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BLUE WHALE GROWTH: Fund's prediction... a fall in share prices of US big tech By JEFF PRESTRIDGE Updated: 16:51 EST, 28 December 2024 e-mail View comments Investment fund Blue Whale Growth has made a lot of money for investors since its launch more than seven years ago – and manager Stephen Yiu is determined to keep the impressive track record going. The £1.2 billion fund, backed by billionaire Peter Hargreaves, has delivered a total return of 162 per cent since launching in September 2017 – equivalent to an annual return of more than 14 per cent, net of fees. Yet Yiu is not resting on his laurels. His aspiration is to deliver annual returns of 15 per cent, although not in a straight line. Though running a tight portfolio, comprising just 26 global stocks and one which remains fully invested at all times, Yiu is not frightened to make big calls. Unlike some global fund managers, Blue Whale Growth is light on the 'magnificent seven' US stocks – big drivers of the US stock market in recent years – and big on 'idiosyncratic' companies which he believes have businesses capable of withstanding any economic slowdown or sharp market corrections. Currently, the fund only holds shares in magnificent seven stocks Nvidia (8 per cent), Meta (3 per cent) and Microsoft (1.5 per cent). 'We do not own Alphabet, Amazon, Apple or Tesla,' says Yiu. 'In effect, we are overweight in Nvidia and short on the other magnificent six.' This time last year, the respective holdings in Nvidia, Meta and Microsoft were 9, 4 and 8 per cent. Yiu's view is that the 'narrative could change' next year for the magnificent seven – chipmaker Nvidia excepted – as revenues are eroded by vast expenditure on artificial intelligence (AI). This, he says, could lead to corrections in their share prices and a 'year of reckoning' for funds that track the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, of which the big technology stocks are a key component. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next ALLIANCE WITAN: Merger gives investment trust coveted place... Will the UK stock market be the one to back in 2025? Shares... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account Unlike active funds such as Blue Whale Growth, such tracker or passive funds cannot reduce their exposure to the big tech giants ahead of any sell-off. 'They must hold the S&P 500,' he says. 'Maybe, next year, we could see a rejuvenation of investor interest in active funds generally.' Blue Whale Growth has exposure to the AI theme beyond the magnificent seven. It has key holdings in US companies Broadcom (its biggest holding) and Vertiv. 'Broadcom,' says Yiu, 'could be the new Nvidia in terms of outperforming the rest of the market.' Yet Yiu also has big stakes in companies that he describes as 'idiosyncratic' – businesses that should grow irrespective of the prevailing economic conditions. Among them is US-listed sports betting and gaming company Flutter which Yiu says is on a 'great journey' as more American states legalise sports gambling. 'American consumers like their sport and their gambling,' he adds. Other idiosyncratic holdings include German company Sartorius and US-listed Danaher, both making waves in bioprocessing. There is also US tobacco stock Philip Morris which has diversified into nicotine pouches and smoke-free alternatives to conventional cigarettes. Blue Whale Growth's success means, provided the fund finishes the year above £1billion, it will rebate one per cent of its annual management charge to investors. Most investors in this fund pay an annual management charge of 0.75 per cent, so the rebate will drop this fee to 0.7425 per cent. It will be cut by another one per cent if – 'when' (Yiu's word) – the fund gets to £2 billion. While three-quarters of the fund's assets are exposed to US-listed shares, only 40 per cent of the revenues generated by all the holdings are from the US. DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS AJ Bell AJ Bell Easy investing and ready-made portfolios Learn More Learn More Hargreaves Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown Free fund dealing and investment ideas Learn More Learn More interactive investor interactive investor Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month Learn More Learn More Saxo Saxo Get £200 back in trading fees Learn More Learn More Trading 212 Trading 212 Free dealing and no account fee Learn More Learn More Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. Compare the best investing account for you Share or comment on this article: BLUE WHALE GROWTH: Fund's prediction... a fall in share prices of US big tech e-mail Add comment Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.It's beginning to look like another record for holiday travelIf ever a year deserved to be summed up in a cheap meme, it was 2024. . Sometimes the social media chuckle gallery hits the nail right on the head, but for all the spot-on accuracy of that assessment, it’s also a year that warranted a search for its better angels; a sifting through the flotsam and jetsam for the fairy dust and joy. And there halos to be found if you looked hard enough. There was, for instance, a