Ford has now announced the cars, the colors, the concert, the cable channel and the charity fund for its Veterans Day Classic at Daytona. What it hasn't announced, at least in the material it has published so far, is how long the race runs or how a winner gets picked. That gap is the story, and it's why the lineup tells you more than the poster does.
The event is set for Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Daytona International Speedway, three days after the Cup Series finale at Homestead (here's how that November calendar stacks up). Ford is running it in collaboration with NASCAR, Blue Star Families, IMSA and HSR, according to Ford's own announcement. Twelve Ford Racing drivers will split into six teams, one for each branch of the U.S. military, all in Mustang Dark Horse R race cars.
Think about what that means. In a normal NASCAR weekend, Ford's pitch to its fans is simple: beat Chevrolet and Toyota. Here there is **** ody to beat. Every driver, every car and every logo on the grid is Ford, so the manufacturer has to build the stakes from scratch. Its answer is the military branch as team identity, and Ford says the teams are racing for bragging rights.
That is a smart device and a fragile one. A one-make race can't borrow rivalry from the paddock. It has to earn it in two hours of television, which is why the details Ford hasn't filled in matter more than usual.
Ford's lineup pairs the drivers like this: Army gets Joey Hand and Brad Keselowski, the Marine Corps gets Ryan Blaney and Ben Hobson, the Navy gets Logan Sargeant and Ryan Preece, the Air Force gets Frankie Muniz and Austin Cindric, the **** e Force gets Noah Gragson and Layne Riggs, and the Coast Guard gets Joey Logano and Ty Majeski.

#every #joey #ryan

Serious unrest has rocked Olympique de Marseille. The French club's official store, located in the heart of the city, has been violently looted and vandalized amid a wave of street disturbances. The incident has left the club facing significant financial losses and sent shockwaves through French football.
The incident began when an unknown number of ******* ailants forced their way into the club's store. Once inside, they ransacked the premises: official shirts, training gear and various other merchandise disappeared from the displays within minutes, prompting a swift police response.
According to a statement, after ******* sing the scale of the raid, local authorities sealed off the store to begin investigating the scene and collecting evidence. The club, meanwhile, has been forced to order the temporary suspension of in-store sales until safe conditions can be restored.
Olympique de Marseille's board has issued a statement unequivocally condemning these acts of vandalism, stressing that surveillance footage has already been handed over to police to identify those responsible. Club sources emphasize that this attack does not tarnish the fans' commitment or the club's image.
Police investigators are keeping all lines of inquiry open, and arrests are expected in the coming hours following a review of the footage. The store will remain closed to the public indefinitely while repairs are carried out and a final ******* sment is made of the financial damage suffered by the club.

#official #forced

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's plans for a more private Ohio retreat have run into some very public objections. Neighbors of the $5.35 million Lake Erie estate are challenging proposed landscaping and fencing, raising concerns about a shared sewer line, wildlife, and how the changes could affect their longtime homes.
A six-foot fence has already received approval, but parts of the landscaping remain unresolved. The property's representatives, meanwhile, say they have adjusted the plans, paid for sewer repairs and added gates to accommodate residents.
ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
According to the Daily Mail, the dispute centers on an estate in Bratenahl, a village outside Cleveland. Property records cited by the outlet show that an LLC linked to Kelce purchased the mansion in March. The 21,000-square-foot property features eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and a two-bedroom guest cottage. Built in 1895, it also has a former ballroom converted into a game room and home theater.
But proposed changes to the grounds have become a sticking point with nearby residents. Katherine Bolton, who has lived next door for 35 years, described news of the new owners as a "tremendous blow" to "the peace and quiet in Bratenahl."

