2024

Thanksgiving week means rivalry week in college football, and the lineup has no shortage of spicy matchups for our panel of pickers to predict as November draws to a close. With every team in the US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25 in action, our experts will have a full plate of 22 games to consider.

The headliner, of course, is the anticipated reunion between No. 3 Texas and No. 19 Texas A&M. Not that it needs any additional drama, but the prime-time clash in College Station has the added stakes of a berth in the SEC championship game.

The weekend gets an early start Thursday night as No. 18 Tulane hosts No. 23 Memphis. The only other Top 25 showdown on the weekend is a doozy as No. 14 South Carolina visits No. 12 Clemson. Of course, the lineup also features the usual slate of traditional season-ending contests, including No. 2 Ohio State taking on Michigan, No. 5 Notre Dame traveling to Southern California, and the Iron Bowl tilt between No. 13 Alabama and Auburn.

BREAKDOWN: Winners and losers from College Football Playoff rankings

BIG LOSERS: Committee boosts easy schedules over quality wins

Here’s how our staffers think everything will go down.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Business

Reddit targets international users for ad growth, teases bolstered search feature

Reddit is ramping up efforts to attract more users outside of the U.S., putting countries like India and Brazil in focus as it looks to unlock new advertising opportunities, a top company executive told CNBC.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jen Wong, chief operating officer of Reddit, said other platforms have 80% to 90% of users outside of the U.S. while about half of her company’s current users are based internationally.

“So that points to a lot of our future user growth opportunity definitely outside of the U.S. and local language,” Wong told CNBC. “The opportunity, the way I think about it, is every language is an opportunity for another Reddit.”

Reddit has historically been an English-language platform, but the company is looking to expand its international reach with the help of artificial intelligence translations. This year, Reddit launched a feature that automatically translates its site into different languages.

Wong said that around 20 to 30 languages could be available by the end of the year.

Among the company’s fastest-growing markets in terms of users is the U.K., the Philippines, India and Brazil.

“India’s growing really rapidly,” Wong said. “We see a big opportunity in India.”

The Reddit COO said that India has a large English-speaking internet population, and there are lots of engaged users around topics like cricket and the Bollywood movie industry.

Wong also said Reddit has been meeting with “mods” — or moderators, who oversee content on communities on the site.

Growth in markets like India can propel Reddit to boost ad revenue, its main source of income.

International markets account for just over 17% of Reddit’s revenue currently, according to the company’s third-quarter results, despite around 50% of its users being located outside the U.S.

Wong said that Reddit first attempts cross-border advertising for international markets, such as when a European brand is looking to advertise in the U.S. Then, when Reddit hits about 10% of a country’s internet population in a country, there is an opportunity to build teams focused on local advertising — like an Indian brand advertising to Indian users.

This has not yet happened in many markets, but Reddit is keeping an eye on many of its fastest growing countries, Wong said.

Reddit users will know that it’s not always the easiest site to find what you’re looking for — a drawback that the company is now looking to change with new search tools.

During Reddit’s third-quarter earnings call last month, CEO Steve Huffman called search on the platform a “focused investment” in 2025.

Wong expanded that the company is thinking of its search feature as a way of helping users to navigate around the site to find similar topics or posts that they may have otherwise missed.

“You land on a post and but it’s almost like a dead end. But there are a lot of posts, often like that post, or there are other posts like that post in other communities. And so giving you a total view of what that looks like is a really interesting opportunity,” Wong said.

“Guiding you through Reddit as you follow that line of thinking, is how we think of the opportunity.”

Wong declined to say more except, “We’re testing a lot of things.”

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Sports

Podcast: Playoff rankings fallout and predictions for Week 14

The College Football Playoff rankings release before the penultimate week of the season have created some clarity on where things stand ahead of Selection Sunday next month.

Mississippi and Alabama got knocked back and look to be long shots to make the field as an at-large team. The loss by the Crimson Tide at Oklahoma also raised some serious questions about the Kalen DeBoer and the challenges of following a coaching great like Nick Saban. Clemson, meanwhile, got a boost in their hopes by slotting ahead of those two SEC schools. Could the Tigers get in the field with a defeat of South Carolina if there are some upsets Saturday?

Speaking of Week 14, there are some huge games to watch. Ohio State-Michigan might have lost some luster but it’s still critical for the Buckeyes and Ryan Day. Texas and Texas A&M renew their rivalry with SEC title game implications. Are Georgia, Tennessee and Notre Dame possible upset victims? The chaotic Big 12 race with four teams tied for first also will sort itself out. Who will be the big winners?

Dan Wolken and Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports discuss these topics and more in this week’s version of the College Football Fix.

BREAKDOWN: Winners and losers from College Football Playoff rankings

BIG LOSERS: Committee boosts easy schedules over quality wins

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Tennessee, ACC get major playoff boost

CALM DOWN: The five biggest overreactions from Week 13

UP AND DOWN: Winners and losers from Week 13 in college football

TIEBREAKERS: Where Power Four conference races stand after Week 13

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Politics

Trump Cabinet nominees, appointees targeted with ‘violent, unAmerican threats’

Nearly a dozen of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with ‘violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,’ prompting a ‘swift’ law enforcement response, Fox News Digital has learned.

The ‘attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting,’’ according to Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. One of the officials issued a statement describing his incident as having involved a ‘pipe bomb threat’ with ‘a pro-Palestinian themed message.’

Sources told Fox News Digital that John Ratcliffe, the nominee to be CIA director; Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense; and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for UN ambassador, were among those targeted. Brooke Rollins, who Trump has tapped to be secretary of agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to be EPA administrator, separately revealed they were also targeted.

‘Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,’ she told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. ‘In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.’

Local law enforcement officials responded to the threats and visited the homes of several nominees and appointees, Fox News Digital has learned. New York State Police said in a statement that members and K9 units ‘trained in explosives detection swept’ Stefanik’s home in Saratoga ‘and did not locate any explosive devices.’

The FBI also issued a statement on Wednesday noting the bureau was ‘aware’ of the spate of incidents.

‘The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners,’ it said. ‘We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.’

Leavitt said Trump and the transition team ‘are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future.’

‘With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us,’ she said.

Zeldin was among several officials who posted on social media or released statements about being targeted. He also revealed details about his particular incident.

‘A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at my home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,’ the Zeldin statement read. ‘My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure.’

Stefanik’s office confirmed in a post on X that she was one of the targets of the incident.

‘This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three-year-old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence,’ the post stated. ‘New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7.’

Rollins, in a post on X, said her ‘home and family’ were threatened.

‘This morning, we learned that a threat was issued against our home and family,’ she wrote. ‘Thanks to the swift efforts by the @fortworthpd we were unharmed and quickly returned home. I want to express my deep gratitude to the law-enforcement professionals who did their utmost, in both speed and expertise, to protect us — as they protect our community every single day.’

Trump’s pick for Labor secretary, GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, as well as his choice to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner, posted on social media that they were also targeted.

‘Last night, my family and I were targeted with a pipe bomb threat at our Oregon home,’ DeRemer posted on X. ‘Thanks to the quick response of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, we are safe. We deeply appreciate their dedication to protecting our community.’

‘On the eve of Thanksgiving, my home was targeted by a bomb threat, as were the homes of several of my colleagues,’ Turner posted on X. ‘I’m grateful for the swift and professional response from local law enforcement in ensuring everyone’s safety. Nothing will shake my resolve to serve in @realDonaldTrump’s administration and bring much-needed change to @HUDgov.’

Local police officials in Florida also released a statement that a family member of Matt Gaetz, who recently withdrew himself as Trump’s attorney general nominee, received a threat, but it is unclear if there is any connection to the other threats.

‘We received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetz’s supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area around 9 a.m. this morning,’ the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office posted on Facebook. ‘A family member resides at the address but former Congressman Gaetz is NOT a resident. The mailbox however was cleared and no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched with negative results.’

A White House spokesperson said Wednesday in a statement that President Biden has been briefed on the situation.

‘The White House is in touch with federal law enforcement and the President-elect’s team, and continues to monitor the situation closely,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Federal law enforcement’s response, alongside state and local authorities, remains ongoing. The President and the Administration unequivocally condemn threats of political violence.’

Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan spoke with Fox News on ‘The Story’ on Wednesday and said that up until today he had not been taking threats against himself and his family ‘seriously,’ but after the recent developments with other officials being threatened, he now does.

The threats come mere months after Trump survived two assassination attempts.

Just days before accepting the Republican nomination, Trump was shot at a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. During the event, Trump was displaying a chart highlighting skyrocketing illegal immigration under the Biden-Harris administration. As he turned toward the chart, he was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear by the now-deceased would-be-assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks. Trump credits the chart for saving his life.

Weeks later, in September, another would-be-assassin hid in the bushes at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The alleged gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, had an AK-47-style rifle pointing through the fence toward Trump as the GOP nominee was golfing. Trump was rushed off the golf course by U.S. Secret Service agents unharmed.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Stocks

Five Ways You Should Use ChartLists Starting Today!

Having used many technical analysis platforms over my career as a technical analyst, I can tell you with a clear conscience that the ChartList feature on StockCharts provides exceptional capabilities to help you identify investment opportunities and manage risk in your portfolio.

Once you get your portfolio or watch list set up using the ChartList feature, you can use these five powerful tools to break down the list of stocks or ETFs, identify patterns of strength and weakness, and anticipate where the next opportunities may arise!

Summary View to Identify Outliers

The Summary view is a great starting point, sort of like a high level menu of what all we can do with this list of charts. All of the columns are sortable, so we can begin to find patterns and relationships by grouping similar stocks by sector or sorting by market cap.

One of my favorite things to do right off the bat is sort by “Next Earnings Date”. Whether you’re a long-term investor or a swing trader or somewhere in between, you always want to know when earnings could create a sudden move in either direction!

ChartList View to Analyze Technical Patterns

Once I’ve made some general assessments about the stocks on my list using the Summary View, I like to use the ChartList view to review each chart, one by one. This view uses the alphabetical order of the titles of your charts, so make sure to add numbers before the tickers if you prefer a particular order.

Especially when I’m reviewing a longer list of tickers, I’ll use the ChartList view to go through a bunch of charts, jotting down tickers on my notepad for further review later in the day. It’s easy to switch all of the charts to a different ChartStyle, which comes in handy if you want to switch to weekly or monthly charts, for example. Just select one of the charts, change the ChartStyle, then look for a link called “Apply ChartStyle to All” at the bottom!

CandleGlance View to Separate Into Buckets

When I worked at a large financial institution in Boston, I would print out a bunch of charts representing a particular fund’s holdings, then spread the charts out on a conference table. I’d look for similar patterns and structures, and start to separate the charts into bullish, bearish, and neutral piles. From there, I could focus my attention on the most actionable charts.

The CandleGlance view provides this capability without having to print out all of those charts! We can easily detect similar patterns and signals, helping me spend my time on the most actionable charts within a larger list. I can’t tell you how much time this one feature has saved me in terms of efficiently breaking down a list of charts! Don’t forget that you can customize the ChartStyle you use for this view, allowing you to apply your own proprietary charting approach to this visualization.

Performance View to Focus on Consistent Winners

What if you just want to analyze the performance of a group of stocks or ETFs, to better understand which charts have been the most and least profitable over a period of time? The Performance View shows a series of time frames in tabular format, allowing you to focus on top and bottom periods over multiple time frames.

This can be a fantastic way to break down your portfolio, helping you better understand which positions have been helping your performance, and which ones may actually have been holding you back!

Correlation View to Understand Price Relationships

Finally, we come to one of the most underutilized features of ChartLists, and that’s the Correlation View. This can help better define the relationship between two different data series, and identify which stocks or ETFs could help us diversify our portfolio.

