Energy (BE), and Lam Research (LRCX).

#finance

Soybeans are trading with 3 to 7 cent losses on Tuesday morning Futures were under pressure from bean oil on Monday, with contracts down 4 to 15 ½ cents across most months, led by the nearbys. Open interest was down 17,019 contracts, suggesting some modest long liquidation. The cmdtyView national average Cash Bean price was down 13 1/2 cents at $11.88 1/2. Soymeal futures were up $2.60 to $6.20 on the day, with Soy Oil falling back 189 to 227 points.
Weekly Crop Progress data from NASS showed 91% of the US soybean crop setting pods by 8/23, with 6% dropping leaves. Condition ratings were down 1% at 60% gd/ex, with the Brugler500 index falling 4 points to 357.
Coffee Prices Soar as Supplies Tighten
Corn, Soybean Traders Get Price-Bullish Pro Farmer Crop Tour
Why This Week Looks to Be Fun

#points

In what might be the last publication of a revealing look at the credit conditions in the trucking industry, the quarterly earnings of bank BMO released Tuesday showed the stronger freight market impacting its numbers.
BMO, the former Bank of Montreal and one of the largest lenders to the trucking industry, has announced its plans to sell its transportation unit to private equity firm Stonepeak in May. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year; the next earnings release for BMO is scheduled for December 2.
While net writeoffs in the third quarter ended July 31 were barely changed from the prior quarter, declining to Ca $24 million (US $17.32 million) from $25 million, that number is more of a backward-looking figure.
Provisions and allowances, as well as the size of the company's gross loans considered impaired, which are a bank's expectations of future troubled loans and estimates of the size of its issued credit that is under pressure, showed significant declines in the third quarter.
Provisions for credit losses fell to $15 million from $41 million in the second quarter. A year ago that figure was $50 million. The $15 million figure is the lowest since the first quarter of 2023.

#trucking #earnings

By Georgina McCartney
HOUSTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday, as investors monitored talks between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz and a smaller-than-expected rise ‌in U.S. crude stocks curbed losses.
Brent crude futures were down 71 cents, or 0.8%, ‌to $87.87 a barrel at 10:48 a.m. EDT (1450 GMT). West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 48 cents, or 0.58%, at $81.88.
Both benchmarks fell to their lowest levels since August 10 earlier in the session on hopes of an increase in traffic through the strategic strait. They pared some losses after official oil stock data showed U.S. crude inventories rose by less than expected last week. [EIA/S]
Crude inventories increased by 95,000 barrels to 428.9 million ‌barrels in the week ended August ⁠21, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with **** ysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 597,000-barrel rise.

#reuters

Volkswagen's (VW) chief executive Oliver Blume has told employees that around half of any further job reductions at the carmaker will need to fall on Germany.
According to a Bloomberg report, addressing thousands of staff at the Wolfsburg site on Tuesday (25 August), Blume said the reductions were unavoidable given that the company's fixed costs run 30% above those of rival manufacturers.
He clarified that the frequently mentioned figure of 50,000 further job losses worldwide is a theoretical estimate rather than an agreed goal.
The company is currently developing measures to reduce annual European production capacity by 500,000 vehicles, streamline management structures, and trim its range of models and equipment options.
Employee representatives have cautioned that up to 140,000 roles could ultimately be affected.

#wolfsburg

When you first start investing, getting your brokerage account balance to even $1,000 can seem like a real accomplishment. Getting it to $100,000 can seem almost impossible.
But you don't necessarily need a huge salary, flawless stock-picking skills, or perfect market timing. In reality, you just need discipline, a consistent pattern of investing, and a diversified portfolio of high quality stocks. Give it enough time and you can let the long-term power of compounding do a lot of the work for you.
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 »
But the best path to success involves knowing exactly what it takes to get to where you want to be. Saying you want your portfolio to get to $100,000 is all well and good. But understanding exactly how much you need to be putting aside every month and making it happen is the key.
During the past century, the S&P 500 has produced an average annual return of roughly 10%. Some years have generated much higher returns. Some have delivered steep losses. Those who have ridden out that volatility and maintained their long-term focus, however, have been rewarded.