#estate

XOM has raised its dividend for 43 straight years, while CVX yields 3.45% with Hess acquisition synergies running 50% above initial targets.
EPD's distributable cash flow covered its 6% distribution 1.9x last quarter, with a trailing payout ratio of just 56% on adjusted cash flow.
Read More: Learn 7 ways to generate income with a $1,000,000+ portfolio (sponsor)
Energy has a reputation for boom and bust, yet the sector's largest companies have turned volatile commodities into some of the market's most reliable income. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) alone has grown its annual dividend per share for 43 consecutive years. The four large caps below split into two integrated oil majors and two midstream toll-road operators. Each pairs a well-covered payout with strong cash generation, making them natural candidates for a long-term income portfolio.
At a recent price of $163.83, Exxon's annualized forward dividend of $4.12 per share works out to a 2.51% yield. The quarterly payout is $1.03, up from $0.99 after a 4% raise late last year.

#income

Henry Cavill has found himself at the center of a very different kind of online frenzy. A new Googlebook commercial featuring the actor has sparked enthusiastic reactions from fans, with them quickly turning the ad into its own little event.
The excitement comes partly from how naturally Cavill fits the campaign. Google in its blog post, describes him as an "actor, producer and technology enthusiast" whose interests include gaming and "fantasy lore." The company says he also runs his own production company and uses Googlebook for personal projects tied to his creative ambitions.
Googlebook pairs high-end hardware with Gemini Intelligence and adds a grab bag of features, including Continue on phone syncing, Rambler for speech-to-text and Antigravity. Google has built the machine to play nicely with Android devices while still having enough muscle for demanding creative projects and professional workloads.
Cavill also offered a positive first impression after trying the device before its release. He said Google's pitch about its integrated tools intrigued him enough to request hands-on time with the product. After working with the team, he described it as having "the whispers of the next generation."
Online reactions focused on the actor as much as the new computer. One fan joked that "hiring Henry Cavill is cheating" because people would watch him simply set up a printer.

#henry #online #creative

Nicole Kidman gave fans a stylish look at her 15-year-old daughter, Faith, as the pair stepped out in coordinated outfits at the Chanel show in Paris. The actress attended the spring/summer 2027 show, offering a glimpse of how alike and how different a mother and daughter can look side by side.
Nicole Kidman and daughter Faith stepped out in coordinated looks at the Chanel show. The video shows Kidman and Faith walking through the crowd before posing side by side. Guests in dark formal wear fill the background as the pair make their way along. The actress waves to onlookers and places a hand over her heart. She smiles warmly the whole time, while her daughter grins shyly beside her.
HELLO! Canada shared the clip on X, describing the duo as "looking chic in coordinated outfits." The outlet also added that the pair were making a splash at Paris Fashion Week. In the final moments of the video, Faith keeps one hand relaxed at her hip while her mom stands tall beside her.
Kidman's long blond hair falls beneath wispy bangs, and Faith wears her long brown hair loose past her shoulders. The 59-year-old wears a charcoal tweed blazer dress with a double-breasted front and gold ******* ons. She pairs it with sheer black tights, black heels, and a burgundy clutch, while a small embellished patch on one cuff adds a playful touch. Beside her, Faith wears a gray Chanel cardigan with black trim and gold ******* ons. The interlocking double-C logo sits on the front. She styles the boxy knit with wide-leg blue jeans and black-and-white slingback heels.
Kidman, an official Chanel ambassador, brought Faith's older sister, Sunday Rose, along. The outing was also Kidman's first public work appearance since news of her split broke. The Australian-American actress shares Faith and Sunday Rose with former husband Keith Urban.

#faith #beside #pair #coordinated

Dakota Johnson's shoe style has a few reliable tells. On the red carpet, the actress regularly comes back to barely-there strappy sandals, a choice that also happens to leave her "Look At The Moon" foot tattoo in full view. She has worn versions from Saint Laurent and Gucci over the years, including black sandals with her slinky Gucci dress for the 2025 "Materialists" premiere.
Off duty, Johnson is just as committed to the eternal cool-girl ballet flat. In 2026, she repeatedly stepped out in Phoebe Philo's gathered leather flats, then worked Khaite's high-vamp Jane flats into her "Verity" press tour wardrobe.
More from WWD
Katseye's Megan Skiendiel and Lara Raj Coordinate at Loewe in Slitted Mules and Bell-Cuffed Sandals
Sarah Jessica Parker Pairs Shimmering Cinderella-inspired Crystal Heels With a Sheer Simone Rocha Dress

#dakota #saint #materialists

This year's Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena, not the riverfront building that's been at the center of a legal fight over adding President Donald Trump's name to the building.
The 49th annual awards are set to take place at Washington's downtown arena, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said Friday. Few other details were immediately available, and an explanation for the change wasn't given.
The center's board voted last month to close the iconic performing arts venue along the Potomac River waterfront after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump's name to the building.
Trump has said in social media posts that the center needed to close for safety repairs. But he said the repairs would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
A federal judge has twice said that can't happen without the approval of Congress, which has allocated $257 million for repairs.

