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Findlay: SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was a 'charlatan, not a saint' during Covid Scots Tory leader Russell Findlay said the former First Minister ‘exploited Covid to create division’ and promote independence Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport By TOM GORDON FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL Published: 23:47 GMT, 9 December 2024 | Updated: 23:47 GMT, 9 December 2024 e-mail 2 View comments Nicola Sturgeon was ‘a charlatan not a saint’ during the pandemic, Russell Findlay has claimed. The Scottish Tory leader said people should remember what really happened during the global Covid crisis and not just accept the former First Minister’s account. She ‘exploited Covid to create division’ and promote independence, he said. The blistering attack followed Ms Sturgeon challenging Mr Findlay’s claim that she was ‘hostile’ towards some in the media during her regular Covid briefings. Her office insisted she always ‘displayed competence and compassion’. Mr Findlay, a crime reporter before entering Holyrood in 2021, hit back: ‘It should never be forgotten that Nicola Sturgeon was responsible for sending Covid-positive patients into care homes, leaving Scottish businesses without the help they needed, and keeping our schools closed for far too long with punitive restrictions and stupid rules, including ill-fated proposals to chop the bottom off classroom doors. ‘She was no saint, she was a charlatan who relied on political spin to hide how incompetent she really was.’ Mr Findlay criticised Mr Sturgeon and her predecessor, the late Alex Salmond , in an interview with Holyrood magazine yesterday. He said the SNP had ‘the same levels of entitlement’ as Labour before them and were ‘taking the public for granted, looking after their cronies and trying to shut down scrutiny’. The Scots Tory leader said Nicola Sturgeon was ‘hostile’ towards some in the media during the pandemic briefings Russell Findlay also accused the former First Minister of sending 'Covid-positive patients into care homes' Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport Advertisement The West Scotland MSP went on: ‘From Alex Salmond through to Nicola Sturgeon and continuing, there has been this fairly unpleasant hostility towards journalism and journalists. ‘I know journalism is not a popularity contest, but I know better than to complain about it. I think they were particularly hostile.’ He said some of Ms Sturgeon’s Covid briefings, which raised her profile to new levels UK-wide, were ‘little more than political grandstanding half the time’. Ms Sturgeon’s spokesman responded: ‘Throughout the pandemic Nicola displayed competence and compassion as she spoke directly to the public every day to provide important information.’ Ms Sturgeon is currently working on a memoir about her rise to power and eight years in Bute House. In January last year, Mr Findlay criticised Ms Sturgeon for failing to answer questions about transgender offenders in Scottish prisons. He raised the issue after male-born Isla Bryson was sent to Cornton Vale women’s prison near Stirling to await sentencing for the rapes of two women – carried out prior to declaring that she was transgender. Speaking at Holyrood, Mr Findlay said of the then-First Minister: ‘She presided over gender self-ID in Scotland’s prisons, she invalidated women’s concerns about single sex spaces being compromised, she created the obscene situation in which a double rapist was sent inside a women’s prison. ‘She should be here to answer questions about this mess which is entirely of her own making.’ Writing in The Mail on Sunday in November 2022, Mr Findlay wrote: ‘Nicola Sturgeon and her well-padded coterie of nationalist obsessives have devoted their lives to breaking up the UK. She presides over a vast and self-serving establishment apparatus which is best defined as smug, secretive and arrogant.’ In the article, he also described Ms Sturgeon’s appearances before the committee investigating the delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries and the one looking into the handling of complaints against Alex Salmond as ‘masterclasses in selective amnesia and sleekit evasion’. He went on: ‘Sturgeon likes to remind journalists about her supposedly high intellect with the over-arching tone being that she knows best, she is always right and the paying public really must learn their place and show their respect.’ Alex Salmond Nicola Sturgeon SNP Share or comment on this article: Findlay: SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was a 'charlatan, not a saint' during Covid e-mail Add commentLil Wayne, GloRilla, Camila Cabello to perform at College Football National Championship
Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
Savvy or desperate? WA Liberals welcome Nick Goiran back into fold after 'Clan' exileAvior Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Masco Co. ( NYSE:MAS – Free Report ) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,369 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Masco during the second quarter worth approximately $82,363,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Masco by 956.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 989,640 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $83,070,000 after purchasing an additional 895,950 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Masco by 66.5% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,823,934 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,581,000 after purchasing an additional 728,690 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Masco by 86.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 634,740 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $42,318,000 after purchasing an additional 294,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Masco by 340.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 376,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,690,000 after purchasing an additional 291,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets MAS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Masco from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Masco from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Masco from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Masco from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.96. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 37,814 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total value of $2,961,592.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 36,980 shares in the company, valued at $2,896,273.60. The trade was a 50.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Masco Trading Up 0.9 % Shares of MAS stock opened at $79.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.46. Masco Co. has a twelve month low of $58.91 and a twelve month high of $86.70. Masco ( NYSE:MAS – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Masco had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 615.54%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Masco’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year. Masco Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%. Masco Profile ( Free Report ) Masco Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes home improvement and building products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company's Plumbing Products segment offers faucets, showerheads, handheld showers, valves, bath hardware and accessories, bathing units, shower bases and enclosures, sinks, toilets, acrylic tubs, shower trays, spas, exercise pools, and fitness systems; brass, copper, and composite plumbing system components; connected water products; thermoplastic solutions, extruded plastic profiles, specialized fabrications, and PEX tubing products; and other non-decorative plumbing products. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MAS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Masco Co. ( NYSE:MAS – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Masco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Masco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James has been ruled out of the Los Angeles Lakers' game at Minnesota on Friday night due to soreness in his left foot. James will miss his second straight game when the Lakers return from a four-day break to face the Timberwolves, the Lakers announced Thursday. The top scorer in NBA history was away from the team this week with an excused absence attributed to “personal reasons,” coach JJ Redick said Wednesday. It's unclear whether James will even make the quick round trip to Minnesota before the Lakers' next game at home against Memphis on Sunday. James missed his first game of his record-tying 22nd NBA season when the Lakers beat Portland at home last Sunday. That absence also was attributed to his foot injury. James is averaging 23.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.0 rebounds for the Lakers (13-11), who have lost seven of 10 after a 10-4 start. The Lakers upgraded starter Austin Reaves to questionable for the game at Minnesota after he missed LA's previous five games with a pelvic bruise. Anthony Davis is listed as probable with left plantar fasciitis. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBASYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 03: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo attend the "Journey Through Oz" ... [+] Tour to celebrate the Australian premiere of "Wicked" at State Theatre on November 03, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Saverio Marfia/Getty Images) The movie Wicked opened to rave reviews recently, clocking in at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes with fans going wild over the book-to-theater-to-movie production. Some fans have become a little too enthusiastic, though, singing along in theaters . As we have come to expect, this has caused an uproar on social media . “I’m not paying to hear you sing Wicked ,” chided TikToker and podcast host Munashe Chinyanganya in a mock scolding tone. She suggested singing along in the car before arriving at the movie theater. And, when you get to the theater, putting yourself on mute. (I hope that “mute yourself” idea becomes a meme.) Signs popped up in theaters as well, instructing fans not to sing along during the movie . The same controversy happened when other recent musicals came out as a movie. This Viral Smart Bassinet Is 30% Off With The Snoo Black Friday Sale The 50 Best Black Friday Deals So Far, According To Our Deals Editors Escalating quickly Things escalated quickly in the debate when well-known film critic Richard Roeper chimed in on X. His view? While the fans who want to sing are calling everyone else judgmental, he feels it’s the other way around—that people should wait until the streaming release to sing at home. Frankly, I love when this happens. It’s all fairly harmless so far, although the tone of some of these reports is a bit too self-serious for my tastes. This ABC News report tried to lighten the mood a bit and even brought in a panel to discuss the controversy: My take on Wicked sing-alongs Social media is at its best when there is fair and honest debate over a topic from both sides, and that’s what I’m seeing for the most part. There are mostly jokes and playful jabs at this point, and I imagine theaters are trying to be proactive to prevent any actual dust-ups. BuzzFeed seemed to offer both perspectives about the controversy in a recent report as well. Another report explained how someone rented a theater just to be able to sing along with a group of about 100 friends. “Unless you have won a Tony, no singing will be permitted,” said the person who rented the theater. The final resolution is that theaters are planning to double up showings of the movie Wicked and include an option where everyone can sing along to the movie. That might put the Wicked controversy to rest for good.