#NVIDIA #signal #need #Portfolio

By Sinéad Carew and Iain Withers
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - MSCI's global equities gauge lost ground on Monday as weakness in technology stocks offset support from a dip in U.S. Treasury yields and falling oil prices.
Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel as traders shrugged off U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's announcement of ‌an expansion of secondary sanctions that Washington can impose on entities and countries that maintain business ties with Iran as the U.S. significantly ratchets up economic pressure on ‌Tehran, nearly six months into their war.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields fell following a report that the Treasury Department may tap its cash account to finance increased debt buybacks. In currencies, the Canadian dollar dipped due to a looming U.S. trade war.
While most of the S&P 500's industry sectors finished Monday's session with gains, heavyweight technology led losses among the benchmark's three declining sectors, with a 1.6% drop.

#treasury #prices #sectors

ONTARIO — Ontario girls soccer coach Larry Atkinson is as old school as it gets.
At the end of each season, he breaks out his pen and notebook paper that has every single one of his 20 completed seasons and the overall records of those seasons with the championships won written in them and adds that year's numbers.
His son and ***** istant coach, Greg Atkinson, on the other hand has a sophisticated Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that he updates on a game-by-game basis with goals scored, ***** ists, saves and wins and losses. So, when it came down to the debate on what his father's career coaching record was heading into the Warriors' nonconference Richland County rivalry game against Madison on Tuesday, Aug. 25, it was Greg's numbers that were legit. If it were up to Larry, a milestone victory would have come one too soon.
BOYS SOCCER SCORES: 2026 Richland County Boys Soccer Scoreboard: Lexington earns program's 500th victory
GIRLS SOCCER SCORES: 2026 Richland County Girls Soccer Scoreboard: Rider earns 100th career victory

#Soccer #larry

Bella Mir's upset loss sent shockwaves through the MMA world.
On Tuesday night, Mir ended up on the wrong end of one of the biggest upset losses in MMA history, dropping a unanimous decision to Alex Apodaca in the main event of Week 3 of Contender Series.
Daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and an NCAA national champion in wrestling, Bella Mir was the biggest betting favorite in Contender Series history, coming in at -6000 in some places, but was unable to have much success with her wrestling and grappling and was outworked over 15 minutes by Apodaca.
At just 23 years old, this is likely only a setback for Mir, but given her outspoken stance before the fight, where Mir declared her intention to become "the best athlete of all time," Mir already had some detractors in the MMA community, who were quick to jump on the upset loss.
Check out MMA fighters' reactions to the shocking upset below.

#apodaca #series

SMCI sank 7% after Taiwan indicted nine people, including two local unit employees, for illegally routing 74 AI servers to China via falsified documents.
DELL slipped 2% while NVDA and HPE held steady, as markets read the case as employee-level misconduct rather than a corporate export-control failure.
SMCI already faces a separate independent board review of export-control transactions, creating two overlapping compliance risks that keep the stock difficult to price.
Act now: the ***** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Dell Technologies didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Shares of Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) stock are down 7% to $34.53 Monday morning after Taiwanese prosecutors indicted employees of its local unit over an alleged scheme to route AI servers into China. That decline stands apart from broader tech, where losses are limited.

#dell #indicted

There isn't an obvious candidate on this Washington team to be a super star national level type of player. But, every college football season a handful of under-the-radar players end up atop the national leaderboards. Washington enters Jedd Fisch's third season in Seattle with a roster that's deeper and more experienced than either of his first two, and among that depth are a handful of players with a shot at topping an FBS statistical leaderboard by December. Here are five Huskies worth watching.
Green might be the safest bet on this list. The graduate transfer punter comes to Montlake after ranking sixth nationally last season with a 47-yard average on 63 punts at San Diego State, including 22 kicks of 50-plus yards. Before that stop, he averaged better than 45 yards a punt across two seasons at Northern Colorado and earned first-team All-Big Sky honors as a true freshman. He's already on the Ray Guy Award preseason watch list. He's 6-foot-4 and 230-pounds with a big leg and if his career averages continue into Big Ten play, he should be in national leader contention.
Roebuck was a true freshman revelation in 2025, finishing second on the team with 42 catches, 554-plus yards and seven touchdowns. He's the one healthy and proven returners among the pass catchers and will be relied upon quite a lot. Roebuck has since moved to a new number and a full-time slot role, the exact alignment most likely to rack up "easy" catches in Fische's scheme. His offenses historically favor the top two receivers with the vast majority of targets, so there should be plenty of chances for Roebuck, who gets open easily anyway. After 42 receptions last season, a leap into the 80-90 catch range isn't far-fetched if he's the number one or two guy from the start.
Williams is possibly the biggest reach on this list. He posted a 161.0 NCAA passer rating in 2025 — 10th nationally — while throwing for just over 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns and adding 611 rushing yards and six more scores on the ground. Those are obviously very good numbers, but a good chunk of it came in games against the softer part of Washington's schedule. In Washington's four losses last season (Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Oregon), his passer rating dropped all the way to 107.8, and he simply hasn't risen to the occasion against that caliber of opponent yet. If Williams can close that gap in 2026 and prove he's just as efficient against Ohio State- and Oregon-caliber defenses as he is against the bottom half of the conference, his baseline efficiency is good enough that a national passing **** le becomes realistic. He's a preseason Davey O'Brien and Maxwell Award watch-list pick and clearly has the ceiling. The question is whether he takes that step against the teams that have given him trouble.
Manu isn't a name without a track record as he's already done this. In 2023 at Arizona, under Jedd Fisch, Manu led the Pac-12 in tackles with 116 to go with 9.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and an intercep