#judge

Chris Hemsworth was ready to cheer on his daughter India Rose ahead of her bull-riding competition. But before the 14-year-old showed off her skills in the arena, she had a quick lesson for her famous father.
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#hemsworth #daughter

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (NYSE:WAB) announced on September 21 a services agreement worth more than $700 million with La Compagnie du TransGuinéen. Combined with locomotive orders placed in 2024, announced agreements for the Simandou project now exceed $1.2 billion.
The railway stretches more than 600 kilometers between the Simandou mine and Guinea's Port of Morebaya. The new agreement extends the relationship beyond locomotive delivery into ongoing fleet support. For investors, the opportunity is to earn revenue throughout the equipment's operating life.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (NYSE:WAB) will provide scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, parts, component overhauls, logistics support, remote diagnostics, and training. These activities create multiple opportunities to serve the same fleet after the initial equipment sale.
That is an attractive business model when maintenance needs translate into repeat orders and efficient service delivery. Familiarity with the locomotives should help technicians diagnose problems and plan repairs. Remote monitoring could also help identify faults before they cause prolonged downtime, strengthening the customer's incentive to maintain the relationship.
Local workforce development and partnerships with Guinean businesses could improve responsiveness as the operation matures. Over time, an experienced local team could reduce dependence on specialists traveling to the site and make parts planning more efficient.

#westinghouse #brake #agreement

It's no secret that Arm Holdings (NASDAQ: ARM) is a crucial piece of the artificial intelligence (AI) puzzle. But how often do you think of Arm as a top-shelf AI investment? It's easy to forget this impressive compounder amid the glitzy hypergrowth of Nvidia's and AMD's expensive AI accelerators.
Arm doesn't build the chips that train large language models. The company doesn't actually build chips at all. Instead, Arm designs fundamental instruction sets and CPU cores. It licenses those designs to anyone with a fab contract and an ambition and collects a royalty on every unit shipped. It's basically a toll booth on a road that keeps getting wider.
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 »
Arm's toll road used to run almost entirely through smartphones. Now it runs through the data center too. Nvidia's Vera CPU pairs Arm cores with its accelerators. Amazon's Graviton, Microsoft's Cobalt, and Alphabet's Google Axion are all Arm-based, built in-house by companies that spend like nation-states on server capacity.
Every AI cluster on the planet needs general-purpose compute to feed the high-speed AI accelerators, handle networking, and run the orchestration layer. A growing share of that work sits on Arm designs.

#signal #flashing #build #chips

The temporary closure of the key onshore pipeline Saudi Arabia uses to bypass the Strait of Hormuz has added another shock to an oil market already struggling with six months of Middle East supply disruptions.
And the damage now appears to be more extensive than initially believed.
Three pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline were damaged in last week's attack, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing satellite imagery and industry sources. Earlier ***** sments had identified damage at two stations. Three sources told Reuters that repairs could take five to six weeks, although partial pumping could resume sooner.
Before the attack, the system was moving between 4 million and 5 million barrels per day (bpd), equivalent to roughly 4%–5% of global oil supply. Its total capacity is around 7 million bpd, including approximately 2 million bpd supplied to refineries.
Saudi Arabia shut the pipeline following multiple attacks on September 10. Satellite imagery previously published by MizarVision showed extensive fire and structural damage around pumping stations along the route.

