Iran To Hold Nuclear Talks With 3 European Powers
Struggling to sell their network speakers, Sonos is set to have a crack at trying to make money flogging advertising, subscriptions and gaining click revenue from streaming giants with a new Hubbl competitor. As tipped by ChannelNews months ago Sonos is building out a new TV operating system, now we know it’s called Ventura with a Sonos streaming box tipped to retail for around A$295, the Hubbl box only costs $99 and is already in big demand. They will also compete head on with LG Electronics whose OLED TV’s that come with Web OS that is being used to strip out consumer viewing data every night, with the data then sold to the highest bidder including political parties. Trade Desk, the company who is working with Sonos to develop the new OS claims that ” Ventura represents a major advance in streaming TV operating systems as it solves key issues with prevailing market systems today, including frustrating user experiences, inefficient advertising supply chains, and content conflicts-of-interest”. Sonos App. The connection to Sonos was first revealed in September when it was revealed that Sonos had engaged partners to develop the OS which is based on the Android AOSP, the open-source version not controlled by Google. Trade Desk describe themselves as the fastest growing ‘demand-side platform’ that offers offering agencies and advertisers best-in-class technology to manage digital campaigns. ChannelNews understands that Sonos is punting on selling advertising on the platform while collecting and selling data to third parties about the viewing and listening habits of Sonos customers with the Companies current Radio and music streaming service set to be integrated into the new OS. Trade Desk admits that the new Sonos Ventura is being developed to deliver cross-platform content discovery, personalization, subscription management and advertising. Unlike Hubbl, Sonos will not be able to deliver the likes of Kayo or the sports experience spanning Formula One, AFL or NRL games that a subscription to Kayo delivers. It’s believed that Sonos plans to launch Ventura in 2025 to compete with Apple TV and Google TV Streamer. After its poor foray into the premium headphones market with their new Ace offering which is already being discounted out Sonos is desperate for an uplift in sales with the Company taking to designing its own streaming hardware. The inhouse development of a new Sonos app proved to be a disaster with customers Sono’s speakers crashing around the world. TV specialists FlatpanelsHD claims that “Considering the rocky last several months that Sonos has endured — through a mess of its own making their latest Trade Desk arrangement sounds like yet another reason for customers to be wary about the company’s current trajectory”. Trade Desk has declined to share any images of its newly announced Ventura operating system however they are claiming that the new OS will deliver “A much cleaner supply chain for streaming TV advertising, minimizing supply chain hops and costs”. They also claim that Sonos will ‘maximum a ROI for every advertising dollar and optimized yield from publishers whose streaming packages are running on the new OS’. The problem for Sonos is that the likes of Foxtel and every major TV platform has already made cross-platform content discovery a priority. Most of them can already bill you in one place for subscriptions from different entertainment apps with the low cost Hubbl a classic example. Trade Desk’s founder and CEO has been unable to explain how the new Sonos offering will stand out from a handful of entrenched heavyweights already in market in Australia. The Verg claims that ‘We don’t know what the must-have feature will be, but we have an idea of when we’ll likely see it. The Sono’s streaming device is rumoured to arrive sometime in 2025, and by then, I expect the company will still be working to rebuild momentum (and repair customer trust) after this whole app saga. The Ace headphones were immediately overshadowed by the controversy, and they still aren’t selling well’. Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said “building momentum in headphones is taking longer than we had originally anticipated” during a recent earnings call. The Verge writer said ” I maintain that they’re very nice headphones! Sonos playing in that category makes far more sense to me than releasing some also-ran TV box’. The Sonos of a year or two ago could have afforded a gamble like getting into video. But the already-reeling Sonos of late 2024 had better have something very compelling in its back pocket for this to make sense.’ ‘At least it’s got the operating system part figured out. And the ad revenue side, too’. ‘ Sonos just needs a convincing reason for people to buy its first effort in another very saturated market — if one exists’ especially as boxes such as Hubbl and Apple TV, Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV stick’ are cheaper, readily available and are trusted to not crash and burn similar to Sono’s recent app disaster.Published 5:33 pm Sunday, November 24, 2024 By Data Skrive As they get ready to square off against the Orlando Magic (11-7) on Monday, November 25 at Spectrum Center, with tip-off at 7:00 PM ET, the Charlotte Hornets (6-10) have six players currently listed on the injury report. The Magic’s injury report has two players on it. Watch the NBA, other live sports and more on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Use our link to sign up for a free trial. Their last time out, the Hornets lost 125-119 to the Bucks on Saturday. LaMelo Ball scored a team-best 50 points for the Hornets in the loss. The Magic are coming off of a 111-100 win against the Pistons in their last game on Saturday. Franz Wagner recorded 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Magic. Sign up for NBA League Pass to get live and on-demand access to NBA games. Get tickets for any NBA game this season at StubHub. Catch NBA action all season long on Fubo. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .
TVA to host public information session discussing future plans
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By Stephen Beech via SWNS Cleaning surfaces every two hours at airports cuts potentially deadly norovirus infections by 83%, according to a new study. Researchers found that airport restaurants had the highest risk of norovirus transmission . But frequently disinfecting surfaces, mask-wearing and antimicrobial surface coatings at the transport hubs can all help prevent the highly contagious illness - also known as the winter vomiting bug - from spreading, say scientists. Study author Professor Nan Zhang, of the Beijing University of Technology in China, said: "Norovirus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and is responsible for about 685 million cases and 200,000 deaths each year. "The virus is primarily transmitted through surfaces and outbreaks during air travel are especially common, due to the large number of public surfaces in airports." To investigate the risk of norovirus infection from surfaces among passengers in different zones of the airport, the research team collected real touch data from 21.3 hours of video, which captured almost 26,000 touches. They developed a model of surface transmission and simulated the risk of infection from norovirus and the effectiveness of various interventions in different airport areas. Zhang said: "The touch data showed that, without any interventions, restaurants at airports had the highest risk of norovirus transmission, with approximately 4.6 out of 51,494 travelers infected. "Disinfecting public surfaces every two hours reduced the risk of norovirus infection per visit to the airport by 83.2%. "In contrast, handwashing every two hours reduced the risk by only 2%, and mask-wearing 50% of the time reduced risk by 48.0%, because masks stop people from touching their face. "Furthermore, using antimicrobial copper or copper-nickel alloy coatings for most public surfaces lowered the infection risk by 15.9% to 99.2%." He says the study, published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology , provides "crucial" insights for developing infection prevention and control strategies specifically tailored for norovirus within airport environments. Zhang noted that the data for the study was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic , so surface-touching behaviors may have been different from normal. But he said that, overall, the simulated results indicated that public surface disinfection, mask-wearing wearing and the use of antimicrobial surfaces are effective ways of controlling the spread of norovirus via surfaces. Zhang added: "Regular surface infection is much more effective than regular handwashing for blocking norovirus transmission via fomite route in airports."Billionaires' wealth more than doubles in 10 years: UBS
San Jose Sour cocktail arrives just in time for the holidays
By HALELUYA HADERO, Associated Press President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s choice for solicitor general. Related Articles The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table. He has been holding meetings with foreign leaders and business officials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida while he assembles his administration, including a meeting last week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew. Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral. He said earlier this year that he still believed there were national security risks with TikTok, but that he opposed banning it. The filings Friday come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The law was was signed by President Joe Biden in April after it passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. TikTok and ByteDance filed a legal challenge afterwards. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute , leading TikTok to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The brief from Trump said he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.” In their brief to the Supreme Court on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance argued the federal appeals court erred in its ruling and based its decision on “alleged ‘risks’ that China could exercise control” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its foreign affiliates. The Biden administration has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk due to its connections to China. Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information. But the government “concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so,” TikTok’s legal filing said, adding that the U.S. fears are predicated on future risks. In its filing Friday, the Biden administration said because TikTok “is integrated with ByteDance and relies on its propriety engine developed and maintained in China,” its corporate structure carries with it risk.The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by January 19 while the government emphasised its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Mr Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case. The filings come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for January 10 on whether the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute, leading TikTok to appeal to the Supreme Court. The brief from Mr Trump said he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office”.