U.S. stock futures pointed to a broadly flat start on Monday, suggesting Wall Street could struggle for direction as investors look ahead to Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) quarterly results and the Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week.
The muted outlook follows Friday's rebound, when the major indices recovered some ground after Thursday's sharp sell-off. Despite those gains, all three benchmarks still recorded sizeable losses for the week.
Futures had initially indicated a weaker open before recovering following a CNBC report about the Treasury Department's recently announced plans to increase buybacks of longer-dated government debt.
Citing two senior Treasury officials, CNBC reported that the department could draw on its nearly $1 trillion General Account to help finance plans to double the scale of its debt repurchases.
Treasury yields moved lower following the report, with the 10-year yield retreating after climbing substantially during the previous two sessions amid renewed concerns over U.S. government debt.

#cnbc #week #plans #government

October live cattle (LEV26) futures on Friday fell $0.075 to $217.925 and hit an eight-month low. For the week, October cattle were down 95 cents. Meantime, September feeder cattle (GFU26) rose $0.10 to $329.025 and hit an eight-month low early on. On the week, September feeders were down $5.475.
Cattle futures traders were blindsided and spooked by Friday's news that President Donald Trump said he would allow up to 300,000 MT of ground beef to be imported into the U.S. without impacting tariff quotas as part of a 90-day deal to aid a struggling economy. However, the psychological shock of the matter had worn off by the close on Friday, and sharp early losses were erased.
Why This Week Looks to Be Fun
Slow Pace of Brazil Harvest and Tight Inventories Boost Coffee Prices
Corn, Soybean Traders Get Price-Bullish Pro Farmer Crop Tour

#october #eight #down

Wheat is back to stronger trade on Monday morning, with contracts 7 to 13 cents higher. The wheat complex is in the red across the three exchanges on Friday. Chicago SRW contracts were fractionally to 1 ¼ cents lower on Friday, with September up 6 ¾ cents on the week. KC HRW futures posted losses of 1 ¾ to 6 cents on the session, with September holding onto a 2 cent gain for the week. MPLS spring wheat was down 2 ½ to 4 cents lower at the close, with September rallying 20 cents on the week.
CFTC's weekly Commitment of Traders report showed managed money cutting back 4,916 contracts from their CBT wheat net short position in the week of 8/18 to a net short of 26,485 contracts. In KC wheat, they added back 7,173 contracts to their net long to 34,835 contracts.
Why This Week Looks to Be Fun
Slow Pace of Brazil Harvest and Tight Inventories Boost Coffee Prices
Cattle Prices Struggle but Get Some Bullish USDA Data; Lean Hog Prices Mired at 12-Month Low

#september #back

Soybeans are fading lower so far on Monday morning, contracts down 4 to 6 ½ cents. Futures pushed higher late on Friday, with contracts up 1 to 4 ¼ cents at the close. September was up 47 ¼ cents on the week, with November 47 cents higher. The cmdtyView national average Cash Bean price was up 3 1/4 cent at $12.02. Soymeal futures posted gains of $2 to $3.60 on the day, with September up $7.50 on the week. Soy Oil posted losses of 56 to 184 points, with September slipping 9 points since last Friday.
USDA reported a total of 712,000 MT of 2026/27 soybeans to China on Friday morning, with 720,000 MT sold to unknown destinations
Why This Week Looks to Be Fun
Slow Pace of Brazil Harvest and Tight Inventories Boost Coffee Prices
Cattle Prices Struggle but Get Some Bullish USDA Data; Lean Hog Prices Mired at 12-Month Low

#cents #prices #USDA #contracts

Timing is everything in the Coach of the Year Award and the betting market reflects that, but there are seismic shifts, and surprises, each season. The head coach tends to get credit for things that happen under his watch even if he had little to do with it — like Drake Maye's development under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel, making it possible that someone down the oddsboard takes it.
The Jaguars went from four wins to four losses, but that wasn't quite as impressive as the Patriots going from 4-13 to 14-3.
Most seasons, Dave Canales taking the Panthers to a NFC South ***** le would have been enough to get him this personal consolation prize.
Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2026 NFL season
If the vote happens after the Super Bowl, Mike Macdonald definitely takes it, winning the championship with a team predicted to finish last in the NFC West.

