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The New York Yankees face a monumental task in their bid to overcome a 3-0 deficit in this year’s World Series. However, they’ve already defied recent history by taking the first step.

In defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 on Tuesday night, the Yankees live to fight another day, with Game 5 on tap Wednesday night in the Bronx.

There have been 25 teams in World Series history who have trailed 3-0. The Yankees are one of just four to have even forced a Game 5. Of those four teams, none has ever made it to a Game 6.

How many MLB teams have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win?

Expanding our scope to all best-of-seven MLB playoff series, 41 teams have won the first three games against their opponents. In all but 10 occasions, those clubs have gone on to record a sweep.

Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.

Of those 10 teams who lost Game 4, five were able to close things out in Game 5.

There have been two occasions in which a team with a 3-0 lead has lost three in a row to set up a Game 7. In the 2020 American League championship series, the Tampa Bay Rays won the first three against the Houston Astros, but managed to take Game 7 and the AL pennant.

Only once in MLB history has a team come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.

MLB’s greatest postseason comeback

The Boston Red Sox famously trailed the New York Yankees three games to none in the 2004 ALCS, but rallied to win the next four games and advance to the World Series.

It was a comeback for the ages, and one that spawned a recently released Netflix documentary.

The extra-innings victory in Game 4 turned utilityman Dave Roberts into a folk hero in New England for his crucial steal of second base in the bottom of the ninth that kept the Red Sox’s season alive. That same Dave Roberts is now the manager of the Dodgers and trying to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

The Red Sox went on to win Game 5 at home before taking two in Yankee Stadium to complete the history-making comeback. The magical season concluded with a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

President Biden sparked a political firestorm Tuesday after calling supporters of former President Trump ‘garbage,’ which could spell trouble for the several Democratic Senate candidates running in key swing states where Trump is popular.

Fox News Digital reached out to six Democratic Senate candidates — Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Montana Sen. Jon Tester, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Arizona Senate candidate Ruben Gallego — for comment on Biden’s remarks.

‘Tammy Baldwin does not agree with President Biden,’ Andrew Mamo, Tammy Baldwin’s campaign spokesman, told Fox News Digital.

‘Tammy is fighting for all Wisconsinites no matter who they are or who they vote for.’

A Rosen spokesperson told Fox News Digital, ‘Sen. Rosen strongly disagrees with disparaging anyone based on who they vote for. As one of the most bipartisan and independent senators, she works hard to find common ground across party lines and represent all Nevadans.’

‘Jon Tester doesn’t agree with those comments and is proud to have the support of Montanans of all political stripes, including those who are voting for Donald Trump,’ said Monica Robinson, spokesperson for Montanans for Tester.

‘Sherrod doesn’t agree with that and fights for all Ohioans, regardless of who they vote for,’ Brown campaign spokesperson Matt Keyes told Fox News Digital.

‘I am running to represent all Arizonans, regardless of who they vote for,’ Gallego told Fox News Digital in a statement.

‘Sen. Casey respects all Pennsylvanians regardless of how they vote,’ Casey campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel told Fox News Digital.

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, running for Senate in the swing state of Michigan, spoke in opposition of Biden’s comment too. 

‘He shouldn’t have said it. It’s inappropriate,’ Slotkin said during an appearance on local radio Wednesday morning. ‘For me, I just think that kind of talk is the last thing we need in our politics.’

While all the Democrats Fox News Digital reached out to condemned Biden’s ‘garbage’ comment, some have disparaged Trump supporters, including Gallego and Brown. Gallego previously called Trump supporters ‘dumb’ and the ‘worst people in the world.’ Brown accused Trump’s supporters of ‘racism’ and said it ‘works for them.’

During a virtual Kamla Harris campaign call with Voto Latino, Biden took a swipe at former President Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchiffe made jokes mocking different ethnic groups. In one joke, he referred to Puerto Rico as a ‘floating island of garbage.’

‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,’ Biden said. ‘[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American.’

His remarks were quickly likened to Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in ‘a basket of deplorables’ in 2016, a comment that was widely seen as undermining her campaign.

The White House attempted to clean up Biden’s remark.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich President Biden ‘referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’’

‘The president was referencing a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in which he likened Puerto Rico to an island of floating ‘garbage’ in the middle of the ocean,’ he said.

‘So just to clarify, he was not calling Trump supporters garbage, which is why he put this out and is why he wanted to make sure that we put out a statement that clarified what he meant and what he was trying to say. And, so, just want to make that very clear for folks who are watching,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.

VP Kamala Harris distanced herself from Biden’s remarks Tuesday.

‘I think that, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear. I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,’ Harris said.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

A group of 11 former contestants on ‘The Apprentice’ have issued a public letter backing Donald Trump for president in response to a letter from fellow alumni who released a statement declaring their support for Kamala Harris. 

The letter, spearheaded by Kendra Todd, winner of Season 3, said the signers felt compelled to respond to the Harris letter after their fellow contestants claimed ‘to have spoken to dozens of their fellow contestants to confirm we shared their observations of Trump’s character.’ 

‘It is disappointing and shameful that these contestants would use the platform that Donald Trump gave them to attack him in this manner,’ the letter reads. ‘Is this the thanks he gets for literally changing the trajectory of our lives?’ 

Todd, now a real estate broker, told Fox News Digital, ‘What bothered me the most with how they claimed that they spoke with dozens of us former contestants on the show and they believed that they represent the majority of the cast mates. And I simply just do not believe that to be true.’ 

The letter supporting Harris, obtained by Politico, was signed by four contestants, a producer, and a casting manager. 

The signers said they got to see Trump up close and saw a man who ’embodied charisma and salesmanship.’ 

‘But our extended up-close-and-personal experiences with Donald also revealed his serial history as a divisive, self-interested and erratic leader with a fragile ego,’ the pro-Harris letter read. ‘We saw first-hand how he demanded one-way loyalty, the trail of his broken promises, his willingness to lie and take advantage of people, and how virulently he lashed out whenever he was triggered by even the slightest of criticisms.’ 

The letter argued that America needs a leader who is ‘oriented towards a brighter, solutions-oriented future.’ 

‘America needs stable leadership, achieved through actual character rather than world-class TV editing. That’s why we will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris on November 5th.’ 

While conceding their First Amendment rights, Todd told Fox News Digital she regarded it as a ‘betrayal of the way they went after his character and just how disingenuous they were for the opportunity that he gave them.’ 

‘You have to remember we filmed this … 20 years ago. So, we’ve known him on and off for a very long time. And nothing they say in that letter is consistent with the man that any of us know,’ Todd said. ‘So, we just felt that we needed to come out publicly and say that that is not the majority opinion of those who were on the show. We’re grateful for the opportunity. We’re grateful for what he’s done for our country. And we stand in support of Donald Trump.’ 

The Apprentice debuted in 2004. It ran for 15 seasons. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accuse the White House of releasing a false transcript of President Biden’s remarks in which he apparently referred to supporters of former President Trump as ‘garbage,’ warning that the revision could violate the Presidential Records Act. 

Fox News Digital obtained a letter Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Comer, R-Ky., sent to White House counsel Edward Siskel Wednesday afternoon in which they demand records relating to the remarks and the transcript are preserved. 

‘In less than one week, the American people will determine the winner of the 2024 presidential election. They will choose between two candidates: President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden — marred by unpopular policies, scandal, and apparent cognitive deterioration — has chosen not to pursue a second term in office,’ they wrote. 

‘President Biden, however, has continued to play a prominent role in Vice President Harris’s campaign and, indeed, is the most powerful mouthpiece for the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies and views that Ms. Harris presumably seeks to continue under a hypothetical Harris-Walz Administration.’ 

Stefanik and Comer pointed to Biden’s remarks Tuesday night, saying, ‘Americans were rightfully insulted, then, when President Biden, seeking to boost Ms. Harris’ presidential campaign, referred to an enormous swath of the country as ‘floating … garbage.’

‘President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate,’ they wrote. ‘Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them.’ 

Stefanik and Comer said the White House, ‘instead of apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words,’ sought to ‘change them (despite them being recorded on video) by releasing a false transcript of his remarks.’ 

‘The move is not only craven, but it also appears to be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978,’ they wrote. ‘White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message.’ 

The letter comes after President Biden spoke during a Zoom call with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S. Tuesday. Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’

Biden replied, ‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.’ 

The White House has since denied that Biden called Trump supporters ‘garbage’ and claimed the comment was taken out of context.

The White House, on Wednesday, released a transcript of Biden’s remarks. 

The official White House transcript says, ‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.’ 

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates sought to clarify Biden’s remarks, saying, ‘The president referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’’

And the president tweeted in the same vein. 

‘Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it,’ Biden posted to X. ‘His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.’ 

Now, Vice President Kamala Harris is seeking to distance herself from the remarks, but she’s also defending the president, saying he ‘clarified his comments.’ 

‘But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,’ Harris said.

Harris, referring to her Tuesday night speech from the Ellipse near the White House, reiterated Wednesday how voters will decide ‘who we are as a nation and whether we are going to be a nation of people who attempt to unify and break through this era of divisiveness, or are we going to be a nation of people who have a president stewing in the Oval Office over his enemies list.

‘You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,’ Harris said. ‘I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not, and as President of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

In their letter to White House counsel, Stefanik and Comer wrote, ‘Though President Biden’s relevance continues to diminish, his words continue to matter, even as they become increasingly divisive and erratic.’ 

Stefanik and Comer demanded the White House ‘retain and preserve all documents and internal communications regarding President Biden’s statement and the release of the inaccurate transcript.’ 

‘We also demand that the White House issue a corrected transcript with the accurate words,’ they wrote. 

Trump, at a rally in North Carolina Wednesday, said Biden and Harris have ‘treated our whole country like garbage.’ 

‘My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans,’ Trump declared. ‘And you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred there.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

I’m not here to make endorsements. As a researcher and communications strategist, my role is to evaluate not just what candidates are saying, but what voters are actually hearing. 

On Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris had a significant opportunity to deliver her closing arguments at the very site where the events of January 6th, 2021, occurred.  With deeply rooted beliefs shaping voter perceptions, we know a thing or two about confirmation bias: if you’re looking for hate, you’ll find it; if you’re searching for hope, that might show up too.

So, if you’re a Trump supporter, there was plenty to critique on Tuesday night. If you’re on Team Harris, your heart probably soared. And if you’re undecided, you may have found something hopeful to latch onto. Will it be enough to give Harris a victory on November 5? I’m uncertain. But she hit some of the key notes she needed to hit in her closing argument to America.

Here are five reasons why.

1. She Showed Voters She’s Listening

In the weeks leading up to this moment, Harris often came off as defensive, especially when it came to economic concerns. When voters voiced worries about rising grocery prices, she insisted that the economy was thriving. Tuesday night, however, she shifted gears, directly acknowledging those frustrations. By connecting with voters’ fears and showing that she truly understands their struggles, she took a crucial step toward building a stronger bond with those who need to feel heard.

2. Offered Solutions for Real Problems

Harris has sometimes struggled to tie her policy proposals to the real-life problems voters face. When asked what she would do to address rising costs, she responded that she was raised middle class leaving voters with very little to hold on to. On Tuesday night, though, she laid out concrete, actionable strategies that could resonate with those dealing with inflation and economic uncertainty. Was it enough? I’m not entirely sure, but it certainly felt like progress. Voters want a leader who has a clear plan, and last night, she started to connect those dots.

