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President Biden slammed Republicans for not understanding how advancing women’s health not only improves the lives of women but also the prosperity of the entire nation. He made the remark during a first-of-its-kind conference on women’s health research at the White House Wednesday afternoon.   

‘The fact is, the health of our moms, and grandmothers, sisters and daughters, friends and colleagues, affects not just women’s well-being but the prosperity of the entire nation,’ Biden said at the conference. ‘That’s a fact – we haven’t gotten that through to the other team yet. I mean it – across the board.’

Republicans, meanwhile, questioned whether Democrats understand the need to protect women, citing, in particular, Biden administration policies that sought to allow transgender women to use biological women’s spaces and play on women’s sports teams.

‘Is any Democrat willing to stand up and defend girls and protect girls in private, in their private spaces, and protect girls in sports – not to force girls to participate in sports against men?’ asked Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of the conservative nonprofit Moms for Liberty. ‘The idea that Democrats protect women or respect women is just absolutely nonsense.’ 

Justice pointed to Biden’s appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, ‘who was unwilling to define what a woman was’ when pressed on the matter during her confirmation hearings.

The Heritage Foundation’s Sarah Perry, a civil rights attorney who has extensive experience litigating Title IX issues, noted that Biden’s remarks had an underlying tone of ‘abortion is health care,’ which was a hot-button issue for Republicans during this year’s election.

‘This is an administration that has made a name for itself in advancing the most radical ideologue policies,’ Perry said. ‘I mean, he’s got a man in a dress at HHS telling us what health care is. That is the specious nature of those kinds of representations.’

Colin Reed, a GOP strategist, added that the electoral success seen last month by Republicans was an indication that the American people reject these sorts of arguments from Democrats.

‘The Democratic Party has become a one-trick pony trying to speak to voters facing across-the-board challenges,’ he said. ‘Until Democrats start meeting voters where they are at, they will continue losing elections.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, noted that Trump campaigned on ‘making ALL Americans’ healthy again, including women, adding that Trump ‘will deliver on that promise.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Stocks can move fast, like the speed of an arrow flying through the air. And if you don’t monitor your charts, you can easily miss a trading opportunity.

Last week, I wrote about CSCO stock, one of the stocks filtered in my StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) scan. At the time, I was waiting for CSCO’s stock price to pull back to its 21-day exponential moving average (EMA). Well, it happened a lot quicker than I anticipated.

It’s good that I go through all my ChartLists every trading day. The pullback also coincided with the upward-sloping trendline. It was accompanied by declining relative performance against the Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ) and a decline in the value of the full stochastic oscillator.

Is this a classic buy-the-dip moment? To answer the question, let’s look at the daily chart of CSCO.

FIGURE 1. DAILY CHART OF CSCO STOCK. The uptrend is still in play, making the pullback to the 21-day EMA an attractive entry point.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The uptrend broke slightly to the downside, but the support from the 21-day EMA was strong. Thursday’s price action indicated a reversal is possible.

The stochastic oscillator is approaching the 50 level and is starting to turn higher. The last two times CSCO’s stock price pulled back to the 21-day EMA, the oscillator turned up at around the 50 level. I’ll be watching to see if a similar scenario unfolds this time.

CSCO’s price action looks attractive. I’m ready to open a long trade in CSCO when the %K line crosses over the %D in the stochastic oscillator. CSCO’s stock price hit an all-time high in early December, so a pullback is a prime time to open a long position if all your criteria are met.

The Game Plan

Cisco Systems may not be a direct AI play, but it is a networking company, and the stock could benefit from tech companies’ increased AI spending. So it’s not too far-fetched to anticipate CSCO’s stock price to ride along with the AI wave.

Thursday’s price action does not yet confirm a bullish upswing, but I’ll watch this chart closely. It’s an opportunity I don’t want to miss.

Even if it looks like a near-perfect setup to buy on the dip, there’s still a chance the trade could go against me. If I enter a position at around $59 and the trade goes south, the 50-day SMA would be my maximum stop loss.

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.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday declared himself a ‘proud feminist’ as he lamented Vice President Harris’ loss to President-elect Trump in the 2024 presidential election as just one recent example of a setback for women’s progress.

Trudeau delivered remarks in Ottawa at a gala for Equal Voice, an organization that works to improve gender representation in Canada’s politics. 

‘We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult, march towards progress,’ Trudeau said. ‘And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president.’