#coach #season #takes #timing

Late last month, Tilray Brands (NASDAQ: TLRY) released its latest fiscal results and guidance updates. The market reacted positively to both, resulting in a modest post-earnings rally.
Since then, however, the bull run for one of the most-followed marijuana stocks has run its course. This is especially interesting, given that the U.S. legalization catalyst seems to be strengthening at the same time. Still, considering several factors, it is not surprising that investors appear hesitant to bid up Tilray shares.
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 »
Take a look at Tilray's latest quarterly financials, released on July 28, and you'd think that the Canada-based cannabis company had turned a corner. In the earnings release, management touted the company's "record revenue and adjusted EBITDA" and provided promising guidance for the coming fiscal year.
Yes, last fiscal year, revenue increased by 11%, to around $915 million, signaling that Tilray's getting close to hitting its $1 billion annual revenue target. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased 11%, to $61.1 million. Adjusted net income, rising from $6.5 million to $12.2 million, nearly doubled as well. Even so, adjusted earnings fell short of sell-side forecasts. Worse yet, on a GAAP basis, Tilray once again reported heavy losses, with net losses attributable to Tilray shareholders totaling $49.6 million, or negative 43 cents per share.

#NVIDIA #signal

Healthcare investors looking for long-term growth don't always have to choose between fast-growing companies and defensive businesses. Sometimes the more interesting decision is between two high-quality companies that are growing for entirely different reasons. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) continues to benefit from the breadth of its pharmaceutical and medical technology businesses, while Thermo Fisher's (NYSE:TMO) outlook increasingly depends on a recovery in life sciences spending after several difficult years.
Both companies reported encouraging results, but does steady diversification or an improving industry cycle offer the stronger long-term opportunity for investors? Let's take a look.
Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) pharmaceutical business was arguably the biggest contributor to its strong quarter, as it helped increase total sales, generating $16.38 billion in quarterly sales and exceeding **** ysts' estimate of $16.1 billion. The healthcare giant now expects its annual sales to be around $101.1 billion at the midpoint, compared with $100.8 billion ⁠previously. In another optimistic feat, it raised its adjusted earnings per share forecast to $11.68 at the midpoint, from a previous $11.55 per share.
The most impressive aspect for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), however, wasn't simply pharmaceutical growth but rather the company's ability to offset one of the largest patent cliffs in its portfolio, as it absorbed a significant patent-related decline in Stelara sales while still raising its full-year outlook. Revenue from Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) Stelara, which treats psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and other autoimmune conditions, dropped over 55% in the quarter to $740 million due to patent loss.
However, the company's cancer and newer immunology drugs can be seen countering this loss, as sales of Tremfya, its psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease drug, rose 72.5% to $2 billion, considerably exceeding the estimate of $1.74 billion. Strong performance from newer drugs such as Tremfya suggests the company's pipeline is successfully offsetting losses from older products.

#billion #tremfya

Alibaba (BABA) slashed buybacks 80% year over year while CapEx surged 75%, as CEO Eddie Wu declared AI the company's "most certain growth engine."
BABAF and BBAAY investors should track whether AI Labs losses, now RMB 14B, widen faster than cloud revenue growth can offset them, with cloud currently up 45%.
Act now: the ******* yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Alibaba didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) just made its capital allocation priorities unmistakable. In the June 2026 quarter, the company repurchased 13.4 million ordinary shares (approximately 1.7 million ADSs) for US$162 million. A year earlier, in the same fiscal quarter, it bought back 56 million ordinary shares (7 million ADSs) for US$815 million. That is roughly an 80% cut in ADS repurchases at a company that still had US$19.3 billion of authorization remaining as of June 30, 2025.
The cash was rerouted into silicon and concrete.