#million #pumping #arabia

The financial unraveling of Jon Venetos' Lurin Capital is now the subject of a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe.
An email sent to an investor from the FBI's Dallas Division shared with The Real Deal revealed that the agency has opened an investigation into Venetos, Lurin Capital and **** ociated entities. The note provided an email address through which victims can provide comments and ask questions: LurinVictimsfbi.gov.
The Real Deal also obtained a public link to an FBI form **** led "Lurin Investigation Questionnaire" seeking information from "possible victim" investors. The form asks for details about investors' contributions and any distributions received.
The company's downfall has been punctuated by claims of fraudulent dealings from lenders and former Lurin employees. Keybank accused Venetos of transferring $25,000 from his accounts with the bank to a personal account. Vista Bank accused him of falsifying account statements from the lender in an attempt to take out loans elsewhere.
In addition, a former employee who worked in property management and asked to remain anonymous claimed Lurin lied on reimbursement requests to lenders by inflating costs of repairs and submitting invoices for work that wasn't done.

#email

Interested in Truist Financial Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better.
Truist will sell its $5.5 billion near-prime auto loan portfolio and exit its Regional Acceptance Corporation business, which was roughly break-even despite high loan yields. The transaction is expected to modestly improve earnings, tangible book value and credit metrics.
The bank reaffirmed its financial outlook, including third-quarter net interest income growth of about 1.5%, full-year growth of 1% to 1.5%, and its $5 billion share-repurchase plan. The sale is expected to generate approximately $950 million in capital but reduce net interest margin by 4 to 5 basis points.
New CEO Mike Lyons is accelerating a broader portfolio and capital-allocation review, with Truist emphasizing relationship banking, deposits, commercial lending, payments, wealth management and potentially credit cards, mortgages and home equity lending.
Smart Money Shifts: U.S. Bancorp Pairs Tech With Yield

#truist #financial #loan #credit

Some refiners in ******* an this week rushed to buy Oman's crude for earlier loadings after Saudi Arabia shut down its key pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, traders with knowledge of the purchases told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
Late last week, Saudi Arabia was forced to temporarily shut down the East-West oil pipeline following drone attacks launched from the territory of Iraq close to the Iranian border on Thursday. The shutdown of the pipeline is a precautionary measure, after the attacks resulted in a number of injuries, the world's top crude oil exporter said.
The 750-mile-long East-West pipeline became Saudi Arabia's vital oil route to bypass the Strait of Hormuz after the Middle East conflict started and Hormuz was closed to shipping traffic. Thanks to the East-West pipeline, the Kingdom has managed to re-route most of its crude loadings from the western ports in the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Apart from announcing the shutdown of the pipeline and condemning the attacks, Saudi Arabia has not officially updated the market either on the extent of the damage or the timelines for repairs.
The repairs could take three to five weeks, two regional officials briefed on the matter told The ******* ociated Press.

#hormuz #strait

For most of your adult life, you have decided which card comes out of your wallet. Maybe it is the one with the best cashback. Maybe it is the one on top.
That decision is starting to move to software.
More than one in 10 online shoppers will routinely use AI agents to shop and pay by 2030, according to a report published Sept. 8, 2026 by Mastercard (MA). That works out to more than 300 million people worldwide.
The number reads like a distant projection. Recent US data suggests the behavior is already further along than that.
The report, ******* led "A short history of the future of shopping and payments," pairs original consumer research with predictions from four futurists in the US, Europe and Asia, according to Mastercard.

#maybe

Lili Reinhart kept things effortlessly cool during a recent outing in London, pairing a delicate slip dress with a rugged leather jacket for a look that balanced soft and edgy in equal measure. The actress stepped out for a visit to Capital Buzz on September 8, drawing attention for her laid-back take on off-duty style.
Lili Reinhart pairs delicate slip dress with Saint Laurent leather jacket in London. Reinhart wore the Theory Velima Slip Dress, a cream-toned piece held up by nothing more than two thin straps. The dress featured a loose, tiered silhouette that fell just above the knee, with soft, flowing fabric that gave the look an airy, undone quality despite its minimal strap construction.
Over the dress, Reinhart layered a black leather biker jacket from Saint Laurent, noted as a secondhand find rather than a new purchase. The structured, moto-inspired jacket added a sharp contrast to the softness of the slip dress underneath, giving the overall look a lived-in, rock-and-roll edge.
She finished the outfit with Golden Goose's Kurt Boots, a slouchy black leather style priced at $1,130, along with Elisa Johnson's Dakota Sunglasses, retailing at $135. Photos from the outing show Reinhart walking confidently along a London street, her blonde hair loose and tousled as the jacket slipped slightly off one shoulder.
The London stop comes in the middle of a packed press run for Reinhart's new film, "The Love Hypothesis." Just a day after this street style moment, she stunned at the film's London premiere in an archival plunging Emanuel Ungaro dress, and she recently wore a custom Rodarte beaded tulle gown for the film's German premiere.