‘Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack, overtly and subtly,’ Trudeau continued. ‘I want you to know that I am, and always will be, a proud feminist. You will always have an ally in me and in my government.’

Trudeau’s remarks come as relations between the U.S. and Canada grow tense over immigration and the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S.

Trudeau jetted into Mar-a-Lago unannounced on Nov. 29, just days after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Trump is threatening to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over failures by both nations to curb the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs from those countries into the U.S. 

Both Trump and Trudeau called the meeting ‘very productive.’

Sources later told Fox News that Trudeau had told Trump he cannot levy the tariff because it would kill the Canadian economy completely. Trump retorted by asking, so your country can’t survive unless it’s ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion? 

Trump then suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously, sources told Fox News.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Former FBI source Alexander Smirnov has struck a plea agreement with the office of special counsel David Weiss, agreeing to plead guilty on several counts.

The document notes that Smirnov is agreeing to plead guilty to ‘Count Two of the indictment in United States v. Alexander Smirnov … which charges defendant with causing the creation of a false and fictitious record in a federal investigation … ‘ and agreeing to plead guilty to charges of tax evasion.

Smirnov is accused of providing false information to the FBI.

He signed off on a statement of facts in support of the plea agreement, which echoes allegations that had been made against him in an indictment.

Smirnov allegedly ‘provided false derogatory information to the FBI about Public Official 1, an elected official in the Obama-Biden Administration who left office in January 2017, and Businessperson 1, the son of Public Official 1, in 2020, after Public Official 1 became a candidate for President of the United States of America.’ 

The allegation apparently refers to President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, though the two are not specifically identified by name.

Smirnov had served as a ‘confidential human source’ with the FBI.

The material also alleges that Smirnov ‘claimed executives associated with Burisma, including Burisma Official 1, admitted to him that they hired Businessperson 1 to ‘protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,’ and later that they had specifically paid $5 million each to Public Official 1 and Businessperson 1, when Public Official 1 was still in office, so that ‘[Businessperson 1] will take care of all those issues through his dad,’ referring to a criminal investigation being conducted by the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General into Burisma and to ‘deal with [the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General].”

‘The events Defendant first reported to the Handler in June 2020 were fabrications. In truth and fact, Defendant had contact with executives from Burisma in 2017, after the end of the Obama-Biden Administration and after the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General had been fired in February 2016 — in other words, when Public Official 1 could not engage in any official act to influence U.S. policy and when the Prosecutor General was no longer in office,’ the statement of facts asserts. 

‘Defendant transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against Public Official 1, the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for President, after expressing bias against Public Official 1 and his candidacy.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Analyzing the market at the end of the trading day can offer a calmer, less volatile environment, allowing you to think more clearly when scanning for market opportunities. The StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) Report is usually a good place to start, as it lists top-performing stocks in different phases of their respective trends.

As Wednesday’s market session approached its close, I checked the SCTR Report on my Dashboard. While some stocks have consistently cycled through the top 10, others, like the fintech company SoFi Technologies, Inc. (SOFI), are relative newcomers.

FIGURE 1. SCTR REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 11, 2024. SOFI is sixth from the top with a SCTR score of 99.3.Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

SOFI is a fintech company founded in 2011. Its appeal lies in its rapid growth (and growth potential), user-friendly digital platform, and focus on younger, tech-savvy customers. Since going public in 2021, the company has positioned itself as a disruptor in traditional banking. It’s had quite a volatile run up and down, but now seems to be regaining favor among investors.

Stalling at a Congestion Range

Looking at SOFI’s weekly chart, you can see where the trend has stalled. This underscores the importance of viewing long-term price action for key levels, particularly where heavy buying and selling has occurred. Price tends to react strongly to these historical levels, leading to the notion that the market has a memory.

FIGURE 2. WEEKLY CHART OF SOFI. Bullish investors take profit at a key congestion level dating back to 2021.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

You can see that the price stalled at a range where concentrated activity occurred in 2021 (between $15 and $17). Fast-forward to 2024, and buyers are taking profits at this level (see blue rectangle), perhaps anticipating that this historical congestion range might serve as a resistance zone.

If price breaks above this level, the swing highs at the $25 range and $28, SOFI’s all-time high, can serve as longer-term profit targets. But what’s the likelihood of price breaking above the current swing high point of $16.60 in the near term? Let’s look at the daily chart.