Warren Buffett bought Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A 0.99% ) ( BRK.B 0.95% ) about 60 years ago. At the time the business was in decline and the purchase seemed like folly. But today, Berkshire Hathaway is worth more than $1 trillion. And it reached this height thanks to Buffett smartly reinvesting the company's cash over the decades. Given his impressive track record, I steadily study Buffett's mentality to improve my own investing skills. My office is littered with highlighted and underlined copies of his annual letters to shareholders as well as worn-out books on Buffett. Suffice it to say I'm a student and a fan. On Nov. 14, Berkshire Hathaway released its quarterly stock holdings to the public. Normally I'm intrigued by the investing decisions. But this time, the company sold Ulta Beauty ( ULTA -0.12% ) and Floor & Decor ( FND 4.65% ) . And I think those moves are mistakes. I have high respect for Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway , so I don't say this flippantly. But I believe shares of Ulta Beauty and Floor & Decor are poised to outperform the S&P 500 over the next five years. And that's why I humbly disagree with Berkshire's decisions to sell. 1. Ulta Beauty With more than 1,400 locations already, Ulta Beauty is a large retail chain for cosmetics , which suggests future growth opportunities are limited. This is reflected in management's guidance for 2024, which implies a slight pullback in net sales as same-store sales modestly drop. This lackluster growth has investors souring on the stock. Growth is certainly important. But there are other paths to strong stock performance and Ulta Beauty has what it takes. For starters, the company is strongly profitable even in slower times for business. It expects an operating margin of close to 13% this year and it expects to keep it above 12% long term. With profits, Ulta Beauty is repurchasing shares -- it just authorized a $3 billion buyback plan in October. And reducing the share count can boost its earnings per share (EPS) at a much faster rate than revenue. In fact, management expects double-digit EPS growth from here. Double-digit EPS growth can be enough to boost Ulta Beauty stock at a faster rate than the S&P 500. Moreover, I believe there's little risk with this investment. Cosmetic spending is extremely resilient. And the stock trades at its third lowest price-to-earnings (P/E) valuation ever, mitigating downside risk if profits keep climbing. ULTA PE Ratio data by YCharts 2. Floor & Decor Floor & Decor stock has dropped 30% from its all-time high. And the short story is the home-improvement market is contracting, impacting the company's sales. Its same-store sales are expected to drop about 8% year over year in 2024. But I don't think it's a problem to worry about right now. As the chart below shows, sales growth largely mirrors existing U.S. home sales. US Existing Home Sales data by YCharts I'm not an eternal optimist here. To the contrary, if home sales were to pick up and Floor & Decor's sales still remained challenged, that would be a time for serious concern. But I believe fears are premature. The housing market is cyclical and should eventually pick back up, boosting Floor & Decor when that happens. With only 241 locations at the end of the third quarter of 2024, Floor & Decor has plenty of room for expansion. In fact, management is targeting 500 locations long term. In 2024 it's opening 30 new stores total, 20 of which it had already opened prior to the end of Q3. And in 2025 it expects to open 25 more -- a slower pace than usual, acknowledging the soft housing market. During this lean time, Floor & Decor's management is maintaining profitability by cutting expenses where it can. Granted, its profit margin through the first three quarters of 2024 is only 4.7% -- it's been as high as 9% in recent years. But these profits mean that the company is still getting stronger financially, setting it up well for when the housing market recovers. I'm not sure when the housing market will recover and neither is Floor & Decor's management. But given the usual ebb and flow in the housing market, I expect a recovery within the next five years. And when that happens, I would expect sales to bounce back and profit margins to rise to more historical levels. And this will almost certainly translate to a strong performance for the stock. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold Ulta Beauty stock and Floor & Decor stock and the holding company is known for making great investing decisions. But if you're looking to outperform the S&P 500 over the next five years, I believe both Ulta Beauty and Floor & Decor provide low-risk chances to do just that. For this reason, I humbly disagree with the decision to sell and believe both stocks are good ones to buy today.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 461 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1%. Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia’s revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another “flawless” profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls “the Godfather of AI.” The stock meandered through Thursday as well, dragging the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. How Nvidia’s stock performs has more impact than any other because it’s grown into Wall Street’s most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.7% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ’S Wholesale Club rose 8.3% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ended up rising Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 4.7% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company’s oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. All told, the S&P 500 rose 31.60 points to 5,948.71. The Dow jumped 461.88 to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite added 6.28 to 18,972.42. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Bitcoin got a further boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January . Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors. Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In stock markets abroad, shares of India’s Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world’s richest people is accused of concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Rams claim CB Emmanuel Forbes off waivers from Washington