#dress #leather #lili

Horizon Technology Finance Corp., an affiliate of Monroe Capital, on September 10 said that the RoHo Capital Opportunity Fund LLC, a joint venture formed by Horizon and CR Financial Holdings, Inc., the holding company for Roth Capital Partners, LLC, has provided a $20-million senior credit facility to NeoVolta, Inc., with the ability to increase the facility to $30 million upon mutual agreement. An initial $20 million was funded at closing to support NeoVolta's continued growth.NeoVolta is an energy technology company focused on developing and manufacturing domestic battery energy storage systems (BESS). Together with its joint venture partner LONGi, NeoVolta is developing a 210,600-square-foot manufacturing facility in Pendergrass, Georgia, to produce BESS systems designed to meet U.S. domestic content and supply-chain requirements. The facility is expected to have an initial annual production capacity of up to 2 GWh, with the potential to scale to 8 GWh over time."Providing growth capital to innovative companies operating in attractive, high-growth markets is a core focus of RoHo's investment strategy," said Paul Seitz, chief investment officer of Horizon. "Formed by Horizon and Roth Capital, RoHo pairs Horizon's venture lending and structuring expertise with Roth's deep public markets relationships to deliver flexible growth capital to small- and micro-cap public companies. We are pleased to support NeoVolta's growth plans with a tailored financing solution and look forward to continuing to deploy capital through RoHo in support of innovative public companies pursuing significant market opportunities.""Horizon and Roth Capital bring valuable experience and a collaborative approach as we advance NeoVolta's domestic battery energy storage systems manufacturing platform," said Ardes Johnson, CEO of NeoVolta. "As we ramp our Georgia facility and pursue larger commercial and utility-scale opportunities, this relationship supports our ability to execute on our long-term growth strategy."Horizon Technology Finance Corp. is a specialty finance company that provides capital in the form of secured loans to venture capital and private equity-backed companies and publicly traded companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and sustainability industries. The investment objective of Horizon is to maximize its investment portfolio's return by generating current income from the debt investments it makes and capital appreciation from the warrants it receives when making such debt investments. Horizon is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with a regional office in Pleasanton, California, and investment professionals located throughout the U.S.Monroe Capital is a premier ****** et management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, technology finance, venture debt, opportunistic, structured credit, real estate and equity.CR Financial Holdings, Inc., is a private hol

Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR) is a leading specialty infrastructure contractor that designs, builds, upgrades, repairs, and maintains critical energy and communications infrastructure across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and select international markets.
With a market cap of $96.1 billion, Quanta Services fits squarely within the large-cap stock category. It is particularly well positioned to benefit from the surging demand for electricity and grid investment. Data-center expansion, AI infrastructure, manufacturing reshoring, electrification, renewable-energy buildouts, and grid modernization are all driving demand for the infrastructure Quanta provides.
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#energy

You can watch a US Open semifinal match for about the price of the Honey Deuce.
The get-in price for Session 24 of the US Open—the semifinal match at 2 p.m. ET between Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov—dropped as low as $28, down from about $300 at the start of the main draw two weeks ago, according to TicketData. It's a 91% dip compared to just three days ago.
The price dip is likely due to the lack of star power between the two players, even though Zverev is the tournament's No. 1 seed.
TicketData listed its final pre-match average as $40 two hours before the match; pairs of tickets were available on resale sites for $33 shortly after.
The night session match between Americans Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton still has a $300 get-in price. It has dipped by 27% over the last three days—ticket prices often drop on the day of the event—but it's still above the tournament average of $296 at the start of the main draw on Aug. 30.