3. Answered the question of how her administration would differ from the Biden administration

A key part of Harris’s message was highlighting how her presidency would differ from Biden’s. Up until now, she has struggled to create a distinction by simply stating that she is clearly NOT Joe Biden.  But on Tuesday night she did something very different. She pointed out that while the past four years focused on tackling the pandemic, her administration would center on affordability and economic relief. This reframing is important because it distinguishes her clearly from Joe Biden, signaling that she’s ready to lead our country in a new direction.

4. Offered Optimism over Fear

When she launched her campaign, Harris made a point to steer clear of fear-driven rhetoric, emphasizing a fight for freedom that resonated with many. On Tuesday night, that symbol of freedom was everywhere—freedom signs lined the stage and surrounding area, creating a powerful visual statement. This optimistic messaging was a refreshing contrast to some darker moments of her campaign and frankly of the last several days.

5. Made Herself the Central Character of the Message, not the Former President

It’s important to create a distinction between yourself and your opponent.  In recent weeks, most everything Harris has done seems to be in response to Trump. He would trample on the constitution. Be a dicatator.  A fascist.  Even Hitler. And indeed, she did some of that last night.  But it wasn’t the CENTER of her messaging.  

When she focuses too much on Trump it amplifies his presence and makes him seem unbeatable. Instead, she effectively communicated that she is very different from Trump while positioning herself as a capable leader who can tackle the future head-on.

Kamala Harris made her closing arguments to voters on the Ellipse on Tuesday night, transforming what was once a crime scene into a platform for her vision of the future. The clock is ticking, and while she did make significant strides in her case for herself, the ultimate decision rests with the voters. Will they buy what she’s selling? 

Opinions on Trump are strong and steadfast, but feelings toward Harris seem to be more fluid. She did what she needed to do last night; now it’s up to the voters to determine if they’re ready to take that leap with her. 

As we head into the final days of the campaign, one thing is clear: in the unpredictable world of politics, the real test will be whether she can turn this moment into a meaningful movement.

 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

It is not every day that you go from being Obi-Wan Kenobi to Sheev Palpatine in twenty-four hours. However, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos now has the distinction of having Luke (Mark Hamill) lead a boycott of his ‘democracy dies in darkness’ newspaper as the daily of the darkside.

Figures like former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney shared this week that she had canceled her subscription to the paper. NPR reported on Tuesday that 250,000 subscribers had cut ties with the news outlet. As of this writing, the Washington Post has not confirmed the number of canceled subscriptions. Some, like anti-Trump lawyer and activist George Conway, even appeared to wink at his followers and quietly target Bezos’ Amazon. 

It is a familiar pattern for many of us (on a smaller scale) who used to be associated with the left and faced canceled campaigns for questioning the orthodoxy in the media or academia.

Then something fascinating happened. Bezos stood his ground.

The left has made an art form of flash-mob politics, crushing opposition with the threat of economic or professional ruin. Most cave to the pressure, including business leaders like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. 

That record came to a screeching halt when the unstoppable force of the left met the immovable object of Elon Musk. The left continues to oppose his government contracts and pressure his advertisers over his refusal to restore the prior censorship system at X, formerly Twitter.

Now, the left may be creating another defiant billionaire. This week, Bezos penned an op-ed in the Washington Post that doubled down on his decision not to endorse a presidential candidate now or in the future. Some of us have argued for newpapers to stop all political endorsements for decades.

The encouraging aspect of Bezos’s column was that he not only recognized the corrosive effect of endorsements on maintaining neutrality as a media organization, but he also recognized that the Post is facing plummeting revenues and readership due to its perceived bias and activism.

I used to write regularly for the Post, and I wrote in my new book about the decline of the newspaper as part of the ‘advocacy journalism’ movement: ‘Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.’

Bezos previously brought in a publisher to save the Post from itself.

Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis promptly delivered a truth bomb in the middle of the newsroom by telling the staff, ‘Let’s not sugarcoat it…We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right? I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.’

The response was that the entire staff seemed to go into vapors, and many called for Lewis to be canned. Bezos stood with Lewis.

Now, resignations and recriminations are coming from reporters and columnists alike. In a public statement, Post columnists blasted the decision and said that while maybe endorsements should be ended, not now because everyone has to oppose Trump to save democracy and journalism. The statement produced some chuckles, given the signatories, including columnists Phillip Bump and Jennifer Rubin, who have been repeatedly accused of reckless rhetoric. (Rubin later denounced Bezos for his ‘Bulls**t explanation’ and said that he was merely ‘bending a knee’ to Trump.).

Bezos could do for the media what Musk did for free speech. He could create a bulwark against advocacy journalism in one of the premier newspapers in the world. Students in ‘J Schools’ today are being told to abandon neutrality and objectivity since, as former New York Times writer (and now Howard University journalism professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones has explained, ‘all journalism is activism.’

After a series of interviews with over 75 media leaders, Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, and Andrew Heyward, former CBS News president, reaffirmed this shift in early 2023 in a report published by the Cronkite News Lab, called ‘Beyond Objectivity’ As Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, has stated: ‘Objectivity has got to go.’

Few can stand up to this movement other than a Bezos or a Musk. However, the left has long created their own monsters by demanding absolute fealty or unleashing absolute cancel campaigns. Simply because Bezos wants his newspaper to restore neutrality, the left is calling for a boycott of not just the Post but all of his companies. That is precisely what they did with Musk.

A Bezos/Musk alliance would be truly a thing to behold. They could give the push for the restoration of free speech and the free press a real chance to create a beachhead to regain the ground that we have lost in the last two decades.

The left will accept nothing short of total capitulation and Bezos does not appear willing to pay that price. Instead, he could not just save the Post but American journalism from itself.

For the rest of us, all I can say is welcome to the fight, Jeff.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

When the stock market hesitates to move in either direction, it becomes challenging to identify potential trading candidates. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have a checklist of items to go over during the trading day.

One item on my checklist is to run my SCTR (StockCharts Technical Rank, pronounced “scooter”) scan, which looks for stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with a SCTR rank above 76, 78, or 80. The scan results give you a good idea of which industries show technical strength. The scan is provided at the bottom of this article.

When I ran the scan on October 30 and sorted the results table by the Universe and SCTR columns, several regional banks made the list. This isn’t surprising, given that the Federal Reserve has started cutting interest rates and will likely make further cuts. The demand for consumer loans increases when interest rates are lower.

FIGURE 1. SCAN RESULTS, OCTOBER 30. Several regional banks were filtered in the scan.Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Naturally, I pulled up the chart of the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE). Since August, KRE has been in a gradual uptrend, accompanied by a rising S&P Financial Sector Bullish Percent Index ($BPFINA) and a high SCTR score.

FIGURE 2. DAILY CHART OF KRE. The regional banks are moving within an uptrend channel and have a high SCTR score and BPI.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Looking back at the scan results, I can save them to a ChartList, analyze the regional banks, and decide which ones to keep and delete. I prefer to do this by viewing the charts in CandleGlance, which I have set up with moving averages and the On Balance Volume indicator. I look to see which stocks are trending up with an OBV that’s above its 20-day SMA.

Glancing at the candlestick charts, the stocks that stand out are as follows:

Barclays Plc (BCS)Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF)Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB)Keycorp (KEY)PNC Financial Services (PNC)US Bancorp (USB)

I transferred these symbols to my “watchlists” ChartList, which is where I have all stocks and ETFs that are in consideration. If you haven’t done so, install the StockCharts ChartList Framework to organize your ChartLists.

Analyzing Regional Banks

The next step involves analyzing each of these charts in more detail. Which ones have momentum behind them to make them trend higher? The moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) and the relative strength index (RSI) help confirm the momentum. Of the six, the three that stand out are KEY, PNC, and USB. Let’s look at these charts.