#year #june #Growth #company

With the Mariners showing no consistent signs in the second half that they'd put their first-half struggles behind them, many fans have put to bed their hopes for the playoffs, especially as the team entered into this particularly grueling stretch of a long road trip combined with playing three very tough NL teams: the Brewers, Cubs, and now the Phillies. Both the Brewers and Cubs series featured brutal, humiliating losses, the Brewers a historic 22-0 drubbing and the Cubs – despite a series win thanks to scraping out wins in the first two games – a game that saw multiple position players have to take the mound in a 19-2 loss. But just as the Mariners bounced back to ******* a game from the Brewers after making team history (derogatory), they again bounced back tonight to surprise the Phillies with a dominant 9-2 win that also made history (complimentary).
It certainly didn't look like things were going to go this way. The game got off to a rough start for Logan Gilbert, who walked Kyle Schwarber on five pitches to lead off the game. He struck out Trea Turner on a spicy 98 mph heater, but then surrendered back-to-back singles to Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez to load the bases with just one out. To Gilbert's credit, though, he didn't wilt under pressure, continuing to execute pitch after pitch. Alex Boehm hit into an RBI groundout on a slow roller that could have been an inning-ending double play, and then Gilbert bullied Bryson Stott on four pitches, striking him out on another spicy heater. In the end, the Phillies only got one run out of all that traffic, and the only real damage was done to Logan's pitch count, at 29.
But Zack Wheeler had his own struggles in the bottom of the first, and would finish the inning with a similarly inflated pitch count (33) but significantly more damage on the scoreboard thanks to two Mariners home runs. MULTI-run home runs, even, which is delightful. Randy Arozarena led off the game with a walk, followed by a sharply-hit single from Dominic Canzone (110 EV), and then Julio Rodríguez – who scuffled in the Cubs series, going 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts – tattooed a splitter that caught too much plate for a home run into the visitor's bullpen.
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And then, and this is the part you'll really like, the Mariners didn't stop there. So often we've seen this team score a few early and then take their foot off the gas. Instead, they kept the pressure on Wheeler in the first, with Josh Naylor singling into right field (but then getting thrown out and also bonked on the head trying to stretch it into a double, no Josh!), and then Taylor Ward refusing to chase off the plate for a walk to extend Wheeler's inning. That brought up Cal Raleigh, and Wheeler tried to dispense of him with a fastball up, a pitch Cal has been consistently missing this season. He did not miss this one:

#game #first #Phillies #back

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer in the second inning and the San Francisco Giants snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 on Monday night.
Jason Foley (1-1) worked 1 1/3 innings for the win after relieving lefty Carson Whisenhunt, who left in the third inning with pain in his pitching elbow. He was coming off an outing in which he surrendered a career-worst seven runs and nine hits over four innings of an 8-1 loss at Cleveland last Tuesday. He will have an MRI on Tuesday.
San Francisco leadoff hitter Drew Gilbert doubled in each of his first two at-bats on a cool night and well before the mist began hovering over the outfield in the middle innings.
The Giants began the game with four straight hits off right-hander Chase Burns (14-3), including Jung Hoo Lee's RBI single followed by a run-scoring double from Turner Hill in the first. Two of Burns' three losses this year have come in his last three outings.
There appeared to be no lingering ill will in the first meeting between the clubs since a three-game series at Cincinnati in mid-April that featured a benches-clearing brawl.

#cincinnati

It's no secret that the Rockies are struggling at home right now.
Not only has Colorado lost eight in a row at Coors Field, but the Rockies are 27-38 at home. That's more losses at home than every team except the A's, who are temporarily playing in West Sacramento as a rest stop between Oakland and Las Vegas.
While there needs to be significant improvement on the pitching side and on the hitting side for Colorado at 5,280 feet, having more Rockies fans engaged in the game also couldn't hurt.
There are the fountains that get fired up in center field on homers, which doesn't happen as much as it needs to, and there is the dark-into-flashing lights before the ninth inning, but it seems like there needs to be more.
This summer, MLB.com is running a 250 for 250 series. As MLB.com says, "As part of our celebration of America 250, MLB's content team has created 25 top 10 lists that capture the plays, people, rituals and moments that make baseball America's game."