FIGURE 3. DAILY CHART OF SOFI. Can momentum fuel an uptrend following the bounce?Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Note the SCTR score as it moved above the 80 line, which I consider a bullish threshold. In particular, note how it coincides with SOFI breaking above a ‘local’ high following a long basing period (see dotted magenta line).

Next, observe how price, following a strong advance, had pulled back and is currently bouncing off the middle Bollinger Band.

Is there enough momentum to support the bounce and a continuation of the trend?  If you look at previous bounces, highlighted by the magenta rectangles, you can see how most bullish reversals coincided with a Stochastic Oscillator reading below (or near) the 20 thresholds, signaling an ‘oversold’ condition. The current bounce is barely above the 50-line, and this tells you that the current momentum may be weaker compared to previous reversals. While this doesn’t guarantee SOFI is going to dip in the near term, it suggests you should be cautious and look for additional confirmation, such as stronger volume or other indicators signaling bullish conditions, before assuming the trend will persist.

If, for any reason, you already went long the stock near the current price, you can place a stop loss below the closest consecutive swing lows at $14.80 and $13.00 to manage potential losses if you’re currently long.

If you haven’t entered a long position yet and are looking to buy, it’s a general principle to go long upon the breakout using the most current swing high as your entry point. However, that setup can change if SOFI pulls back further and forms a lower swing high point.

The Game Plan

Here’s your actionable game plan for SOFI:

Add SOFI to your ChartList. This will help you keep a close eye on SOFI’s price action. Note the key levels of interest, including at $16.60 (current swing high), at $14.80 and $13.00 (stop loss levels), and at $25 and $28 (potential long-term profit targets).Plan your entry strategy. If you’re not already in the trade, wait for a breakout above the $16.60 swing high for a potential entry point. Alternatively, if the stock pulls back further, monitor for a lower swing high to adjust your strategy.Monitor momentum and volume. Use indicators like the Stochastic Oscillator or any other of your choosing to confirm the strength of the current price action. If price pulls back further, look for an oversold Stochastic reading (an ideal scenario) and/or a decisive volume spike to validate bullish momentum.Set your stops and targets. Tighten your risk management by setting stop-loss orders at $14.80 and $13.00. For potential upside, aim for $25 and $28 as long-term targets if the breakout sustains.

At the Close

The SCTR Report highlighted SOFI as a compelling opportunity, but its current price action requires careful monitoring. By adding SOFI to your ChartList and following the outlined setup, you can develop your own approach to SOFI that capitalizes on its potential upside while protecting yourself against the downside risks.

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.

Federal prosecutors accused top real estate agents Tal and Oren Alexander and their brother, Alon, of drugging and raping “dozens of victims” over more than a decade.

The brothers were arrested in Miami Wednesday on sex trafficking charges related to the alleged assaults.

They face charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a victim by force, fraud, or coercion, an eight-page indictment in U.S. District Court in Manhattan says. Tal Alexander faces an additional count of sex trafficking of a victim by force, fraud, or coercion.

Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander in New York City on Sept. 20, 2016.Sean Zanni / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images file

Isabelle Kirshner, an attorney for Alon and Oren, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the unsealed federal indictment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York scheduled a press conference on the arrests for 1 p.m. ET in Manhattan.

Several women have previously filed lawsuits in Manhattan accusing the brothers of sexual assault. The brothers have denied wrongdoing.

“We are glad to hear that there will finally be some measure of accountability for the Alexander brothers and justice for their many victims,” David Gottlieb, an attorney for the plaintiffs in a number of the civil cases against the Alexanders, said in a statement.

“We applaud all the survivors who have had the strength and courage to speak up about their unimaginable experiences after years of pain and suffering,” Gottlieb said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Juan Soto will be officially introduced by the New York Mets on Thursday in a press conference at Citi Field after agreeing to a 15-year, $765 million contract – the biggest deal in sports history.

“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement.

Soto, 26, debuted as a 19-year-old with the Washington Nationals in 2018 and has since been one of the best hitters in baseball. He’s finished in the top 10 of MVP voting five times in the past six seasons and set a career high with 41 home runs in 2024, helping the New York Yankees reach the World Series after an offseason trade from the San Diego Padres.

“Today’s signing further solidifies our organizational commitment to consistent championship competitiveness,” said Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. “Not only does Juan provide historic levels of on field production, but his joy, intensity, and passion for the game mirror our budding culture.’

