777bet casino The four million households who pay for energy via pre-payment meters (PPMs) are being overlooked, a leading poverty group has warned. High prices and the concentration of energy use in the winter months mean most households with a PPM will need to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on energy costs during the winter months the Resolution Foundation claimed. Resolution said families were sitting in cold, dark homes and are being overlooked when it comes to the Government’s decarbonisation plans, raising questions on the extent to which they will be able to reap the rewards of cheaper energy that the net zero transition is expected to deliver. Resolution said bills are set to be more than £1,700 per yera in 2025 compared with just under £1,300 in late 2021 – and the position of some pensioners has deteriorated following the Government’s announcement to means test Winter Fuel Payments. Resolution said those on PPMs made up a quarter of the poorest fifth of English households. These household pre-pay for energy, compared with 1.5 per cent of the richest fifth – and in social and private renting households, where 38 and 18 per cent of families, respectively, are on PPMs, compared to just 2 per cent of owner occupiers. This seasonal spike forces families to either spend a very high proportion of their income to keep themselves warm, or to endure cold living conditions that mean their health is compromised. Pre-payment meter customers will need to spend nearly a third of income on energy during the winter months The Resolution Foundation said pre payment meter customers often turned their heating for short periods of time, or only in some rooms, as a way of better managing credit levels. It argued that heat pumps, which are expected to provide most home heating in a low carbon future, are inefficient when used in this way and therefore can cost more to run. Although PPM customers are not likely to feature prominently in the early rollout of heat pumps, these issues will need addressing to avoid them being the last consumers left connected to the gas grid. These are tricky subjects that we will examine in more detail in 2025. So, while energy bills continue to dominate headlines, we need to spare a thought for vulnerable PPM customers who are set to face unsustainable pressures on budgets this winter and continuing struggles with high levels of debt. Looking ahead, more attention will need to be paid to how this group fares amid the race to net zero.

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the market posted its fifth straight gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched another record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%. The benchmark index’s 1.7% gain for the week erased most of its loss from last week. The Dow rose 1% as it nudged past its most recent high set last week, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Markets have been volatile over the last few weeks, losing ground in the runup to elections in November, then surging following Donald Trump’s victory, before falling again. The S&P 500 has been steadily rising throughout this week to within close range of its record. It’s now within about 0.5% of its all-time high set last week. “Overall, market behavior has normalized following an intense few weeks,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, in a statement. Several retailers jumped after giving Wall Street encouraging financial updates. Gap soared 12.8% after handily beating analysts’ third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, while raising its own revenue forecast for the year. Discount retailer Ross Stores rose 2.2% after raising its earnings forecast for the year. EchoStar fell 2.8% after DirecTV called off its purchase of that company’s Dish Network unit. Smaller company stocks had some of the biggest gains. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.8%. A majority of stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground, but those gains were kept in check by slumps for several big technology companies. Nvidia fell 3.2%. Its pricey valuation makes it among the heaviest influences on whether the broader market gains or loses ground. The company has grown into a nearly $3.6 trillion behemoth because of demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Intuit, which makes TurboTax and other accounting software, fell 5.7%. It gave investors a quarterly earnings forecast that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Facebook owner Meta Platforms fell 0.7% following a decision by the Supreme Court to allow a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against the company. It stems from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.63 points to 5,969.34. The Dow climbed 426.16 points to 44,296.51, and the Nasdaq picked up 42.65 points to close at 2,406.67. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Crude oil prices rose. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41% from 4.42% late Thursday. In the crypto market, bitcoin hovered around $99,000, according to CoinDesk. It has more than doubled this year and first surpassed the $99,000 level on Thursday. Retailers remained a big focus for investors this week amid close scrutiny on consumer spending habits headed into the holiday shopping season. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, reported a quarter of strong sales and gave investors an encouraging financial forecast. Target, though, reported weaker earnings than analysts’ expected and its forecast disappointed Wall Street. Consumer spending has fueled economic growth, despite a persistent squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. Inflation has been easing and the Federal Reserve has started trimming its benchmark interest rates. That is likely to help relieve pressure on consumers, but any major shift in spending could prompt the Fed to reassess its path ahead on interest rates. Also, any big reversals on the rate of inflation could curtail spending. Consumer sentiment remains strong, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. It revised its latest figure for November to 71.8 from an initial reading of 73 earlier this month, though economists expected a slight increase. It’s still up from 70.5 in October. The survey also showed that consumers’ inflation expectations for the year ahead fell slightly to 2.6%, which is the lowest reading since December of 2020. Wall Street will get another update on how consumers feel when the business group The Conference Board releases its monthly consumer confidence survey on Tuesday. A key inflation update will come on Wednesday when the U.S. releases its October personal consumption expenditures index. The PCE is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and this will be the last PCE reading prior to the central bank’s meeting in December.