#session

Rams news: Myles Garrett hints that training camp injury caused no-show vs. 49ers appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Myles Garrett wasn't happy with his performance following his Los Angeles Rams debut in their 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Australia on Thursday night.
Garrett started the 10th year of his career, his first with the Rams. He joined the team after Los Angeles landed him from the Cleveland Browns for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick.
Garrett shines as one of the best pass rushers in the entire league, having won Defensive Player of the Year twice in 2023 and 2025. He now pairs up with Aaron Donald on defense, as the latter came out of retirement this offseason.
Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)

#clutchpoints #angeles #year #preferred

Medicare calculates Part B and Part D surcharges using income from two years prior, so a profitable ***** et sale can trigger higher premiums long after the money is spent.
IRMAA resets annually, so a one-time income spike typically raises premiums for only one or two years before fading as normal income returns.
Voluntary ***** et sales don't qualify for SSA-44 relief, making pre-sale income planning the only real tool to minimize Medicare surcharges.
Many financial professionals are salespeople paid on what they push, not whether you end up wealthier. A fiduciary is the opposite. The SEC legally requires them to put your interests first. Advisor.com's free matching tool pairs you with vetted fiduciaries from major national firms, all in under three minutes. See who you match with today.
Picture a longtime fan who bought a personal seat license two decades ago, giving him the right to buy the same season tickets year after year. He has climbed the same stadium stairs every fall, watched his knees start to complain and finally decided the ticket rights were worth more to him as cash than as seats he uses a handful of times each season.

#income #medicare #premiums #tool

Selling a home for $890,000 leaves roughly $328,000 taxable after the $500,000 joint exclusion, adding $9,240 in Medicare surcharges two years later.
Section 121's $500,000 joint exclusion ceiling hasn't risen with inflation since 1997, leaving longtime homeowners exposed to large taxable gains on ordinary homes.
Rebuilding cost basis with documented improvements, deferring optional IRA withdrawals, and budgeting for the Medicare surcharge from proceeds reduces the sale's financial impact.
Many financial professionals are salespeople paid on what they push, not whether you end up wealthier. A fiduciary is the opposite. The SEC legally requires them to put your interests first. Advisor.com's free matching tool pairs you with vetted fiduciaries from major national firms, all in under three minutes. See who you match with today.
For more than 40 years, the house did exactly what its owners hoped it would do. A couple who paid $62,000 for their home in 1984 closes on the sale this year at $890,000. The IRS lets them exclude up to $500,000 of gain under Internal Revenue Code Section 121. Any taxable gain left after the exclusion, basis adjustments and selling expenses flows into adjusted gross income (AGI). That figure helps determine the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) Social Security uses to calculate Medicare's income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) two years later. The sale closes in 2026. The Medicare bill arrives in 2028.

#medicare #years #selling #later

Losing a CDL medical card ends a driving career but does not automatically qualify a truck driver for Social Security Disability Insurance.
At 61, SSA rules treat trucking skills as non-transferable to other work, making disability approval significantly more achievable than at younger ages.
Starting reduced retirement benefits at 62 during a pending SSDI claim provides income but slightly reduces the final disability benefit amount.
Many financial professionals are salespeople paid on what they push, not whether you end up wealthier. A fiduciary is the opposite. The SEC legally requires them to put your interests first. Advisor.com's free matching tool pairs you with vetted fiduciaries from major national firms, all in under three minutes. See who you match with today.
He walks into a clinic for the physical he has passed for decades and walks out without the medical certificate that keeps him behind the wheel. At 61, after more than 30 years driving trucks, the paycheck can stop almost overnight. His first instinct is understandable: if a medical condition means he can no longer do the only job he has known, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) should follow.