The Mets made a surprise run to the NLCS this season, losing to the eventual-champion Los Angeles Dodgers in six games,

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

What time is the Juan Soto press conference?

Soto’s press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Juan Soto contract details

Number of years: 15
Signing bonus:  $75 million
Total value of contract: $765 million. That’s $65 million more than the 10-year, $700 million contract Shohei Ohtani signed last offseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Deferred money: $0
Average annual value: $51 million. Also a record, since a sizable portion of Ohtani’s contract is deferred until after his playing days are over.
Opt-out clauses: Soto has the right to opt out of his contract after the 2029 season. The Mets also have the right to void Soto’s buyout if they increase his salary from $51 million to $55 million beginning in 2030 for 10 years.
Potential total value of contract: $805 million, if the Mets exercise their option.

– Steve Gardner

Juan Soto jersey number

Juan Soto will wear No. 22 with the New York Mets, his same number with the Nationals, Padres and Yankees.

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College football’s coaching ranks underwent a seismic shift on Wednesday when North Carolina announced it had hired Bill Belichick to be its next head football coach.

Belichick, 72, spent nearly 50 years in the NFL before he and the New England Patriots mutually agreed to part ways after the 2023 NFL season. He has never coached college football during his career but is taking on the challenge in the hopes of turning UNC into a professional-style program, as he described during an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Monday.

‘I think there are a lot of (college) football programs being structured similar to pro programs,’ Belichick said.

Belichick wants to focus on nutrition, strength and conditioning and player development as part of that program.

But who will focus on recruiting, roster building and all of the NIL rules and regulations that college football is slowly figuring out? Belichick is bringing with him a long-time friend and former assistant to help him in that quest: Michael Lombardi.

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Here’s what to know about Lombardi and his relationship with Belichick.

Who is Michael Lombardi?

Lombardi was hired to be the general manager of North Carolina’s football program. He will be joining Belichick with the goal of building a pro-style personnel department to evaluate talent in the transfer portal and scout high school players.

‘I think the job’s gonna stay pretty much like it was,’ Lombardi said when asked how his previous NFL roles would differ from his college role. ‘We’re just gonna reframe the name of the job, but it’s gonna be pretty much the same, and it’s gonna be 24/7. The difference will be there’s no structure. We won’t have a draft, and there’ll be deadlines in terms of the portal, but we can work around it.’

Lombardi began his career in the college ranks with a four-year stint as UNLV’s recruiting coordinator from 1981-84 before jumping to the NFL as a scout with the San Francisco 49ers in 1984. That kickstarted his NFL career, which spanned 32 years and saw him work in various scouting roles with the 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and Patriots.

Notably, Lombardi spent the 2013 NFL season as the general manager of the Browns. He held that position for one year before being replaced by Ray Farmer. During that stint in Cleveland, Lombardi oversaw a draft class that was highlighted by No. 6 overall pick Barkevious Mingo; the Browns selected Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel in Farmer’s first year as the Browns general manager.

Lombardi last worked in the NFL from 2014-16 as an assistant to Belichick and the Patriots’ coaching staff. He won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, giving him three total for his career, as the 49ers won one during his second year with the organization.

In between his NFL stints, Lombardi has worked for various media companies as an NFL analyst. Notably, he was an NFL draft analyst for ESPN in 1996 and has also been featured on ‘Inside the NFL,’ NFL Network, Fox Sports and CBS Sports during his career.

Lombardi most recently has worked for VSiN as an on-air host and also hosted a podcast called ‘The GM Shuffle.’

Michael Lombardi’s relationship with Bill Belichick

Lombardi has had a relationship with Belichick dating back to their days together with the Browns. Lombardi served as Cleveland’s director of player personnel for the final three years of Belichick’s time as head coach; that fostered a lasting relationship and played a part in Lombardi coming to the Patriots in 2014.

Now, Lombardi is following Belichick to the college game. He explained how the situation played out during his interview with VSiN.

‘This came together because Bill wanted to go back to college,’ Lombardi said. ‘I think if you read the David Halberstam book ‘Education of a Coach,’ Halberstam predicted that one day, Belichick would go back to college football because he values teaching so much.’

