Union investigates groping allegations against powerbroker Carolyn Smith, who denies the claims
Whether it's socks or stocks, I like buying good-quality products when they're on sale (think cheap Australian shares!). Prudent brokers and investors are always on the hunt for undervalued investment opportunities, and there's never been a better time for those seeking to 'buy a dollar coin for 50 cents'. This crowd of is a contrarian bunch who aren't afraid to seek out and buy assets at cheap prices. Two ASX shares, ( ) and ( ), have caught the attention of brokers for their cheap valuations and upside potential. Here's a look. Cheap Australian shares for the Christmas list If Santa Claus really is coming to town, then it's cheap Australian shares on the list for me. And by cheap, I'm talking about shares with plenty of upside potential. First up is Medibank Private, the health insurer. Medibank shares have been under pressure in recent months, sliding from highs of $3.99 in September. Zooming out, the stock has been ever since last year's widely publicised data breach. This was compounded by its In FY24, Medibank reported a nearly 5% increase in revenues to just over $8 billion, driven by a 4% rise in premium income from its core Health Insurance business. However, resident policyholder growth of 70 basis points fell well short of management's 1.5%–2% target. Despite this, some analysts see upside potential. Consensus estimates peg the private health insurer's FY25 earnings at 23 cents per share, an 18% improvement year on year. The median estimate rates Medibank a buy, according to CommSec. Ord Minnett is one of the bullish crowd and rates Medibank shares as a buy, with a price target of $4.25. It also forecasts of 17.5 cents per share in FY25 and 17.8 cents in FY26. If Ord Minnett is correct, the total return for the coming 12 months, dividends included, could be more than 18.5%. Treasury Wine Estate: Undervalued or not? Treasury Wine Estates is the steam engine behind brands like Penfolds, Wolf Blass, and 19 Crimes. Wine lovers will raise an eyebrow at the sight of those names, popular or not. According to CommSec, the cheap Australian share is rated a strong buy from consensus estimates. Of the 17 analysts covering it, only three suggest holding. There are no sell ratings. Morgans sees the recent acquisition of DAOU Vineyards in the company's 'premiumisation' strategy. The $1.4 billion deal is set to expand the company's portfolio in the Americas. The broker said DAOU Vineyards was known as a high-margin, luxury wine offering. This differs from many wines that are considered a commodity, only differentiated by taste. Morgans rates also Treasury Wine Estates a buy with a price target of $15.03. At the current share price of $11.14, this implies a potential upside of almost 35%. Foolish takeaway Both Medibank and Treasury Wine Estates present as interesting opportunities for investors seeking cheap Australian shares. If targets are met, today's values appear adequately priced, according to some experts. The potential upside implied by broker estimates also delivers a wide margin of safety. This is a critical concept of value investing. Medibank stock is up 8% in the past year and Treasury Wine shares are up nearly 6%.Australia withdraws a misinformation bill after critics compare it to censorship
: Liberals, at least the ones with some optimism left in them, are pretty sure that good news for Donald Trump will be good news for Justin Trudeau. The idea is that the more crazy things look in the U.S., the more Canadians will want some stable leadership here. Since we last wrote together, Matt, Trump has been having some very good days. The latest , on the other hand, has found no “Trump bump” for Trudeau — at least not yet. I’m of the view that it’s still too early to tell, but I haven’t ruled out that stability is going to become more important as Trump rocks the world again. : Some Liberals still have optimism?!?!?!??!?!?! : Well, they hide it well. : With reason! Anyway. Yeah. I maintain my earlier view. The “Trump bump” was never likely. Trump 2 is bad news for the Liberals. He makes Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre look sane by comparison and will require a lot of time and energy to manage, and I don’t think they have much of either to spare. Hoping that Trump’s re-election would save them always struck me as something the Liberals only