Türkiye’s role in the new SyriaRussia's manufacturing sector continued to expand in December, but at a slower pace than the previous month, as inflationary pressures remained high and business confidence weakened, S&P Global reported on Friday. The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Russian manufacturing edged down to 50.8 in December from 51.3 in November, indicating a marginal improvement in sector health. A PMI reading above 50 signals growth, while below 50 indicates contraction. New orders saw a slight increase, supported by sustained client demand, but the growth rate was below the long-term average. Export orders rose for the fifth consecutive month, driven by increased trade with neighbouring countries, although the pace of expansion was the weakest since August. Despite the growth in orders, output expansion was modest, with firms citing softer demand and material shortages. "The rise in production was linked to a sustained uptick in new order inflows," the report noted. Inflationary pressures remained elevated, with input costs rising due to material price hikes and unfavourable exchange rate movements. Output prices also increased, although the rate of inflation softened to a three-month low. Employment levels fell for the second month in a row, reflecting subdued demand and sufficient capacity. Firms reduced workforce numbers slightly, with backlogs of work declining only fractionally. Manufacturers increased input buying to rebuild stocks and mitigate future price hikes but supply chain issues, particularly in rail transportation, led to longer delivery times. Overall, Russian manufacturers remained optimistic about future output, although confidence has waned due to concerns over higher prices and material shortages. Russia's manufacturing sector continued to expand in December, but at a slower pace than the previous month, as inflationary pressures remained high and business confidence weakened, S&P Global reported on Friday. The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Russian manufacturing edged down to 50.8 in December from 51.3 in November, indicating a marginal improvement in sector health. A PMI reading above 50 signals growth, while below 50 indicates contraction. New orders saw a slight increase, supported by sustained client demand, but the growth rate was below the long-term average. Export orders rose for the fifth consecutive month, driven by increased trade with neighbouring countries, although the pace of expansion was the weakest since August. Despite the growth in orders, output expansion was modest, with firms citing softer demand and material shortages. "The rise in production was linked to a sustained uptick in new order inflows," the report noted. Inflationary pressures remained elevated, with input costs rising due to material price hikes and unfavourable exchange rate movements. Output prices also increased, although the rate of inflation softened to a three-month low. Employment levels fell for the second month in a row, reflecting subdued demand and sufficient capacity. Firms reduced workforce numbers slightly, with backlogs of work declining only fractionally. Manufacturers increased input buying to rebuild stocks and mitigate future price hikes but supply chain issues, particularly in rail transportation, led to longer delivery times. Overall, Russian manufacturers remained optimistic about future output, although confidence has waned due to concerns over higher prices and material shortages.

NEW YORK (AP) — No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career than Jimmy Carter . His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a children’s story. His memoir “An Hour Before Daylight” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” stirred a fierce debate by likening Israel’s policies in the West Bank to the brutal South African system of racial segregation. And just before his 100th birthday, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation honored him with a lifetime achievement award for how he wielded “the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.” In one recent work, “A Full Life,” Carter observed that he “enjoyed writing” and that his books “provided a much-needed source of income.” But some projects were easier than others. “Everything to Gain,” a 1987 collaboration with his wife, Rosalynn, turned into the “worst threat we ever experienced in our marriage,” an intractable standoff for the facilitator of the Camp David accords and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Carter, Rosalynn was a meticulous author who considered “the resulting sentences as though they have come down from Mount Sinai, carved into stone.” Their memories differed on various events and they fell into “constant arguments.” They were ready to abandon the book and return the advance, until their editor persuaded them to simply divide any disputed passages between them. “In the book, each of these paragraphs is identified by a ‘J’ or an ‘R,’ and our marriage survived,” he wrote. Here is a partial list of books by Carter: “Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President” “The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East” (With Rosalynn Carter) “Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life” “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections” “Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age” “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (With daughter Amy Carter) “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer” “Living Faith” “The Virtues of Aging” “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood” “Christmas in Plains: Memories” “The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War” “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis” “Faith & Freedom: The Christian Challenge for the World” “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” “A Remarkable Mother” “Beyond the White House” “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work” “White House Diary” “NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter” “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety”Nederland’s Walker signs with Navy

Rigetti Computing (RGTI) continued to rise spectacularly on Friday, with shares seen increasing by more than 13% to $17.53 during morning trading. Advertisement The gain follows a record close at $15.44 on Thursday, marking the fifth consecutive session of gains for the quantum-computing services company. Advertisement Rigetti’s shares have skyrocketed more than 1,794% this year, a movement that has placed the company for its best annual performance on record. The surge is a significant comeback for a stock that, until mid-December, had remained below $1 for extended periods. Rigetti, which debuted on the Nasdaq in March 2022 after a SPAC merger, initially reached highs of $11.37 but struggled to regain those levels until this year’s rally. Now, as it continues its rally, the stock may hit another all-time high on Friday. Rigetti rises as part of a broader rally in quantum computing stocks Rigetti’s unprecedented rise reflects the broader rally being witnessed by quantum computing stocks, and investor enthusiasm for the sector. The share price of Quantum Computing (QUBT) climbed by 6.4% before losing the gains and slipping into the red, while D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) gained 2.53%. QUBT has gained more than 2,006% YTD. Quantum Corp. (QMCO) and Quantum-Si (QSI) surged by 6.2% and 68.9%, respectively. What’s driving market excitement for Rigetti is its ambitious technological roadmap. The company plans to deploy a 36-qubit system by mid-2025, using its proprietary superconducting qubit technology, which offers gate speeds of 60 to 80 nanoseconds—far outpacing competitors. A larger, 100-plus-qubit system is also planned for later in 2025. Analyst forecasts for the quantum computing market Rigetti’s Q3 revenue remained modest at $2.4 million, but the company’s $92.6 million cash position provides a solid foundation for executing its vision. Analysts see quantum computing as a transformative technology with vast potential, supported by McKinsey’s forecast that the market could reach $45 billion to $131 billion by 2040. With its recent achievements and ambitious plans, Rigetti is emerging as a leader in a rapidly expanding field, signalling a bright future for quantum computing innovation. Former Rigetti executive sells into its strength Rigetti’s strong rally prompted at least one investor to sell into its strength. Former General Counsel of Rigetti, Richard Danis sold 624,262 shares in December, earning $4.7 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His transactions included a sale of 233,423 shares on Monday, Dec. 23, for $2.6 million at an average price of $11.03 per share. Danis had also indicated plans to sell an additional 250,000 shares at $11 per share, a transaction that would net $2.8 million. Danis resigned from his role on Nov. 30, and Rigetti that his post-resignation consulting agreement was terminated by mutual agreement earlier this month. Should you sell too? , financial analyst at Invezz, there are compelling reasons to sell quantum stocks like RGTI, QSI, and others. He says, The first major reason to sell quantum computing stocks like Rigetti Computing, Quantum Corporation, and IONQ is that major themes often don’t work out in the long term. This performance is mostly because the market is usually driven by fear and greed. Nyaga has compared the current sentiment to the initial surge seen in cannabis and electric vehicle stocks which plunged after seeing a hype. Secondly, according to Nyaga, the Wyckoff method shows that stocks will crash due to a concept called mean reversion. “This situation is where stocks and other assets drop and return to their mean levels after a strong surge. This means the reversion concept has recently worked well in the crypto industry.” Additionally, their stocks have become highly overbought as their Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillators have soared, he says, adding stocks often retreat when they become highly overbought. Lastly, he says, quantum computing stocks will crash because their valuation metrics have become highly stretched in the past few months.Log cabin kitchens are the coziest style to introduce to your home in 2025 – and these 3 spaces offer plenty of inspiration

Taking a hot shower can literally mean pouring money down the drain. The average American household spends almost $300 pear year to heat water . If you spend a little extra time in the shower, that cost can pile up even higher. Turning down your water heater's temperature can save you some money on water heating costs, which according to the Department of Energy account for 14% to 18% of your home's monthly energy budget . But replacing or supplementing your current water heater with a solar-powered water heater can, too. Can solar panels save you money? Interested in understanding the impact solar can have on your home? Enter some basic information below, and we’ll instantly provide a free estimate of your energy savings. Solar water heaters harness the sun's energy to provide a sustainable solution for heating water in the home. Though solar water heaters have gained immense popularity in countries where electricity costs are high, they've been slower to catch on in the United States, but they could be a compelling option for cash-strapped Americans. Here's what you need to know about the ins and outs of solar water heaters and how you can use them to save money. What are solar water heaters and how do they work? Solar water heaters vary in design, efficiency, capacity and price, but they all replace a good chunk of the gas or electricity used to heat water with clean, free sunlight. The three basic designs all have a way to collect heat, a tank to store hot water, backup heating for when your system can't keep up and a circulation system. Batch collector water heaters heat water in tubes or pipes, usually painted black to collect more of the sun's heat. Cold water can be mixed in periodically to keep water from getting too hot. These heaters are best suited for warmer climates. Where freezing might be an issue, they'll need to be drained during cold months to avoid damage to the system. Flat-plate collectors rely on a metal plate, often painted black, to soak up the sun's heat. Heat travels from the plate to water-filled tubes. The water cycles through heating tubes to and from the storage tank, keeping the stored water hot. Evacuated tube collectors are the most efficient models out there. Water is heated in a tube that's surrounded by a larger, vacuum-sealed glass tube. Very little heat is lost because there's no air between the heating liquid and the outside world. Solar water heaters can heat water directly or indirectly. In indirect heaters, the sun heats a heat transfer liquid (often a water and propylene glycol mixture), which transfers its heat to water in a tank. Because the freezing point of the heat transfer liquid is lower than that of water, the system can operate in colder climates. For example, evacuated tube collectors can work in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. How to buy a solar water heater Buying a solar water heater is more complex than browsing an online marketplace like Amazon, selecting a water heater, paying and logging out, said Jake Edie , an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago who teaches a course on clean energy in the electric grid. Much like other clean energy options, Edie says, solar water heaters require a substantial upfront investment in exchange for long-term gains and cost savings throughout their useful life span. Solar water heater on a roof in Spain. Here are some steps in purchasing a solar water heater system. Types of solar water heaters When it comes to solar water heaters, there are two primary types: active solar water heating systems and passive solar water heating systems. Active solar water heaters use a pump to circulate the heated liquid and can be divided into two types: direct and indirect circulating systems. Active solar water heating systems are generally more expensive, but are the common type installed in the US , according to the EPA. Passive solar water heaters don't have pumps to move hot and cold water around. They come in two distinct variations: integral collector-storage systems and thermosiphon systems. Passive solar water heaters are known for their reliability, cost-effectiveness and durability, but don't allow for some of the finer control of active systems. How much does a solar water heater cost? The cost of a solar water heater can vary widely depending on the type, size and installation requirements. On average, you can expect to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 for the system, with installation costs adding $1,000 to $3,000. Despite the upfront costs, solar water heaters can provide savings over time through reduced energy bills. In the United States, solar water heaters qualify for a federal tax credit of 30% of the total cost through the end of 2032. So for a system that costs $3,877, you would be eligible to receive back $1,163 when you file your taxes. What are the pros and cons of solar water heaters? Like any technology, solar powered water heaters have pros and cons. Solar-powered water heaters are an excellent means to reduce your overall electricity expenses, but they come with challenges, Edie said. For instance, he talked about cloudy days or at night when solar panels can't generate power, which is when water heaters will be unable to produce hot water. Here's a further breakdown of the pros and cons. Correction, Aug. 18: This story originally presented as direct quotations some statements that were actually paraphrases of what the cited individual had said. Those passages have now been rendered appropriately as paraphrases.