#walks

On August 25, EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) announced a partnership with Wiz, the cloud and AI security platform now owned by Google Cloud, joining the Wiz Partner Alliance to help large organizations turn cloud risk data into actual engineering fixes. The timing is notable. Just weeks earlier, on August 6, EPAM reported second-quarter revenue growth of only 4.5% and pointed to a much slower pace ahead. A cybersecurity push gives the company a fresh growth story just as its core business decelerates.
The Wiz deal pairs Wiz's AI Application Protection Platform with EPAM's AI-native engineering and cloud modernization work, aiming to move clients from simply spotting cloud risks to actually remediating them across Google Cloud, AWS, Azure, and other environments. White Hat, an EPAM company, adds an offensive security layer of defensive, offensive, and incident response specialists to test whether flaws found by Wiz are actually exploitable, rather than just theoretical. EPAM says this formalizes work already underway, having delivered Wiz implementation programs across six industries: media and entertainment, transportation and logistics, life sciences and healthcare, financial services, automotive, and retail and consumer goods. That existing footprint gives the partnership a running start rather than a cold launch.
The financial backdrop supports the case that EPAM has room to invest here. Second quarter GAAP income from operations rose to 10.8% of revenue from 9.3% a year earlier, while non-GAAP operating margin climbed to 16.4% from 15%. GAAP diluted EPS reached $1.97, up 26.3% year over year, and non-GAAP diluted EPS hit $3.38, up 22%. The company also returned $409 million to shareholders through buybacks in the first half of 2026, including $85 million in the second quarter alone.
The numbers behind the Wiz announcement tell a more cautious story. EPAM's full-year revenue growth guidance now sits at 3.2% to 4.2%, with organic constant currency growth pegged at just 2.0% to 3.0%. The third quarter outlook is softer still: revenue of $1.410 billion to $1.425 billion implies year-over-year growth of roughly 1.7% at the midpoint, a sharp step down from the 4.5% posted in the second quarter.
Cash flow moved in the wrong direction too. EPAM used $38.8 million in operating activities during the first half of 2026, compared with $77.4 million generated over the same period in 2025. Total cash, equivalents and restricted cash fell 39% to $794.3 million as of June 30, from $1.301 billion at the end of 2025, a decline driven in part by continued share repurchases. Headcount growth was modest as well, with delivery professionals up just 0.3% from the prior quarter, suggesting a company being deliberate rather than aggressive about scaling capacity even as it adds new service lines like Wiz implementation.

#epam #cloud #year #company

On Valentine's day, Illinois resident Brenda Daurham was thankful she had home insurance when a pipe under her sink burst, causing serious water damage throughout her property.
Over six months later, Daurham is still displaced from her home after Allstate refused to pay for the repairs.
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#illinois

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A premium multi-material surfaces platform becoming structurally lighter and more flexible. CSTE designs, develops, sources and markets premium quartz, ICON, porcelain, natural stone and complementary surface products, generating $397.2 million of revenue in 2025, with direct sales contributing 89% of revenue across its largest markets. The company has transitioned quartz production to external partners while retaining product development, quality, brand and customer control, with Lioli providing owned porcelain capacity. This broadens CSTE beyond legacy quartz while reducing fixed manufacturing exposure and increasing sourcing flexibility.
A differentiated model built on reinforcing sourcing, design, brand and direct-market capabilities supports commercial relevance across materials. CSTE combines partner-led quartz production with proprietary formulations, quality ***** urance, design know-how, premium brand recognition and local sales infrastructure. ICON provides the clearest proof point, with Australia delivering four consecutive quarters of y/y growth following the full rollout of CSTE's crystalline-silica-free collection. Porcelain extends the same commercial platform into additional applications, broadening the competitive advantage beyond any single product or manufacturing ***** et.
Growth strategy pairs a structural cost reset with targeted commercial and category expansion. CSTE is completing the partner-led production transition, rebuilding North American customer and channel engagement, sustaining Australia's ICON-led momentum, expanding porcelain and extending brand-led geographic reach. The restructuring targets more than $100 million of annualized savings by 2027 versus 2023, including approximately $22 million from the Bar-Lev closure. Execution is now focused on stabilizing core volumes, improving Lioli's commercial alignment, expanding channel productivity and mitigating the new U.S. quartz tariffs.
Material substitution and selective regional recovery broaden CSTE's addressable opportunity beyond legacy quartz. CSTE's existing and adjacent categories span approximately 53% of global countertop volume, while engineered quartz is forecast to recover and porcelain offers materially faster growth from a smaller base. Natural stone adds further U.S. optionality, while Australia demonstrates how regulatory change can redirect rather than eliminate premium-surface demand. North America remains the largest earnings opportunity, with renovation, ageing housing stock and material substitution providing recovery potential even before a full housing upcycle.

