Forget AT&T: Here Are 3 Better Dividend Stocks - Motley Fool

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I finally moved on from AT&T (NYSE:T) last month. I had owned the popular wireless carrier since 2018, but AT&T moving on from WarnerMedia while warning that it would be dramatically reducing its dividend was a one-two punch I couldn't ignore.

If AT&T is no longer a media empire or a Dividend Aristocrat is it really worth still owning? It may become attractive over time, but right now Verizon Communications, (NYSE:VZ), Target (NYSE:TGT), and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (NYSE:SKT) are better dividend stocks. Let's kick those tires.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Verizon: 4.5% yield

Verizon's 4.5% trailing yield may pale in comparison to the 7.2% that AT&T has paid out over the past year, but that's about to change. AT&T will slash its payout by nearly half after its WarnerMedia deal is complete. Meanwhile we have Verizon likely increasing its quarterly dividend in two months the way it has for the past 14 years. 

Verizon isn't perfect. It sees top-line growth increasing just 2% in 2021. It also has some big investments to make as it cashes in on the 5G revolution. However, there is an opportunity to gain market share on AT&T if its rival loses focus during the transition process. Verizon is also trading for just 11 times this year's earnings, and it bears pointing out that it has beaten Wall Street's profit targets in all four of the past reports.  

2. Target: 1.5% yield

Target is next on the list. The "cheap chic" retailer packs the lowest yield on this list, but it's the only active Dividend Aristocrat. Target has increased its quarterly distributions for 49 consecutive years. 

A big reason for the yield being so low is that the stock has appreciated significantly because it's doing so well. Target has more than doubled over the past year. The mass market retailer thrived in the pandemic. Target didn't have to close down during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, providing essentials to get folks through the lockdown. 

Comps have topped 20% for four consecutive quarters, and the 22.9% surge it posted in its latest fiscal quarter is stacked on top of a 10.8% increase a year earlier. Digital sales are booming, but more to Target's prowess here is its ability to drum up in-store traffic and curbside pickup volume. 

3. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers: 3.8% yield

We're shopping at brick-and-mortar stores again, but we still want to get more bang for our buck. The same thesis that is driving retail traffic to Target is also at play at Tanger, an operator of three dozen open-air shopping centers loaded with discount outlets for top brands. 

Traffic was at 97% of 2019 levels in its latest quarter -- two-year comparisons are so much more noteworthy these days -- and it hit 100% early in the current quarter. Occupancy rate is still not where it used to be, but that will change as it refreshes its tenant mix coming out of the pandemic. This is a yield that could be on the rise later this year, as Tanger is paying just half as much as it was before the COVID-19 crisis. As a real estate investment trust (REIT) Tanger Factory Outlet Centers will pass on its increasing profits to shareholders.

Verizon, Target, and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers should all be increasing their payout in the coming months. AT&T is going the other way.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

The Link Lonk


June 28, 2021 at 08:45PM
https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/06/28/forget-att-here-are-3-better-dividend-stocks/

Forget AT&T: Here Are 3 Better Dividend Stocks - Motley Fool

https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Reusse: Twins forget fans with flimsy excuse for rainout - Minneapolis Star Tribune

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The Twins spent the first three months of the season alienating fans in large numbers. They did this with uninspired play featuring bad pitching, failed hitting and erratic fielding. They also did this through a TV partner, Bally Sports North, that has made games unavailable to a large majority of streamers, which means a large majority of potential viewers 40 and under.

Then there's the fact the big-league product has plenty of problems of its own, with games that drag on interminably, filled with strikeouts and long minutes without seeing a ball hit into fair territory.

The Twins were not satisfied with this hat trick of disappointment, disappearance and languor.

They upped the ante on Saturday, spitting in the eye of customers who had commuted to downtown, paid for their parking ($12, in most cases) and were ready to watch a 1:10 p.m. contest with Cleveland.

If that spitting part was more than a symbolic description, it would have been more moisture than the fans encountered before it was announced a half-hour after game time that this contest was being postponed until September.

At that moment, the tarp was not covering the infield. Instead, there was an individual seen watering the dirt.

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The official excuse for the postponement was a forecast for heavy rain through the afternoon. I had a retired U.S. Marine meteorologist who was with me take a look at the radar on his computer around 2 p.m., and he said: "This looks like it is going to stay south.''

The Twins had more thorough information at their disposal. One must think that their weather consultants were not capable of being so far off to say, "For the safety of the men, women and children gathered here, we better drop the idea of playing a game this afternoon,'' and then have it turn out that the official Twin Cities rainfall total over the 24 hours ending at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at MSP airport was 0.12 inches.

That's as much spittle as it takes for one of those COVID tests.

Manager Rocco Baldelli didn't want to play because the Twins had gone with a "bullpen'' game in Friday's loss. In other words, he didn't want to play because neither Danny Coulombe nor Griffin Jax would be available, which might be the worst excuse for blowing off a big-league game since Mike Veeck's Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park.

