Domestic structural weaknesses, some of which pre-date the debt crisis and remain, were the focus of the interim Monetary Policy Report by Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras on Friday, which pointed out that while there are successes and the economy is on the right track, the effort is not complete. Among these permanent wounds of the Greek economy, those related to the labor market and the increasingly acute shortage of labor, especially in specialized personnel, occupy a leading position. “The low participation rate of women and young people in the labor force and the aging of the population exacerbate the tightness of the labor market over time and are factors that limit the country’s growth potential,” the central banker emphasized in the report. In view of those weaknesses, Stournaras suggests taking measures to increase labor market participation through training, as well as the integration of immigrants. He also calls on businesses to adopt cutting-edge technologies to attract talent and for the state to encourage the creation of an innovation ecosystem through tax incentives. “Demographic aging,” he says, “is expected to shrink the percentage of the working-age population. This requires the adoption of active labor market policies and education and training programs that will aim to increase the participation of women and young people in the labor force. Targeted policies are also required for the integration of immigrants and the attraction of foreign workers to address the already observed labor shortages in the agricultural sector and in sectors related to tourism and construction.” On other chronic weaknesses, Stournaras mentions the “lack of competition in several sectors of the economy, which exacerbates the problem of inflation, high public debt, large investment gap, low savings and low structural competitiveness, which worsens the current account balance.” He also points to investments, which the report states increased by only 2.2% in the first nine months, against 9.3% growth last year.
Italy’s Bending Spoons to take Brightcove private in $233 million dealINDIANAPOLIS — The empty trophy case that stares back at the players in the Penn State team meeting room says as much about the program as it does about its coach. James Franklin was in on the decision to place it there. With one exception in 2016, there hasn’t been much to put in it since Franklin arrived a decade back to restore solidness, if not greatness, to one of the nation’s most storied but also troubled programs. The Nittany Lions and their 52-year-old coach have a chance to place something in the empty case — first if they can win the Big Ten title game Saturday against No. 1 and undefeated Oregon, then again in the College Football Playoff — a 12-team affair that No. 3 Penn State is virtually certain be part of, win or lose against the Ducks. “We’ve wanted to fill up one of our cases that we have empty on purpose, and that’s just the next thing ahead,” sophomore linebacker Tony Rojas said. “The Big Ten championship, it starts with Coach Franklin and us.” In 11 seasons, Franklin has amassed numbers of which most would be jealous. At first glance, they are impressive. The 99-40 record, five finishes among the AP’s top 15 and regular appearances in big-time bowl games — Rose, Cotton, Fiesta — put Franklin in with company almost any college coach would envy. Franklin is the quintessential coach who treats players like family, does his best to hold them accountable on and off the field and does things “the right way.” That’s something that carries weight everywhere but especially at Penn State. He came to Happy Valley from Vanderbilt, where he turned that SEC straggler into a winner, two seasons after the sex-abuse scandal involving Joe Paterno’s assistant, Jerry Sandusky, delivered a near-fatal blow to a program that long had been revered as a buttoned-down bastion of success. Franklin, from the Philadelphia suburbs and a self-described “Pennsylvania boy with a Penn State heart,” figured out the delicate balance in respecting Paterno and his 56 years at the school (45 as head coach) without deifying him. “We’ll do everything we can to bring this community back together,” the new coach said when he arrived in 2014, “and really take pride in this program.” Living up to the standard has always been tough in Happy Valley. But thanks more to the standard Paterno set than the program he left, there are bigger expectations at Penn State than simply being solid. This is a program that won national titles (1982, 1986), had perfect seasons (five) and won the Big Ten three times under JoePa after coming out of its century-plus stance as an independent in 1993. That’s the prism through which a lot of the school’s diehards view Franklin’s 1-10 record against Ohio State. That’s how they view his 3-18 record in games against teams in the AP top 10. That’s why they look sideways at the fact that the coach is on his sixth offensive coordinator in 11 years. It’s why they say, yes, Franklin wins lots of games — just not the big ones. “I understand the frustration for sure,” said Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth, who played for Franklin from 2018-20. Others see that but also look at the task Franklin took on in 2014, when the team was coming off a postseason ban, massive scholarship losses and a backlash against a sports program many felt had become untethered in the wake of the abuse scandal. This will mark the first time since the early 1980s that Penn State has strung together three straight seasons with double-digit wins. “He takes over a team with bare cupboards,” Nittany Lion great LaVar Arrington said in an interview with the Reading Eagle earlier this year. “He comes here and brings in recruits. For him to turn Penn State back into a very, very reputable and respectable place to play football was probably a job that very few people realize how daunting a task it was.” Will the expanded playoffs be perfect for Franklin and the Nittany Lions? After this year’s 20-13 loss to Ohio State — a tepid offensive performance in which Penn State failed to score on two trips inside the Buckeyes 5 — Franklin got booed off the field and barked back at fans heckling him. After the game, he spoke to his own frustration, which involved the difficult losses but also all those wins. “Nobody is looking in the mirror harder than I am,” he said. “I’ve said this before, but 99% of the programs across college football would die to do what we’ve been able to do in our time here.” In some ways, then, the expanded playoff was built for a program like Penn State. Even had the Buckeyes not lost to Michigan last week, thus allowing Franklin and Co. into the Big Ten title game, they would be in the playoff. In fact, they have been ranked in the top 12 by the CFP playoff committee in five of the 10 seasons it has existed. Maybe a new setting with new stakes is the thing that gets Franklin over the hump. Even his lone Big Ten title, in 2016, did not bring with it a trip to the playoffs, which was only four teams then. “Regardless of how this game goes, going to the playoffs and making some noise in there, I think that’s going to help him out a lot,” Freiermuth said. This week, though, the coach is looking only at Oregon — a challenge that’s daunting enough without worrying about that empty trophy case sitting back home. “I understand the question and I appreciate the question, but we’re just focused on trying to beat the No. 1 team in the country,” Franklin said. “Totally focused on that and not the other scenarios or discussions.”
A zero-day option hypothetical ... how big the gains can be ... using options to hedge your gains ... tomorrow’s live event with master trader Jonathan Rose Imagine that it’s mid-afternoon on a Thursday, shortly before the closing bell... The stock you’ve been tracking for weeks reports earnings just after market close, and your indicators are tipping you off that a trade opportunity is at hand. Although you don’t have a crystal ball, this isn’t a blind gamble. You’ve seen this set up many times before. Past trades have exploded when certain market conditions have come together, the same ones you’re seeing now: a catalyst event... the expectation of outsized volatility... plenty of volume... lofty expectations... You check your suite of indicators one more time. They all suggest the same thing: a big move could be coming. Based on your financial situation, you decide that $1,000 is what you’re comfortable risking. You recognize that if the trade doesn’t go your way, you will lose most or all this $1,000. But you’re okay with that. A few clicks later in your brokerage account, and voila, you’re in the trade. It’s an earnings beat. A big one. You watch as after-hours traders begin piling into the stock. The next day, it seems like all of Wall Street is joining in on the move. By lunch, the stock is up 10%. But here’s the thing... You didn’t trade the stock. So, you’re not up 10%... You traded a two-day option on the stock, so you’re up almost 1,500%. And your $1,000 speculation from yesterday afternoon? It’s now worth nearly $15,000...in less than 24 hours. If you’re less familiar with this type of trade, here’s expert Jonathan Rose from Masters in Trading : Committing your capital in the morning and taking a massive gain before the end of the day... That’s the promise of what elite traders refer to as 0DTE options . In simple terms, an 0DTE trade – which stands for zero days to expiration – means that if you buy an option today, it expires by the end of the trading session, making it perfect for profiting from intraday price movements. Additionally, there are options that expire within one to three days – known as 1DTE, 2DTE, or 3DTE options – giving you a slightly longer window to execute your trades while lowering your exposure to risk. By hedging your short-term risk and piling into trades at the right time, you can find some of the most powerful opportunities for gains in the stock market. To illustrate these “powerful opportunities,” let’s return to our example. We based it on data from Bankrate.com which recently crunched the numbers on a zero-day option move. Here’s Bankrate : Imagine you can purchase a $20 call option on a $20 stock for $0.10, with the option expiring at the end of the day. The total cost of a single contract is $10, or 100 shares * 1 contract * $0.10. Then, let’s imagine you buy 10 of these contracts for a total of $100. The article then provides a table showing the profit and loss for a variety of moves in the underlying stock. I won’t include it due to copyright issues, but one projection shows that a 10% move in the underlying stock causes the specified zero-day option to explode 1,900% – which is an even greater return than what I suggested from our hypothetical two-day option trade. Clearly, when a move goes your way, the returns can be huge. Here’s Jonathan: I want to help anyone reading this article. That’s why I’ve put together a special presentation that will help you identify the best opportunities for quick options plays on the market. Using the system I’ve developed, you’ll not only discover the key to quick, consistent gains trading options... You’ll also understand how trading pros protect their portfolios from market uncertainty by adding upside and downside coverage that allows them to stay nimble whatever the markets throw at them. Jonathan’s reference to portfolio protection is another great potential benefit of short-term options. Circling back to our earlier hypothetical, say you already owned the stock that was about to announce earnings. What if it had become so valuable in your portfolio over the last 24 months that it was now almost enough to fund a down payment on your dream home? If earnings go your way, the ensuing jump in the stock’s price would likely take you over the top in having enough for that down payment. But if earnings disappoint, it could result in, say, a 15% pullback. That would kneecap your down payment fund, and your dream home would likely slip through your fingers. In this situation, you could buy short-term options that will soar in value if your stock craters after its earnings report. This would go a long way to protecting your nest egg, keeping your dream home purchase in play. To be clear, if the stock doesn’t crash due to earnings, you could lose most or all of whatever you spent on those options, but that’s basically like an insurance premium. And a potential spike in the value of the stock itself could more than offset that cost. Back to Jonathan: With this presentation, you’ll get a clearer picture of how volatility shapes the options market, and you’ll gain the depth of understanding necessary to execute creative trades based on all the market criteria I’ve outlined above. Now, one last note... Why now? Is there any reason why today’s market environment makes learning about options more urgent than other times? Yes – the likelihood of exaggerated volatility. With Trump entering the White House and promising tax cuts and deregulation, Wall Street has been getting into “risk on” mode. This is creating lots of big moves in various corners of the market. Here’s Jonathan: With a new U.S. administration poised to cut regulations in everything from transportation to financial services – and exert its own influence on the Fed to enact further rate cuts – Wall Street is looking for the best ways to capitalize on a market fueled by an abundance of fiscal stimulus measures. Now, while this skews more toward “good” volatility – meaning the kind where the markets roar higher, if there’s a misstep (maybe too much inflation, a policy mistake from the Fed, or perhaps a geopolitical Black Swan), then expect plenty of “bad” downward volatility. Either way, having