believed because there was nothing else for them to cling to. You’re right that it’s early. But unless a huge number of Canadians suddenly become U.S. politics junkies over Christmas, is anyone going to care who didn’t care two weeks ago? : I’m not so sure. Even I’ve been surprised by how out there Trump’s cabinet appointments have been, though Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal from contention for attorney-general is evidence that maybe some sober second thinking is going on in Trump’s circle. I think Trudeau’s team has been showing a level of preparation for this round that it didn’t have in 2016. : Hmm. Interesting. I think that’s mostly wrong, but, I’ll grant it’s partially right. There is some muscle memory from Trump 1 that’s going to be useful for Trump 2. People to ring up for a chat. Favours to call in. In that sense, I’ll grant your point. But I think overall, history is going to take the entirely opposite view. Canada had four years of Joe Biden to take a hard look at itself and ask how we could adapt to a more “Trumpian” world. I know it wasn’t guaranteed, but it was likely enough that there were things we should have been doing, I’d say especially on trade, security and the military. These things were likely worth doing on their own, and were certainly worth doing as a hedge against Trump’s re-election. And in the main, gosh, we have not done those things. I really don’t think anyone can look at Canada circa late 2024 and go, behold a country that has worked methodically to prepare itself for a new world order. We didn’t even keep the damn cabinet committee going! We needed to reboot it. WHY?! : Point taken. The problem we all have now is that everything is hypothetical. How would Poilievre deal with Trump? We have no idea and he’s not going to tell us, except to say he’d be better than Trudeau. But I think some uncertainty about him is going to look less tolerable as the reality of Trump sinks in. Sure, is an old pal of vice-president-elect J.D. Vance. But Poilievre has been peddling very domestic politics here — quite effectively — but 2025 could be a year when Canadians are looking for someone with more seasoning, internationally. : I mean, sure. I guess. Anything’s possible. But here’s why I think that’s unlikely. I haven’t seen anything in many months that changes my gut feeling that the voters are locked in and now largely tuned out. The ones who hate themselves enough to stay tuned in, and sadly that’s both of us, have already made up our minds. So among the engaged, it’s just nerd skirmishing. Everyone else is off watching some baking show or whatever pleases them. God bless them. Second, if the Liberals’ last remaining hope is Canadians suddenly deciding to vote about foreign policy stuff, even critically important American stuff, I dunno what to tell them. : I’m going to stop and laugh here about nerd skirmishing and baking shows. : It’s true! I know this is a little off topic, but I’ll try to make it relevant: even people I know who are unrepentant, incurable news junkies are just tuned right the hell out these days. ? Yawn. Trump re-elected? A stirring of interest, for like two days. Even I forgot that was a thing and this is my literal job. We started talking about the lack of a Trump bump. You have to notice something to be bumped by it. I really think we have to consider the fact that the Canadian people made up their minds for our next election last summer and are just patiently waiting to get all this over with. : It strikes me that Trump’s re-election has put us into a world where we find Trudeau needing to attend to more domestic concerns ( ) and Poilievre needs to think beyond our borders. I don’t think we can expect Poilievre to go along with the old convention that you don’t trash talk your own government on the world stage; you present a united front. Frankly, I think Ontario Premier Doug Ford is being on this score right now, but that’s a whole other column for another day. : Oh yes. That would be. I quipped to a friend recently that Ford seems to be auditioning for Captain Canada, and my friend wondered who’d be more annoyed at that — Trudeau or Poilievre. I don’t know if Poilievre will trash Trudeau any more or less now than before. He’s always cranked to 11. But I could definitely see him making a “We need a strong leader with a stable government to face Trump” pitch. And I could see that working.