You couldn't really blame Doc Roc, the manager who was living by "abundance of caution'' with his athletes even before that replaced "E Pluribus Unum'' as our national motto during the pandemic.

I mean, his team hadn't had a day off since way back on Wednesday, so obviously the pitching staff had to be exhausted.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona was easy to convince as a co-conspirator on this ploy, with most of his previously excellent starting rotation on the injured list.

Only one problem here: The customers.

It's a disgrace Twins management went along with Baldelli's desire not to play. You can't rain out a game on manager's whim. Heavy rain has to be definite, not 50-50. Or, in this case, 20-80.

Tim Charbonneau from Savage responded on this subject in my Twitter feed with a photo of his sons, Landon, 3, and Harrison, 5, standing in the sun at the ballpark, trying to figure out why Dad's exciting promise of this trip to Target Field was not going to include a ballgame.

Dad said there were tears at one point from his sons.

Twins attendance has been a flop since pandemic restrictions were softened. Still, there might have been 18,000 on Saturday. Traditionally, summer weekends are when families from around the area plan their one or two trips a season to Target Field.

Come Saturday:

They arrive, pay their $12 to park, let the kids make a first run to a concession stand, and then they look at the field and wonder where are the players, getting loose, ready for a ballgame.

Then comes the delay, followed by the announcement there would be no game, and even the kids squint into the sun and ask, "Why not?''

The pox of this Twins season, of poor play and poor access, was joined on Saturday afternoon with a total disregard for fans willing to make the effort and pay the freight to be at the ballpark.

All because Colombe and Jax were unavailable, and to not have J.A. Happ start against the White Sox in Chicago on Monday night.

The price paid for that by the Twins was shameful disregard for the Saturday customers that saw this as a special occasion for the summer.

Boo, hiss!

The Link Lonk


June 28, 2021 at 08:12PM
https://www.startribune.com/twins-cleveland-rainout-fans-patrick-reusse/600072777/

Reusse: Twins forget fans with flimsy excuse for rainout - Minneapolis Star Tribune

https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Forget Silly String: To battle enemy drone swarms, USAF has THOR - DroneDJ

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The US Air Force is clearly serious about combatting the growing threat of small drones deployed for terrorism or hostile military purposes. It has not only developed a weapon capable of taking out scores of drones simultaneously, but it has even named that mighty asset after a fearsome, hammer-wielding Norse god-dash-superhero.

THOR takes out hundreds of enemy drones at once

Earlier this month, the Air Force unveiled its Tactical High Power Operational Responder – aka THOR ­– which is designed to instantly neutralize multiple attacking drones, including enemy swarms. Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the electromagnetic weapon has successfully zapped hundreds of hostile uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) in test battles. Once approaching craft is identified, THOR generates a powerful microwave field that wrecks the internal electronics systems of enemy drones before that can get too near. In that way, belligerent swarms become little mounds of grounded junk in the blink of an eye.

THOR is a significant departure from – and valuable addition to – existing techniques of combatting small, weaponized drones. Most systems rely on lasers or ballistics that, while efficient against isolated craft, can be overrun by larger groups of hostile UAV. The same limitation applies to the mobile weapon the Air Force introduced earlier this month that hog-ties targets with wads of Silly String material. THOR, by contrast, is a bit like using a mallet against a dangerous fly – only, in its case, one so large it can whack an entire cloud of them in a single blow.

“The system uses high power microwaves to cause a counter electronic effect,” an AFRL fact sheet says. “A target is identified, the silent weapon discharges in a nanosecond and the impact is instantaneous.”

THOR impresses with more than mere might, however. It also boasts agility and remarkable ease of use. 

Pricey but, per drone-dead, cheap

The entire system fits inside a single 20-foot metal cargo container, meaning it can be transported in a C-130 military helicopter. From the minute it arrives in the zone to be defended, THOR can be set up by two people inside three hours. It functions using an interface designed to limit required training to a minimum, and ­– as the AFRL document notes  – “operates from a simple wall plug” to obtain the energy needed to fry enemy drones.

While adaptable and easy to use, however, THOR isn’t cheap. The system cost $15 million to develop, and each unit runs $10 million. That price tag will probably limit the weapon’s initial deployment to defending vulnerable military bases from drone strikes. 

Or maybe not. The AFRL says THOR’s dead-drone-per-shot ratio can make it as affordable as laser or ballistic options. Meanwhile, given the increasing attacks in Iraq and elsewhere using consumer UAV packed with explosives, THOR’s wide-scale efficiency may eventually become a defense luxury US installations can’t afford to skimp on.

“Drones are becoming more pervasive every day,” the THOR fact sheet notes. “Rather than being used as innocuous hobby systems, drones can be employed as weapons intended to cause great harm at long standoff ranges. As they become more prolific and technically mature it is imperative that there be a safe way to protect airbases against these threats.”