By JILL COLVIN NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote. Setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall is intended to maximize daylight during summer months, but has long been subject to scrutiny. Daylight saving time was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. Lawmakers have occasionally proposed getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act , had proposed making daylight saving time permanent. The measure was sponsored by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio , whom Trump has tapped to helm the State Department. Related Articles National Politics | Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’ National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game “Changing the clock twice a year is outdated and unnecessary,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said as the Senate voted in favor of the measure. Health experts have said that lawmakers have it backward and that standard time should be made permanent. Some health groups , including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said that it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology. Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do, the date that clocks are changed varies, creating a complicated tapestry of changing time differences. Arizona and Hawaii don’t change their clocks at all.Shares of some of the market's hottest stocks took a big step back this week as investors reconsidered whether these stocks have run too far too fast in 2024. According to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence , shares of IonQ ( IONQ 12.80% ) fell as much as 22.3% this week, AppLovin ( APP -0.53% ) dropped 20%, and BigBear.ai ( BBAI -5.26% ) fell 28.4%. As of Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET, these three stocks were down 12.2%, 19.2%, and 26.9%, respectively. The hottest stocks on the market It's worth looking at how these three stocks have performed over the past three months alone. You can see they were hot ahead of the election and then took off post-election on speculation the economy would boom in 2025 and beyond. IONQ data by YCharts . The bounce in shares was almost entirely speculation and not a fundamental improvement in the business, so eventually, that speculation ended. Fundamentals may be returning to the forefront While these stocks have been hot, they haven't all been performing all that well financially. AppLovin is very profitable, but the others are not and may be years away from reporting a consistent profit. IONQ Net Income (TTM) data by YCharts . TTM = trailing 12 months. At the same time, valuations are starting to look stretched. Even AppLovin's 26 price-to-sales multiple is extremely high for an established player in advertising. IONQ PS Ratio data by YCharts . PS Ratio = price-to-sales ratio. Add all this together, and valuation may have gotten ahead of fundamentals for all three stocks. Volatility is the price we pay Highly volatile stocks like this can be market beaters over time, but they don't often go up and to the right in a straight line. There are fits and starts both in operations and in valuation. That's part of what we're seeing today. AppLovin is catching up from being undervalued coming out of the impact of Apple 's ATT changes and may have now overshot its fundamentals. IonQ is benefiting from the emerging visibility in quantum computing, particularly after the announcement this week from Alphabet 's Google. BigBear is growing nicely, with revenue up 22% last quarter and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) moving positive. But even those results may be volatile given the nascency of artificial intelligence (AI) in the company's markets. While the past three months were great, that trend reversed this week, and I think that's the takeaway from trading. The market's speculation and fundamental reality Short term, the market is driven by speculation about the next big thing. But going from hot technology, like quantum computing or AI, to a profitable business can be a long journey. And stocks often pull back when the hype cycle ends. This was only one week of trading, so it isn't worth panicking, but it's also a reminder that stocks go down more quickly than they go up. If the market starts to worry about economic growth or interest rates in the coming months, we could see all of the recent gains in stocks given back. And unless a company has profits to fall back on, that can be a real challenge.