Author: Jeffery Carter

General signage before practice for the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena.Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsThe National Collegiate Athletic Association on Thursday updated its transgender student-athlete policy to prohibit trans women from competing in women’s sports, one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating the federal government would defund schools that allow trans women to do so.The new policy says students assigned male at birth may practice with women’s teams and receive related benefits such as medical care, but they are not allowed to engage in formal competition. All students, regardless of gender…

In response to pressure from rivals including Chinese AI company DeepSeek, OpenAI is changing the way its newest AI model, o3-mini, communicates its step-by-step “thought” process. On Thursday, OpenAI announced that free and paid users of ChatGPT, the company’s AI-powered chatbot platform, will see an updated “chain of thought” that shows more of the model’s “reasoning” steps and how it arrived at answers to questions. Subscribers to premium ChatGPT plans who use o3-mini in the “high reasoning” configuration will also see this updated readout, according to OpenAI. “We’re introducing an updated [chain of thought] for o3-mini designed to make it…

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan is increasingly blaming chronic labour shortages, not stagnant demand, as the main reason for its weak economic activity, a justification it may use to lift interest rates beyond what was initially expected. From factories to hotels to restaurants, Japanese businesses are struggling to hit full capacity not because they can’t find customers but because they can’t find workers, goes the commentary now emerging more from the central bank. While the tight labour market is not a new trend, the BOJ’s more vocal concerns about the resulting wage and inflationary pressures…

Affirm shares jumped more than 10% in extended trading on Thursday after the provider of buy now, pay later loans, reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results.Here is how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG.Earnings per share: 23 cents adjusted. That’s not comparable to an expected loss of 15 cents.Revenue: $866 million vs. $807 million expectedAffirm reported gross merchandise volume, or GMV, of $10.1 billion, topping the average estimate of $9.64 billion, according to StreetAccount and surpassing $10 billion for the first time. GMV, a key metric that helps gauge the total value of transactions, increased 35% from a year…

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army helicopter that collided with an American Airlines plane killing 67 people last week had turned off an advanced surveillance system that the federal government has hailed for making airspace safer, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on Thursday.Cruz, who was among a group of lawmakers briefed on the collision by federal authorities, said the Black Hawk helicopter had switched off its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast sometime prior to the Jan. 29 crash.”This was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off,” Cruz said after a briefing from the…

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks. Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed. …

Europe stocks close at record highEuropean stocks have closed at a record high, recuperating their losses since the U.S.-China trade war flared up earlier this week.The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 1.26%. Meanwhile, other European indexes like Germany’s Dax, France’s CAC 40, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 provisionally closed higher between 1.2% and 1.5%.Stock Chart IconStock chart iconStocks open Thursday’s session positiveNovo and Lilly still leaders in obesity drug development despite competition, Barclays saysEmily Field, head of European pharmaceuticals research at Barclays, weighs in on rising competition in the global obesity drug market.Bank of England cuts interest rates as…

Tapestry shares have been on a stellar run, up 120% in just six months. Sylvia Jablonski, Defiance ETFs co-founder and CEO, explains why she would take her gains now. Jablonski appeared on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Thursday to share her views on three stocks making big moves lately. Here were her quick takes during “Three-Stock Lunch.” Tapestry Shares of Tapestry jumped 13% Thursday, hitting an all-time high, after the Kate Spade and Coach parent reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that topped estimates. Tapestry also raised its full-year outlook. Jablonski said the company used price cuts to juice its…

To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Diana saves Steve Trevor who has crashed on Themyscira. He warns her of the great war, World War I, raging across the globe. Wonder Woman…

To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Diana saves Steve Trevor who has crashed on Themyscira. He warns her of the great war, World War I, raging across the globe. Wonder Woman…