moment back in February when the MCG – traditionally a place that brings the feels during footy in September or the cricket on Boxing Day – seemed to swallow the entire city in a joyous embrace as host to the . It was a tour, and a show, unlike anything Australia or Swift herself had ever seen. “You’re making me feel like I get to play a show for 96,000 beautiful people in Melbourne tonight,” a visibly stunned which was boosted by several thousand more fans “Taylor-gating” outside the stadium. “This is the biggest show that we have done on this tour, or any tour, ever.” The Swiftian joyfest then moved north to Sydney, where the total turnout was even bigger (320,000 across four shows). “Sydney, you are making me feel absolutely phenomenal,” she declared. The feeling was clearly mutual and spread far beyond the venues. As she had done on other stops on the Eras tour, — from economic worries (Swiftonomics became a subject worthy of study) to general social malaise. We spend much of our time worrying about the yoof; especially young women. Well, in 2024 Taylor Swift turned up to show us that the kids are alright. And she wasn’t alone. Swiftmania was the herald of what would become the year that “girl power” – a worn and slightly tatty ’90s concept – received a fresh, ferocious update for the 21st century as something deeper, stronger and powered by a kind of worldly-wise joy. Forget sense and sensibility; 2024 was all sass and sensibility. Sabrina Carpenter parlayed her supporting status on the into a blockbuster year that elevated her to near the very top of the tree with no need for Swift’s booster seat. In Carpenter, pop music added another voice that was savvy, sassy, sexy and smart — to the come-to-bed brashness of her smash album . Charli XCX took things a step further. The British singer staked her claim to the year by giving 2024 a word, a colour and an attitude all wrapped up in one album – . She summed it up like this: “You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like, parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.” If it doesn’t make sense to you, that’s probably because it isn’t meant to. But as a sensibility, it rode a cultural wave – the joy wave – so adroitly Kamala Harris even hitched her (ill-fated) Joy Wagon to the phenomenon. On a similar train was American Chappell Roan – – whose success confirmed young women were increasingly sailing different seas from the rest of the culture, and landing in happier places. In July, it was a diva of a different era who elevated the Paris Olympics, as a wet and occasionally weird opening ceremony gave way to the thing we mostly remember about it – the moment we heard the voice and then spotted the figure of a glistening . It was a moment of extraordinary power – of personal resilience and vocal artistry – that lifted the event out of the damp Paris streets and elevated it to a moment of genuine collective emotion. Paris in summer was where we went looking for hope during the Australian winter, and our team delivered. Well, the women did anyway, bringing home 13 of the 18 gold and 27 of the 45 medals overall for our greatest Games ever. Alongside the usual heroics in the pool ( was one stand-out among a team of them) there were more eccentric goings-on elsewhere in the Olympic city. You could, if you so chose, react to with a scowl and a sneer, and many did, but the open-hearted were able to see the funny side. As were comedians around the world, who found in the Australian breakdancer . In a year of much misery, this achievement should not be underappreciated. There were happy cultural warriors elsewhere, too. In Hollywood, Nicole Kidman seemed to star in every other movie and series – , “when I see an actor I don’t know, I just say, ‘I loved your scene with Nicole Kidman’, and nine times out of 10, I’m right”. Our Nic took time out from starring in everything to win everything. This included inhaling the very rare air of an . Flying the flag for the younger generation, Adelaide’s Sarah Snook carted home an Emmy and a Golden Globe and warmed up for her 2025 Broadway run in with a Laurence Olivier Award for the same tour de force in London. Acting royalty elevated us to higher planes. Garden variety royalty also played its part. in January, giving hope to everyone who met someone in a bar during the Sydney Olympics almost 25 years ago. You don’t have to love royalty to breathe the occasional sigh of relief at the distraction they provide from the daily grind, and you don’t have to be a monarchist to be pleased that the in strong and dignified spirit. In the natural world, bad news abounds when it comes to climate change – but there were bright spots. Did you know ? Or that renewables surged even in the US, where for the first time? Or that this year? It did. All is not lost yet. For some old-fashioned cheer from Mother Nature, you could wallow in dog and cat videos on social media (and millions of us did) – or you could turn your gaze to another heroine we didn’t know we needed, the Tay Tay of the world. In September, , a pygmy hippo, a girl whose social media fame drew attention to the plight and past of her species. Who knew the pygmy hippo came with a history this rich, in which Moo Deng’s kind find their way through the forest at night by carrying diamonds in their mouths to light the way? Now we know, and we are the better for it. Closer to home, Pesto the king penguin gained global fame as a social media superstar famous on TikTok as the largest chick Melbourne’s Sea Life aquarium has ever seen. Big, beautiful and comfortable in his own skin, Pesto was the kind of hero – “calm, curious and friendly” – we needed in a year when male humans to admire were thin on the ground. For other bright lights in the darkness, we needed look no further than our own southern skies, with the return on several occasions of , which made rare and spectacular appearances as far north as Queensland in May, September and October. Scientists and citizens alike were dazzled by a liquid light show of pinks and whites and purples and greens. Was there a better symbol of hope than this – a phenomenon named for Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, announcing the arrival of a new day? It was as if we had been given a celestial preview of what would become the year’s biggest cultural event, one that also asked us to look skyward – or in the words of the song of the year, , “look to the western sky”. landed in cinemas in mid-November, amid one of the strangest promotional tours in memory and hot on the heels of an American political earthquake two weeks earlier. The were at times almost as entertaining as the film they starred in. And the movie’s storyline, adapted from the 2003 stage musical, could have been taken as , very specifically, at the end of 2024. is a tale of defiance and friendship forged in the most difficult of circumstances; of surmounting challenges and differences; of flying, literally, in the face of a world that seeks to define you. It was, as so many of the hopeful things were in 2024, a message delivered by and to young women startling in their confidence and talent, happy to defy the doom with which the times seek to burden them. The song that ends the film became the year’s musical – a moment when art and heart met irresistible force, and art and heart won. If ever a year needed an anthem it was this one – and in it found it. In a year that insisted we be sad and scared – or summed up in a cheap meme – it was proof there was still space for hearts and minds to soar.
From Desmond Mgboh, Kano Kano State Police Command have warned against obstruction of highways and disruption of public order in the name of content creation, insisting that offenders will be prosecuted henceforth. A statement on Monday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa regretted that these obstructions of highways and disruption of public order cause traffic congestion and poise a significant risk to public safety.. “Kano State Police have observed with concern the recent trend of youths blocking roads in Kano, engaging in dancing, washing, singing, and other activities in the name of social media content creation. These actions are not only causing unnecessary traffic congestion but also posing a significant risk to public safety.: he stated. “The Command wishes to remind the public that obstructing highways and disrupting public order are serious offenses under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Such actions can lead to accidents, injuries, and damage to property” the statement said According to the statement, ” Kano State Police Command hereby warns all individuals and groups involved in these activities to desist immediately. Parents and guardians are also advised to caution their wards against participating in such activities. “The Command is committed to maintaining public safety and order, and will not hesitate to take necessary measures to address this issue. This may include arresting and prosecuting offenders” the statement added The Command urged the public to report any instances of highway obstruction or disruption of public order to the nearest police station. End.If ya missed out on the sale of Shohei Ohtani 's historic 50/50 home run baseball, don't worry ... another cool artifact from the Dodgers superstar has just hit the auction block -- one of his old Nippon Professional Baseball league jerseys!! TMZ Sports has learned ... a Nippon-Ham Fighters uniform Shohei rocked during the 2017 NPB season was posted to Grey Flannel Auctions this week -- and it's pretty awesome. It's got Ohtani's name on the back, his former squad on the front -- and some unique markings on the tags. According to the auction house's experts, it's the earliest-known, game-worn Ohtani threads to ever be available for purchase. Ohtani, of course, was a superstar in the NPB before he took over the MLB in 2018. During one of his best seasons in Japan, he won the league's MVP as well as the Japan Championship Series. In the year this jersey is from ... he played in 65 games while hitting an impressive .332. He also pitched, recording a 3.20 ERA! Bidding -- which officially ends on Dec. 8 -- for the uni started is nearing five figures already ... good luck!
Aptorum Group Limited Reports Financial Results and Business Update for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2024
Overview of 2024 Capital Markets2025: The year of the digital workspace?
Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Recursion”) (NASDAQ: RXRX), a leading clinical stage TechBio company decoding biology to industrialize drug discovery, today announced that on December 19, 2024, the Compensation Committee of Recursion's Board of Directors approved the grant of inducement restricted stock unit (RSU) awards covering 7,952,836 shares of its class A common stock in the aggregate to 230 new employees under Recursion's 2024 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan (the “2024 Plan”). Each award was granted as an inducement material to the employee's commencement of employment with a subsidiary of Recursion in connection with Recursion's acquisition of Exscientia plc and pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Each inducement RSU award will vest as to 1/16th of the shares subject to the award quarterly on each of February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15, beginning with February 15, 2025 until the inducement RSU award is fully vested, subject to the inducement RSU award recipient’s continued employment through the Company Vesting Dates. Each inducement RSU award is subject to the terms and conditions of the 2024 Plan and the grant agreements covering the awards. About Recursion Pharmaceuticals Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RXRX) is a leading clinical stage TechBio company decoding biology to industrialize drug discovery. Enabling its mission is the Recursion OS, a platform built across diverse technologies that continuously generate one of the world’s largest proprietary biological and chemical datasets. Recursion leverages sophisticated machine-learning algorithms to distill from its dataset a collection of trillions of searchable relationships across biology and chemistry unconstrained by human bias. By commanding massive experimental scale — up to millions of wet lab experiments weekly — and massive computational scale — owning and operating one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, Recursion is uniting technology, biology and chemistry to advance the future of medicine. Recursion is headquartered in Salt Lake City, where it is a founding member of BioHive, the Utah life sciences industry collective. Recursion also has offices in Toronto, Montréal, New York, London, Oxford area, and the San Francisco Bay area. Learn more at www.Recursion.com , or connect on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. Media Contact Media@Recursion.com Investor Contact Investor@Recursion.com Ryan Kelly Recursion Pharmaceuticals media@recursion.comVancouver FC managing director Mark Rogers is leaving the Langley-based Canadian Premier League (CPL) club after two seasons. Rogers, 49, will take on a new role as managing director of League1 BC, the province’s Pro-Am soccer league. “Playing my part in launching Vancouver FC has been a highlight of my career, and an experience I will never forget,” said Rogers. I am thankful to every player, staff, fan and member of the VFC family for making my experience over the past two years what it was, and I am pleased to know we will continue to cross paths as I take on my new role at League1 BC.” Rob Friend, VFC president and CEO, called Rogers "a faithful champion of this club since well before its official inception and we are grateful for all the effort he put into laying the groundwork for our current and future success." “Mark excels in his ability to build relationships within the local soccer community," Friend added. "We are incredibly excited to see the impact he will have on the soccer landscape in British Columbia as managing director of League1 BC, and we look forward to continuing to work alongside him as like-minded promoters of soccer in our province.” Rogers’ appointment is effective immediately, as preparations for League1 BC’s fourth season in 2025 are underway. “I am excited to continue playing my part in growing the game of soccer in British Columbia and Canada,” said Rogers. “League1 BC is an excellent platform for players, coaches, administrators, match officials and more to achieve their goals. I believe I have the tools and experience to lead its continued advancement, for the benefit of our license holders and all stakeholders.” “The League1 structure in Canada is key to the development of the ample soccer talent in this country, as well as to the long-term success of our national teams and our professional leagues,” said John Gibson, interim League1 Canada general manager. “We are thrilled Mark has joined our League1 Canada alliance. He brings a thorough understanding of the soccer landscape in both British Columbia and across the country, and his perspective as both a former player and Canadian executive will help League1 BC maximize its impact locally and nationally.” League1 BC launched in October 2021 and contested its first season in 2022. It is a part of League1 Canada, the national alliance of Canada’s Pro-Am leagues, alongside League1 Ontario, Ligue1 Québec and League1 Alberta. Eighteen teams representing nine clubs will compete in League1 BC in 2025. More than 400 players have participated in the league to date. Rogers is a former professional player and alum of the Canadian Men’s National Team, who grew up in South Delta where he got his start in soccer. After coming up through the Vancouver soccer system as a youth player and representing the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at the collegiate level, Rogers went on to play professionally in England for Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, where he earned more than 150 professional appearances in all competitions and reached an FA Cup semifinal in 2001, and for Stevenage Football Club. He earned seven caps as a member of Canada Men’s National Team between 2000 and 2003. From the sidelines, Rogers has coached both the UBC Women’s and Men’s varsity soccer programs, as head coach and assistant coach, respectively, as well as coached within BC Soccer’s provincial program. He served as an interim assistant coach with the Canadian Men’s National Team in 2013 and has worked with Canada Soccer as a Coach Facilitator. He has long been involved with the CPL community, including playing part in establishing and launching the CPL-U SPORTS Draft, and has also worked as a radio broadcaster with both TSN and Sportsnet.