#team #coors

Folks in the District of Columbia were not moved by the opportunity to see two of the National League's struggling teams on a Monday night, as the Colorado Rockies (50-80) and the Washington Nationals (61-71) kicked off their four-game series in front of a sparse crowd of 12,105. Those that did show up got to witness an offensive outburst for the hometown team.
The game started with a strong battle between starters Ryan Feltner and Cade Cavalli. Then — stop me if you've heard this before — one big inning brought the Rockies down. Colorado couldn't claw back into it after a fifth inning full of Nationals hits, Rockies errors, and an Ezequiel Tovar injury that erased their early lead.
The Rockies logged their 50th win back on August 16th. The 51st has proven to be elusive as Colorado's losing streak climbs to a season-high seven straight losses.
Cavalli had built a good bit of momentum through his last few starts. He carried that into the early part of today's game. After giving up a leadoff single to Jake McCarthy, Cavalli got the next three batters out with ***** in play.
The Nationals followed suit and stranded runners of their own in the first. Feltner walked his first batter faced in CJ Abrams, but came right back to strike out Abimelec Ortiz, getting him to chase a changeup outside. Abrams threatened by stealing second before Feltner walked Dylan Crews. The Nationals couldn't do anything from there, as a Daylen Lile line out and a Brady House grounder left runners on first and second.

#first

John Cusack has publicly backed Mark Ruffalo in the actor's increasingly heated fight with Paramount Skydance over its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Cusack quote-posted Ruffalo's response to the company over the weekend and added just three words: "Solidarity - well said." Paramount had said the actor invoked "antisemitic tropes" while arguing against the deal.
Ruffalo called that accusation "appalling and fundamentally dishonest." He said his criticism concerned Israeli government policy, a military technology contract and the corporate executives involved, and that his views "should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people."
The confrontation began after Ruffalo shared footage of Oracle executive vice chair and Paramount board member Safra Catz discussing technology Oracle made available to Israel after the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. He connected the clip to Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison is Paramount's chairman and CEO, and to his wider opposition to the Warner Bros. transaction.
Cusack offered no further explanation with his post. The message accompanied Ruffalo's full statement, which defended scrutiny of Oracle's government contracts and data and surveillance businesses while raising concerns about possible job losses and editorial independence if the acquisition proceeds.

#oracle

GE Vernova's (NYSE: GEV) stock price shot up 80% in the first half of 2026, but has since retreated from its peak. The stock trades under $1,000 now, having declined more than 10% in just the past month. Is this recent pullback a signal that GE Vernova is a bargain or a trap? Let's have a look.
GE Vernova's fundamentals are strong. The company beat second-quarter expectations while reporting an 88% year-over-year jump in its backlog. GE Vernova's $176 billion backlog provides significant visibility into near- and intermediate-term revenue. The company's profitability metrics have risen substantially.
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 »
Vernova also raised its full-year 2026 guidance in its latest earnings release, with free cash flow potentially reaching $12.5 billion.
So what's the problem? The answer is blowing in the wind, as the song goes. GE Vernova's wind segment is struggling mightily, and orders decreased 40% year over year in this latest quarter. The wind segment's losses are also widening. It's expected that the wind business will hit a staggering $400 million loss this year.

#NVIDIA #flashing #first #quarter

Let us wind the clock back to springtime 2025. The Minnesota Vikings, coming off their 14-3 season that ended in back-to-back disastrous blowout losses - one being a game where the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line and the other being a Wild Card round playoff game - were facing a monumental decision: what to do at quarterback?
On one hand, they had the man who won them 14 games. Sam Darnold resurrected his career in a Geno Smith-esque way, as a former Jets flameout-turned-backup-turned Pro Bowler. He set career-bests with 4,319 yards passing and 35 touchdown passes. On the other hand, the Vikings had Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy, whom the team selected No. 10 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. One quarterback was a known quantity, the other represented potential with his youth and lofty draft status. Minnesota ultimately stuck with their first round pick, and let Darnold walk out the door to Seattle.
Obviously, knowing what we know now, it's safe to say the Vikings probably wish they could have a "do-over" with this decision. Darnold repeated every bit of success he had in Minnesota with Seattle, and then some. He joined Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to have consecutive 14-win seasons and helped guide the Seahawks to their second Super Bowl in franchise history. Meanwhile, the Vikings struggled to finish 9-8, missed the playoffs, and replaced McCarthy with former Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray as their starter for 2026.
Why do I bring any of this up? Because the Seattle Seahawks need to be learning from Minnesota's mistakes. Sam Darnold is under contract for another two years, but he will be eligible next offseason to negotiate for an extension. Seattle will have to decide if they want to keep their Pro Bowl caliber, Super Bowl champion quarterback at a higher salary or roll the dice with a younger quarterback they drafted. In this case, third rounder Jalen Milroe.
The Seahawks drafted Milroe with the intention of developing a quarterback succession plan for the first time in the John Schneider era. But as we've seen in this current preseason, Milroe is nowhere near ready to be Seattle's franchise quarterback. Which leads us back to Darnold.

#milroe