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:02 p.m. ESTHigh school scores for Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024George Weston ( TSE:WN – Free Report ) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from C$222.00 to C$218.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. CIBC increased their target price on George Weston from C$235.00 to C$254.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of George Weston from C$230.00 to C$253.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$196.00 to C$220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Desjardins increased their target price on shares of George Weston from C$212.00 to C$232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of George Weston from C$242.00 to C$263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$246.58. View Our Latest Stock Report on WN George Weston Stock Down 0.1 % Insider Buying and Selling In related news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$21.67 per share, with a total value of C$43,340.00. Also, Director Alannah Elizabeth Weston sold 36,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$226.64, for a total transaction of C$8,355,124.15. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 7,100 shares of company stock worth $153,149 and sold 54,115 shares worth $12,177,793. Insiders own 59.41% of the company’s stock. About George Weston ( Get Free Report ) George Weston Limited provides food and drug retailing, and financial services in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Choice Properties). The Loblaw segment provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, and financial services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for George Weston Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for George Weston and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Nebraska GOP to seek hard-right social policies in 2025 legislative session
For the first time since the season opener, the Winnipeg Jets' place atop the Central Division standings is in jeopardy. Winnipeg will aim to shed its recent struggles and maintain its lead in the Central when it visits the division rival Dallas Stars on Sunday. The Jets enter Saturday clinging to a two-point lead over second-place Minnesota, which hosts Nashville later that night. Winnipeg has gone just 3-5-0 since starting the season historically hot. During their record-breaking 15-1-0 start, the Jets averaged 4.56 goals per game while allowing just 2.13. However, that script has flipped, with Winnipeg now scoring only 2.5 goals per game and allowing 3.25. November's grueling schedule, which wrapped up in Las Vegas on Friday with a mistake-filled 4-3 loss to the Golden Knights, has taken a toll. Heading into Dallas, the Jets have played just one home game in their last nine, but the team knows they have to battle through it. "It's been such a grind. Just coming off the four (games) in six (days)," Jets head coach Scott Arniel said after the defeat in Las Vegas. "We're going into Dallas. We're going against a team in our division ... we have to make sure that we want to finish this road trip off on a good note." On this six-game road trip, the Jets are 2-3. "We know what Dallas is. Their building is not easy to play in," said Jets forward Cole Perfetti, who snapped an 11-game goal drought with two on Friday. "They're a tough team. It's a huge division game. The bare minimum we want to go home is .500. ... We have a chance to do it, so we have to make sure that we're ready come Sunday afternoon. I think we will be. I think we know how much that game is going to mean and carry the momentum coming home." While the Jets have struggled, Dallas has been bouncing back. After a deflating 6-2 loss to last-place Chicago on Wednesday, the Stars responded by holding off a third-period comeback attempt by Colorado to win 5-3 on Friday in Dallas. "It's a great group for responding to adversity," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "When we have a bad night, or a couple bad nights, you always know you're going to get their best ... I thought we had good detail in our game, did a good job bottling up the neutral zone ... we had a lot of contributions." Defenseman Miro Heiskanen tallied two assists in Friday's win and extended his point streak to four games. "We knew that we didn't play great in Chicago. We wanted to bounce back right away and not let too many games slip from us," Heiskanen said. "It's work ethic and trying to get back to what we're good at. It's been good for a couple years and hopefully we can keep doing that." Dallas forward Logan Stankoven will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury. Winnipeg might be without Nikolaj Ehlers, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after leaving Friday's game following an awkward fall into the boards. The Jets won the first meeting between these teams this season, a 4-1 result in Winnipeg on Nov. 9. --Field Level Media
Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 6 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 1:52 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was down less than 0.1%. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday. Chip company Broadcom rose 2.9%, Micron Technology was up 1% and Adobe gained 0.8%. While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.7%, Amazon was down 0.6%, and Netflix gave up 1.1%. Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, down 1.9%. Health care stocks helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.7% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 2.8%, Best Buy was up 2.2% and Dollar Tree gained 2.7%. Retailers are hoping for a solid sales this holiday season, and the day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. U.S.-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4% and 16%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine. Traders got a labor market update. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week , though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported. Treasury yields turned mostly lower in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.57% from 4.59% late Tuesday. Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar. Still, U.S. markets have historically gotten a boost at year’s end despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 26% so far this year and remains near its most recent all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to next week, including updates on pending home sales and home prices, a report on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity. AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.