short-term options in your investment toolkit offers a powerful way to navigate this range of potential volatility while other investors are on their heels. But consider joining Jonathan tomorrow – click here to instantly sign up – just to learn more and have some of your questions addressed. You don’t have to make any trades. Just watch one of our industry’s best teachers explain one of today’s most powerful market strategies. You’ll walk away as a more knowledgeable investor, and that’s always a good thing. You can automatically reserve your seat right here. I’ll let Jonathan take us out: This is a rare opportunity to learn about a whole approach to options that is driving millions of dollars in trading volume as I write to you. There’s no reason you should miss out on this market phenomenon. I want to make sure anyone who’s interested has a chance to gain the knowledge to beat the smart money at its own game. Click here and I’ll see you tomorrow at 11 am ET. Have a good evening, Jeff Remsburg
The court's shock ruling, coming just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday, opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow." Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest at 0600 GMT, said his team. Earlier Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a 62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation". President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media". The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim the company has denied. Following the court's decision, the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and "denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack". His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016 because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new government is expected to set another date for the presidential vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains, securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine. In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising "stability". bur-jza/jjChaikin scores 21 off the bench, Lafayette knocks off NCAA Div. III-Rosemont 91-45
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:05 p.m. EST
Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers. One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia's Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. But he grew disillusioned with the company and told The Associated Press this fall he would “try to testify” in copyright infringement cases against it. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures eased last month WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of outsize 0.3% gains. The milder inflation figures arrived two days after Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, rocked financial markets by revealing that they now expect to cut their key interest rate just two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate. Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teenager following a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama says the ban will begin sometime next year. Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers. Stock market today: Wall Street rises to turn a dismal week into just a bad one NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought. Starbucks workers begin strikes that could spread to hundreds of US stores by Christmas Eve Workers at U.S. Starbucks stores have begun a five-day strike to protest a lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes began in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve. Workers at 535 of the 10,000 company-owned Starbucks stores in the U.S. have voted to unionize. The Starbucks Workers United union accuses the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain of failing to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. Starbucks says the union prematurely left the bargaining table this week. It said Friday there's been no significant impact to store operations. It's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day. The two weekends on either side of Christmas are tempting a lot of people to head out earlier. U.S. airlines expect to have their busiest days to be Friday and Sunday this week and next Thursday, Friday and Sunday. A government shutdown that could start as soon as Saturday was not expected to immediately affect flights and airport operations. Amazon workers are striking at multiple facilities. Here's what you should know Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union are on strike for a second day at seven of the company’s delivery hubs just days before Christmas. At midnight on Saturday, the Teamsters say workers at a prominent unionized warehouse in New York will also join. The union has not indicated how many employees were participating in the walkout or when it will end. The Teamsters say the workers were continuing their strike on Friday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union had set for contract negotiations. The company says it doesn’t expect the strikes taking place in Southern California, San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, and Skokie, Illinois, to impact holiday shipments. Alabama profits off prisoners who work at McDonald’s but deems them too dangerous for parole DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — No state has a longer, more profit-driven history of contracting prisoners out to private companies than Alabama. Best Western, Bama Budweiser and Burger King are among the more than 500 businesses to lease incarcerated workers from one of the most violent, overcrowded and unruly prison systems in the U.S. in the past five years alone, The Associated Press found as part of a two-year investigation into prison labor. The cheap, reliable labor force has generated more than $250 million for the state since 2000 — money garnished from prisoners’ paychecks. Kelly Betts of the corrections department defended the work programs, calling them crucial to the success of inmates preparing to leave prison, though she added some of the incarcerated workers are serving life without parole.Job loss fears as Mbadi orders cost-cutting in State agencies