Dear Eric: We have a dilemma that may seem trivial but it’s driving us crazy. We’re fortunate enough to have a vacation house on a small island. Water is kind of expensive, relatively. While we love to host extended family, one older relative horns in to do the dishes by hand although we have an excellent dishwasher. The hot water waste is incredible; it’s left running while the person talks and tells stories. And they’re slow to boot. We’ve gently tried to redirect them with. They also dismiss that the machine is more efficient. No other chores make sense due to physical limitations, and they decline just socializing. It burns to acquiesce to money cost and environmental cost to coddle a person’s self-esteem. We’re even trying to figure out a fictitious reason to build a boundary. Any ideas? — Waste Water Dear Water: There’s a classic Shel Silverstein poem, “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes” in which the instruction for avoiding the chore is simple: Do such a bad job, they won’t let you do it anymore. Ironically, you’re facing the opposite: This person is doing a bad job and won’t stop. This may not be a self-esteem issue or stubbornness. This could be a person genuinely thinking they’re helping, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. Try not to pin too much on age, also. Let the actions speak for themselves, not a generation. Gentle suggestion didn’t work, so you’ll need to be firmer about your boundary. A sign on the sink reading “No dishwashing, please. It costs too much,” might be clear enough. Or even a direct conversation stating that you appreciate your relative’s generosity, and you don’t want them to feel unwelcome, but you are not allowing anyone to hand wash dishes in the home anymore and you’ll feel disrespected if these wishes aren’t honored. Dear Eric: I have a friend who is an angry and impatient driver. On a recent trip, he was the driver, and it was a very stressful experience for his passengers. He cursed at other drivers, slammed on the brakes and yelled loudly in the car. He is also the type of person who is impatient with wait staff, grabs the change out of a cashier’s hand, complains about parking, gets huffy about too many people in a store and gets very angry when he is asked to calm down. Normally, other members of our party try to ignore it or just say “That’s who he is,” but after this last trip I’m wondering if you can give some suggestions on what we can say and how we can behave when we are uncomfortable with his behavior. — Calm Friend Dear Calm: Respectfully, I’m not sure why you’re still friends with this person. This isn’t a dig at you. Rather, this person’s behavior is blatantly antisocial and concerning to boot. It’s hard to see an upside to the friendship. This could be the result of a psychological or emotional issue. Try speaking to him about it at a calm moment. Acknowledge his feelings while also letting him know how his behavior is impacting those around him. “When [x] happened, I felt scared/stressed/uncomfortable. It’s concerning to me, and I feel it’s negatively affecting our friendship. When we’re together, I want to feel [x] instead.” You can also use this opportunity to set a non-negotiable limit to what you’ll be a party to. If you don’t feel safe riding in a car with your friend, say that. And follow that statement with action. Don’t get in the car. Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com . Get local news delivered to your inbox!Chelsea’s surprise defeat by Fulham meant victory over the Foxes stretched their lead to seven points, with a match in hand, with the halfway point of the campaign fast approaching. But Slot is maintaining his level-headed approach despite the clamour growing around their chances of adding another title to the one won in 2020. Tonight's goalscorers 💪 pic.twitter.com/xn9sfZbVow — Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 26, 2024 “If you are in this game for a long time like the players and I am then 20 games before the end you don’t look at it as there are so many challenges ahead of you,” he said after Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah scored to turn around an early deficit following Jordan Ayew’s strike. “Injuries and and a bit of bad luck can happen to any team, it is far too early to be already celebrating – but it is nice for us to be where we are. “I don’t think there was any easy win for us in any of these games; it could have been an easy win against Tottenham but we conceded two and it was then 5-2 – that tells you how difficult it is to win even when you have all your players available. “That is why we have to take it one game at a time. The league table is something of course we are aware of but we always understand how many games there are to go.” Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy felt his side held their own until Salah scored in the 82nd minute. “I think we were in the contest for a result for a long time,” he said. “Three-one was the turning point in the sense the game was done there to get a result. “I think the 60th minute I remember a chanced for Daka to score the equaliser so we were in the game to get a surprising result. “We did well, we did what we could: a good start with the goal but if you speak of a turning point, 3-1 with Salah, the game was done.” Van Nistelrooy left goalkeeper Danny Ward out of the squad after he struggled in the defeat to Wolves and was jeered by his own fans. “The change in goal was one to make and the conversation with Wardy was impressive, the way he was thinking of the team and the club,” added the Dutchman. “I insisted on a conversation and of course it is a private conversation but what I want to share is the person and the professional he is. “I was impressed with that and his willingness for the team and the club to do well. “Really tough what happened for him. We are professionals but human beings as well, when frustration is being directed towards one person that is difficult.”
