phil.lucky

phil.lucky

‘We give money, we don’t take it’: Where might former president Jimmy Carter’s savings go after he dies?Dividend Kings are among the best income stocks on the market. Any corporation capable of raising its payouts for 50 consecutive years -- the requirement to become a Dividend King -- has an incredibly strong business capable of navigating company-specific challenges and economic peaks and troughs. So, looking at the list of Dividend Kings is an excellent start for investors trying to find stocks that can continuously raise their payouts for a lifetime. Let's consider two companies in this elite group with the exact qualities long-term income investors want: Coca-Cola ( KO 0.23% ) and Abbott Laboratories ( ABT 0.55% ) . 1. Coca-Cola Few businesses are better known worldwide than Coca-Cola. The company owns a portfolio of beverage brands across multiple categories: soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, tea, coffee, sports drinks, juices, and more. The company also has an extensive geographical footprint. It's hard to find a single country where it doesn't operate and where children won't get excited at the sight of its famous logo. Having a recognizable brand is a powerful competitive advantage that has helped generate steady financial results and continuous dividend raises. The company's streak as a Dividend King stands at 62 years, and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. True, it isn't a particularly attractive growth company (it hasn't been for a while). In the third quarter, revenue decreased by 1% year over year to $11.9 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were up 5% year over year to $0.77. Investors weren't impressed with the performance for the period, which caused the stock price to dip . However, Coca-Cola continues to prove its resilience. Even in the past few years, when consumers have had to deal with inflation, the company's unit volume has remained respectable. It fell slightly by 1% year over year in the third quarter. In other words, people continue to buy the company's products at nearly the same volume -- despite widely available alternatives -- even when its prices rise. Coca-Cola has also evolved with the times, adapting to worries over potential health concerns by offering low-sugar options for some of its drinks. It should remain a well-established leader in its niche for a long time while still rewarding shareholders with dividend hikes. It currently offers a forward yield of 3.10%, compared to the S&P 500 's average of 1.32%. This is one dividend stock investors can safely keep in their portfolios for good. 2. Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is a medical device leader with a long history of innovations. The company's business spans three other segments: nutrition, established pharmaceuticals, and diagnostics. Abbott has continued to deliver strong financial results despite several headwinds. The healthcare giant's business struggled in the early days of the pandemic since the demand for its medical devices dropped. Then, it had to navigate challenging conditions like everyone else. The company also dealt with issues within its nutrition business that resulted in lawsuits. Lastly, its diagnostics segment, which was its saving grace during the early pandemic days, has been inconsistent as the outbreak has receded in the past couple of years. Despite all that, results remain robust. In the third quarter, sales increased by 4.9% year over year to $10.6 billion. Excluding the impact on its coronavirus diagnostic business, sales increased 8.2% organically compared to the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS of $1.21 climbed by about 6% year over year. Abbott's business has been a picture of stability for a long time. The company has deep experience navigating the healthcare industry , which is one of the most regulated. It also has a reputation in its niche. Physicians are like the rest of us: They tend to stick to those companies whose products they know are effective, especially when people's lives are at stake. And the company benefits from many patents that protect its inventions. Abbott has multiple growth opportunities, especially in diabetes care , spearheaded by its continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) franchise, the FreeStyle Libre. Thanks to all this, it is unlikely to cut its payouts and interrupt its streak of 52 consecutive annual dividend increases. The forward yield of 1.88% isn't too impressive but is still above the S&P 500's average. The company's business is what matters most, and in that department, investors have little to worry about. Abbott Laboratories remains a top dividend growth stock to hold on to for good.