#porcelain #premium #icon #material

On August 18, Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) said its WiseEye palm vein biometric technology now powers the WAFERLOCK L322, a smart lock built by Taiwan-based WAFERLOCK Corporation that just went on sale. Instead of scanning a fingerprint or a face, the lock reads the vein pattern under a user's palm, a method Himax says still works when hands are wet, dirty, or full of groceries. The announcement lands less than two weeks after Himax posted a second quarter that beat its own guidance on revenue, margin, and profit, giving the palm vein rollout a stronger financial backdrop than it might otherwise have had.
The WAFERLOCK deal shows what Himax has been building toward with WiseEye, an ultralow-power AI platform that pairs an image sensor and processor to capture, match, and verify a palm vein image directly on the device, without sending anything to the cloud. That matters for a smart lock, where sending biometric data offsite would be a hard sell to homeowners. The L322 pairs palm vein recognition with RFID cards, PIN codes, mechanical keys, and compatibility with EasyCard, iPASS, and MIFARE, so the biometric layer sits on top of access methods people already use.
Himax said the underlying palm vein modules earned TÜV Rheinland verification during the quarter, validating their recognition accuracy, response speed, and liveness detection, and that the technology also complies with GDPR, one of the world's strictest privacy standards. Design-in activity is already spreading beyond locks into workforce management, computer monitors, and smart office equipment.
Automotive remains the larger story sitting underneath it. Automotive display drivers, timing controllers, and touch controllers made up well over half of Himax's revenue in the quarter ended June 30, and the company expects full-year 2026 automotive IC sales to grow by double digits from a year earlier as automakers pack more, larger, and higher-resolution screens into vehicle interiors.
Alongside that base, Himax pointed to two newer bets: a leading global brand launched smart glasses powered by WiseEye during the quarter, and the company's co-packaged optics products entered engineering production ramps in the third quarter, with 2027 shipments expected to significantly exceed 2026. Neither business moves the revenue needle yet, but together they give Himax more than one lever to pull.

#himax #wiseeye #waferlock #lock

The filmmaker stepped in after Brenda Daurham's home repairs sparked a dispute between her insurer and contractor.
Tyler Perry is paying it forward for an 81-year-old former hair stylist in need.
Perry is stepping up for Brenda Daurham, a widow who was displaced from her home thanks to a Valentine's Day pipe burst and a massive fight between her insurance company and the repair company that helped restore her home.
Daurham, who was facing an $18K mechanic's lien due to the repairs not being paid for by Allstate, is having the lien paid for by Perry, who took to Instagram and issued a warning to the insurance giant, wondering why they were not living up to their company slogan in this instance.
"Hey AllState!! Step to the front real quick," Perry began his post. "This woman is 81 years old. You call this being in good hands?"

#perry #allstate #lien #paid

If Jordan Chiles is planning to return to elite gymnastics competition, she is pulling out all the stops.
Chiles, whose last elite gymnastics competition was the 2024 Paris Olympics, made a social media post captioned, "LA 2028... WHY NOT?" with a video narrated by Michael Jordan.
"Why again?" Michael Jordan says in the video. "Because the dream is still there. Why continue? Because there's still more to give. Why now? Because not every chapter ends when people expect it to. Why her? Because she's that girl. Some decisions don't need permission. Just one more bet on herself. So when the world asks why she's back for a third time, the answer is simple."
The video ends with Chiles saying, "Why not?" and then flashing an LA 2028 grill.
Chiles, who was named after Michael Jordan, has owned more than 100 pairs of Jordan shoes. The basketball legend also messaged Chiles before the Paris Games to wish her luck.

#jordan #Competition #ends