Keycorp (KEY)

The momentum looks like it’s slowing in Key Bank’s stock price (see daily chart below), which could be because it’s at or close to a resistance level.

FIGURE 3. DAILY CHART OF KEY BANK’S STOCK PRICE. KEY is in an uptrend although the momentum is slowing down. The last three bars, RSI, and MACD are showing sideways movement.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Looking at a three-year timeframe, you’ll see that the stock price is close to the February 2023 high (not shown here). The last three bars show a harami followed by an inverted hammer. So, there could be a slight pullback here, at least to its 25-day exponential moving average.

The RSI and MACD confirm the slowdown in momentum. If KEY pulls back and reverses with increasing momentum, I would consider entering a position. KEY’s all-time high is $23.44, so the stock has room for upside movement.

PNC Financial (PNC)

PNC’s chart is similar to that of KEY. The stock price is trending higher but momentum is slow at the moment. Trading volume has been relatively low in the last few days. If the RSI and MACD indicate increasing momentum and volume picks up, it will alert me to consider adding PNC to my portfolio.

FIGURE 4. DAILY CHART OF PNC BANK STOCK PRICE. PNC’s stock price is trending higher but trading volume is relatively low. The RSI and MACD are indicating slow momentum.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

PNC’s all-time high is $202.80, so the stock price has the potential to move higher. It’ll first have to break out of its sideways move.

US Bancorp (USB)

Of the three, US Bank’s stock price has the most chop. The 25-day EMA was erratic, so it was removed from this chart. The 50-day SMA is a smoother measure of the overall trend.

FIGURE 5. DAILY CHART OF US BANK STOCK. USB is within a trading range. An upside breakout with above-average volume and a rising RSI and MACD crossover would be an indication of an upward-sloping trend.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

KRE must break out from its sideways trading range before considering a long entry. Volume is relatively low, the RSI is moving sideways, and the MACD indicates a slowdown in momentum.

The Bottom Line

The sideways movement seen in the charts that we discussed here reflects the sentiment of the overall market. Earnings and economic data aren’t moving the market much, and trading volume is relatively low. There’s an election and a Fed meeting coming up. The Fed decision will likely have an impact on the price action of regional bank stocks. Does it mean you have to wait until November 7 to make your trading decisions? Patience is key, but if you see an upside breakout with strong momentum that’s convincing, you may have an opportunity to get in early on an upside move.

The SCTR Scan

[country is US] and [sma(20,volume) > 100000] and [[SCTR.us.etf x 76] or [SCTR.large x 76] or [SCTR.us.etf x 78] or [SCTR.large x 78] or [SCTR.us.etf x 80] or [SCTR.large x 80]]

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 Colts have put Anthony Richardson on ice, with no signs of defrosting him anytime soon.

Head coach Shane Steichen officially named 39-year-old Joe Flacco the starting quarterback going forward, telling reporters on Wednesday, ‘Joe gives us the best chance to win.’

The move officially relegates Richardson to the backup spot, and may eliminate any quarterback controversy moving forward for an Indianapolis team attempting to make a playoff push.

Steichen noted that it was his decision to make the move, not team owner Jim Irsay.

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

The move marks a significant shift in philosophy from the Colts coach. After drafting Richardson with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Steichen said that on-field experience was necessary for a player’s development.

‘I think the development of players comes with more experience,’ Steichen said at the time. ‘When you play more, that’s when you develop.’

Moving Richardson to the bench ensures that there won’t be game reps available to the 22-year-old – barring injury to Flacco – but his coach doesn’t seem to think that’ll be an issue anymore.

“I know I said that and things change there,’ Steichen said. ‘So, I think right now, sitting back and seeing a veteran that’s done it at a high level for a long time, you can develop that way as well.”

