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Warren Buffett’s firm reports $12.8 billion loss as investments fall but its insurers performed well

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company has reported a nearly $13 billion loss in the third quarter as the paper value of its investments fell, but the companies it owns — particularly the insurers — generally performed well.Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday that it lost $12.8 billion, or $8,824 per Class A share, in the quarter. That’s significantly bigger than the $2.8 billion loss, or $1,907 per Class A share, that it reported a year ago.But most of those investment losses are unrealized because Berkshire didn’t actually sell most of its stocks with its biggest holding being a massive stake in Apple. Accounting rules require it to include the value of its investments, which it put at $341.1 billion at the end of the quarter, in its earnings. Last quarter, it said its stock portfolio was worth $353 billion.That’s why Buffett has long said investors are better served focusing on Berkshire’s operating earnings, which exclude the value of its investme...

Today in Sports – Alex Ovechkin passes Gordie Howe for most goals scored for a single team

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

Nov. 51927 — Walter Hagen beats Joe Turnesa 1-up to capture the PGA Championship for the fourth consecutive year and fifth overall.1955 — Montreal’s Jean Beliveau scores the second fastest hat trick in NHL history in a 4-2 win over Boston. Beliveau, who scores all four Canadien goals, gets three in 44 seconds against Bruins goaltender Terry Sawchuk on the same power play.1961 — Bill Stacy of the St. Louis Cardinals returns two interceptions for touchdowns in a 31-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.1966 — Virgil Carter of Brigham Young passes for 513 yards and rushes for 86 to set an NCAA record for total yards with 599 in a 53-33 victory over Texas Western.1977 — BYU sophomore Marc Wilson sets an NCAA record with 571 passing yards in a 38-8 rout of Utah.1978 — Oakland coach John Madden becomes the 13th head coach to win 100 games in the NFL as the Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs 20-10.1988 — Alysheba becomes the richest racehorse when he beats Seeking the Gold by a half-length i...

Bob Dylan shows ’em how it’s done

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

Bob Dylan is 82.That’s a scandalous age.In an era when Mick Jagger is 80, looks 70, moves like he’s 45, and acts like he’s 25, being 82 is a pop music sin. Youth rules (Billie! Olivia! Lil Yachty and Lil Pump!) as it did when Dylan plugged in at Newport in 1965. And when youth can’t be factual, it must be perceived (see Jagger, Tom Cruise, Carly Rae Jepsen, the cast of every show about teens).But Bob Dylan doesn’t want to be young, act young or look young. On Friday at the Orpheum Theater — the first of a three night stand at the venue — Dylan began by singing, “This ol’ river keeps on rollin’, though/No matter what gets in the way and which way the wind does blow/And as long as it does I’ll just sit here and watch the river flow.”Bar band frontman and Greek chorus, Dylan spent the night like he’s spent most of the past 35 years, on tour, acting as an impish, earnest, introspective tour guide of mortality.Mining recent album “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” Dylan stuffed his set with new son...

Rogers to lock out former Shaw technicians Monday after contract talks break down

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

VANCOUVER — A breakdown in contract negotiations has prompted plans by Rogers Communication Inc. to lock out nearly 300 former Shaw technicians on Monday after the union issued a 72-hour notice of workers’ intent to walk off the job.United Steelworkers union Local 1944 Unit 60, which represents the workers in Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey and Langley, B.C., says it notified Rogers it planned to begin a series of rotating strikes at noon on Monday after rejecting a deal from the company.But Rogers says it will lock the employees out at that time, describing the move as a reluctant step to ensure the company can continue to provide service for its customers without interruption.The former Shaw technicians, who were absorbed by Rogers when the companies merged earlier this year, support homes and businesses for internet, phone and television services throughout B.C.’s Lower Mainland.Their concerns largely centre on job security amid accusations the company has been increasing...

Why do we drive on the right side of the road in the US?

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

(WHTM) -- Driving in the United States is very common, with over 228 million people taking to the roads in 2019. But have you ever wondered why, in the U.S., we drive on the right side of the road and not the left?According to National Geographic, around 75% of the world also drives on the right side of the road while most of the United Kingdom and its colonies drive on the left side. So why can't there be a standard system when it comes to driving? National Geographic states that driving a certain way on a road was a cultural custom. It also had to do with most people being right-hand dominant. What to do if a deer runs in front of your car? In Ancient Rome, Romans would drive their chariots with their more dominant hand, which would normally be the right hand. This would allow them to whip the horse with the less dominant left hand.This was done so there was less of a risk of accidentally whipping a passing chariot. But if the driver needed to battle from the chariot, then the ...

Don't fall for it: These 3 phone scams are most popular now

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – A few years ago, scammers were calling every number they could get their hands on with "urgent warnings" about expiring car warranties. Then, in 2022, student loan scams were all the rage. But the Federal Communications Commission cracked down on both types of scams last year, proposing massive fines and shutting down robocalls. Faced with that disciplinary action, scammers didn't quit. They got crafty. Three different types of scams are now flooding people's phones, said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a service that screens and blocks spam calls. How to avoid the text message scam putting your cash at risk One scam that has exploded in popularity targets small business owners, Quilici explained, and threatens to take their business listing off of Google – unless you pay up."So if you're a dog walker, and you've got this little Google page, or Yelp listing, you real rely on people searching your name," he said. "They threaten to take those away and they pretend to be Y...

Americans urged to leave this country immediately

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

Officials with the U.S. Department of State are recommending that all Americans leave Lebanon while they still can as cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies.The State Department issued the recommendation on X, formerly Twitter, for Americans to leave the Middle East country "while commercial flights remain available” due to the "unpredictable security situation" in the region. The warning comes as Israeli forces continue to exchange fire with Hezbollah fighters along the border as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages on. Iran-backed Hezbollah is closely aligned with Hamas and concerns are mounting that the regional conflict could escalate.Hezbollah’s leader has praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack when militants attacked farming villages, towns and military posts, killing more than 1,400 people — most of them Israeli civilians — and taking hundreds of hostages back to Gaza while Israeli forces were slow to respond.Smoke rises from Israeli artillery she...

Live updates | Palestinians report deadly Israeli airstrikes including in southern Gaza

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

Palestinians in Gaza said Israeli airstrikes left multiple fatalities across the besieged enclave, including in the south where Israel had told civilians to seek refuge as its ground operation intensifies in northern Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making a new push to ease the plight of civilians. He met with Arab foreign ministers on Saturday in Jordan, the day after talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted there could be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released.The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 9,448, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. The UNRWA says 72 of its staff members have been killed.More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the ...

San Jose Sharks exec lends insight to Erik Karlsson trade: Is it a blueprint for future deals?

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

SAN JOSE – Speculation continued for months earlier this year as to how the San Jose Sharks were going to trade Erik Karlsson and get decent value in return without retaining a huge amount of money.Finally, when the three-team trade was finalized on Aug. 6 and Karlsson became a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Sharks had kept only $1.5 million of the three-time Norris Trophy winner’s $11.5 million salary cap hit on their books through the end of the 2026-2027 season.In the offseason, Sharks president Jonathan Becher said general manager Mike Grier spoke to either him or owner Hasso Plattner nearly every other day over an approximately eight-week period about where the trade process stood.“There were occasional GMs that lobbed lowball offers at us,” Sharks president Jonathan Becher said recently, but that in the end, “there were three, sometimes four teams that were in the neighborhood of a reasonable deal, and eventually we got one done that makes sense.”Karlsson and the Pengu...

College basketball 2023-24: The Hotline’s preseason top-25 rankings

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:26:20 GMT

The Pac-12 placed just two teams in the Associated Press preseason top-25 rankings, fewer than any other major conference. The Hotline is a tad more optimistic.We see at least four teams capable of reaching the NCAA Tournament in the Pac-12’s final season of existence.Arizona and USC are the obvious picks; Colorado and UCLA also possess reasonable paths into March Madness. Anyone else? We won’t dismiss Arizona State or Oregon as at-large contenders. Beyond that, the pickings are a tad thin.Presenting the Hotline’s top-25 rankings for a season that begins Monday.1. KansasHunter Dickinson’s arrival (from Michigan) adds one of the nation’s top players to a stout group of returnees. It might take time for the pieces to coalesce — two-thirds of the roster is new — but the Jayhawks could be the NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed come Selection Sunday.2. PurdueThe Boilermakers were a lock for the upper echelon of the sport the moment center Zach Edey announced his r...