Humans have been exploring space for almost 70 years. But if we thought all that experience would make it any easier for us to venture beyond our planet, then 2024 has put that idea to rest. While there have been some major achievements in space exploration this year, including China returning farside lunar samples to Earth for the first time , a record-breaking student-made rocket and the first-ever private spacewalk , there have also been some major blunders from NASA, SpaceX and other organizations from across the globe. From astronauts stranded on board a leaky space station and crashlanding moon landers to a tumbling solar sail, here are 10 of the biggest space mishaps of 2024. Related: NASA delays historic Artemis missions — yet again Astronauts stranded in space The most high-profile and long-running space mishap story in 2024 was probably the saga of Boeing's leaky Starliner capsule, which stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board the International Space Station (ISS) in June. The defective capsule, which had multiple issues, eventually returned to Earth without passengers in September, after several delays as NASA scrambled to find a solution . Some experts claimed that the astronauts would have been perfectly safe on board the returning vessel. However, this was disputed by other experts. The pair were originally supposed to spend just a week in space, but by the end of 2024 they will have spent 209 days on the ISS and are not scheduled to return until at least March 2025 . Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. ISS leak and 'areas of concern' If Wilmore and Williams' time on board the ISS was not already dramatic enough, in September, a new report highlighted the urgency of a long-running leak aboard the space station and identified 50 additional "areas of concern" related to it. The leak was first identified in Russia's section of the ISS in 2019 and has since spawned several other cracks in that part of the station. The leak and resulting cracks have been temporarily treated with "sealant and patches" but are still letting some air escape into space. The new report warned that a permanent fix is needed to avoid a cascade of other issues and a potential "catastrophic failure" in the next few years. However, the Russian space agency Roscosmos disagrees about the severity of the issue and is so far refusing to fix it , likely because the ISS is scheduled to be demolished in 2030 . Florida house hit by space junk The final and potentially most alarming ISS mishap of note this year was when a mysterious piece of space junk fell back to Earth in March and crashed through the roof of a family house in Naples, Florida . NASA later admitted that the falling debris, which was around 4 inches (10 centimeters) across, was the charred remains of a pallet of batteries ejected from the ISS in 2021 . The debris was expected to completely burn up in the atmosphere, but this did not happen. In June, the house's owners filed a lawsuit against NASA , asking the agency to pay up to $80,000 in damages. This case has not been resolved yet. Moon lander fails While China's lunar samples return mission has been a huge success this year, other agencies and private organizations have had less success in sending spacecraft to the moon in 2024. First, in January, Astrobiotic Technology's Peregrine spacecraft, which was carrying the first private lunar lander to the moon, malfunctioned shortly after takeoff and became stranded in space before eventually falling back toward our planet and burning up in our atmosphere . This launch had already been heavily criticized before takeoff because the spacecraft was attempting to carry human remains to the moon . Later the same month, Japan successfully launched and landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM), also known as the "moon sniper" thanks to its incredibly accurate navigation system. However, the spacecraft didn't live up to its nickname and ended up landing upside down . Despite this, the lander managed to survive for several months despite its solar panels being pointed at the ground. In February, another private lander, Odysseus, completed its trip to the moon and became the first U.S. spacecraft to touch down on the lunar surface in more than 50 years . However, the spacecraft, built by Intuitive Machines, also didn't quite stick the landing and ended up faceplanting in the dust , shortly before succumbing to the bitter cold of the lunar night. Tumbling solar sail In August, attention turned to NASA's new Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3), which finally unfurled its massive 860-square-foot (80 square meters) foil sail after launching into space in April. However, the big reveal didn't exactly go to plan. Live Science was the first outlet to report that initial observations suggested the solar sail was uncontrollably tumbling end over end in orbit around Earth, which was later confirmed by the first photos of the giant silver sail . However, mission scientists claimed this had been expected and said the issue would be resolved shortly. But in October, Live Science's sister site Space.com revealed that the main boom holding ACS3's sail had bent and the spacecraft was still tumbling. It is unclear if this problem has been rectified. Mars robots take a hit In January, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter ended its roughly three-year mission after sustaining fatal damage in a crash landing during its 72nd flight on the Red Planet. Subsequent photos revealed a large section was missing from one of the flying robot's rotor blades , damage which cannot be repaired. The helicopter is still technically operational and could have a second life as a weather station over the next few decades. But astronauts might need to go to Mars to retrieve any of the data it collects . NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been tirelessly surveying Mars for more than 12 years, also sustained some serious damage this year. Images released in September show a series of holes in the rover's middle right wheel , including a gaping tear that exposes the inner mechanisms of the wheel's drum. However, the rover shows no immediate signs of being slowed down by its injuries and is currently en route to explore mysterious Martian "spiderwebs." Multiple Voyager issues After more than 90 combined years of relatively smooth sailing through the solar system , and now interstellar space, NASA's historic Voyager probes experienced some pretty major issues in 2024. Voyager 1, which launched in 1977 just a few weeks after Voyager 2, has had the most eventful year of the two probes. The craft spent the first few months of the year transmitting "gibberish” signals . NASA identified the problem and implemented a temporary fix in March when the probe was a staggering 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth. But the problem partially persisted until the agency eventually restored full communication in June. Then, in September, the probe performed a risky maneuver to start relying on different thrusters , after its main propulsion system suddenly went offline. And in October, NASA temporarily lost contact with the probe again when its main radio transmitter broke and it had to switch to a backup. Voyager 2 had a quieter year but also experienced some setbacks, including having to shut off one of its long-running scientific instruments to conserve its dwindling power levels. Falcon 9 rockets grounded (3 times) SpaceX 's iconic Falcon 9 rockets have shattered records in 2024, launching more than 120 times this year — mostly to deploy the company's ever-expanding Starlink megaconstellation . However, these launches have not always been plain sailing. The rocket was temporarily grounded three times in three consecutive months this year as federal agencies investigated various malfunctions with the spacecraft. The first grounding occurred in July when 20 Starlink satellites unexpectedly fell to Earth after being prematurely released into low-Earth orbit by their rocket. The second temporary ban came into effect in August when one of the rocket's reusable boosters exploded during a routine landing . And the third no-flight order came in September when another rocket crashed back to Earth in the wrong part of the ocean . Starship lost (and blowing holes in the atmosphere) While Falcon 9 has been busy in 2024, SpaceX's superheavy Starship rocket has often overshadowed its smaller relative with multiple high-profile launches this year — and the first successful recovery of one of its boosters, which was caught with chopstick-like pincers . However, the larger rocket has also run into a few problems this year, most noticeably when it was lost in the Indian Ocean in March, shortly after making it into orbit around Earth for the first time. The spacecraft was misplaced after a communication error prevented SpaceX from tracking its reentry. This year it was also revealed that Starship's second-ever launch, which happened in 2023, triggered a first-of-its-kind atmospheric hole when the rocket exploded shortly after liftoff. Shattering spacecraft As the space around Earth becomes increasingly crowded, the potential for things to go wrong — and the potential fallout from these disasters — also increases. And 2024 gave us several reminders of this. First, in June, ISS astronauts had to temporarily shelter in their return capsules — including Boeing's leaky Starliner pod — when Russia's Resurs-P1 satellite suddenly broke into more than 100 pieces near the space station. Then in August, a Chinese rocket exploded into more than 300 pieces after deploying the first of the country's "Thousand Sails" satellite constellation in space. It is still unclear exactly what went wrong. However, astronomers are concerned about how extremely bright the new satellites are. And in October, the Boeing-made satellite Intelsat 33e suddenly shattered into more than 20 pieces without warning. Scientists are still trying to figure out what happened. There was also a close call in February when a NASA probe and a Russian communication satellite narrowly avoided colliding with one another , which could have ended up being even more destructive than the examples above.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Front Row Motorsports, one of two teams suing NASCAR in federal court, accused the stock car series Thursday of rejecting the planned purchase of a valuable charter unless the lawsuit was dropped. Front Row made the claim in a court filing and said it involved its proposed purchase of the charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. Front Row said the series would only approve it if Front Row and 23XI Racing dropped their court case. "Specifically, NASCAR informed us that it would not approve the (charter) transfer unless we agreed to drop our current antitrust lawsuit against them," Jerry Freeze, general manager of Front Row, said in an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina. The two teams in September refused to sign NASCAR's "take-it-or-leave-it" final offer on a new revenue sharing agreement. All other 13 teams signed the deal. Front Row and 23XI balked and are now in court. 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan has said he took the fight to court on behalf of all teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR has argued that the two teams simply do not like the terms of the final charter agreement and asked for the lawsuit be dismissed. Earlier this week, the suit was transferred to a different judge than the one who heard the first round of arguments and ruled against the two teams in their request for a temporary injunction to be recognized in 2025 as chartered teams as the case proceeds. The latest filing is heavily redacted as it lays out alleged retaliatory actions by NASCAR the teams say have caused irreparable harm. Both Front Row and 23XI want to expand from two full-time cars to three, and have agreements with SHR to purchase one charter each as SHR goes from four cars to one for 2025. The teams can still compete next season but would have to do so as "open" teams that don't have the same protections or financial gains that come from holding a charter. Freeze claimed in the affidavit that Front Row signed a purchase agreement with SHR in April and NASCAR President Steve Phelps told Freeze in September the deal had been approved. But when Front Row submitted the paperwork last month, NASCAR began asking for additional information. A Dec. 4 request from NASCAR was "primarily related to our ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR," Freeze said. "NASCAR informed us on December 5, 2024, that it objected to the transfer and would not approve it, in contrast to the previous oral approval for the transfer confirmed by Phelps before we filed the lawsuit," Freeze said. "NASCAR made it clear that the reason it was now changing course and objecting to the transfer is because NASCAR is insisting that we drop the lawsuit and antitrust claims against it as a condition of being approved." A second affidavit from Steve Lauletta, the president of 23XI Racing, claims NASCAR accused 23XI and Front Row of manufacturing "new circumstances" in a renewed motion for an injunction and of a "coordinated effort behind the scenes." "This is completely false," Lauletta said. Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Jordan, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and longtime Jordan adviser Curtis Polk. NASCAR had been operating with 36 chartered teams and four open spots since the charter agreement began in 2016. NASCAR now says it will move forward in 2025 with 32 chartered teams and eight open spots, with offers on charters for Front Row and 23XI rescinded and the SHR charters in limbo. The teams contend they must be chartered under some of their contractual agreements with current sponsors and drivers, and competing next year as open teams will cause significant losses. "23XI exists to compete at the highest level of stock car racing, striving to become the best team it can be. But that ambition can only be pursued within NASCAR, which has monopolized the market as the sole top-tier circuit for stock car racing," Lauletta said. "Our efforts to expand – purchasing more cars and increasing our presence on the track – are integral to achieving this goal. "It is not hypocritical to operate within the only system available while striving for excellence and contending for championships," he continued. "It is a necessity because NASCAR's monopoly leaves 23XI no alternative circuit, no different terms, and no other viable avenue to compete at this level." Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated ( NASDAQ:HBANL – Get Free Report ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.4298 per share on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance Shares of NASDAQ HBANL opened at $25.95 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares has a 52-week low of $23.62 and a 52-week high of $26.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.57. Huntington Bancshares Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Huntington Bancshares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Huntington Bancshares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Nine signs of dementia to watch out in older relatives this Christmas