circus acrobat PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Honey, they shrunk the catalogs. While retailers hope to go big this holiday season , customers may notice that the printed gift guides arriving in their mailboxes are smaller. Many of the millions of catalogs getting sent to U.S. homes were indeed scaled down to save on postage and paper, resulting in pint-sized editions. Lands’ End, Duluth Trading Company and Hammacher Schlemmer are among gift purveyors using smaller editions. Some retailers are saving even more money with postcards. Lisa Ayoob, a tech-savvy, online shopper in Portland, Maine, was surprised by the size of a recent catalog she received from outdoor apparel company Carbon2Cobalt. “It almost felt like it was a pamphlet compared to a catalog,” she said. Catalogs have undergone a steady recalibration over the years in response to technological changes and consumer behavior. The thick, heavy Sears and J.C. Penney catalogs that brought store displays to American living rooms slimmed down and gave way to targeted mailings once websites could do the same thing. Recent postal rate increases accelerated the latest shift to compact formats. The number of catalogs mailed each year dropped about 40% between 2006 to 2018, when an estimated 11.5 billion were mailed to homes, according to the trade group formerly known as the American Catalog Mailers Association. In a sign of the times, the group based in Washington rebranded itself in May as the American Commerce Marketing Association, reflecting a broadened focus. But don’t expect catalogs to go the way of dinosaurs yet. Defying predictions of doom, they have managed to remain relevant in the e-commerce era. Retail companies found that could treat catalogs with fewer pages as a marketing tool and include QR and promo codes to entice customers to browse online and complete a purchase. Despite no longer carrying an extended inventory of goods, catalogs are costly to produce and ship. But they hold their own in value because of growing digital advertising costs, helping retailers cut through the noise for consumers barraged by multi-format advertisements, industry officials say. In an unlikely twist, notable e-commerce companies like Amazon and home goods supplier Wayfair started distributing catalogs in recent years. Amazon began mailing a toy catalog in 2018. That was the same year Sears, which produced an annual Christmas Wish Book Wish starting in 1933, filed for bankruptc y. Fans of printed information may rejoice to hear that apparel retailer J.Crew relaunched its glossy catalog this year. Research shows that the hands-on experience of thumbing through a catalog leaves a greater impression on consumers, said Jonathan Zhang, a professor of marketing at Colorado State University. “The reason why these paper formats are so effective is that our human brains haven’t evolved as fast as technology and computers over the past 10 to 20 years. We retain more information when we read something on paper. That’s why paper books remain relevant,” Zhang said. “The psychology shows that three-dimensional, tactile experiences are more memorable.” Pint-sized presentations still can work, though, because the purpose of catalogs these days is simply to get customers’ attention, Zhang said. Conserving paper also works better with younger consumers who are worried about the holiday shopping season’s impact on the planet, he said. Postal increases are hastening changes. The latest round of postage hikes in July included the category with the 8.5-by-11-inch size that used to be ubiquitous for the catalog industry. Many retailers responded by reducing the size of catalogs, putting them in a lower-cost letter category, said Paul Miller, executive vice president and managing director of the American Commerce Marketing Association. One size, called a “slim jim,” measures 10.5 by 5.5 inches. But there other sizes. Some retailers have further reduced costs by mailing large postcards to consumers. Lands’ End, for one, is testing new compact formats to supplement its traditional catalogs. This year, that included folded glossy brochures and postcards, along with other formats, Chief Transformation Officer Angie Rieger said. Maine resident Ayoob said she understands why retailers still use catalogs even though she no longer is a fan of the format. These days, she prefers to browse for products on the internet, not by flipping through paper pages. “Everybody wants eyeballs. There’s so much out there -- so many websites, so many brands,” said Ayoob, who spent 35 years working in department stores and in the wholesale industry. Targeting customers at home is not a new concept. L.L. Bean was a pioneer of the mail-order catalog after its founder promoted his famous “Maine Hunting Shoe” to hunting license holders from out-of-state in 1912. The outdoor clothing and equipment company based in Freeport, Maine, is sticking to mailing out regular-sized catalogs for now. “By showcasing our icons, the catalog became an icon itself,” L.L. Bean spokesperson Amanda Hannah said. “Even as we invest more in our digital and brand marketing channels, the catalog retains a strong association with our brand, and is therefore an important part of our omni-channel strategy, especially for our loyal customers.”STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - New York City Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island/South Brooklyn) announced this morning at New Dorp High School that he has secured city funding for a new Athletic Trainer Pilot Program, which will be implemented at three Staten Island high schools. The program, with a total funding of $360,000, will allocate $120,000 to each of the three schools — Tottenville High School, Port Richmond High School, and Susan Wagner High School — to hire two athletic trainers at each location. These trainers will be available at the schools’ discretion to support athletic programs, practices and events where their services are most needed. “This is going to be a major step forward for the health, wellness and wellbeing of our student athletes here in the borough,‘’ Carr said. ”It’s a pilot program that will hopefully, eventually, be scaled up to benefit high schools across New York City." The program will be modeled after the blueprint developed at New Dorp High School, where they introduced the in-house use of an athletic trainer. Carr added that New York state mandates the presence of a healthcare professional at games and practices, and emphasized that athletic trainers are the truest fulfillment of that requirement because these professionals are with student-athletes throughout the entire season, ensuring they receive top-notch care and addressing any healthcare needs as they arise. It is recommended that a physician be present at all football games and to be readily available during practice sessions in New York state. “There were a number of private schools that were able to afford them on their budget ... so we had a gap that we needed to fill at our other public high schools,” he said. New Dorp High School is one of the few public schools on Staten Island to have an athletic trainer, Amanda Coppola, who has been with the school for over a decade. In addition to training student-athletes, she also provides treatment when needed. Priya Shahi New Dorp High School is one of the few public schools on Staten Island to have an athletic trainer, Amanda Coppola, who has been with the school for over a decade. Coppola is a full-time staff member, teaching science during the day in a medical practice class and covering athletes’ games and practices after school — where she not only trains them but also provides treatment when necessary. In addition, Coppola works with student interns, providing them the opportunity to go out in the field to gain hands-on experience. Athletic training is among the fastest growing professions in health care. Employment of athletic trainers is projected to grow 13% from 2023 to 2033 , much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the healthcare professionals the New Dorp High School students have the opportunity to work with is Dr. John Reilly, an orthopedic trauma surgeon with more than 40 years of experience. Dr. John Reilly, an orthopedic trauma surgeon with more than 40 years of experience, shared that he has been involved with sports on Staten Island since 1981 and highlighted the significant improvements in sports care over the years. However, he emphasized that "the job’s not done." (Staten Island Advance/ Priya Shahi) Priya Shahi Reilly shared that he has been involved with sports on Staten Island since 1981 and noted how much sports care has improved over the years. He highlighted advancements, such as the availability of AEDs on the field, concussion protocols, better rehabilitation for athletes, improved care for adolescent athletes, advancements in nutrition, and the introduction of synthetic turf. “The job’s not done,‘’ he said. ”We need to make sure that the funding becomes permanent and it’s permitted in all the public schools. We should be a city and a borough that should be seen as leaders in this effort and we should not always have to pay catch up when it comes to the kids’ health.” He added that while a gym teacher traditionally has a background in athlete physiology and anatomy, they are not typically trained in injury prevention or treatment. In contrast, an athletic trainer is specifically trained in healthcare, with a focus on managing and preventing injuries. “The people that are in these positions as athletic directors, they’re my friends and we talk about this all the time,” said New Dorp High School Athletic Director Rich Rucireto. “I am very lucky that I have an athletic trainer with me at every home event and on the road for football games, lacrosse games, basketball games etc. . . . She treats all the athletes that are injured and we make those phone calls to those parents to let them know. It’s peace of mind for the parents.”

ISRAELI STRIKES HAVE killed dozens of people in areas of eastern and southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley today killed 40 people, increasing from an earlier toll that identified 22 dead. “Israeli enemy strikes that targeted the Baalbek district” left “40 dead and 52 wounded”, the health ministry statement said, listing tolls for 10 different locations. Additionally, the health ministry said 12 people were killed and 50 others were wounded in Israeli strikes in the south today. The ministry in separate statements reported “seven dead and 24 wounded” in “Israeli enemy strikes” on south Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh district, and “five dead and 26 wounded” in strikes elsewhere in south Lebanon. Earlier, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported at least 12 strikes, some of them “very violent”, on Beirut’s southern suburbs throughout today, targeting districts including Shiyah, Hadath and Haret Hreik, with a raid on the Kafaat neighbourhood destroying a building and damaging others nearby. Israeli first responders said a man was killed today after rocket fire from Lebanon hit the Galilee region in Israel’s north. Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on social media platform X issued several rounds of evacuation warnings for Beirut’s southern suburbs, as well as areas in and around the southern coastal city of Tyre, where the NNA reported Israeli strikes. There were no warnings for east Lebanon. Adraee said on X that the Israeli military “targeted a weapons depot, a command headquarters and terrorist infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah in south Beirut. AFP footage showed columns of smoke rising from the southern suburbs, usually a densely populated residential district but now largely emptied. Amid a series of attack claims, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted “the Hatzor air base” near Israel’s southern city of Ashdod, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Lebanon’s southern border, “with a missile salvo” — its deepest target in more than a year of hostilities. In nine separate statements, Hezbollah said its fighters also targeted Israeli troops in and near the south Lebanon town of Khiam, including with artillery, rockets and drones. The NNA said “the enemy army” was “blowing up homes and residential buildings during its incursion into the town”. Lebanon’s official news agency and Hezbollah have reported fighting and air strikes in the Khiam area ever since Israeli ground troops first entered Lebanon on 30 September, a week after Israel escalated its air raids against Hezbollah targets. The renewed Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs came after relative calm in the capital while United States envoy Amos Hochstein visited earlier this week, seeking to broker an end to the almost two-month-long Israel-Hezbollah war. Today, United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert visited Baalbek’s UNESCO-listed archaeological area, after the UN’s cultural body this week granted more than 30 heritage sites in Lebanon “provisional enhanced protection” amid the war. Lebanon’s health ministry said today that at least 3,583 people had been killed in the violence since October 2023. Most of the deaths have been since September this year. The Israeli military said Wednesday that three soldiers were killed in south Lebanon, bringing to 52 the number killed in Lebanon since the start of ground operations.

IBD Live QA, Stock Lists For Friday, Dec. 6, 2024New Orleans (4-8) at New York Giants (2-10) Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox BetMGM NFL Odds: Saints by 5. Against the spread: Saints 5-7; Giants 3-9. Series record: Giants lead 17-15. Last meeting: Saints beat Giants 24-6 on Dec. 17, 2023, in New Orleans. Last week: Saints lost to Rams 21-14; Giants lost to Cowboys 27-20. Saints: overall (12), rush (10), pass (19), scoring (14) Saints defense: overall (30), rush (26), pass (29), scoring (19) Giants offense: overall (T26), rush (15), pass (31), scoring (32) Giants defense: overall (19), rush (29), pass (6), scoring (18) Turnover differential: Saints plus-2; Giants minus-8. Saints player to watch Derek Carr. The quarterback completed 23 of 28 for 218 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in the previous meeting and had a 134.8 quarterback rating. Giants player to watch Drew Lock. The veteran quarterback is going to make his second straight start with Tommy DeVito (forearm) hurt. He threw for 178 yards and ran for a career-high 57 yards in the loss to the Dallas. He scored on an 8-yard run and had a 28-yard scramble to set up another. He also made mistakes, throwing a pick-6 and losing a fumble on a scramble. Key matchup Saints offense vs Giants defense. The Giants defense is banged up. DT Dexter Lawrence (elbow) was put on injured reserve Monday and fellow starter Rakeem Nunez-Roches (neck) missed practice earlier in the week. Leading tackler and ILB Bobby Okereke is dealing with a back issue. Key injuries Saints: Tight end Taysom Hill’s knee injury last week will sideline him the rest of the season. Running back Kendre Miller (hamstring) is eligible to come off injured reserve and could return to the lineup Sunday. Guards Cesar Ruiz (concussion) and Nick Saldiveri (knee) have been held out of practice this week. Center Erik McCoy (groin) , who sat out last week’s game, returned to practice early this week on a limited basis. Guard Lucas Patrick (calf) has practiced on a limited basis after sitting out the past three games. Tyrann Mathieu (forearm) has returned to full practice this week after sitting out much of the second half of last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Giants: Lawrence and rookie TE Theo Johnson (foot) were placed on injured reserve and probably are out for the season. ... DeVito (forearm) and LT Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) missed the Dallas game but they are making progress this week. DeVito will back up Lock. ... Eluemunor and RT Evan Neal (hip) may be game-time decisions. ... CB Deonte Banks (ribs), Okereke (back) and Nunez-Roches (neck) are unlikely to play. WR Malik Nabers was added to the report Thursday with a nagging groin issue. Series notes The Saints have won two of the past three meetings. The Giants are winless in all six games at MetLife Stadium this season. Stats and stuff The Saints are 2-1 under interim coach Darren Rizzi, who was born in New Jersey and grew up a Giants fan. ... Carr ranks sixth among qualified passers with a 103.3 rating in 2024. ... WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling has had TD catches in his past three games. ... TE Juwan Johnson had five catches against the Rams. ... DT Bryan Bresee has a career-high 6 1/2 sacks and is looking for his third straight game with a sack. He had two sacks against New York last season. ... DL Chase Young has two sacks and three tackles for loss against the Giants in December. ... LB Demario Davis had 10 tackles and a sack in the previous meeting. ... CB Alontae Taylor is the only player with at least 10 passes defended and five tackles for loss in each of the past two seasons. ... Mathieu needs five tackles for his eighth straight season of at least 50 tackles. ... Giants: RB Tyrone Tracy ranks second among rookies with 619 yards rushing. He has run for four touchdowns. ... WR Malik Nabers has 75 catches for 740 yards. His reception total is the most by a rookie in his first 10 games. .... Wan’Dale Robinson has career-high 63 catches. ... OLB Brian Burns has a career-high eight passes defended and 10 tackles for loss. ... Okereke needs seven tackles for his fourth straight season of 100 or more tackles. ... S Tyler Nubin leads all rookies and ranks fourth among DBs with 93 tackles. ... The Giants have set an NFL record going 11 straight games without an interception. They have one interception this season. The NFL record for fewest in a season is two by the 2018 San Francisco 49ers. The fewest in a season by the Giants was six in 2022. Fantasy tip Look for running back Alvin Kamara to have a big game. He has 894 yards rushing on 206 carries and he has caught 59 passes for 450 yards. He has seven touchdowns, six rushing. The 29-year-old has had eight games of at least 100 yards from scrimmage this season and he is third in the league with 1,344 yards from scrimmage. ___ AP NFL:

MUNICH (AP) — Manuel Neuer was sent off for the first time and Bayern Munich crashed out of the German Cup in the third round with a 1-0 loss at home to defending champion Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday. The 38-year-old Neuer was never before sent off over a long career including 124 games for Germany, but the Bayern captain was shown a straight red card in the 17th minute for taking out Jeremie Frimpong with a body check when the Dutch winger was almost through on goal after a long pass from Johnathan Tah. Bayern’s players protested but there had been no attempt from Neuer to play the ball. Leverkusen needed patience to take advantage against a riled-up Bayern team that created better chances in the first half. The home team was without Harry Kane, injured over the weekend against Borussia Dortmund. Bayern confirmed a right hamstring injury and said the England captain will be out “for the time being.” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso sent on Patrik Schick for the second half, but the in-form Czech forward limped off with what looked like a left calf injury after less than 15 minutes. Nathan Tella replaced Schick in the 61st, then scored eight minutes later with a header to Álex Grimaldo’s perfectly positioned cross. “The first title of the season is gone, and that hurts,” Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich said. Alonso, a former Bayern midfielder, has never lost in five games against his former club while Leverkusen coach. Bayern was knocked out in the second round last season. Also, Werder Bremen defeated second-division side Darmstadt 1-0. Earlier, 2022 finalist Freiburg was knocked out in a 3-1 loss at third-division team Arminia Bielefeld, and Stuttgart won 3-0 at Jahn Regensburg. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerTRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey interim Sen. George Helmy, a Democrat appointed when Bob Menendez resigned after a federal corruption conviction , is stepping down this weekend so Sen.-elect Andy Kim can be sworn in early. The move was expected and confirmed what Helmy and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced during his appointment this summer — that Helmy would resign early so the winner of November's election could get into office before the start of the new session of Congress next month. Murphy explained the arrangement, saying he wanted the “democratically chosen winner” of this year's election to have a smooth transition into office. Kim defeated Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw on Election Day. He'll become the first Korean-American in the Senate when he is sworn in on Monday. Helmy is a former chief of staff to Murphy and has said he wasn't interested in pursuing elected office. He counted voting to confirm 20 judicial nominations and resolving more than 100 constituent cases as some of his accomplishments in little more than two months in office. Helmy said he's been working closely with Kim since his election in November to “ensure a seamless transition.” Menendez, 70, used his influence to meddle in three different state and federal criminal investigations to protect the businessmen, prosecutors said. They said he helped one bribe-paying friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another keep a contract to provide religious certification for meat bound for Egypt. Menendez has vowed to fight the conviction and recently filed for a new trial , citing improper evidence that was put on a computer used by jurors. The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO – The Bay Area’s new WNBA team made Iliana Rupert its first player selected in the 2024 WNBA expansion draft on Friday afternoon. The 6-foot-4 center from France started her career with the champion Las Vegas Aces in 2022. She played for Atlanta in 2023, but did not participate in the 2024 season. She was the first of the 12 picks that general manager Ohemaa Nyanin will make in the nationally-televised draft on ESPN. The Valkyries took then Maria Conde from Chicago, guard Veronica Burton from Connecticut, Carla Leite from Dallas, Temi Fagbenle from Indiana, and Kate Martin from Las Vegas. In the WNBA’s first expansion draft since 2008, the Valkyries are allowed to select one player from each of the other 12 teams, provided that they are not one of the six players each team was permitted to protect. The list of protected players was finalized on Nov. 26 but the league did not make the names public. Of the unprotected players, the Valkyries can draft only one unrestricted free agent over their 12 picks. After the draft, the Valkyries will be able to make trades and sign free agents.

Iran is poised to "quite dramatically" increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium as it has started cascades of advanced centrifuges, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Friday. The comments from Rafael Mariano Grossi came just hours after Iran said it conducted a successful space launch with its heaviest payload ever, the latest for its programme that the West alleges improves Tehran's ballistic missile programme. The launch of the Simorgh rocket comes as Iran's nuclear programme now enriches uranium at 60 per cent, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. While Iran maintains its programme is peaceful, officials in the Islamic Republic increasingly threaten to potentially seek the bomb and an intercontinental ballistic missile that would allow Tehran to use the weapon against distant foes like the United States. The moves are likely to further raise tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as an uneasy ceasefire holds in Lebanon. However, Iran may as well be preparing the ground for possible talks with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Grossi, speaking to journalists in Bahrain, on the sidelines of the International Institute of Strategic Studies' Manama Dialogue, said his inspectors planned to see just how many centrifuges Iran would be spinning after Tehran informed his agency of its plans. "I think it is very concerning," Grossi said. "They were preparing and they have all of these facilities sort of in abeyance and now they are activating that. So we are going to see." He added: "If they really make them turn — all of them — it's going to be a huge jump." An IAEA statement issued shortly after Grossi's remarks said Iran had begun feeding two cascades of advanced IR-6 centrifuges with uranium previously enriched up to 20 per cent at its underground Fordo facility. That site is located under a mountain, protecting it from airstrikes. Cascades are a group of centrifuges that spin uranium gas together to more quickly enrich the uranium. The IR-6 centrifuges enrich uranium faster than Iran's baseline IR-1 centrifuges, which have been the workhorse of the country's atomic programme. Adding 20 per cent uranium, as opposed to 5 per cent uranium previously planned, further speeds up that process. "The facility's updated design information showed that the effect of this change would be to significantly increase the rate of production," the IAEA statement said. Iran separately will start feeding natural uranium into eight other IR-6 cascades at Fordo as well to produce 5 per cent-enriched uranium, it added. The IAEA warned in late November that Iran was preparing to begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges. That came as a response to the Board of Governors at the IAEA condemning Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the agency. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the preparations. The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, the launch Friday took place at Iran's Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province, some 220 kilometres east of Tehran. That's the site of Iran's civilian space programme, which has suffered a series of failed Simorgh launches in the past. The Simorgh carried what Iran described as an "orbital propulsion system," as well as two research systems to a 400-kilometre orbit above the Earth. A system that could change the orbit of a spacecraft would allow Iran to geo-synchronize the orbits of its satellites, a capability Tehran has long sought. It also carried the Fakhr-1 satellite for Iran's military, the first time Iran's civilian programme is known to have carried a military payload. Iran also put the payload of the Simorgh at 300 kilograms, heavier than all its previous successful launches within the country. State television carried footage of a correspondent discussing the payload just as the Simorgh lifted off into the sky, as people called out: "God is the greatest!" The US military referred questions about the launch to the country's Space Command, which did not respond. Space experts said tracking data appeared to show the launch successfully put objects in orbit. The United States has previously said Iran's satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. UN sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile programme expired in October 2023. "Iran's work on space-launch vehicles — including its Simorgh — probably would shorten the timeline to produce an intercontinental ballistic missile, if it decided to develop one, because the systems use similar technologies," a US intelligence community report released in July said. Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says its space programme, like its nuclear activities, is for purely civilian purposes. However, US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organised military nuclear programme up until 2003. Under Iran's relatively moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic Republic slowed its space programme for fear of raising tensions with the West. The late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who came to power in 2021, pushed the programme forward. Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May. Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has been signalling he wants to negotiate with the West over sanctions, has yet to offer a strategy when it comes to Iran's ambitions in space. The Simorgh launch represented the first for his administration from the country's civil space programme. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard conducted a successful launch of its parallel programme in September. (This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)What Is Beyoncé Teasing for Jan. 14? Here Are Some Fan Theories

Marianne Williamson Announces Bid for DNC Chair

AP News Summary at 11:51 a.m. EST

Awarded industry-first design win from a top-four hyperscaler SANTA CLARA, Calif. , Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), the IT pioneer that delivers the world's most advanced data storage technologies and services, announced financial results for its third quarter fiscal year 2025 ended November 3, 2024. "Pure Storage has achieved another industry first in our journey of data storage innovation with a transformational design win for our DirectFlash technology in a top-four hyperscaler," said Pure Storage Chairman and CEO Charles Giancarlo . "This win is the vanguard for Pure Flash technology to become the standard for all hyperscaler online storage, providing unparalleled performance and scalability while also reducing operating costs and power consumption." Third Quarter Financial Highlights "Our third quarter results exceeded our expectations on revenue and operating income, demonstrating the sustaining strength of our business models," said Kevan Krysler , Pure Storage CFO. "We remain focused on driving both near-term results and long-term value creation through disciplined investments and innovation that position Pure as the leader in transforming the data storage landscape." Third Quarter Company Highlights Industry Recognition and Accolades Fourth Quarter and FY25 Guidance Q4FY25 Revenue $867M Revenue YoY Growth Rate 9.7 % Non-GAAP Operating Income $135M Non-GAAP Operating Margin 15.6 % FY25 Revenue $3.15B Revenue YoY Growth Rate 11.5 % Non-GAAP Operating Income $540M Non-GAAP Operating Margin 17 % These statements are forward-looking and actual results may differ materially. Refer to the Forward Looking Statements section below for information on the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. Pure has not reconciled its guidance for non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin to their most directly comparable GAAP measures because certain items that impact these measures are not within Pure's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures guidance to the corresponding GAAP measures are not available without unreasonable effort. Conference Call Information Pure will host a teleconference to discuss the third quarter fiscal 2025 results at 2:00 pm PT today, December 3, 2024. A live audio broadcast of the conference call will be available on the Pure Storage Investor Relations website . Pure will also post its earnings presentation and prepared remarks to this website concurrent with this release. A replay will be available following the call on the Pure Storage Investor Relations website or for two weeks at 1-800-770-2030 (or 1-647-362-9199 for international callers) with passcode 5667482. Additionally, Pure is scheduled to participate at the following investor conferences: Wells Fargo 8th Annual TMT Summit Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2024 Time: 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET Chief Technology Officer Rob Lee 27th Annual Needham Growth Conference Date: Thursday, January 16, 2025 Time: 9:45 a.m. PT / 12:45 p.m. ET Founder & Chief Visionary Officer John "Co z" Colgrove Chief Financial Officer Kevan Krysler The presentations will be webcast live and archived on Pure's Investor Relations website at investor.purestorage.com . ---- About Pure Storage Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) delivers the industry's most advanced data storage platform to store, manage, and protect the world's data at any scale. With Pure Storage, organizations have ultimate simplicity and flexibility, saving time, money, and energy. From AI to archive, Pure Storage delivers a cloud experience with one unified Storage as-a-Service platform across on premises, cloud, and hosted environments. Our platform is built on our Evergreen architecture that evolves with your business – always getting newer and better with zero planned downtime, guaranteed. Our customers are actively increasing their capacity and processing power while significantly reducing their carbon and energy footprint. It's easy to fall in love with Pure Storage, as evidenced by the highest Net Promoter Score in the industry. For more information, visit www.purestorage.com . Connect with Pure Blog LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Pure Storage, the Pure P Logo, Portworx, and the marks on the Pure Storage Trademark List are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pure Storage Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. The Trademark List can be found at purestorage.com/trademarks . Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding our products, business and operations, including but not limited to our views relating to our opportunity with hyperscale and AI environments, our ability to meet hyperscalers' performance and price requirements, our ability to meet the needs of hyperscalers for the entire spectrum of their online storage use cases, the timing and magnitude of large orders, including sales to hyperscalers, the timing and amount of revenue from hyperscaler licensing and support services, future period financial and business results, demand for our products and subscription services, including Evergreen//One, the relative sales mix between our subscription and consumption offerings and traditional capital expenditure sales, our technology and product strategy, specifically customer priorities around sustainability, the environmental and energy saving benefits to our customers of using our products, our ability to perform during current macro conditions and expand market share, our sustainability goals and benefits, the impact of inflation, economic or supply chain disruptions, our expectations regarding our product and technology differentiation, new customer acquisition, and other statements regarding our products, business, operations and results. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted include, among others, those risks and uncertainties included under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our filings and reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on our Investor Relations website at investor.purestorage.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov . Additional information is also set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended February 4, 2024. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of December 3, 2024, and Pure undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law. Key Performance Metric Subscription ARR is a key business metric that refers to total annualized contract value of all active subscription agreements on the last day of the quarter, plus on-demand revenue for the quarter multiplied by four. Non-GAAP Financial Measures To supplement our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, Pure uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, and free cash flow. We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses such as stock-based compensation expense, payments to former shareholders of acquired companies, payroll tax expense related to stock-based activities, amortization of debt issuance costs related to debt, and amortization of intangible assets acquired from acquisitions that may not be indicative of our ongoing core business operating results. Pure believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when analyzing historical performance and liquidity and planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and our non-GAAP measures may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations to the nearest comparable GAAP measures" and "Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow," included at the end of this release. PURE STORAGE, INC. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands, unaudited) At the End of Third Quarter of Fiscal 2025 Fiscal 2024 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 894,569 $ 702,536 Marketable securities 753,960 828,557 Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $956 and $1,060 578,224 662,179 Inventory 41,571 42,663 Deferred commissions, current 86,839 88,712 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 204,485 173,407 Total current assets 2,559,648 2,498,054 Property and equipment, net 431,353 352,604 Operating lease right-of-use-assets 157,574 129,942 Deferred commissions, non-current 210,671 215,620 Intangible assets, net 23,039 33,012 Goodwill 361,427 361,427 Restricted cash 11,249 9,595 Other assets, non-current 99,504 55,506 Total assets $ 3,854,465 $ 3,655,760 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 102,021 $ 82,757 Accrued compensation and benefits 155,652 250,257 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 141,846 135,755 Operating lease liabilities, current 47,941 44,668 Deferred revenue, current 897,174 852,247 Debt, current 100,000 — Total current liabilities 1,444,634 1,365,684 Long-term debt — 100,000 Operating lease liabilities, non-current 146,390 123,201 Deferred revenue, non-current 784,282 742,275 Other liabilities, non-current 68,573 54,506 Total liabilities 2,443,879 2,385,666 Stockholders' equity: Common stock and additional paid-in capital 2,821,010 2,749,627 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) 1,023 (3,782) Accumulated deficit (1,411,447) (1,475,751) Total stockholders' equity 1,410,586 1,270,094 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 3,854,465 $ 3,655,760 PURE STORAGE, INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except per share data, unaudited) Third Quarter of Fiscal First Three Quarters of Fiscal 2025 2024 2025 2024 Revenue: Product $ 454,735 $ 453,277 $ 1,204,714 $ 1,161,978 Subscription services 376,337 309,561 1,083,608 878,838 Total revenue 831,072 762,838 2,288,322 2,040,816 Cost of revenue: Product (1) 154,970 126,770 385,446 343,588 Subscription services (1) 93,180 83,321 284,168 244,541 Total cost of revenue 248,150 210,091 669,614 588,129 Gross profit 582,922 552,747 1,618,708 1,452,687 Operating expenses: Research and development (1) 200,086 182,100 589,396 549,923 Sales and marketing (1) 255,830 231,707 757,069 696,885 General and administrative (1) 67,319 64,729 213,551 192,944 Restructuring and impairment (2) — — 15,901 16,766 Total operating expenses 523,235 478,536 1,575,917 1,456,518 Income (loss) from operations 59,687 74,211 42,791 (3,831) Other income (expense), net 17,156 5,184 50,684 23,619 Income before provision for income taxes 76,843 79,395 93,475 19,788 Income tax provision 13,204 9,006 29,171 23,915 Net income (loss) $ 63,639 $ 70,389 $ 64,304 $ (4,127)Digi Yatra hits new milestones: 9 million users and 42 million seamless journeysThe Vikings have prepared for the game against the Atlanta Falcons without veteran quarterback Stephon Gilmore this week, and on Friday he was officially ruled out ahead of the matchup on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium. The news isn’t surprising given the fact that Gilmore hasn’t practiced at all this week at TCO Performance Center. He’s been nursing a hamstring injury since last week when he left a victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Though the Vikings believe that Gilmore has avoided anything serious, they are clearly being cautious with him so not to make anything worse. The loss of Gilmore in the short term will thrust veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau into a bigger role on defense.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revolve Renewable Power Corp. (TSXV: REVV) (OTCQB: REVVF) (“Revolve” or the “Company”), a North American owner, operator and developer of renewable energy projects, is pleased to announce that CEO Myke Clark will present live at the Small Cap Growth Virtual Investor Conference hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com , on December 5th, 2024. DATE: December 5th TIME: 11:30am ET LINK: https://bit.ly/3Yknp3z Mr. Clark is also available for 1x1 meetings. Mr. Clark will provide an update on Revolve’s renewable energy project pipeline and corporate catalysts, including: A review of Q1, F2025 results including a 300% increase in the Company’s long-term recurring revenue stream. The recent completion of a major interconnection milestone at the Company’s 49.6MW Primus Wind project in the U.S. The recent acquisition of a 30 MW solar development project in Alberta, Canada and the current permitting process. This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates. Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com . About Revolve Revolve was formed in 2012 to capitalize on the growing global demand for renewable power. Revolve develops utility-scale wind, solar, hydro and battery storage projects in the US, Canada and Mexico. The Company has a second division, Revolve Renewable Business Solutions which installs and operates sub 20MW “behind the meter” distributed generation (or “DG”) assets. Revolve’s portfolio includes the following: Operating Assets: 11MW (net) of operating assets under long term power purchase agreements across Canada and Mexico covering wind, solar, battery storage and hydro generation; Under Construction: a 3MW CHP project and a 450kWp rooftop solar project that are both under construction and expected to be operational later this year; and Development: a diverse portfolio of utility scale development projects across the US, Canada and Mexico with a combined capacity of over 3,000MWs as well as a 140MW+ distributed generation portfolio that is under development. Revolve has an accomplished management team with a demonstrated track record of taking projects from “greenfield” through to “ready to build” status and successfully concluding project sales to large operators of utility-scale renewable energy projects. To-date, Revolve has developed and sold over 1,550MW of projects. Going forward, Revolve is targeting 5,000MW of utility-scale projects under development in the US, Canada and Mexico, and in parallel is rapidly growing its portfolio of revenue-generating DG assets. Non-IFRS Measures This press release refers to certain non-IFRS measures including Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“EBITDA”). Non-IFRS measures and industry metrics do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. These measures are provided as additional information to complement IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. The term EBITDA consists of net loss or gain and excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The most directly comparable measure to EBITDA calculated in accordance with IFRS is net gain or net loss . The term EBITDA margin consists of the percentage of net loss or gain and excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. These measures, have limitations, and are provided in addition to, and not as an alternative for, and should be read in conjunction with, the information contained in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP (including the notes), included in our filings on SEDAR+ at sedarplus.ca and posted on our website. Financial Projections The Company’s financial projections are inherently speculative and may prove to be inaccurate. Any financial projections provided in this press release have been prepared in good faith based upon the estimates and assumptions considered reasonable by management. However, projections are no more than estimates of possible events and should not be relied upon to predict the results that the Company may attain. Future oriented financial information in this press release includes statements with respect to forecasted revenues and EBITDA that are expected to be generated by the Project. There is a risk that the assumptions related to these revenue and EBITDA forecasts may not be met and that the Project will not meet the conditions to start construction. The projections are based upon several estimates and assumptions and have not been examined, reviewed or compiled by independent accountants or other third-party experts, including assumptions with respect to the anticipated expenses and future revenues from the Project. These assumptions may vary from the actual results. Accordingly, there is no assurance that future events will correspond to management’s assumptions for the Project. Any variations of actual results from projections related to the Project may be material and adverse. Future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the reasonable assumptions of the Company and management as at the date hereof. Our actual financial position and results of operations and the Project may differ materially from management’s current expectations and, as a result, our revenue, profitability, EBITDA may differ materially from any revenue, and profitability profiles provided in this press release. Such information is presented for illustrative purposes only and may not be an indication of our actual financial position or results of operations. Revolve does not provide reconciliations for forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures as Revolve is unable to provide a meaningful or accurate calculation or estimation of reconciling items and the information is not available without unreasonable effort. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or number of various events that have not yet occurred, are out of Revolve’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, and that would impact the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure. For these same reasons, Revolve is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures. Forward Looking Information The forward-looking statements contained in this news release constitute ‘‘forward-looking information’’ within the meaning of applicable securities laws in each of the provinces and territories of Canada and the respective policies, regulations and rules under such laws and ‘‘forward-looking statements’’ within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, ‘‘forward-looking statements”). The words “will”, “expects”, “estimates”, “projections”, “forecast”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “targets” (and grammatical variations of such terms) and similar expressions are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward looking statements in this press release include statements with respect to the proposed acquisition of the Project. This forward-looking information and other forward-looking information are based on our opinions, estimates and assumptions considering our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we currently believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. Despite a careful process to prepare and review the forward-looking information, there can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Material factors underlying forward-looking information and management’s expectations include: the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals; the absence of material adverse regulatory decisions being received and the expectation of regulatory stability; the absence of any material equipment breakdown or failure; availability of financing on commercially reasonable terms and the stability of credit ratings of the Company and its subsidiaries; the absence of unexpected material liabilities or uninsured losses; the continued availability of commodity supplies and stability of commodity prices; the absence of interest rate increases or significant currency exchange rate fluctuations; the absence of significant operational, financial or supply chain disruptions or liability, including relating to import controls and tariffs; the continued ability to maintain systems and facilities to ensure their continued performance; the absence of a severe and prolonged downturn in general economic, credit, social or market conditions; the successful and timely development and construction of new projects; the absence of capital project or financing cost overruns; sufficient liquidity and capital resources; the continuation of long term weather patterns and trends; the absence of significant counterparty defaults; the continued competitiveness of electricity pricing when compared with alternative sources of energy; the realization of the anticipated benefits of the Company’s acquisitions and joint ventures; the absence of a change in applicable laws, political conditions, public policies and directions by governments, materially negatively affecting the Company; the ability to obtain and maintain licenses and permits; maintenance of adequate insurance coverage; the absence of material fluctuations in market energy prices; the absence of material disputes with taxation authorities or changes to applicable tax laws; continued maintenance of information technology infrastructure and the absence of a material breach of cybersecurity; the successful implementation of new information technology systems and infrastructure; favourable relations with external stakeholders; our ability to retain key personnel; our ability to maintain and expand distribution capabilities; and our ability to continue investing in infrastructure to support our growth. Such uncertainties and risks may include, among others, market conditions, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required regulatory approvals in a timely fashion, or at all; the availability of financing, fluctuating prices, the possibility of project cost overruns, mechanical failure, unavailability of parts and supplies, labour disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, adverse weather conditions, and unanticipated costs and expenses, variations in the cost of energy or materials or supplies or environmental impacts on operations, disruptions to the Company’s supply chains; changes to regulatory environment, including interpretation of production tax credits; armed hostilities and geopolitical conflicts; risks related to the development and potential development of the Company’s projects; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; the availability of tax incentives in connection with the development of renewable energy projects and the sale of electrical energy; as well as those factors discussed in the sections relating to risk factors discussed in the Company’s continuous disclosure filings on SEDAR+ at sedarplus.ca . There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned that given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of their dates. Other than as specifically required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company does not undertake to update this information at any time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. “Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.”

LIKE the characters aboard the Bapor Tabo of Jose Rizal’s second novel, El Filibusterismo, Filipinos found themselves in a similar boat that bobbed up and down with the volatile economic developments throughout the year. The pessimist would call the economy’s performance this year as sailing through treacherous waters, while the optimist would often see the economy as resilient—a word some would argue is overused, abused to describe anything Filipino. In an interview, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan admitted there were many challenges in 2024 and the government even fell short of its goals. But the economy managed to post respectable growth compared to its peers. “We certainly have faced, encountered many challenges for this year,” the country’s Chief economist told BusinessMirror. “We fell short of what we expected in the national economy. But again, no other economy in our region has met the expectations of their respective economies. And we still are able to maintain our relative position.” Growth Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed the economy started the year by growing only 5.8 percent, mildly higher than the 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 but short of matching the 6.4-percent growth in the first quarter of 2023. The second quarter saw the economy growing 6.4 percent, the highest since the 7.1-percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2022. Data said government consumption increased 11.9 percent and general government construction spending grew 21.7 percent in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the economy’s performance was slower-than-expected at 5.2 percent, blowing the wind out of the economy’s sails. Analysts attributed this to slower private consumption Balisacan said one major challenge this year were the successive typhoons that wreaked havoc on many provinces and caused billions of damage to agriculture and infrastructure. Typhoons Kristine and Leon had a combined damage of P6.75 billion in production losses; 208,458 damaged homes worth P3.38 billion; and P10.57 billion worth of infrastructure damage, per the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) last report on these typhoons. In June 2024, the NDRRMC reported that the El Niño cost the agricultural sector P9.89 billion, mostly in Livestock, Poultry and Fisheries worth P68.19 million. “The impact of the typhoons and both the El Nino in the first half of the year and the La Nina, has made a dent in the economy, particularly in agriculture and that contributed to the slowdown,” Balisacan told BusinessMirror. “But again,” he added, “the fact that the other sectors of the economy, particularly the consumption and the services sector, while slower than expected, managed to do well” is worth noting. Household consumption grew 5.1 percent in the third quarter, the highest in four quarters, and averaged 4.8 percent in the nine-month period this year. Government consumption slowed to 5 percent in the third quarter and averaged 6.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2024. PSA data showed the services sector grew 6.3 percent in the third quarter and averaged 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of the year. Prices Despite these, former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Dante B. Canlas said inflation was the biggest concern this year—not just for the Philippines but all over the world. “Central banks all over the world made concerted efforts to fight inflation. The risk from disinflation is inducing a recession and high unemployment,” Canlas told BusinessMirror. However, Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo Lanzona Jr. told this newspaper the government’s efforts fell short of expectations, particularly in bringing down the cost of food. Lanzona said importation by the national government was ineffective. By November, inflation averaged 2.5 percent, fueled by a 5.9-percent increase in the prices of vegetables, tubers, cooking bananas and pulses. He noted that this could be blamed for the tepid consumption of households this year. Faced with high prices, consumers tend to scrimp on various food and non-food items they purchase daily. “High or unpredictable inflation disrupts the balance between consumption, investment, and trade, reducing the efficiency of the economy and hindering growth,” Lanzona told BusinessMirror. “Ensuring stable and moderate inflation is key to fostering a conducive environment for sustainable economic development. And as the GDP growth decreases, the debt to GDP increases, placing the country on the brink of a financial crisis,” he added. University of the Philippines Professor Emeritus Epictetus Patalinghug also told BusinessMirror the reduction in rice tariffs to 15 percent from 35 percent did not translate to lower retail prices of the country’s food staple. “Big rice importers benefited from lower cost of imported rice. The effect of the anti-agricultural smuggling law passed in 2024 remains to be proven in the future, whether it is effective,” Patalinghug said. Nonetheless, Canlas said, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) efforts to keep monetary policy tight have allowed the economy to dodge a recession and high unemployment. The PSA data showed a 369,000 year–on-year increase in employment to 48.157 million workers in October 2024 from 47.788 million in October 2023. There was also a 5.9-percent contraction in the number of jobless Filipinos: at 1.966 million in October 2024, this was 124,000 less than the 2.089 million in October 2023. However, the data also showed an 8.7-percent increase in the number of underemployed Filipinos. This covered those who were visibly underemployed and invisibly underemployed, which posted a year on year growth of 4.1 percent and 15.2 percent, respectively. “The Philippines dodged those problems as BSP tightened money. The BSP’s stabilization worked and set a good stage for output growth, job creation, and rising real wages,” Canlas, however, said. “As inflation further declines, expect consumption of households and investments of enterprises to resume and grow, with salutary impacts on next year’s growth,” he added. Infrastructure, taxes Apart from high commodity prices, Patalinghug said general government construction suffered because of the delays faced by many projects. PSA data showed general government construction spending slowed to 3.7 percent in the third quarter, the slowest in five quarters. General government construction averaged 14.9 percent in the nine-month period. Patalinghug said Cavite-Laguna Expressway, Central Luzon Link Expressway, MRT 7, North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway, and the Grand Central Station in Trinoma were all delayed. He said “the only major economic development” in the Philippines this year was the privatization of NAIA, the completion of Panguil Bay Bridge, and, to a lesser degree, the extension of LRT-1 by five stations from Baclaran to Sucat. “The BBM infrastructure program is simply a continuation of the Duterte infrastructure program. In 2024, it has not addressed the major implementation problem: right-of-way acquisition problem; and during the pre-implementation stage, it does not have the capability to undertake project analysis and the period of implementation from pre-feasibility stage is dragged too long (e.g. the EDSA busway project),” Patalinghug explained. The economist also lamented the passage of the Create-More Law which would reduce the government’s revenues leading to more debt. The new law brought down corporate income tax to 20 percent from the current 25 percent. Patalinghug also noted that lower taxes was not included in the nine disincentives to investment in the Philippines as indicated in the US State Department Investment Climate Report. He said the list of disincentives were poor infrastructure, high power costs, slow broadband connection, regulatory inconsistencies, cumbersome bureaucracy, corruption, complex and slow justice system, traffic in major cities, and congestion in ports. “None of our attractive tax incentives allowed us to attract Apple, Samsung, or Intel to choose the Philippines over Vietnam because we need tax revenues to build infrastructure, to solve road traffic, to reduce port congestion, and so on,” he told BusinessMirror. Surviving The year saw many distractions, including from the political side of the spectrum. This, Patalinghug said, side-tracked the government in terms of addressing the country’s economic development. These included geopolitical developments, particularly in the West Philippine Sea, and domestic issues such as investigations on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations and what he called a “demolition job against the Vice President.” Ultimately, he said, these resulted in wasted government and legislative resources, preventing the economy to be more productive and dynamic. He noted that while the government was distracted by these developments and other challenges, the country remained export- dependent through Overseas Filipino remittances and the earnings of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. “In fairness to the BBM administration, it has passed a lot of laws in 2024 (e.g. real estate valuation and assessment law; value added tax in digital services, etc.). I hope they have a positive impact on the economy in the future,” Patalinghug said. “The economy in 2024 can best be described as “muddling through.” De La Salle University economist Maria Ella Oplas chooses to be positive, saying the economy was a survivor in 2024. Despite the odds, the country managed to post respectable economic growth, attract foreign direct investment and manage inflation. Oplas said while it was good to use the word “resilient” to describe the economy this year, this is still inaccurate given the need to be sustainable. She said the Philippines was not yet there. Elections as gamechanger Nonetheless, what is good was that the economy managed to weather its development challenges. The upcoming elections could be a gamechanger for next year as elections often lead to faster economic growth. “I would like to use the word, survivor to describe 2024. I would love to use resilient but that will require sustainability and I don’t think we are there yet,” Oplas said. “(We are) survivors because despite the El Nino, the typhoons and scandals we managed to still grow (economically) and even pushed for (the) Build Build More.” For his part, Lanzona said 2024 also showed that despite having good economic managers, they cannot prevent challenges from emerging and reaching Filipinos wherever they may be in the archipelago we call home. Given the political and economic challenges the country faced this year, he said his word was unraveling given how structural issues can have a significant impact not only on the general economic development of the country but also the life of every Filipino. “Even with good economic managers, there is no way of creating a firewall between a weak political structure and the economy. As the political structures continue to place unfit and corrupt individuals into positions of power, the economic activities continue to grow weaker,” Lanzona. Whether the economy muddled through—achieving a certain degree of success without much planning—or was resilient or was a survivor, the year 2024 certainly brought focus to the ebb and flow of life while aboard a boat sailing through a vast sea of change and uncertainty.