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WASHINGTON — Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day, which would top the previous holiday-season high set in 2019. The two weekends on either side of Christmas look to be some of the most crowded times on the road and at airports. Trade group Airlines for America also foresees record travel , saying it expected U.S. airlines to carry 54 million passengers during a 19-day period that started Thursday and ends Monday, Jan. 6. The number would represent a 6% increase over last year. A government shutdown that could start as soon as Saturday would likely be too close to the holidays to immediately affect flights and airport operations, but that might change if a shutdown dragged on. Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Friday and Sunday, and on Dec. 26, Dec. 27 and Dec. 29. Flight traffic is expected to be light on both Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The slowest U.S. air-travel day this year — by a wide margin — was Thanksgiving Day. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. “Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.05 a gallon, down from $3.08 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state. Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C., are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company. Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier's flights. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them. Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That's because finding a last-minute flight on another airline yourself tends to be very expensive. “When they rebook you, they will pay for the fare difference. If my flight to visit grandma that I booked six months ago for $200 gets canceled, and I turn around and book a flight four hours from now for $400, I have to pay that difference,” said Sally French, a travel expert at consumer-affairs company Nerdwallet. People traveling on budget airlines with fewer flights and no partnerships with other carriers may face a difficult choice in the event of a canceled flight . “They will put you on the next outgoing Spirit or Frontier flight, but that could be a while from now. Sometimes waiting three days for that next flight is not going to work for you," and paying more to rebook on a big airline might be worthwhile, French said. Some airlines are taking advantage of a provision in the new Transportation Department rule that defined a significant delay as three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for an international flight. According to Brett Snyder, who runs the Cranky Flyer website, airlines that previously issued refunds for shorter delays — Delta, United and JetBlue, for example — are now using the government standard. Delayed flights increase the risk that bags will get lost. Passengers who get separated from their bags should report it to the airline and ask what the airline will cover. Links to the customer-service plans of major U.S. airlines are at the bottom of this page . A government shutdown could occur if Congress doesn’t pass a funding bill with a midnight Friday deadline . Most TSA workers at airports, air traffic controllers and customs agents are considered essential and would be required to work without pay in the event of a shutdown. More uncompensated workers might call out sick the longer a shutdown lasts, which could lead to longer security lines and other delays. That appeared to be the case several weeks into a government shutdown that started in December 2019. "While our personnel have prepared to handle high volumes of travelers and ensure safe travel, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” TSA spokesman Carter Langston said in a statement. AAA advises travelers to “continue with their holiday plans, even if the shutdown materializes,” spokesperson Diaz said. “Airport operations will continue as normal, but perhaps run a bit slower than usual, so travelers should be aware of that.” Airline fares were up 4.7% in November, compared with a year earlier, according to U.S. government figures. But early 2025 is a good time to start planning next year's trips, including for spring breaks and summer vacations. “Because travel is so popular, you're not going to find anything that feels very rock-bottom, but January and February are great times to plan for March, April and May,” Laura Motta, an editor at travel-guide publisher Lonely Planet, said. “If you want to go to Paris in the spring, you need to be thinking about that in January." ___ AP Reporters Mae Anderson in Nashville, Tennessee, and Mike Pesoli in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.Liverpool power seven points clear, Man Utd crash at WolvesPresident-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak