3 jili

3 jili PITTSFIELD — After the gifts, the ham and the Bouche de Noel, it’s off to bed. But Christmas doesn't truly get packed away until the next morning, when there's another holiday ritual requiring attention: returns. The UPS Store on Elm Street was doing a brisk lunchtime business on Thursday as people set about that step in the winter holiday routine. “I’m returning a gift I don’t really want,” said Rita Santelia, as she stepped out the door. “Amazon has a great policy. They won’t let my friend know I’m returning her gift.” All the same, she said these words in a sotto voce, as if her friend, who lives in Long Island, might somehow hear. With billions of dollars in gifts changing hands, there's bound to be mistakes and misunderstandings headed back to stores, in exchange for the right size or the right present. The National Retail Federation estimated sales this holiday season would be up 3.5 percent over 2023 sales. That’s a total of between $997.5 billion and $989 billion. On its website, the federation says it expects online and other nonstore sales will increase between 8 and 9 percent for the season, for a total of between $295.1 billion and $297.9 billion in sales. That's an increase from $273.3 billion in sales last year. Michele Alfonso, of Pittsfield, was returning a gift her son bought for his stepson. As a home health aide, she didn’t mind making the trip on a day off. Dulce Benietes, of Pittsfield, was returning an espresso machine she gave her mother. “It was her Christmas gift,” Benietes said. “She didn’t want it.” Benietes didn't seem too sad about the mismatch; her mother will buy a less expensive one. Wendy Chivian, of Canaan, N.Y., returned athletic clothing her boyfriend bought for her that didn’t quite fit. “We already picked new things to replace them that will be coming soon,” she said. Megan Tesiniero, of Washington, was returning a pair of white shoes. “I ordered a pair of crocs for my son,” she said. “They were a size too small.” Like Chivian, she’d already ordered replacements. Engaging in a Dec. 26 post-Christmas ritual, Richard Keyes, of Pittsfield, was returning gifted shirts that were too small. Richard Keyes, of Pittsfield, was returning gifted shirts that were too small. “My daughter and her kids were here,” he said of his Christmas. “They live with us anyway, but we had a nice day.” At Walmart, Susan Marcinak, of Chatham, N.Y., was taking advantage of post-holiday sales to load up on stocking stuffers for her grandchildren, whom she’ll be celebrating with on Saturday. Robbie Seidman was out buying three pairs of boots for her husband to try on Thursday. It wasn't a trip she intended to make. “Basically we’re all getting together and having games,” she said. Robbie Seidman, of Stephentown, N.Y., didn’t expect to be shopping on Thursday. “We were supposed to have a house full of company coming up for Christmas and Hanukkah,” she said. “And my daughter’s family is all sick. They were going to bring up my husband’s boots that he forgot to bring up. So I’m buying three pairs of boots for him to try on when we get home.” That wasn't the only unexpected twist of the day for the couple. “Oh, we lost power last night too,” she said. “We were in Williamstown in a movie, and on our way home I got a text that power was out. And sure enough, we arrived home in the dark. But it was fine. We had soup in front of the fire.” Ed Adriance and his girlfriend, Kiera Kupiec, spent Christmas with family in Savoy. They ate lasagna and watched football. On Thursday they were out to buy handwarmers for her — to go along with the Philadelphia Eagles tickets he’d given her for Christmas. They also swung by Dick’s Sporting Goods to trade a pair of sweatpants he’d bought her that didn’t fit. Abbie Shettles used to live in the Berkshires and worked at Berkshire Medical Center. She enjoys returning and did so this week to be with her adult children for Christmas. She was out making returns on Thursday. Abbie Shettles lived in Pittsfield when her children were young. She was in from New York City to visit those children, who are now grown. On Thursday she was making returns of "miscellaneous over-purchases." “It’s been enjoyable," she said of her holiday visit. "I absolutely love it. It’s a big part of when I refer to home. Yes, I’m a native New Yorker, but definitely the Berkshires has a piece of that heart.”Shannon Sharpe provides update on Kirk Herbstreit dispute played out on ESPN

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Jim Larrañaga insists he still loves the University of Miami, still loves the game of basketball, still loves mentoring players, still loves coaching. He doesn't love what college basketball has become. And with that, he's leaving. The 75-year-old Larrañaga stepped down Thursday, effective immediately, and will be replaced by associate head coach Bill Courtney — one of his best friends for the past three decades — for the remainder of the season. “I'm exhausted,” Larrañaga said. “I've tried every which way to keep this going.” Larrañaga joins a long line of prominent college basketball coaches — Virginia's Tony Bennett and Villanova's Jay Wright among them — who have left their jobs in recent years citing the changes in the game and the challenge of coaching in the name, image and likeness era of college sports. For Larrañaga, those changes began presenting themselves when he had eight players — all of whom said they were happy at Miami — enter the transfer portal after the Hurricanes went to the Final Four in 2023. “The opportunity to make money someplace else created a situation that you have to begin to ask yourself as a coach what is this all about,” Larrañaga said. “And the answer is it's become professional.” The decision by Larrañaga ends a 14-year run as coach of the Hurricanes — and, presumably, a 41-year college head-coaching career that saw him win 744 games at Miami, American International, George Mason and Bowling Green. He took Miami to the Final Four in 2023 and took George Mason to the Final Four in 2006. “Jim Larrañaga is a tremendous man who has left a mark as not only the most accomplished coach in Miami basketball history, but as one of the premier coaches in ACC history,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said. “His coaching record speaks for itself with over 700 career wins, but he always has led his program with the utmost integrity and class.” The Hurricanes are 4-8 this season and only 5-19 in their last 24 games, a stunning freefall for a program that went to the Final Four just two seasons ago. Injuries and roster turnover have taken a clear toll, and Larrañaga is one of many coaches who has expressed some level of frustration with the lack of regulation and transparency that comes with NIL. “They’re a great group of kids,” Larrañaga said. "It’s not their problem. It’s the system or the lack of a system. I didn’t know how to navigate through this.” Larrañaga was under contract into 2027 and had some school officials try to get him to rethink the decision in recent days. Larrañaga said he came to the decision over the weekend, reconsidered at the school's request, and finalized the decision Monday. “It seems clear to me that coaching in 2024 is a much different profession than it was just a few short years ago," Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich said. Larrañaga is the second prominent coach to step down unexpectedly this season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bennett did the same at Virginia back in October, less than three weeks before the Cavaliers played their season-opener. Bennett, when he stepped down, said NIL has simply changed the game for coaches and not in a good way. “College athletics is not in a healthy spot. It’s not,” Bennett said in October. “And there needs to be change. It’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way — that’s who I am and that’s how it was.” Larrañaga's decision to step aside makes him the latest big-name veteran coach to leave the ACC in recent seasons, following the departures of some other giants within the sport — North Carolina’s Roy Williams in spring 2021, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski a year later and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim to end a 47-year tenure in 2023, and Bennett earlier this year. “I owe my professional career to him,” said George Washington coach Chris Caputo, a longtime Miami assistant under Larrañaga. “I learned so much and I certainly wouldn’t be where I am without him and his family. As it relates to Miami, with all respect to the people there before him, he took what was essentially an irrelevant program and turned it into a Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four program. At Miami, that was unheard of. He raised the bar for basketball at the University of Miami from here on out.” It’s also the second sudden retirement for Miami’s basketball programs in 2024: women’s coach Katie Meier surprised many around the Hurricanes when she stepped away this past spring after 19 seasons in Coral Gables. Meier has remained at the school as a special advisor to Radakovich and as a professor. Larrañaga will be offered a role within the university in the coming weeks, Radakovich said. “It's still all about The U,” Larrañaga said. Officially, Larrañaga's first coaching job was in 1977 at American International. Unofficially, it was when he was a freshman at Archbishop Malloy High School in New York. Larrañaga was on an undefeated freshman team there and the coach quit at Christmas — so Jack Curran, the varsity coach there, named Larrañaga one of the student coaches for the rest of the season. More than 60 years later, it was Larrañaga stepping down at Christmastime. He played college basketball at Providence, has coached more than two dozen college players who went on to the NBA, made 20 postseason appearances — 11 NCAA, eight NIT and one CIT berth — as a coach, was the AP national coach of the year in 2013 and was announced earlier this month as a candidate again for enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Coach Larrañaga is a friend of mine,” Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday. “I think so highly of him. The way that he’s able to build a program that has a sense of community and we all rallied around the basketball program. I live in Coral Gables, so I’ve been part of this movement. You could just feel it the last several years. It’s been a lot of fun. He wins wherever he goes, but he does it in a way that it’s a fun brand of basketball.” Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Whales with a lot of money to spend have taken a noticeably bullish stance on Microchip Technology . Looking at options history for Microchip Technology MCHP we detected 10 trades. If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 70% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 20% with bearish. From the overall spotted trades, 7 are puts, for a total amount of $647,449 and 3, calls, for a total amount of $215,668. What's The Price Target? Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $47.5 to $87.5 for Microchip Technology during the past quarter. Volume & Open Interest Development In today's trading context, the average open interest for options of Microchip Technology stands at 373.38, with a total volume reaching 5,381.00. The accompanying chart delineates the progression of both call and put option volume and open interest for high-value trades in Microchip Technology, situated within the strike price corridor from $47.5 to $87.5, throughout the last 30 days. Microchip Technology Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Ask Bid Price Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume MCHP PUT SWEEP BEARISH 12/20/24 $3.1 $2.95 $3.0 $70.00 $430.3K 489 1.4K MCHP CALL SWEEP BULLISH 02/21/25 $4.9 $4.7 $4.9 $70.00 $98.0K 584 212 MCHP CALL SWEEP BEARISH 02/21/25 $2.3 $2.2 $2.18 $77.50 $76.7K 140 751 MCHP PUT SWEEP BULLISH 12/20/24 $2.05 $2.0 $2.05 $67.50 $49.6K 1.1K 435 MCHP PUT SWEEP BULLISH 05/16/25 $7.8 $7.6 $7.6 $70.00 $41.0K 298 314 About Microchip Technology Microchip Technology became an independent company in 1989 when it was spun off from General Instrument. More than half of revenue comes from MCUs, which are used in a wide array of electronic devices from remote controls to garage door openers to power windows in autos. The company's strength lies in lower-end 8-bit MCUs that are suitable for a wider range of less technologically advanced devices, but the firm has expanded its presence in higher-end MCUs and analog chips as well. In light of the recent options history for Microchip Technology, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance. Current Position of Microchip Technology Trading volume stands at 3,162,874, with MCHP's price down by -1.88%, positioned at $68.54. RSI indicators show the stock to be may be approaching oversold. Earnings announcement expected in 65 days. Professional Analyst Ratings for Microchip Technology 5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $88.4. Unusual Options Activity Detected: Smart Money on the Move Benzinga Edge's Unusual Options board spots potential market movers before they happen. See what positions big money is taking on your favorite stocks. Click here for access .* An analyst from Susquehanna persists with their Positive rating on Microchip Technology, maintaining a target price of $90. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Citigroup continues to hold a Buy rating for Microchip Technology, targeting a price of $82. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Rosenblatt keeps a Buy rating on Microchip Technology with a target price of $90. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Piper Sandler keeps a Overweight rating on Microchip Technology with a target price of $85. * An analyst from Evercore ISI Group downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $95. Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely. If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Microchip Technology, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Let’s begin this ending with the right story. There are plenty who don’t get it right. The right story lends direction and purpose for what Jim Larrañaga was about as he resigns and begins where everything did for him, which was with his Miami basketball team around him. So, you could tell about him dancing in the locker room — shimmying, really, in that old-school, elbows-akimbo manner he did — after beating Houston as players clapped after reaching the Final Four just 20 months ago. You could tell about meeting his players as they came out of the game, one by one, for a quick handshake or hug in the spring of 2022 as they lost in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. But here’s the better story as he leaves a life of coaching basketball: Each practice, each year, for decades, Larrañaga had signs propped up against chairs lining the baseline for players to see as the word. “The Ten Commitments,’’ he called them, and each one spoke of a different angle to his basketball philosophy. “We will set ourselves defensively every time,’’ read No. 1. “We will share the ball,’’ read No. 7. Then, for weekend practices, the Ten Commitments were replaced by signs of motivational author Stephen Covey’s ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.’ “Seek first to understand, then to be understood,’’ read No. 7. Isaiah Wong, who’s now with the Charlotte Hornets, could recite The Ten Commitments and Covey’s Seven Habits after being in Larrañaga’s program for four years. He developed from a role-playing freshman in that time to the ACC Player of the Year. Something wasn’t right anymore for Larrañaga, 75, who resigned suddenly Thursday. The 4-8 record spoke of it. But so did what a Miami official said last week while I watched a practice: His players might know The Ten Commitments but probably didn’t know the Seven Daily Habits just yet. That’s because 10 of them just came through the transfer portal. They hadn’t been around long enough. The portal and its real-life bedfellow in name, image and likeness money has changed more than college sports. It’s changing the cast of coaches teaching them. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Virginia’s Tony Bennett, Villanova’s Jay Wright — some titans of the games are leaving. Now, Larrañaga, too. The new game isn’t for him. He told of a player’s agent wanting $1 million for his player. “I said, ‘What?’ he said. “A million dollars to play college basketball?”’ Now he tried to explain it all. “It’s hard to put into words why I’m doing this, ” he said Thursday. “I love the game, love the university. ... But because I love the game and the university that much, I felt, ‘OK, there’s one thing you have to constantly ask yourself: Are you going to give everything you have, the commitment it deserves?' " He said, “I’m exhausted.” He told a story of meeting his team after their Final Four trip in the spring of 2023. Eight said they were transferring. They liked Larrañaga and Miami, too. But they had a chance to make money somewhere else. He showed up for his final press conference in form. No suit and tie. He wore a sweat suit. He’s a coach. He saw himself as a teacher even more. He taught more than dribbling a ball. He taught life. Each day he would give players a daily quote. “Life is about balance,’’ he’d say, talking about not just offense and defense but time management outside the locker room. It was about winning, of course. That meant building an unsteady program, too. When he arrived at Miami in 2011, he took pizzas to dorm rooms and talked at fraternities to invite them to games and tell about the importance of a homecourt advantage. Whether that’s why they began to fill up the student section or winning did the trick is anyone’s guess. But they came. And he built. And, man, will Miami miss him. He was a coach of routine. Most every day for lunch, he’d walk across campus talking to everyday students and order the same strawberry and banana smoothie at a shop. He’d then continue on to a food court to order the same six-inch toasted tuna sub with provolone cheese. He brought a slice of humanity like that to the big-time coaching pressure. A day before leaving for the Final Four, he invited me into a coach’s meeting where they drew up their game plan followed by a team meeting where he addressed the players on strategy. No coach does that. It wasn’t always fun and good games for him. There were a couple of empty Miami years due to an FBI investigation into shoe deals over his and other programs that went nowhere. Last season, he thought he had a team to sustain back-to-back Elite Eight and Final Four seasons but injuries derailed everything. “I was heartbroken,’’ Larrañaga said last week. He didn’t golf, fish or have any hobby beyond coaching basketball. The only thing he did was watch movies with his wife, and he’d incorporate clips from the Last Samurai or Cobra Kai into talks. When Miami led Auburn by a point near the end in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, he trotted out a Mel Gibson line in a timeout huddle from a Braveheart clip they’d all seen. “Are you ready to go to war?” he said. For 44 seasons, he went to basketball war. His career started as a Davidson assistant in 1971 and ended with an overtime loss to Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday. Something wasn’t right anymore. He saw it. “It’s a new world,’’ he said a week ago in his office, talking about the portal and the NIL. It sure feels like a new world around Miami sports now. Larrañaga is gone, and so much of what a good coach should do goes out the door with him. Just as anyone who played for him can tell you. They’ll recite Stephen Covey’s seven habits of effective people, too. ©2024 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.