Conor McGregor goes on social media rampage and blasts 'lies' after losing assault trialHome Depot Inc. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitors

The official start of winter is just days away so if you’re readying yourself for three or more months of hibernation, then Amazon has a deal you won’t want to let go . Bedsure’s Heated Blanket Electric Throw is on sale for 20% off, which means you’ll only have to pay $30, instead of $39, to keep yourself warm and cozy through the cold season — at least that’s the hope! This luxurious and durable blanket is made from ultra-soft 220 GSM flannel on one side and 200 GSM premium sherpa on the other — which are total winter comfort staples. It features advanced heating wire technology that offers six heating levels and four time-settings so you can tailor the perfect temperature and warmth duration for your precise level of chill . And with 74 safety tests conducted in a quality-control-observant Intertek-recognized Satellite Lab, the blanket surpasses UL standards for safety. It’s also ETL and FCC-certified so all the important quality and compliance requisites are met. Beyond industry safety and performance benchmarks, though, the Bedsure throw has a 3-hour auto shut-off feature for peace of mind. According to the brand, the plush blanket is machine washable, fade-resistant, and energy-efficient , consuming only one-thirtieth the power of traditional heaters. Whether you’d like to add an extra layer of insulation to your bed at night or just want something warm to snuggle under on the couch while Netflix streams in the background, this Bedsure electric blanket brings the heat. Shop the Bedsure Heated Blanket Electric Throw at Amazon for $30, but not for long. More deals to stay warm this season The Best Deals in December Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com . Danielle Halibey can be reached at dhalibey@njadvancemedia.com . Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips .

TORONTO — Canada's main stock index rose Thursday, helped by strength in energy and utilities stocks, while U.S. markets moved lower ahead of reports on the labour market on both sides of the border. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 38.86 points at 25,680.04. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 248.33 points at 44,765.71. The S&P 500 index was down 11.38 points at 6,075.11, while the Nasdaq composite was down 34.86 points at 19,700.26. Friday will bring the monthly jobs reports in both the U.S. and Canada, which markets will be eyeing for clues on upcoming interest rate decisions by central banks, said Kevin Headland, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management. The U.S. Federal Reserve has several key data reports coming before it makes its own decision on Dec. 18, said Headland, including inflation. Markets are currently leaning toward a quarter-percentage-point cut from the Fed, he said. But “there’s a lot of data for them to digest before the announcement.” The Bank of Canada’s decision is next week, and Headland said markets seem to think there’s a good chance the central bank could cut by an outsized half-percentage point. “In my belief, the bank is trying to front-run the mortgage renewals that are coming due over the next year or so, to just avoid some of the bigger hits to discretionary spending,” said Headland. “There’s no reason for them not to continue rate cuts unless there’s a surprise tomorrow.” Canadian bank earnings continued to roll in on Thursday. CIBC saw its profit rise while its provisions for loan losses dropped. TD also saw its profit rise, though its adjusted earnings were lower as the bank continues to work through the fallout from its anti-money laundering deficiencies. Meanwhile, BMO’s earnings were a miss on analyst expectations but the bank said it expects loan performance to improve in 2025. So far, there haven’t been any major surprises from bank earnings overall, said Headland. Bitcoin continued its meteoric rise, briefly breaching US$100,000 for the first time after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump tapped crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. “US$100,000 is definitely a psychological threshold,” said Headland. “I guess time will tell whether it can remain at that level,” he added. “If we’re getting downside pressure to risk assets, I would assume that Bitcoin and other companies will be swept up in that negativity.” But for now, the surge is indicative of the broader positive momentum markets have enjoyed since Donald Trump’s election, said Headland. The Canadian dollar traded for 71.24 cents US compared with 71.09 cents US on Wednesday. The January crude oil contract was down 24 cents at US$68.30 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was up four cents at US$3.08 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was down US$27.80 at US$2,648.40 an ounce and the March copper contract was down a penny at US$4.19 a pound. — With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George has a bone bruise on his left knee and will miss two games, the team said Thursday. The 76ers said George did not suffer any structural damage when he injured the same knee that he hyperextended during the preseason in Wednesday night's loss at Memphis. The game marked the first time this season the All-Star trio of George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey started a game together. George will miss home games Friday against Brooklyn and Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers, his former team. A nine-time All-Star, the 34-year-old George will be evaluated again on Monday. Wednesday's 117-111 loss to the Grizzlies dropped the Sixers to 2-12, the worst record in the NBA headed into Thursday night's games. George signed a four-year, $212 million contract with Philadelphia after five seasons with the Clippers. He has averaged 14.9 points in eight games this season. Embiid has been out with injuries, load management rest and a suspension, while Maxey was sidelined with a hamstring injury. An expected contender in the Eastern Conference, the Sixers haven't won since an overtime victory against Charlotte on Nov. 10. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Veeva Systems (NYSE:VEEV) Exceeds Q3 Expectations, Stock SoarsPRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) — When the referee whistled for the free kick just outside the area, Atletico Madrid forward Julián Álvarez quickly picked up the ball and moved in position to take the shot. “When I saw the free kick, I told Rodri (Rodrigo De Paul) that I felt confident with the shot,” Álvarez said. “And it was a great goal.” Álvarez, Atletico's main signing in the offseason , has not been lacking confidence lately. The Argentina forward curled in the free kick shot in the 15th minute for the first of his two goals in the team’s 6-0 rout of Brest in the Champions League on Tuesday — the team’s biggest ever away win in European competitions. “We'll keep rotating who takes the free kicks,” said Álvarez, who also found the net in the 59th. It was Álvarez’s seventh goal in the last 10 matches, and third in his last three games across all competitions. The 24-year-old had a slow start to his first season with Atletico, scoring twice in 10 matches. “It was a matter of time before we started connecting well with each other,” said Álvarez, who joined Atletico after two seasons at Manchester City. “We have to stay on this path to keep improving.” Ángel Correa also scored two goals for Atletico, with Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann adding one each. “We know that in this format of the competition we need to keep adding the three points and scoring goals," Álvarez said. "It's important to get the points and the goals.” Atletico was sitting in 13th place in the 36-team league standings. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Malaysia’s education system must foster innovators, leaders, says S’wak deputy ministerThis bull market has been running rampant for more than two years, but it's an unusual one. Most bull runs don't have to share time with inflation crises, and the monetary pressure that started to build in 2021 is finally easing. The macroeconomic boost from that shift could keep this bull running longer than usual. While the bullish trend has been having a broad impact on the stock market, some stocks can be expected to benefit more than others as the investor-friendly run continues. These two supercharged tech companies could deliver market-beating returns over the next few years. How to play the digital advertising turnaround in style Anders Bylund (Criteo): One of the most game-changing aspects of this bull market is the ongoing return to normal consumer spending behavior. People largely reined in their discretionary spending when inflation surged a few years ago. The list of industries that faced lower sales in that tight economy has a lot of overlap with the sectors that do a lot of brand-oriented marketing. From luxury goods and travel services to cars and smartphones, consumer demand tightened up and brand advertising slowed down. Why spend big money on targeted ads when people aren't willing to buy anything? So digital advertising was pushed into an extra-deep downturn. Now, the leaders of that industry are poised to come back swinging as consumer spending recovers. Criteo ( CRTO 3.47% ) is a fine example of this rebound opportunity. The Paris-based marketing campaign manager's stock is down 22% from recent highs, but the business is poised to perform in a healthier economy. Speaking during the October earnings call , retiring CEO Megan Clarken outlined a thrilling growth opportunity. "Retail media facilitates the targeting of high-intent shoppers by brands primarily on retailer sites and extending reach across the open web," she said. "Performance media focuses on targeting high-intent shoppers for direct-to-consumer brands, primarily on the open web and social platforms. In other words, our solutions have a hyper focus on addressing or advertising to consumers who are on their buyer journey. " So Criteo should benefit greatly when luxury brands and brand-oriented advertisers boost their marketing budgets again. And that's already happening, just in time for the holiday shopping season. Meanwhile, the stock is trading for just 1.1 times sales and 9 times expected forward earnings. These valuation ratios would be cheap for a tired old retailer -- they're dirt cheap for a tech stock with proven growth chops that is arguably heading into a game-changing sector turnaround . Down 34%, Micron can deliver wins for long-term investors Keith Noonan : Micron Technology ( MU -0.12% ) is a leading provider of memory-chip solutions. The company's business has been posting huge performance improvements in conjunction with artificial intelligence ( AI ) trends, but some investors appear to be betting that the good times will soon come to an end. On the heels of recent pullbacks, Micron stock is down roughly 34% from the high it hit earlier this year. While the company's future sales and earnings will almost certainly be uneven and shaped by cyclical industry trends, its recent performance points to the emergence of catalysts that will have positive long-term impacts on the business. Micron's revenue increased 93% year over year to $7.75 billion in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2024, which ended Aug. 29. That explosive growth was spurred by AI-driven demand for the company's DRAM and high-bandwidth-memory solutions. Along with the surge in sales, strong demand for its higher-end products helped the business post a non-GAAP (adjusted) net profit of roughly $1.34 billion -- improving from a loss of roughly $1.18 billion in the prior-year period. Micron stock is now valued at roughly 11 times this year's expected earnings. Given the cyclical nature of the company's business, it doesn't make sense to put too much weight on the company's price-to-earnings multiple when assessing the stock. However, it could still signal an attractive risk-reward profile for investors who approach the stock with an understanding of the cyclical guesswork involved. Depending on demand and pricing trends in the memory chip space, the company's performance can make big shifts in short order. Along those lines, some Wall Street analysts are concerned that weakness in the consumer market and oversupply in the high-bandwidth memory segment will soon lead to softer sales and earnings results. But the company's current valuation suggests that investors are being too bearish about Micron's near-term and long-term outlooks. Spending on data-center infrastructure to support the training, deployment, and scaling of AI applications is likely still in a relatively early stage of its long-term growth trajectory. While Micron's business will remain heavily cyclical and its results will be shaped by industry trends, it appears that the market is underappreciating the company's potential to be a lasting beneficiary of the AI revolution.

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Australia's House of Representatives passes bill banning children younger than age 16 from social mediaUVALDE, Texas — A Texas judge on Thursday refused to throw out criminal charges accusing the former Uvalde schools police chief of putting children at risk during a slow response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting. Pete Arredondo said he was improperly charged and that the shooter was responsible for putting the victims in danger in the school attack on May 24, 2022. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed. Arredondo also said he was scapegoated for the halting police response. Nearly 400 law enforcement agents rushed to the scene in rural South Texas but waited more than 70 minutes to confront and kill the gunman in a fourth-grade classroom. Judge Sid Harle handed down the ruling during a hearing in a Uvalde courtroom, and set a trial date for Oct. 20, 2025. Several victim family members attended the hearing but left without comment. Arredondo has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of abandoning or endangering a child, each of which carried a punishment of up to two years in jail. He and former Uvalde schools officer Adrian Gonzales are the only officers who have been charged for their actions that day. Gonzales has not asked the judge to dismiss his charges but could at a later date. Gonzales and Arredondo attended the hearing in person. Nico LaHood, an attorney for Gonzales, said he will ask for the trial to be moved out of Uvalde County because he believes his client cannot receive a fair trial there. “Everybody knows everybody,” in Uvalde, LaHood said. The indictment against Arredondo alleges he did not follow his active shooter training and made critical decisions that slowed the police response while the gunman was “hunting” his victims. It alleges that instead of confronting the gunman immediately, Arredondo caused delays by telling officers to evacuate a hallway to wait for a SWAT team, evacuating students from other areas of the building first, and trying to negotiate with the shooter while victims inside the classroom were wounded and dying. Arredondo’s attorneys say the danger that day was not caused by him, but by the shooter. They argued Arredondo was blamed for trying to save the lives of the other children in the building, and have warned that prosecuting him would open many future law enforcement actions to similar charges. “Arredondo did nothing to put those children in the path of a gunman,” said Arredondo attorney Matthew Hefti. The massacre at Robb Elementary was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, and the law enforcement response has been widely condemned as a massive failure. Nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents, 91 state police officers, as well and school and city police rushed to the campus. While terrified students and teachers called 911 from inside classrooms, dozens of officers stood in the hallway trying to figure out what to do. More than an hour later, a team of officers breached the classroom and killed the gunman. Within days of the shooting, the focus of the slow response turned on Arredondo, who was described by other responding agencies as the incident commander in charge. Multiple federal and state investigations have laid bare cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers. Several victims or their families have filed multiple state and federal lawsuits. ___ Associated Press reporter Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed.

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