Lombardi elaborated that he believed that the dramatic changes in college football have made the system more welcoming for professional coaches and talent evaluators like Belichick and himself. They are used to the pay-for-play element of football, so Lombardi believes that he and Belichick will be able to ‘put a dollar sign on a player’ while being ‘able to motivate and coach within the framework of monetary compensation.’

That made Lombardi feel more than comfortable with taking the position.

‘So, for me – and my relationship with coach Belichick – once he decided he wanted to do this and then asked if I wanted to do this, I thought, ‘Why not?” Lombardi said. ‘This is the perfect time and the perfect setting.’

It wasn’t the first time that Lombardi and Belichick had discussed the UNC program, however. The former NFL executive detailed that the duo, along with current Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, took a scouting trip to Chapel Hill in 1992 and lamented that the program wasn’t consistently winning.

‘We both looked at each other – and this was 1992 – and we said, ‘How the hell can’t they win here?” Lombardi said. ‘That’s a true story. And that is really what sparked this.’

Is Michael Lombardi related to Vince Lombardi?

For those wondering, Michael Lombardi is not related to Vince Lombardi. Vince Lombardi does have a grandson who works in the NFL, but that’s Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.

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Inter Miami and Major League Soccer may have another best-selling jersey on their hands.

Inter Miami debuted its new away jersey kit for the 2025 MLS season Thursday, two months before the season begins in February, just in time for the holiday season.

Messi, the reigning MLS MVP who owns the league’s highest selling jersey for the last two years, was featured in promotional photos and videos modeling the away kit.

The jersey has a black and dark grey, two-tone look featuring monochrome pink accents with the adidas logo, club emblem, jersey name and number, and the club’s jersey sponsor Royal Caribbean.

SHOP: Get the latest Messi and Inter Miami team gear from the MLS Store

The jersey is available on MLSstore.com, adidas.com, and at Inter Miami’s team store at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Royal Caribbean will also have the jersey available for purchase on their ships.

Inter Miami says the jersey is an ode to its ties to Fort Lauderdale, where the club has played since its inception in 2020. The club intends to open its new stadium, Miami Freedom Park, in 2026.

MLS, Inter Miami, adidas and retailers have relished Messi jersey sales since he joined the league in July 2023.

Messi, the Argentine World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, had the league’s top selling jersey in 2023 and 2024. He continues to rank No. 1 globally for adidas in jersey sales of individual players.

SHOP: Get the latest Messi and Argentina jerseys from Amazon

Inter Miami’s retro-inspired third kit – a teal and orange jersey drawing comparison to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins colorway – was the fastest selling jersey in league history. It recorded the most sales in the first day, week, and month of any newly launched jersey in MLSstore.com history.

The league also celebrated its largest sales day in MLSstore.com history, when the Inter Miami third-kit was released with adidas x MLS Archive Collection jerseys worn by four other clubs during the 2024 season.

Inter Miami had four players – Messi and his former FC Barcelona teammates – in the Top 25 among jersey sales in 2024. Luis Suarez had the second-best selling jersey, while Sergio Busquets (11th) and Jordi Alba (15th) were also on the list.

Messi, Busquets and former Inter Miami striker Josef Martínez were on the Top 25 MLS jersey list last year.

Inter Miami will wear the new jerseys during the 2025 MLS season and while competing in major tournaments, such as the Concacaf Champions Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and Leagues Cup.

Inter Miami won the MLS Supporters’ Shield with a record-setting 74 points during the 2024 season, but were eliminated by Atlanta United during the first-round of the MLS Cup playoffs.

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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Wednesday he has hired personal security for his home.

Some professional athletes have had their homes broken into this year.

Tua said one of his cars was broken into a couple of years ago.

‘My house had gotten broken into, not necessarily my house, but one of my cars, and so it’s a little too close for my comfort with my family being in the house,’ Tagovailoa said. ‘So we got personal security to take care of all of that when we’re on the road. We got someone with my wife, got you know someone also at the house surveying the house. So just to let that be known they are armed so I hope if you decide to go to my house you think twice.’

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No one was injured in the break-in, but the home was ransacked.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley’s home was burglarized in September.

NFL and NBA crime sprees lead Tua Tagovailoa to hire security

The homes of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were broken into in October. Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis had his home broken into in November.

‘I wouldn’t say necessarily I would be a target’ Tagovailoa said. ‘But I wouldn’t wanna play the chances with my family, my kids sleeping, my wife sleeping, me sleeping at the house.’

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