While there is no textbook method to develop a player, it remains to be seen what Richardson would have to do to earn the starting job again. More importantly, it’s anyone’s guess whether he starts again for Indianapolis.

“I can’t predict that, but I’m not losing faith in that,’ Steichen said when asked about Richardson potentially starting again. ‘I promise you that.”

Steichen, however, wouldn’t commit to saying if the team planned to re-insert the young signal caller in the starting job at some point.

“I can’t predict the future, but, I mean, that would be great. We’ll see.”

It’s been a tough sophomore season for Richardson. After missing most of the 2023 season due to injury, Richardson has been plagued in 2024 by poor play, another injury and now bad optics. In Week 8, the 22-year-old took himself out of the game because he was tired. While it likely didn’t make a difference in what became a loss to the Houston Texans, everyone has been quick to jump on Richardson in the aftermath.

As outrage dominated headlines on Monday, head coach Shane Steichen fanned the flames by not committing to Richardson as the starter, saying ‘we’re evaluating everything,’ before officially benching the passer on Tuesday.

Solely considering Richardson’s quality of play, the benching isn’t all that surprising. He’s started six games in 2024 and owns a 3-3 record. He has completed 59 of 133 pass attempts (44.4% completion rate, lowest in the NFL) with 958 passing yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Richardson also has 41 rush attempts for 242 yards and a rushing touchdown this year.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Former President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are not promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as part of the Republicans’ policy plan for 2025, the House GOP leader suggested to Fox News Digital.

‘Despite the dishonest characterizations from the Harris campaign, the audio and transcript make clear that I offered no such promise to end ObamaCare, and in fact acknowledged that the policy is ‘deeply ingrained’ in our health care system,’ Johnson told Fox News Digital.

‘Still, House Republicans will always seek to reduce the costs and improve the quality and availability of health care for all Americans. Anyone who has been a patient or known a loved one who has struggled with health issues understands why this is so important.’

It comes amid a barrage of accusations from Democrats that Republicans want to end the ACA, popularly known as ObamaCare.

‘This is not President Trump’s policy position,’ Trump national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

‘As President Trump has said, he will make our health care system better by increasing transparency, promoting choice and competition, and expanding access to new affordable health care and insurance options.’

A spokesperson for Johnson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the speaker’s position ‘is in line with President Trump’s.’

Trump himself has not proposed a detailed health care platform for the 2024 race.

A video of Johnson saying to voters in Pennsylvania, ‘Health care reform is going to be a big part of the agenda’ if Republicans win the White House and Congress, went viral on Tuesday.

Toward the end of the clip, shared with NBC News, someone can be heard asking, ‘No ObamaCare?’

Johnson appeared to repeat the question, ‘No ObamaCare?’ and then explained, ‘The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to do that.’

‘If you take government bureaucrats out of the health care equation, and you have doctor-patient relationships, it’s better for everybody, more efficient, more effective. That’s the free market. Trump is going to be for the free market,’ Johnson said. ‘We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state.’

Democrats interpreted Johnson’s remarks as affirming Republicans will end ObamaCare and seized on the moment.

‘Health care is on the ballot this November. Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear – if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no ObamaCare.’ That means higher health care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma or cancer,’ Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said Tuesday evening.

That was followed by a similar statement by House Democrats’ campaign arm on Wednesday morning.

‘Take it from Mike Johnson himself, the choice before voters this election is clear: Democrats who will fight to lower health costs and expand access to affordable health care or Republicans who want to raise the cost of medicine and deny health insurance to millions of Americans,’ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton said.

Johnson’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital ‘the characterization of his remarks by the Harris campaign is false and not substantiated by the audio.’

‘Harris’ desperation now has her lying about Speaker Johnson,’ the spokesperson also said, adding that the evidence makes ‘clear that the Speaker made no such promise.’

Republicans tried and failed to repeal the ACA during Trump’s first term in office.

A vote in the then-GOP-controlled Senate in 2017 failed when three Republican senators – including, notably, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. – voted with Democrats against doing so.

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Former President Trump said the Biden-Harris administration has treated the American people and ‘our whole country like garbage,’ claiming that it’s now clear what President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ‘really think of our supporters.’

Trump held a rally Wednesday afternoon in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, just a day after Harris made her final pitch to voters in a speech from Washington, D.C. 

The vice president’s address was quickly overshadowed by Biden’s remarks during a Zoom call with Voto Latino on Tuesday.

During the call with the group, which is one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S., Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’

Biden replied: ‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.’ 

The White House has since denied that Biden called Trump supporters ‘garbage’ and claimed the comment was taken out of context.

During the rally Wednesday, Trump said Harris has been ‘comparing her political opponents to the most evil mass murderers in history, and now, speaking on a call for her campaign last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters.’ 

‘He called them garbage – and they mean it, even though, without question, my supporters are far higher quality than crooked Joe and Lyin’ Kamala,’ Trump told supporters. 

But Trump said he had a response for the president and vice president. 

‘My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans,’ Trump declared. ‘And you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred there.’ 

Trump said Harris is ‘not fit to be president of the United States.’ 

‘She doesn’t have the intellect, the stamina, or that special quality that real leaders must have to lead. We know what that is. It’s a special power,’ he said. ‘Joe Biden, his comments were the direct result of Kamala and Tim Walz.’ 

Trump decried Biden’s ‘decision to portray everyone who isn’t voting for them as evil or subhuman.’ 

‘They’re not subhuman. I look at it, you are not subhuman, and we know it’s what they believe, because look how they’ve treated you,’ Trump said. ‘They’ve treated you like garbage… You know what the truth is? They have treated our whole country like garbage, whether they meant to or not, because they’re grossly incompetent people, and they’ve destroyed our country.’ 

Trump also blasted Harris and the Democrats for their insults of Republicans ‘for the past nine years.’ 

‘Kamala and her party have called us racists, bigots, fascists, deplorables, irredeemable Nazis, and they’ve called me Hitler,’ Trump said. ‘You know, many years ago, I had a father, a great guy, was a strong guy, a legitimate guy, strong. But, you know, he always used to tell me, ‘Never use the word Nazi. Never use the word Hitler.’ Now we’re called Nazis, and I’m called Hitler. I’m not Hitler.’ 

Trump reflected on his father, saying, ‘He’s looking down. Well, my mother, I know she’s looking down. My father’s a little questionable because he was a little rough. I think he’s looking down… He’d say, ‘Can you imagine? That’s what they’re calling my son? I told him for years, literally never use the term ‘Nazis,’ ‘Hitler.’ Now they’re using it on us.’ It’s unbelievable.’ 

Trump added: ‘They’ve bullied you, they’ve demeaned us, they’ve demonized us and censored us… and weaponized the power of our own government against us.’ 

Harris on Wednesday responded to Biden’s remark, defending the president and saying he ‘clarified his comments.’ 

‘I think that, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,’ Harris said.

Harris, referring to her Tuesday night speech from the Ellipse near the White House, reiterated on Wednesday how voters will decide ‘who we are as a nation and whether we are going to be a nation of people who attempt to unify and breakthrough this era of divisiveness, or are we going to be a nation of people who have a president stewing in the Oval Office over his enemies list?’

‘You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,’ Harris said. ‘I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not, and as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.’

Harris told reporters she spoke with Biden Tuesday night but his ‘garbage’ comment did not come up during their conversation.

‘He did call me last night, but this didn’t come up,’ Harris said.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Trump pitched voters, vowing to ‘end inflation. I will stop the massive invasion of criminals into our country. And I will bring back a thing called the American Dream.’ 

‘Our country will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and stronger than ever before,’ he said. ‘And this election is a choice between whether we will have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we’ll begin the greatest four years of the history of our country.’

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