I like to sort this view in ascending order based on the 20-day correlation as a starting point. Which stocks demonstrated a very different return profile from the S&P 500? When it feels as if all stocks are doing about the same thing, this one feature can help you quickly identify outliers and positions which could help you improve your performance through diversification.

I’ve found the ChartList capabilities to be some of the most powerful features on the StockCharts platform. Once you get into the habit of using these incredible list management and analytical tools, I hope you’ll enjoy a greater amount of market awareness in your life!

RR#6,

Dave

PS- Ready to upgrade your investment process? Check out my free behavioral investing course!

David Keller, CMT

President and Chief Strategist

Sierra Alpha Research LLC

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

The author does not have a position in mentioned securities at the time of publication. Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.

Stocks

Navigating Holiday Stock Market Changes: Turn Sentiment Shifts into Successes

The day before Thanksgiving, the stock market took a little breather. But the weekly performance was still impressive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) remains the broader index leader, rising 0.96% for the week. The S&P 500 ($SPX) and the Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ) ended the week with smaller gains than the Dow. Earlier in the week, investors were more bullish, but Wednesday’s selloff didn’t disrupt the uptrend.

It may have been a short trading week, but we got a handful of economic data to chew on. The revised Q3 GDP data shows the US economy grew at a 2.8% annual rate, last week’s jobless claims came in lower than expected, and durable goods fell 0.2% in October.

The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, PCE rose 2.3% year-over-year in October, which was in line with expectations but slightly higher than last month’s 2.1% rise. This indicates that inflation is moving away from the Fed’s inflation target of 2%. Core PCE came in higher at 2.8% year-over-year.

Earlier this week, we had the FOMC minutes. They indicated that the Fed will gradually cut interest rates if the economy continues to perform as expected. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, there’s now a 66.5% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut in the December meeting.

The Stock Market’s Reaction

Looking at the 5-day change in performance using the StockCharts MarketCarpets, heavyweights NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL/GOOG), and Tesla Inc. (TSLA) were the largest decliners. The performance of these large-cap stocks would have been the tailwinds that held the Nasdaq and S&P 500 back.

FIGURE 1. 5-DAY PERFORMANCE OF THE S&P 500 THROUGH THE MARKETCARPET LENS. There’s a lot of green, but some large-cap stocks saw declines.Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

This week, money rotated from energy and technology stocks into real estate, consumer staples, and financial stocks. Antitrust efforts against Alphabet and now Microsoft, along with tariff talks impacting semiconductor stocks, have hurt the stock prices of several mega-cap tech stocks. With cash leaving these stocks, small- and mid-cap stocks have benefited, although they, too, came off their highs by the end of Wednesday’s trading.

The Dow reached an all-time high on Wednesday but sold off, ending the day slightly lower. The uptrend is still intact, as seen in the daily chart below .

FIGURE 2. DAILY CHART OF THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERGE ($INDU). The uptrend is still intact with the 21-day EMA, 50-and 100-day SMAs trending upward. The Dow is outperforming the S&P 500 slightly.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The Dow is trading well above its upward-sloping 21-day exponential moving average (EMA). It’s also slightly outperforming the S&P 500 by 1.27%. The S&P 500 has a similar pattern, but the Nasdaq Composite is struggling.

The daily chart of the Nasdaq below shows that it is underperforming the S&P 500, albeit slightly.

FIGURE 3. DAILY CHART OF NASDAQ COMPOSITE. Even though the Nasdaq is the weaker performer of the three broad indexes, its trend is still positively sloped and holding the 21-day EMA support. The Nasdaq is underperforming the S&P 500 slightly.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The long-term trend is still in play. The 21-day EMA is trending upward and continues to be a valid support level for the index.

In the Bond World

The biggest action this week was the sentiment shift in the bond market. Treasury yields were rising until last week. However, several events this week have eased inflation fears, resulting in declining Treasury yields and rising bond prices (bond prices and yields move in opposite directions). Wednesday’s PCE data didn’t change the directional move.

The chart below shows that the 10-Year US Treasury Yield ($TNX) met resistance at its July 1 close and reversed. It is now trading below its 21-day EMA.

FIGURE 4. DAILY CHART OF THE 10-YEAR US TREASURY YIELD. The 10-year yield hit a resistance level and, since then, has been trending lower. It is now trading below its 21-day EMA. The rate of change (ROC) indicates the decline is accelerating.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The rate of change (ROC) indicator in the lower panel is below zero. This means that yields are falling relatively quickly.

The bottom line: Equities may have sold off on Wednesday, but nothing to disrupt the uptrend. A little profit-taking ahead of the holiday shopping season shouldn’t come as a surprise. You deserve to celebrate consumerism once in a while.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy Thanksgiving!

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

Business

‘Moana 2’-led Thanksgiving box office could be best in post-pandemic era

The domestic box office is poised for its biggest Thanksgiving haul since the pandemic thanks to a Polynesian princess, a pair of witches and a revenge-fueled gladiator.

Disney’s “Moana 2” is set to hit theaters Wednesday and generate between $120 million and $150 million in box office receipts in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday. It’ll be joined by Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II,” both in their second week of domestic screenings.

Box-office analysts believe the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, should easily clear $200 million in ticket sales and could even become the second- or third-highest Thanksgiving period in cinematic history.

“The trifecta of ‘Moana 2,’ ‘Wicked,’ and ‘Gladiator II’ is a bona fide perfect storm for movie theaters this Thanksgiving,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory.

“The holiday used to regularly see major releases combining for all-audience appeal, but that’s been a challenge for the industry to replicate in the post-pandemic era so far,” he said. “This year is much different with such a holy trinity of tentpole releases that could anchor some of the biggest all-around box office results the holiday frame has ever seen.”

The Thanksgiving holiday haul hasn’t topped $200 million since 2019, according to data from Comscore. Currently, the highest-grossing Thanksgiving weekend is 2018′s slate, led by “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Creed II” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” which generated $315 million in ticket sales combined. The second-highest haul for the holiday period was the $294.2 million secured during the same five-day period in 2013.

“Thanksgiving is arguably the most important holiday period of the year for movie theaters as it sets the tone for the year-end box office sprint,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “The strength of the final few weeks of the year will determine the total annual box office revenue and its perception as either a win or a loss for the industry.”

Disney could use another animation win.

After ruling the Thanksgiving box office for years with titles from Pixar and Disney Animation, it’s failed to live up to expectations with its recent string of releases.

In 2016, “Moana” opened over the Thanksgiving holiday, generating $82.1 million. The following year “Coco” took in $72.9 million during its opening, and in 2018 “Ralph Breaks the Internet” tallied $84.8 million during its debut over the five-day period. Just before the pandemic in 2019, “Frozen II” added $125 million over the Thanksgiving holiday after opening the week before to more than $130 million.

Meanwhile, “Encanto,” which arrived during the midst of the pandemic, managed to tally $40.6 million in 2021. “Strange World” flopped, having scooped up just $18.9 million during the holiday period in 2022, and “Wish” snared a meager $31.6 million in 2023. No Disney animated film was released over Thanksgiving in 2020.

“Moana 2” should outperform these post-pandemic releases, however. It arrives in theaters a year after the first film was named the top-streamed film aimed at kids and families. And audiences came out in droves for Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2″ over the summer. “Inside Out 2” opened to $154.2 million domestically and tallied more than $1 billion globally during its full run.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, CNBC and Fandango. NBCUniversal distributed “Wicked.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Sports

Former NBA, NHL exec to replace Greg Norman as LIV CEO-commissioner

With Greg Norman’s turbulent reign as the CEO of LIV Golf in the rearview mirror, a new report indicates that a former executive with the NHL and NBA is ready to assume the post as the league enters its fourth season.

O’Neill served as the CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers and then added a similar role above the New Jersey Devils as part of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.

Norman’s tenure was stormy as the 20-time PGA Tour winner and former world No. 1 has butted heads with numerous organizations, made outlandish claims about the league’s ascension and even showed up at major events using tickets from a secondary market.

Although it’s yet to crack the TV market with a major network deal, LIV Golf announced 10 of the expected 14 for next year. Returning to the schedule are LIV Golf Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club from Aug. 8-10, LIV Golf Dallas at Maridoe Golf Club from June 27-29, LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama from July 11-13 and LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf and Country Club from July 25-27.

Two new venues will bring the league to Korea and Indiana for the first time. Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea will host LIV Golf Korea May 2-4 and The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana, will host LIV Golf Indianapolis from Aug. 15-17. The Indianapolis event will be the individual season finale, which was in Chicago this year.

Here’s a look at the known events on the LIV Golf schedule for 2025.

The tour pumped millions into its purses and billions into the game with a $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group that includes an initial investment of $1.5 billion into the launch of a commercial venture, PGA Tour Enterprises.

The tour’s top money winner, Scottie Scheffler, saw his bank account grow by more than $54 million this year from his prize money and bonuses.

On the course, Jon Rahm, LIV’s most significant signing since the first season, won the 2024 individual championship joining previous champions Talor Gooch (2023) and Dustin Johnson (2022). Bryson DeChambeau became the second LIV golfer to win a major championship, capturing the U.S. Open. Brooks Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship.

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Politics

Harris never led Trump, internal polls showed — but DNC officials were kept in the dark

A top aide to Vice President Kamala Harris during her presidential campaign recently revealed that internal polls never actually saw her defeating President-elect Donald Trump, but apparently this was not conveyed to those collecting high-dollar donations for her bid.

‘That’s not what we were told,’ DNC National Finance Committee member and Harris campaign fundraiser Lindy Li shared with Fox News Digital.

‘We were told definitely that she had a shot at winning – it wasn’t even a shot. I was even told that Pennsylvania was looking good, that we would win 3-4 swing states.’

‘And on the night of election night… we were told that we were going to win Iowa.’

But Harris senior adviser David Plouffe presented a much different analysis of the vice president’s chances at that point in time on ‘Pod Save America,’ a show hosted by staffers of former President Barack Obama.

‘We didn’t get the breaks we needed on Election Day,’ he told the hosts in the episode which aired on Tuesday.

‘I think it surprised people because there was these public polls that came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw.’

Plouffe, along with other top Harris aides Jen O’Malley Dillon, Stephanie Cutter and Quentin Fulks, joined the podcast to share why they believed they lost the election.

While the top advisers on the campaign were apparently aware of Harris’ polling deficit, this information was seemingly obscured to other relevant parties, including those soliciting capital from donors, such as Li.

According to Li, it is ‘absolutely not’ normal for a campaign to obscure this type of information.

‘I’ve been doing this since I graduated from college more than a decade [ago]. Absolutely not.’

She also shared that donors’ trust will need to be gained back because of the daylight between what the campaign was telegraphing about its situation and the reality. ‘But like for some casual donors, they’re going to be like, no f—ing way,’ Li said.

‘It’s not that he’d beat her that’s a shock. It’s the extent to which he beat her. It wasn’t even close. It was a decisive defeat.’

Harris had rivaled Trump and even defeated him in numerous respected public polls across the country, which Plouffe acknowledged in the appearance.

‘When Kamala Harris became the nominee, she was behind. We kind of, you know, climbed back, and even post-debate, you know, we still had ourselves down, you know, in the battleground states, but very close. And so, I think, by the end, it was a jump-ball race,’ he said.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Sports

Which NFL teams have the best Super Bowl odds ahead of Week 13?

Watch out, folks! The NFL regular season is nearly complete. We’ve just two months remaining until 14 teams compete in the greatest single-elimination bracket in sports this side of March Madness.

While the 2024 season has been one of shock, awe, and disappointment for some fanbases, many teams still have a shot at claiming a Super Bowl title this year. Of course, not all teams left standings are created equal. A team like the Cincinnati Bengals, while great, are still 4-7. Their Super Bowl odds are going to be drastically lower than a team like the Arizona Cardinals, who are much worse, but sit at 6-5 with an opportunity to win their division.

Here is every team in the NFL ranked based on their Super Bowl odds. All odds via BetMGM.

NFL Power Rankings by Super Bowl odds:

The favorites

1) Detroit Lions (10-1), +260

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

2) Kansas City Chiefs (10-1), +450

T-3) Buffalo Bills (9-2), +650

T-3) Philadelphia Eagles (9-2), +650

5) Baltimore Ravens (8-4), +700

While betting on any of these teams has its merits, the Detroit Lions have appeared a step above the rest of the league this year. Ever since their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2, the Lions have only experience two games within five points. Every other game has been a blowout.

While the Lions have yet to face another elite team in this tier just yet, with their only real tests coming against the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings, whom the Lions defeated by a combined five points, they certainly pass the eye test. Even without star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, the Lions have not skipped a beat. We’ll see how they handle the Buffalo Bills in three weeks, but odds are, they’ll still put up a tremendous fight against another top-tier squad.

The Dark Horses:

6) Green Bay Packers (8-3), +1800

7) Minnesota Vikings (9-2), +2200

8) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3), +3000

T-9) Houston Texans (7-5), +3500

T-9) Los Angeles Chargers (7-4), +3500

11) Denver Broncos (7-5), +5000

Although the Houston Texans just suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, they did only lose to the Lions by three points less than a month ago. Any team that can put up such a solid fight against the Lions deserves more credit than they are receiving.

Plus, let’s face it, the Packers and Vikings are both in the Lions’ division, meaning they should know how to beat the Lions better than anyone, yet the Texans arguably put up the best fight.

The Underdogs:

T-12) Arizona Cardinals (6-5), +6600

T-12) Atlanta Falcons (6-5), +6600

T-12) San Francisco 49ers (5-6), +6600

T-15) Miami Dolphins (5-6), +8000

T-15) Seattle Seahawks (6-5), +8000

T-15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6), +8000

T-15) Washington Commanders (7-5), +8000

T-19) Cincinnati Bengals (4-7), +10000

T-19) Los Angeles Rams (5-6), +10000

Here we start to get into the underperforming teams with strong resumes, teams like the San Francisco 49ers. Yes, they’ve underperformed. Yes, they’re riddled with injuries. Yes, they’ve got a horrific schedule coming up which includes matchups against the Lions and Bills. But they’re only a game out of first-place in their division, and of all the teams in this tier, they’ve proven most capable of battling with the NFL’s elite teams. After all, they were in the Super Bowl just a year ago.

Obviously, something is going wrong in San Francisco, and they haven’t figured out what yet. However, if they can figure it out, and as long as Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, and Brock Purdy all return before their key divisional games in Weeks 15 and 18, we all know the run they can go on.

The Longshots:

21) Indianapolis Colts (5-7), +50000

22) New Orleans Saints (4-7), +75000

T-23) Carolina Panthers (3-8), +100000

T-23) Chicago Bears (4-7), +100000

T-23) Cleveland Browns (3-8), +100000

T-23) Dallas Cowboys (4-7), +100000

T-23) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9), +100000

T-23) Las Vegas Raiders (2-9), +100000

T-23) New England Patriots (3-9), +100000

T-23) New York Giants (2-9), +100000

T-23) New York Jets (3-8), +100000

T-23) Tennessee Titans (3-8), +100000

Let’s be realistic for a moment. Placing a wager on any of these teams to win the Super Bowl is a fool’s errand, restricted to anyone but the most diehard fans and the most delirious dreamers. That said, if you fall into either of those categories, perhaps a wager on the Indianapolis Colts wouldn’t be the worst decision.

Will you lose all the money you put down? Almost definitely, but of any team in this tier, where else are you going to find a team just two games out of first place in their division and with a win over Pittsburgh on their resume?

Anthony Richardson has not played up to expectations this year, but he does still have that big play ability that keeps his team in games they should otherwise have no shot of winning. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this team wind up 8-9 just two or so games out of a playoff spot, which is more than most other teams on this list can say.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY