Tomorrow's Top 25 Today: Auburn, Utah will make key moves in college football rankings - CBS Sports

The top four teams in the country all won in Week 14, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any notable shakeups to keep an eye on when the new college football rankings are released on Sunday. For starters, the AP Top 25 will have a choice as to whether they will follow the College Football Playoff Selection Committee in naming Ohio State the No. 1 team in the country.

The Buckeyes were impressive and dominant in their win against Michigan, but it did not come paired with a loss or setback for LSU, the team that received 50 of the 62 first-place votes in last week's polling. The Tigers beat Texas A&M by 43 and will likely keep that No. 1 spot as No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Georgia followed suit with impressive and as expected wins against their Rivalry Week opponents. 

One of the biggest questions for the AP voters and those who handle college football rankings will be how to deal with Alabama after its loss to Auburn. The one thing we know for sure is the Tide's loss has opened the door for Utah, which should enter the Pac-12 Championship Game with an expectation that it's got a good shot to make the College Football Playoff should it win against Oregon. 

Further down in the rankings, we see some shake-ups in the 20s and a handful of Big Ten teams twisting up the spots outside the top 10. Here's how we expect it all to look on Sunday.

1. LSU (Last Week -- 1): I don't think we'll see the AP voters follow the committee's lead, especially after LSU's dominant 50-7 win against Texas A&M. The Tigers are 12-0 with some of the best wins in the country on its profile, so they'll keep the top spot in the media's rankings.  

2. Ohio State (2): Michigan was playing its best football of the year, and the Buckeyes still overwhelmed the Wolverines in all three phases of the game in a win that may draw a few more first-place votes. 

3. Clemson (3): Discussing this year's Tigers team almost always starts with Trevor Lawrence, but Saturday was yet another reminder of Travis Etienne rare status among Clemson's all-time greats. The reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year broke James Conner's career ACC records for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns in a 35-point win against South Carolina. 

4. Georgia (4): Voters won't react to the negative storylines and how the Bulldogs will be impacted by injuries and ejections. They'll instead focus on the 45-point win and keep the SEC East champs at No. 4. 

5. Utah (6): The Utes are one of the most complete teams in the country. The last 9-10 weeks of evidence should let anyone know that this is not only a conference championship contender but a national championship contender. That challenge now is to prove it on the Pac-12's biggest stage against an Oregon team that occupied that playoff-contending seat just a few weeks ago. 

6. Oklahoma (7): Mike Gundy diagnosed Oklahoma's offense well heading into the game and then had to watch as that same dominant ground attack wore down the Cowboys and closed out a 13th win in the last 15 meetings between the Bedlam rivals. The way that Jalen Hurts and the Oklahoma running backs wear down opponents over the course of the game makes it elite in the fourth quarter, holding full control of the game once it can take the lead. 

7. Florida (8): Saturday night marked Florida's first win against Florida State in The Swamp since 2009 and the first back-to-back 10-win seasons since 2008-09. The offense was humming in a way it hasn't since that same Urban Meyer era, so it's understandable why Florida fans are going to come into next season with 2008-09 type expectations for Dan Mullen. The Gators have to this point been ranked far higher in the AP Top 25 than the CFP Rankings.

8. Alabama (5): According to SEC Network, the Tide have missed 101 field goals in the Nick Saban era, more than any other program in the span. For all the hand-wringing about Alabama's penalties, Mac Jones' two pick-sixes and the way Auburn won, this was still a game that could have easily broken the other way with a few different bounces. Alabama is a 10-2 team with two losses to quality teams and showed that it can score against elite defenses even without Tua Tagovailoa. 

9. Baylor (11): Matt Rhule has to like the state of his team heading into the rematch with Oklahoma after a 61-6 win against Kansas in the regular-season finale. 

10. Auburn (16): We're going to guess that the Tigers' three losses take a back seat to the instant impact of Saturday's win against Alabama and we see Auburn land ahead of the handful of Big Ten teams knocking on the door of the top 10. 

11. Wisconsin (13): The Badgers needed Jack Coan to play well in order to secure a return to the Big Ten Championship Game, and he stepped up to the challenge in a snowstorm on the road at Minnesota. The conditions suggested a heavy dose of Jonathan Taylor might be enough, but Coan's key throws put the Badgers in control of the de facto Big Ten West title game. 

12. Minnesota (9): A slight step back after the loss is cushioned by a head-to-head win against Penn State. P.J. Fleck won't be rowing his boat to Indianapolis, but the Golden Gophers can hang on in the top 15 after taking on some water on Saturday. 

13. Penn State (12): It's awfully tough to get up for a regular-season finale against Rutgers, but I think voters will see something left to be desired from the 27-6 win against the Scarlet Knights.

14. Oregon (14): The Ducks defense led the way in 24-10 win against Oregon State. That marks three straight wins for Oregon in the Civil War series, and now the Ducks turn their attention to claiming the Pac-12 Championship Game next weekend against Utah. 

15. Michigan (10): Falling five spots after losing to arguably the best team in the country is probably an overreaction, but the tangled web of head-to-head results among the other ranked teams in the Big Ten make it possible for the Wolverines to end up outside the top dozen. 

16. Notre Dame (15): A slow start against Stanford provided some reason for concern early in Notre Dame's regular-season finale, but Ian Book's four touchdowns helped course correct the Irish in a win that secured Brian Kelly's third straight 10-win season. 

17. Memphis (17): The Tigers beat Cincinnati, and now it's time to repeat the feat after pulling out nearly all of the stops on Friday in the Liberty Bowl. Memphis is still in the driver's seat for the New Year's Six for now, but it needs this last win to have the championship needed for eligibility. 

18. Iowa (19): After dominating early, Iowa allowed Nebraska to climb back into the game and nearly suffered what would have been an incredibly disappointing loss to its corn-forward rival. The Hawkeyes closed it out in extra time, and their 9-3 profile is good enough to hang tight inside the top 20. 

19. Boise State (20): Colorado State made things very interesting, but the Broncos held on to their spot in the race for a New Year's Six bowl with the narrow win on Friday. Boise State needs Cincinnati to beat Memphis, at a minimum, but the Broncos are close to the Cotton Bowl. 

20. Appalachian State (22): Friday night's 48-13 win against Troy has the Mountaineers once again hosting Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship Game next Saturday. 

21. Navy (24): A wild high-scoring affair with Houston has Navy at 9-2, outside of the AAC title game but in a prime position to get revenge against Army when the two rivals collide in two weeks. 

22. USC (25): The Trojans wrapped up their regular season last week with a win against UCLA. That 52-35 victory pushed USC over the edge and into the top 25, so I expect the shakeup at the back of the poll leaves them in the mix even during an idle week. 

23. Virginia (NR): Not only have all seven ACC Coastal teams won the divisional crown in the last seven years, but five of those have been by first-timers. Virginia joined that group with its win against Virginia Tech, closing out a 9-3 record that will take from No. 27 into the top 25. 

24. Cincinnati (18): There's an absence of attractive options on the edge of the top 25 when voters consider whether to keep 10-2 Cincinnati in the mix after its loss to Memphis. Iowa State and Texas A&M were the next teams up besides Virginia, so after their losses on Saturday, I think the Bearcats will remain ranked heading into next weekend's rematch in the AAC Championship Game. 

25. Oklahoma State (21): Will the Cowboys get bounced after losing by 18 to a top-10 team that was favored by 14? We've already got one four-loss team in the top 25 (USC), so I think the voters might not have one strong consensus pick to replace the Cowboys in the AP Top 25. 

Projected to drop out: Virginia Tech (23)

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Ockam raises $4.9 million in seed funding to make it easier for developers to secure and scale their IoT apps - TechCrunch

Ockam, a two-year-old, Bay Area-based company that’s selling tools to developers so they can establish an “architecture for trust” within their connected device applications, has raised $4.9 million in seed funding, including from Core Ventures, Okta Ventures, SGH Capital, and Future Ventures.

This serverless platform for IoT development is being led by CEO Matthew Gregory and CTO Mrinal Wadhwa, two cofounders with noteworthy backgrounds.

Before launching Ockam in the fall of 2017, Gregory was an “intrapreneur” at Microsoft, where he says he helped lead Azure’s pivot into open source software and container services. He also spent a couple of years at Salesforce as a product manager and, interestingly, spent a few years years ago as a system engineer working for Stars & Stripes, a syndicate of the yacht-racing competition America’s Cup where he tells us he led an engineering effort to build custom systems of sensors, analytics software and wireless communications tools needed to help the racing team make better decisions.

Wadhwa was meanwhile the CTO of another privately held IoT company, Fybr, that promises real-time data analytics capable of decision making at the edge (versus in the cloud).

Some of what the startup is promising is that, using its technology, IoT systems developers will be able to build more scalable connected systems — as well, crucially, as more secure ones How? Partly through crytpographic keys and partly by assigning credentials to different entities, from devices to people to assets to services.

The company is one of a growing spate of companies hoping developers will increasingly turn to them instead of building out their own software infrastructure.

For example, Particle, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based platform for Internet of Things devices that has ambitions similar to those of Ockam, recently closed on $40 million in funding in a round that brought its total funding to $81 million).

Ockam raised its seed funding over two tranches, including a $3.2 million round that closed in May and an additional $1.7 million injection from Future Ventures in more recent weeks.

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Black Friday shoppers stay away from stores, make $7 billion-plus splurge online - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers made more purchases online on Black Friday than in the mall - hurting traffic and sales at brick-and-mortar stores, according to data that offered a glimpse into what is still one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

People walk through the King of Prussia mall, one of the largest retail malls in the U.S., on Black Friday, a day that kicks off the holiday shopping season, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 29, 2019. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger

For the first time in several years, however, store traffic on Thanksgiving evening grew - indicating a shift in when consumers are leaving their homes to shop. It is also a sign of how Thursday evening store openings have continued to hurt what has traditionally been a day that kicked off the U.S. holiday season.

The importance on the shopping calendar of Black Friday, or the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, has waned in recent years. This is due to the choice by many retailers to open their stores on Thursday evening, as well as to early holiday promotions and year-round discounts. However, it is increasingly turning into a day when shoppers do not necessarily flock to stores but spend heavily online.

Also, for most retail chains, Black Friday store traffic and sales data is not necessarily grim as consumers continue to spend, consultants said. Winning the transaction, whether online or in-store, has now become more important for retailers than where it occurs.

Top brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart Inc (WMT.N), Target Corp (TGT.N) and Best Buy (BBY.N) have continued to spend billions of dollars trying to expand their e-commerce operations to capture that growing online revenue.

Also, spending patterns over the weekend are not as indicative of the entire holiday shopping season as they were a few years ago, with purchases spread over November and December.

Online sales rose more than 19.6%, reaching $7.4 billion on Black Friday, slightly shy of estimates of $7.6 billion, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions at 80 of the top 100 U.S. retailers. On Thanksgiving, it estimated sales grew 14.5% to $4.2 billion.

Numbers from ShopperTrak, which is part of retail data firm Sensormatic Solutions, showed that visits to stores fell a combined 3% during Thanksgiving and Black Friday compared with the same days in 2018.

Shopper traffic on Thanksgiving evening increased by 2.3%year-over-year but was dragged down by Black Friday, which fell 6.2% from a year ago.

Brian Field, senior director of global retail consulting for ShopperTrak, said the traditional pattern of shoppers visiting stores has been disrupted not only by online shopping but by offerings like “buy online and pick up in store,” a growing category, which is not included in store traffic count on Black Friday.

“What all of this really boils down to is the customer journey has changed, now it can start anywhere online, in-store and end anywhere ... and it is about making sure the customer makes the purchase and stays loyal to the brands more than where it happens,” he said.

Preliminary data from analytics firm RetailNext showed net sales at brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday fell 1.6%, which the firm said is slower than in previous years. No data was yet available for actual spending in stores.

The National Retail Federation had forecast U.S. holiday retail sales over the two months in 2019 will increase between 3.8% and 4.2% from a year ago, for a total of $727.9 billion to $730.7 billion. That compares with an average annual increase of 3.7% over the past five years.

Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Terrelle Pryor to make full recovery after stabbing in Pittsburgh - Los Angeles Times

NFL wide receiver and former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was stabbed in Pittsburgh, but an agent said Saturday that the player is expected to make a full recovery.

Police officers were called to UPMC Mercy after a stabbing victim walked into the hospital just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman, who wouldn’t confirm that the victim was Pryor.

But Allegheny County District Attorney spokesman Mike Manko confirmed Saturday that Pryor was the victim of a stabbing, although he had no other information, including where and when the stabbing occurred.

Family members are with Pryor at the hospital, according to Gregory Diulus of Vantage Management Group, which represents Pryor. They have been told he’s expected to make a full recovery. Diulus said he expects to see Pryor on Sunday.

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Pryor has spent time with nine NFL teams including the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. He most recently signed with Jacksonville but was waived in September after a hamstring injury.

While his professional career has been that of a journeyman, Pryor was a national star in high school and college. And his time at Ohio State ended in scandal.

Pryor grew up in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, and was considered one of the top high school football players in the country when he signed with the Ohio State in 2008. His recruitment drew national attention because he took the unusual step of waiting until mid-March to make his final decision. Most prospects sign in early February.

At Ohio State, Pryor started as a freshman and was the Rose Bowl MVP after the 2009 season as a sophomore.

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Late in the 2010 season, Pryor and some of his Ohio State teammates were found to have broken NCAA rules by trading their equipment, memorabilia and autographs for tattoos at a shop in the Columbus area.

That NCAA investigation led to the revelation that Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had lied to investigators seeking information on Pryor and his teammates. Tressel, who had won a national championship at Ohio State, was forced to resign on Labor Day weekend 2011.

With allegations of more possible violations mounting and the possibility of a being ruled ineligible, Pryor decided to skip his senior season and leave Ohio State in June 2011. He was selected in the NFL’s supplemental draft later that month by the Oakland Raiders.

Pryor was never punished in college for the NCAA violations but began his NFL career with a suspension of five games.

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The Iron Bowl Is Alabama’s Final Chance To Make Its Playoff Case - Forbes

Chew On This: Farmers Are Using Food Waste To Make Electricity - NPR

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Peter Melnik, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, owns Bar-Way Farm, Inc. in Deerfield, Mass. He has an anaerobic digester on his farm that converts food waste into renewable energy. Allison Aubrey/NPR hide caption

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Allison Aubrey/NPR

(This story was produced as part of a collaboration with the PBS NewsHour

As the season of big holiday meals kicks off, it's as good a time as any to reflect on just how much food goes to waste.

If you piled up all the food that's not eaten over the course of a year in the U.S., it would be enough to fill a skyscraper in Chicago about 44 times, according to an estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And, when all this food rots in a landfill, it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In fact, a recent report from the United Nations from a panel of climate experts estimates that up to 10 percent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food waste.

So, here's one solution to the problem: Dairy farmers in Massachusetts are using food waste to create electricity. They feed waste into anaerobic digesters, built and operated by Vanguard Renewables, which capture the methane emissions and make renewable energy.

The process begins by gathering wasted food from around the state, including from many Whole Foods locations. We visited the chain's store in Shrewsbury, Mass., which has installed a Grind2Energy system. It's an industrial-strength grinder that gobbles up all the scraps of food the store can't sell, explains Karen Franczyk, who is the sustainability program manager for Whole Foods' North Atlantic region.

The machine will grind up all kinds of food waste — "everything from bones, we put whole fish in here, to vegetables to dry items like rice or grains," Franczyk says as the grinder is loaded. It also takes frying fats and greases.

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A large motor (housed inside here) runs on the methane gas captured in the digester. This motor powers a generator, which creates electricity — enough to power about 1,500 homes. Allison Aubrey/NPR hide caption

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Allison Aubrey/NPR

While Whole Foods donates a lot of surplus food to food banks, there's a lot waste left over. Much of it is generated from prepping prepared foods. Just as when you cook in your own kitchen, there are lots of bits that remain, such as onion or carrot peel, rinds, stalks or meat scraps. The grinder turns all these bits into a slurry. "It really becomes kind of a liquefied food waste," Franczyk says.

From here, the waste is loaded into a truck and sent to an anaerobic digester. "There's no question it's better than putting it in the trash," Franczyk says. She says the chain is committed to diverting as much waste as possible and aims for zero waste. In addition to food donations, Whole Foods composts; this waste-to-energy system is yet another way to meet its goal. "We really do like the system," she says.

We visited Bar-Way Farm, Inc. in Deerfield, Mass. Owner Peter Melnik, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, showed us how his anaerobic digester, which is installed next to his dairy barn, works.

"We presently take in about a 100 tons [of waste], which is about three tractor-trailer loads, every day," Melnik says.

In addition to all the food waste from Whole Foods, he gets whey from a Cabot Creamery in the area, as well as waste from a local brewery and a juice plant.

In the digester, he combines all of this waste with manure from his cows. The mixture cooks at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. As the methane is released, it rises to the top of a large red tank with a black bubble-shaped dome.

Enlarge this image

In the digester on his farm, Melnik combines food waste from Whole Foods and other local sources with manure from his cows. The mixture cooks at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. As the methane is released, it rises to the top of a large red tank with a black bubble-shaped dome. Allison Aubrey/NPR hide caption

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Allison Aubrey/NPR

"We capture the gas in that bubble. Then we suck it into a big motor," Melnik explains. Unlike other engines that run on diesel or gasoline, this engine runs on methane.

"This turns a big generator, which is creating one megawatt of electricity" continuously, Melnik says — enough to power more than just his farm. "We only use about 10 percent of what we make, and the rest is fed onto the [electricity] grid," Melnik explains. It's enough to power about 1,500 homes.

He says times are tough for dairy farmers, so this gives him a new stream of revenue. Vanguard pays him rental fees for having the anaerobic digester on his farm. In addition, he's able to use the liquids left over from the process as fertilizer on his fields.

"The digester has been a home run for us," Melnik says. "It's made us more sustainable — environmentally [and] also economically."

Vanguard Renewables hopes to expand its operations in the state and elsewhere. "There's more than enough food waste in Massachusetts to feed all of our five digesters, plus many more," says CEO John Hanselman.

Massachusetts has a state law that prohibits the disposal of commercial organic waste — including food — by businesses and institutions that generate at least one ton of this waste per week. This has created an incentive for food businesses to participate in the waste-to-energy initiative.

Hanselman points to Europe, where there are thousands of digesters in operation. His hope is that the concept will spread here. "The food waste recycling through anaerobic digestion could be done in every part of the country," Hanselman says.

The company is currently building an anaerobic digester on a farm in Vermont. The gas produced there will be piped to Middlebury College, which will help the college reduce its carbon footprint.

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3 Social Security Moves to Make for 2020 - The Motley Fool

Social Security's importance to the pocketbook of the average American retiree can't be overstated. More than 60% of all retired workers lean on their Social Security payouts to account for at least half of their monthly income, and an estimated 15 million-plus use their benefits as a means of pulling themselves above the federal poverty level. Without this program, poverty rates among the elderly would be more than four times higher than they are today.

Furthermore, it's a program that's expected to play a key role in helping future generations of American workers make ends meet. An April 2019 Gallup survey found that 83% of respondents expect Social Security to be a "major" or "minor" source of income when they retire. That compares to the 90% of current retirees who told Gallup that the program is a "major" or "minor" income source right now.

Whether you're in your early 20s and just getting your feet wet in the workforce or you're nearing retirement, there are a couple of Social Security moves you should consider making in 2020 that are certain to put you in a better position once you begin taking your payout.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Create a "my Social Security" account

With a new decade just a month away, the most actionable suggestion I can offer is to create a "my Social Security" account, which'll allow you to access important Social Security information and manage your personal account online. This isn't to say that you still can't make an appointment at your local Social Security Administration office or speak with a representative, but many of the answers you might be seeking can now be found with the click of a button.

What can you do with a "my Social Security" account? In no particular order, you can:

• Request a replacement Social Security card
• Change your address and/or phone number
• Review your Social Security statement (these were previously mailed out every five years between the ages of 25 and 60)
• Check your earnings history
• Apply for Social Security retirement or spousal benefits
• Apply for Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income
• Request a benefit verification letter if you're trying to verify income for a lender
• Set up direct deposit for your Social Security benefit check
• Print your SSA-1099 for your federal or state income taxes
• Get a replacement Medicare card

And this is really just a sample of the functions a "my Social Security" account offers. You don't need to be in your 60s to take advantage of these benefits, so be sure to enroll if you haven't already done so.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. Double-check your earnings history

Next, and as somewhat of an extension to the previous action of setting up a "my Social Security" account, take the time to really pore over your earnings history.

As you may already know, your earnings history is one of a handful of factors that goes into determining your monthly benefit at full retirement age. Your 35 highest-earning, inflation-adjusted years are what the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses when calculating your payout. Therefore, it's in your best interest to know what that average is going to be ahead of time and ensure that all is correct in your SSA file.

On the whole, the SSA tends to be a very efficient agency -- but it's not infallible. Mistakes happen, and it's a lot easier to fix those mistakes in your earnings history before you begin taking your Social Security benefit than after the fact. As we head into the new year, take the time to make sure that your earnings history on file with the SSA matches what you have on your federal income tax returns.

Image source: Getty Images.

3. Assess your finances and health to develop a game plan

Lastly, you should take the time to assess the variables that matter to you, which will ultimately make it easier to decide when to begin taking your Social Security retired-worker benefit.

For example, you'll want to take a good look at your finances to see if you're on track to meet your personal retirement goal(s). The SSA reminds folks that retirement benefits are only designed to replace about 40% of the average worker's wages/salary. In other words, it's not meant to be your primary source of income. Thus, you'll want to review your saving and investing game plan to ensure that your eventual payout remains nothing more than a minor source of income during retirement.

This is also a good time to create a game plan with a spouse. If you're married, strategizing with your partner can lead to the household bringing in a lot of extra money during your senior years.

Also, don't forget to take care of yourself. Your health is another of many factors that will ultimately play into your decision of when to begin taking your Social Security benefit.

With 2020 around the corner, this simple homework assignment should put you on track to get the most out of Social Security when you retire.

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Snowy, windy, wet weather may make getting home from Thanksgiving a challenge - NBCNews.com

Weather that made it tough for millions to get to their Thanksgiving celebrations will return just in time for the journey home.

Weekend travelers across much of the U.S. are likely to find snow, winds and flash flooding.

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Inclement weather could affect as many as 56 million Americans, NBC News forecasters say.

The National Weather Service predicts heavy snow in the Northern Plains, Central Plains, upper Mississippi Valley and upper Midwest. It will be freezing rain and high winds for parts of the Ohio Valley, and showers and thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast. Rain is expected In the Mid-Atlantic region, and southern New England will see freezing rain, forecasters say.

Even California, where a Thanksgiving Day storm produced flooding up and down the coast and snow in parts of the high desert, will likely see another wave of rain. "A plume of moisture will move into parts of California on Saturday evening into Sunday evening," the NWS said in a forecast discussion.

Expected airport delays from the South to the Northeast have prompted American Airlines and Delta to waive flight change fees for passengers traveling Sunday and Monday via dozens of hubs, including Boston, New York, and Minneapolis.

American says its busiest post-Thanksgiving day of the travel week will be Sunday, when it expects to haul 721,000 customers.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics says the busiest day for regional air travelers in 2018 was the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

More than 55 million people were slated to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, a majority using roads, according to the AAA. That's 1.6 million more travelers than 2018 and the second-highest number for the holiday week since the association started tracking the data in 2000, the AAA said.

Dennis Romero

Dennis Romero writes for NBC News and is based in Los Angeles.

Jay Blackman contributed.

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83 Ways To Make More Money - Forbes

10 Tips from Boston Experts to Make Your Christmas Tree Sparkle - Boston magazine

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Edwards Lifesciences Would Make Peter Drucker Smile - Forbes

These tips can help retirees make required minimum distributions easy and tax penalty free - CNBC

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It's almost time to turn the calendar over to a new year.

And if you're retired or have inherited a retirement account, that means you're on deadline to take your required minimum distributions by Dec. 31.

RMDs are the minimum amount individuals who are age 70½ and older must withdraw from their retirement funds, such as individual retirement accounts or workplace-based plans like 401(k)s. If you've inherited a retirement account, you may also have to make a withdrawal.

The amount you need to take out varies from year to year and is based on specific calculations, including what your account values were as of Dec. 31 the prior year, as well as your age.

The best time to get started on your RMD for this year is right now, because the paperwork may take some time to sort through.

And the sooner you start, the more likely you are to meet the deadline. (You have until April 1 if you just turned 70½ this year.)

These tips can help:

Get your paperwork in order

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In order to know how much you have to withdraw, you have to have an accurate picture of what you own.

Start by coming up with a list of those accounts.

"Always take an inventory first, so you know where all your retirement accounts are, so you don't miss any," said Ed Slott, CPA and founder of Ed Slott & Co. in Rockville Center, New York. It's a good habit to get into and not only at RMD time, he said.

Also, be careful not to mistake an IRA for another type of account, which can lead you to miss your RMD, said Jeffrey Levine, director of financial planning at Blueprint Wealth Alliance in Garden City, New York.

Double-check your calculation

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Have your RMD calculation double-checked either by your financial institution or financial professional, Levine recommended.

The initial math sometimes can be off. For example, if you're married and have a spouse who's more than 10 years younger, you could have a higher-than-necessary RMD if that's not taken into account.

Or, if you did a rollover midyear, your new custodian might not have your Dec. 31 account value, and consequently tell you you don't need to take a withdrawal when you do.

"Just double-check and make sure you have the right amounts," Levine said.

Know what you can take from where

If you have multiple IRAs, you can take your total RMD from any one of those accounts because of what's called the aggregation rule.

However, with multiple IRAs, you still have to calculate the amount you take out based on the value of all of them, Slott said.

The same rule applies to multiple 403(b) retirement accounts, which you might have if you are or were an employee of a public school or tax-exempt organization.

That rules does not apply to 401(k) plans. If you have multiple 401(k) accounts, you have to take money from each one.

What's more, you can't take an RMD from an IRA to satisfy a 401(k), or vice versa.

"You can't ever take from one category of account to satisfy an RMD on another one," Slott said.

Know these rules if you're still working

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If you're 70½ and still employed, you could get a break from taking your RMD, but only in certain circumstances, Slott said.

Generally, 401(k) plans have a still-working rule, which means you do not have to take the RMD until you retire.

Of course, there is a catch: You can only put off the RMDs if the plan is attached to the company where you're currently employed. Other accounts — such as a 401(k) from a previous employer or IRAs — are excluded. So you do still have to take distributions from those.

"You only get the break on the plan of the company you're still working for," Slott said.

Watch inherited accounts

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If you've inherited a retirement account, you may also be on the hook to take an RMD by the end of this year.

That generally doesn't apply if you inherited the money from your spouse because spouses can do a rollover and keep deferring those distributions, Slott said.

If you're a nonspouse beneficiary, you likely still have to take a distribution by the end of this year. If you inherited the account in 2018, you will need to take your first RMD in 2019.

There's more: This rule applies to traditional and Roth IRAs, Slott said.

RMDs from a Roth IRA will likely be tax-free. But if you've inherited one of these accounts and you fail to take that money out, you will have to pay a 50% penalty on the sum you should have taken.

Have a tax strategy

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How you deal with the taxes on your RMDs depends on your preference. But you should have a plan, Levine said.

If you pay estimated quarterly taxes, you may not want to withhold anything from your RMD.

Or, you may decide instead to withhold from your RMD rather than make those quarterly payments. Some of Levine's clients withhold 100% of their RMD to avoid having to deal with estimated taxes throughout the year.

"There's not necessarily a right or a wrong way to do that," Levine said. The key is to find the right strategy for you, while making sure you take into account your other income and overall taxes you will owe, he said.

Consider giving to charity

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New Hampshire voters to Steyer: Make it stop! - POLITICO

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Maggie and Libby knew Tom Steyer’s ad by heart: "I'm going to say two words that will make Washington insiders very uncomfortable: Term limits!" they recently chirped in unison at the dinner table.

Unfortunately for Steyer, their votes can’t be bought — they’re 10 and 13.

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“It was like a comedy act,” the children’s father, Loren Foxx, said. “His ads are on constantly."

Some Granite staters said they’re seeing Steyer’s ads dozens of times a day — and it’s become more grating than ingratiating. A POLITICO reporter who watched YouTube music videos this week by Pentatonix, a popular a capella group, endured 17 Steyer ads in just over an hour.

Even some of Steyer’s local staff privately acknowledge the volume of ads has gone overboard.

Steyer has massively outspent other Democratic candidates on social media in an effort to gain traction in polls and ensure he makes the debate stage. But the recoiling of some New Hampshire voters suggests there are limits to the strategy — Michael Bloomberg beware. Indeed, some residents feel like they can't touch a piece of technology without seeing his face.

“There is a point of no return in terms of visibility," said Scott Spradling, a New Hampshire media analyst. "At some point, you become the uninvited guest. He uniquely is becoming dangerously close."

Steyer has spent $55.6 million in advertising nationally so far this election, with a heavy focus on digital, according to Advertising Analytics. In New Hampshire, he has purchased several multitudes more Facebook advertising than the campaigns of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders combined. His Facebook ads over the last three months represented more than a third of all political spending — from both parties — on the platform, according to a review of Facebook’s database.

At the national level, Steyer has spent $6.5 million on Facebook in the last three months, $2.8 million more than the next biggest spender, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He also outspent Warren by $4.2 million; Sanders by $4.7 million; and Biden by $5.7 million, according to tracking provided by the social media platform.

He outspent President Donald Trump’s reelection effort by $700,000 in the same period.

Steyer has also spent millions on Google advertising, especially YouTube video ads. His campaign declined to discuss their strategy beyond stating he is committed “to communicating with voters about the importance of this election across a multitude of digital platforms.”

Without much of a national profile before the election, Steyer has tried to target the four early-nominating states in an effort to introduce himself to voters. In one way, it has worked just enough to get him a podium on nationally-televised debates. But on the ground, the ads don’t appear to be moving the needle much with voters. Steyer has steadily polled at about 2 percent in New Hampshire since the summer.

In contrast, Bloomberg is using his estimated ad buy to blanket the country. The former three-term New York mayor’s first ad focuses on his leadership after 9/11. He has ad buys scheduled in the lower 48 states, including one that will air in the media market of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Joe Trippi, a veteran Democratic strategist who has worked on several high profile presidential campaigns, said of Steyer: “Spending this kind of money in the early states and being still in the single digits, that tells you he is having trouble connecting. You could spend $100 million like that and it may not work.”

Steyer was asked directly in a recent radio interview whether he’s passed the point of saturation to annoyance.

“I hear a lot of complaints about your social media ads blocking their YouTube videos,” the host told the candidate, referring to her teenagers. “You apparently got the high-end ones that you have to watch.”

“If people actually hear my message, they do respond,” Steyer replied. “I’m ... someone who people don’t know anything about and trying to make a very specific point and introduce myself.”

Zach Montellaro contributed to this report.

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Conor McGregor to make UFC return against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone in January 2020 - CNN International

The Irishman confirmed last month that he would return to the Octagon on January 18, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada but didn't disclose who he would be coming up against, instead saying: "I have the opponent's name ... if I was to give you his name, which I would love to do, I know the UFC would flip it."

But UFC president Dana White has now announced McGregor will face Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone at UFC 246 in a welterweight fight.

"Conor has signed and Cerrone is ready to go," White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

McGregor, who has 21 wins and four losses on his MMA record, hasn't fought in the UFC since he was defeated by Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission in October 2018.

Following the explosive end to the fight -- with a skirmish between McGregor, Nurmagomedov and the fighters' respective camps -- the 31-year-old Irishman was a handed six-month suspension and then announced his retirement on social media.

White, however, was always confident McGregor would return to fighting -- in April he told CNN Sport "McGregor will fight again."

The 36-year-old Cerrone has a MMA record of 36-13. The American fighter lost his last fight in the first round to Justin Gaethje in September.

READ: UFC fighter Walt Harris writes an emotional tribute after stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard is found dead

McGregor announced his first retirement in April 2016 -- he rescinded that after a month -- and later in the year became the first fighter to hold belts in two weight categories at the same time.

He might have only fought once in the UFC in the last three years -- he did have a boxing fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017 -- but McGregor has never been far from the headlines.

Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videos

A video released on social media in August appeared to show the Irishman punching a man in the head in the Marble Arch pub in Dublin.

The fighter was later fined €1,000 ($1,100) after pleading guilty to a single charge of assault. He told the court that what he did was "very wrong" and that "nothing of this nature will happen again."

The incident took place a month after McGregor was arrested for allegedly smashing a fan's phone in Miami, USA. Charges were later dropped.

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It’s Make-or-Break Time for Retailers: Black Friday Update - Bloomberg

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Bacteria-armed mosquitoes make dent in dengue - Science Magazine

Summary

In a handful of cities around the world, mosquitoes have been armed with a microscopic weapon against disease. The bacterium Wolbachia pipientis blocks the insects' ability to spread fearsome viruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. Since 2011, researchers have been injecting Wolbachia into the eggs of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and releasing the hatched insects, which spread this protection to their offspring. But they've been waiting for evidence that this approach actually reduces disease in people. Signs that it does came last week in preliminary results from several trials in tropical areas burdened with mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue. In some release areas, researchers found as much as a 76% reduction in the rate of dengue.

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Turning Old Clothes Into Pulp...To Make New Clothes - Forbes

Rockets Have Important Decisions To Make On Young Players - Forbes

Mobile Games Make 39-Year-Old Singapore’s Latest Billionaire - Bloomberg

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Quin Snyder likes to make a statement on the game's first play - Salt Lake Tribune

Memphis, Tenn. • The Jazz needed Royce O’Neale to shoot.

In order to have a chance against the Milwaukee Bucks and their collapsing paint defense on Monday, the Jazz knew they’d have to have a good night from 3-point range. They’d need everyone to take and make the open looks their offense generated, and they were most worried about O’Neale, who put up only one shot in 35 minutes in Utah’s previous game.

So Quin Snyder drew up a play for Royce O’Neale to be screened for in the corner, with some misdirection that Mike Conley played out perfectly. At the right moment, Conley swung the ball to O’Neale, who had an open corner look, and the three was money.

Snyder confirmed that O’Neale was the play’s first option. “The guys are incredibly confident in him. This was a statement to that effect.”

But Monday’s episode was just one example in a seasons-long trend of Snyder’s play calls in the first offensive play of the game, where he tries to establish something on the very first opportunity. What message he’s trying to send varies, of course, on the situation of the game.

The Jazz’s Wednesday matchup against the Pacers was swingman Bojan Bogdanovic’s first game back in Indiana, where he played for two seasons. So Snyder drew up a play for an open wing three from the left side for Bogdanovic, where he received a baseline screen from Donovan Mitchell and then a second from Rudy Gobert just a few seconds later.

That shot, too, was good.

Sometimes, the play works, but the player misses the shot. After Gobert’s Nov. 4 comments to media about his desire to receive more passes down low, the Jazz’s first play against the Philadelphia 76ers in their next game was a Gobert layup attempt, from a pick and roll pass delivered from Mike Conley. Gobert, though, couldn’t get it to go.

Make or miss, there are benefits to letting a player feel more involved from the beginning. The Jazz have long believed — even before the Nov. 4 comments — that Gobert’s impact on the defensive end can be helped by making him feel more involved in the offense. In six of the 18 games so far, they’ve gotten the ball to Gobert on the game’s first play. In the Sixers game referenced above, Gobert went on to have a monster impact, having 14 screen assists and multiple excellent defensive plays.

Last season, the two players the Jazz wanted to raise confidence in most were Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles. Rubio was much more aggressive and impactful if he felt that his shot was going early, so the Jazz drew up plenty of plays for him to get a good look. Joe Ingles has a little bit of O’Neale’s reluctance to shoot as well, so Snyder set him up to get a comfortable 3-point shot or get him going to the basket. Last season, there was a 10-game stretch in which seven of the first plays ended with Ingles getting a shot.

That first play can also be used to signal to teams that they should respect one of the Jazz’s weapons, even if they shouldn’t. Derrick Favors took five 3-point shots in the 70 Jazz’s first plays last year with him as the starter as they tried to improve their spacing with both Gobert and Favors on the floor at the same time. Maybe, the thinking went, if Favors shot the three early, it would be something the defenses had to think about before collapsing on Gobert in the paint. Favors missed all five attempts, though, so it’s hard to say opposing defenses were moved.

If there’s a rookie moved into the starting lineup, it’s a good bet Snyder will use that play to look at getting him involved immediately. When Mitchell was moved into the starting group permanently 12 games into his rookie season, he got layups on the first play of both of his first two games.

Last year, the first play of the Jazz’s final game went to Grayson Allen, who kickstarted his 40-point performance with a layup. Even as far back as the 2015-16 season, Trey Lyles once took the first shot in five consecutive games, as he filled in the starting lineup during Rudy Gobert’s injury. He scored all five times.

The Jazz’s first plays are usually successful. This season, they’re scoring 1.33 points per play on those first looks, which is far above their usual half-court success rate of 0.93 points per possession. They weren’t quite as good last year — maybe due to all of those Favors and Rubio attempts — but still converted at exactly 1 point per possession, higher than last season’s 0.95 points per possession in half-court offense.

With that comes a logical question: if they’re so good on the first play, why don’t they run all of the plays like that? This is the basketball version of “If airplane 'black boxes’ are indestructible, why can’t the whole plane be made from the same material?”

Airplanes can’t be made out of black box stuff — quarter-inch thick steel — because they’d be too heavy to fly. Likewise, every basketball play can’t be as well-formulated as the first ones, because there’s no way to have players practice and execute 100 unique plays per game. The Jazz usually practice the first play in that game’s morning shootaround, knowing who the first option is and what the team wants to establish early. Frequently, it’s a new or adapted play, it’s not one they’ve run before. And if you just repeat the first play, the defense will figure it out soon enough.

Yes, the Jazz’s offense hasn’t always played well this season. But thanks to Snyder’s play-calling, you can’t blame that on getting out to a poor start.

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Ikea to invest $220 million to make it a 'climate positive business' - CNBC

Ikea flags are seen in Krakow, Poland on 6 June, 2017. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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The Inter Ikea Group has said it will invest 200 million euros ($220 million) to accelerate its transition into what it describes as a "climate positive business."

In an announcement Wednesday the Group, which among other things develops and supplies Ikea's product range, said the money would focus on two areas: investing in schemes "aimed at removing and storing carbon through reforestation and responsible forest management"; and using renewable energy in its supply chain.

"Our ambition is to reduce more greenhouse gas emissions in absolute terms by 2030 than the entire Ikea value chain emits, while growing the Ikea business," the Inter Ikea Group's CEO, Torbjörn Lööf, said in a statement Thursday.

There is work to be done if Ikea is to achieve its goals. In its sustainability report for the 2018 fiscal year, Ikea said its climate footprint was estimated to be 26.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is an increase of 2.8% compared to the 2016 fiscal year, a rise Ikea put down to "the growth of the Ikea business."

In the report, released in March, Ikea also noted that "decoupling" its growth from greenhouse gas emissions would "take time", adding that it expected emissions to "increase for a few years before decreasing."

It listed three key challenges for its aim to be climate positive: cutting its raw material footprint; lowering emissions from customers traveling to its stores; and moving to renewable heating and fuels, a sector it described as "experiencing slow progress globally."

Ikea is one of many global firms aiming to reduce its impact on the environment. The Ingka Group, which is the biggest Ikea franchisee, is a founding partner of the RE100, a global initiative of major businesses, all committed to 100 percent renewable electricity.

Other members of the RE100 include Facebook, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft. The RE100 is led by The Climate Group in partnership with the CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project.

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President Trump announces Taliban talks have restarted on surprise Afghanistan visit - CNN

It was his first trip to the country and his second visit to US troops overseas in a war zone following a trip to Iraq at the end of last year.

There are about 12,000 US troops currently serving in Afghanistan in a conflict triggered by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that has claimed more than 2,300 American lives and cost billions in taxpayer dollars.

The visit came amid unprecedented tensions between the President and senior military officers following the ouster of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer after Trump intervened in the cases of three service members facing war crimes allegations against the advice of Pentagon leadership.

Speaking at Bagram Air Base, Trump told troops that "the Taliban wants to make a deal. We'll see if they want to make a deal. It's got to be a real deal, but we'll see. But they want to make a deal."

Trump also held a bilateral meeting with the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani.

Following the meeting, Ghani tweeted that "both sides underscored that if the Taliban are sincere in their commitment to reaching a peace deal, they must accept a ceasefire. We also emphasized that for any peace to last, terrorist safe havens outside Afghanistan must be dismantled."

Before leaving, Trump served Thanksgiving meals to some members of the military stationed at the base.

Hopes for a peace accord between the US and Taliban in Afghanistan were dashed when Trump announced an end to formal talks in September 2019 after a Taliban-claimed attack in Kabul that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier. Trump said at the time that Taliban leaders were to travel to the US for secret peace talks, but after the attack he called off the meetings and canceled the negotiations.

Last week, Trump seemed to suggest that negotiations with the Taliban were back on -- months after the peace talks with the militant group collapsed.

"We're working on an agreement now with the Taliban," Trump said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "Let's see what happens."

His comments came several days after the Taliban released an American and Australian professor in exchange for the release of three Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government. The Taliban also released 10 Afghan soldiers last week.

The US praised the release of the professors, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, with Trump tweeting, "Let's hope this leads to more good things on the peace front like a ceasefire that will help end this long war."

On Wednesday General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him in Afghanistan that the prospects for successfully ending the 18-year war are higher than he has seen before.

"I think the chances of a positive outcome through negotiations is higher than I have seen, and I've been deeply involved in Afghanistan for 18 years, he told reporters Wednesday according to Reuters. "With a bit of luck, we'll have successful negotiations in the near term, not too distant future."

Tensions with military leadership

The visit follows Trump's controversial decision earlier this month to break with military leaders and intervene in the cases of three service members facing war crimes allegations including Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

Gallagher had been convicted of bringing discredit to the armed services after posing next to a dead ISIS fighter's body, which is against regulations. He was demoted for that offense and acquitted of a separate murder charge.

Earlier this month, Trump reversed Gallagher's demotion and later tweeted that he wouldn't let the Navy punish Gallagher in its ongoing review of whether he should be kicked out of the SEALs.

That move ultimately led to the ouster of Spencer who was "fired" by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for going outside his chain of command by proposing a "secret agreement with the White House," according to a senior defense official.

Spencer appeared to be seeking a way to resolve a standoff between the Pentagon and the White House over Gallagher's case.

On Wednesday, Spencer issued a stunning rebuke of the President's involvement in the Gallagher case, calling his actions "shocking and unprecedented" in a blistering Washington Post op-ed published days after he was forced to resign.

"It was also a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices," he wrote.

Dismay in the Pentagon has been building over Trump's sporadic, impulsive and contradictory decision-making on a range of issues, including his sudden pullback of troops in Syria.

But CNN reported Wednesday that there are new and significant worries, as multiple military officials and retired officers say Trump's intervention into high-profile war crimes cases cannot be ignored.

A long-serving military officer put it bluntly, telling CNN "there is a morale problem," and senior Pentagon officials have privately said they are disturbed by the President's behavior.

Trump had upped the ante at a rally on Tuesday by issuing an extraordinary declaration that he took action in the face of "deep state" opposition. In fact, senior Pentagon officials had been unanimously opposed to the President's intervention because they believed it would undermine military discipline and order.

CNN has learned that at least two senior military officers were reluctant to appear alongside Trump at events in recent months, because of unease that he might make partisan political remarks while they were present. CNN has been asked by sources close to both officers not to identify them or the events involved.

Several senior commanders are considering writing a memo to the troops reminding them of their moral and legal responsibilities on the battlefield. The matter is so sensitive that some are privately indicating they want high level Pentagon approval before they proceed because the memo could appear to be a rebuke of the President.

CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that Melania Trump did not travel with the President. It has also been updated with additional developments.

CNN's Barbara Starr, Nicole Gaouette, Matthew Hoye and Jamie Crawford contributed to this report.

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