EAGAN, Minn. — The embrace was emphatic, a ground-shaking symbol of the Minnesota Vikings’ unlikely emergence as a Super Bowl contender. Late last month, just inside the visitors’ locker room at Lumen Field, two brash, muscular, headstrong men wrapped up each other in the wake of the Vikings’ 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, provoking knowing smiles from witnesses conscious of their budding bromance. A feel-good moment featuring Brian Flores and Ryan Grigson might not be on the bingo cards of most NFL fans, let alone either man’s former coworkers. Yet seeing Flores, once a Boston College linebacker, and Grigson,…
Author: usaeverydaylife
In the days after Donald J. Trump was re-elected president, one of his most high-profile stops was at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Madison Square Garden.Mr. Trump’s appearance in the front row was notable, as was the presence of some of his closest confidants, like Elon Musk, who sat alongside him. But few in attendance for the fights would have recognized the other man sitting beside the president-elect.Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s vast sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund, watched the action from ringside, and is getting even closer to being part of the action. A…
Investors have an opportunity to nab some solid yields in preferred securities, despite potential headwinds this year, according to Bank of America. Preferreds have features of both stocks and bonds. They trade on exchanges like equities, but also have par values and pay a stream of income. Like bonds, when the price of a preferred goes down, the yields rise. Despite a sell-off in December, preferred stock saw favorable returns last year. The broad market $25 par preferreds, as measured by the ICE BofA Core Plus Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index, returned 7% in 2024 — better than investment-grade corporate…
Erin Collins, national taxpayer advocate at the Taxpayer Advocate Service, speaks at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2021.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAs the IRS faces scrutiny from a Republican-controlled Congress, the agency’s internal watchdog has urged lawmakers to preserve taxpayer service and technology funding.The National Taxpayer Advocate on Wednesday released its annual report to Congress, which criticized the “extreme imbalance in funding priorities” when comparing the billions of dollars allocated via the Inflation Reduction Act.While the tens of billions earmarked for enforcement has “generated controversy,” there’s been “strong bipartisan support” for taxpayer services…
After 272 games and 1,387 touchdowns — and Camryn Bynum’s many interpretive dances — the NFL’s regular season is officially in the books. It was an awesome, serpentine and sometimes surreal four months of football. Cheers to all of us that made it through and did not blink.Of course, the playoffs are a zero-sum game, and only one person will be commemorated Most Valuable Player. But there was so much to celebrate across the past 18 weeks, and the Super Bowl outcome certainly does not negate all the coolness that preceded it.Here, we’ll remember the top three on-field moments from…
Christian Ulloriaq Jeppesen remembers how this all started.In 2019, during Donald J. Trump’s first term as president, Mr. Trump floated the idea of the United States buying the island of Greenland. At the time, most people in Greenland (and Denmark, the European country that controls it) thought his suggestion was a joke.“Everyone said, ‘Ha-ha, you can’t just buy a country, he doesn’t mean it,’” Mr. Jeppesen, a native Greenlander and a radio producer, said by telephone. “Obviously that was the wrong way to take it. Look at where we are today.”Now Mr. Trump has doubled down on his insistence that…
It’s no secret that large corporations are using generative artificial intelligence to get ahead — but many small businesses are finding ways to use this technology to their advantage, too.To be clear, there’s still a large chunk (43%) of small businesses that have never even considered using gen AI in their operations, according to the 2024 State of Small Business survey of 1,300 respondents from small business software company Gusto. But nearly a third are experimenting with it while a quarter have already seen the upside, the survey found.Nicholas Tremper, senior economist at Gusto, said the biggest benefit for small…
Federal Reserve officials at their December meeting expressed concern about inflation and the impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could have, indicating that they would be moving more slowly on interest rate cuts because of the uncertainty, minutes released Wednesday showed.Without calling out Trump by name, the meeting summary featured at least four mentions about the impact that changes in immigration and trade policy could have on the U.S. economy.Since Trump’s November election victory, he has signaled plans for aggressive, punitive tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada as well as the other U.S. trading partners. In addition, he intends to…
Smoke billows as fire burns while powerful winds fueling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area force people to evacuate, at the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, U.S. January 8, 2025. David Swanson | ReutersFear and uncertainty surrounding the wildfires in California appear to be weighing on shares of Edison International, whose Southern California Edison is the power utility for the areas directly surrounding the city of Los Angeles.The stock was down 13% in afternoon trading Wednesday.Stock Chart IconStock chart iconUtility stock Edison International fell sharply Wednesday.The drop comes as multiple large fires are burning around Los Angeles, with strong winds…
Fire engulfs a home as the Eaton Fire moves through the area on January 08, 2025 in Altadena, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesFederal student loan borrowers affected by the wildfires ripping across Southern California have relief options if they’re worried about keeping up with their payments as they recover.The same holds true for other people with education debt who find themselves grappling with extreme weather and climate disasters.”Borrowers impacted by natural disasters may qualify for temporary relief from student loan payments,” said Carolina Rodriguez, director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program, based in New York.More from Personal Finance:After the…