Meaning that when those drones come attacking in droves, it may be wiser to strike them down with the godly force of lightning and thunder than rely on single blast of Silly String.

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The Link Lonk


June 28, 2021 at 02:51PM
https://dronedj.com/2021/06/28/forget-silly-string-to-battle-enemy-drone-swarms-usaf-has-thor/

Forget Silly String: To battle enemy drone swarms, USAF has THOR - DroneDJ

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Carole Baskin wants you to forget ‘Tiger King’ and watch ‘The Conservation Game’ - WTOP

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Hear the full conversation with Carole Baskin on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”

WTOP's Jason Fraley chats with Carole Baskin (Part 1)

Hey, all you cool cats and kittens! Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida, wants you to forget “Tiger King” and instead watch the new animal rights documentary, “The Conservation Game,” which just made its private D.C. premiere at the Eaton Hotel.

Just as “Blackfish” (2013) exposed animal cruelty at Sea World, director Michael Webber similarly follows retired Ohio police officer turned animal welfare activist Tim Harrison.

“I had met Tim Harrison many years ago because of the work he was doing in law enforcement to protect big cats,” Baskin told WTOP.

“He had won our Guardian Angel Award at our annual fundraiser many years ago. Through him and the work that he did in ‘The Elephant in the Living Room,’ I met Mike Webber. … I’ve known these guys forever.”

The film starts with Harrison describing how he grew up idolizing figures like Jack Hanna and Steve Irwin on late-night talk shows before learning a darker truth behind the scenes.

“[Viewers] are going to be outraged,” Baskin said. “Marlin Perkins and Jack Hanna were portrayed as conservation experts taking cute little cubs onto late-night shows. … Experts said this animal came from a particular zoo or was going to a wonderful sanctuary, but they didn’t know where they came from or where they went. Hundreds of cats are missing.”

Harrison soon recognizes their background animal handlers at shady wildlife auctions.

“He had gone to one of these awful auctions [and] saw some of the late-night faux experts buying and selling animals,” Baskin said.

“What you have to really pay attention to is not Jack Hanna, Boone Smith, Jarod Miller or Irwin on stage, look at who is bringing that cat up on stage in the background. It’s this same network of nefarious characters.”

Institutions like the Columbus Zoo were rocked by the documentary.

“They’re wearing Columbus Zoo polo shirts,” Baskin said. “Those guys didn’t work at the Columbus Zoo! Those were these backyard breeders and dealers that were going to these auctions and getting rid of the animals when they weren’t cute and cuddly anymore. … After this, the Columbus Zoo went through a big shake-up and is under new leadership.”

The zoo now supports the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which has 191 sponsors in Congress and passed last session in the House with a two-thirds bipartisan vote. It currently has 23 sponsors in the Senate, including Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who came on board last week.

“The Big Cat Public Safety Act is a bill that does two things,” Baskin said.

“It makes petting the cats illegal, because that’s what’s driving all of the breeding and discarding of the cubs. … It also phases out private ownership. People who have them can keep them, but they have to register that they have them and then they can’t buy or breed more.”

Such public awareness no doubt came after Netflix’s “Tiger King,” which left her cold.

“It was shocking because we had worked with the producers of ‘Tiger King’ for five years,” Baskin said.

“We were told it was going to be called ‘Stolen Wildlife,’ about exposing this horrible industry like ‘Blackfish.’ … ‘Tiger King’ was just a freak show. My husband and I binge watched it like everyone, because we couldn’t believe that’s what they produced.”

She, of course, repudiates the series’ insinuation that she killed her first husband, Don Lewis, who disappeared in 1997. She married her second husband Howard Baskin in 2004.

“I still get hate mail,” Baskin said. “It shocked me that they would take that kind of a tact because they didn’t have to. In order to make this an entertaining look at this industry, they had all the characters, they had all the crazy going on. I don’t think they needed to flip it on its head and make the only person who was trying to end this abuse be the villain.”

She said her first husband was bipolar and his death remains a mystery.

“There’s nothing [Joe Exotic] can say to justify what they’re doing to exotic animals, so their only way to combat me is to divert attention by saying, ‘Did you know she killed her husband and fed him to tigers?'” Baskin said.

“The media would say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is interesting,’ then they would do research, find out the truth and not publish those things.”

Either way, she immediately became a pop culture fixture.

“These two guys from the UK reached out to me saying they were from the Jimmy Fallon show,” Baskin said.

“They absolutely punked me. They had little clips of Jimmy Fallon saying questions and answers, then they would piece it in, so I thought I was talking to him. I got to talk about the issues, so I thought it was funny. It got 7 million views.”

She soon was competing on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

“They gave me such a gift,” Baskin said.

“It gave me the opportunity to talk about the issues on a national stage. … Even though I couldn’t dance a lick and they had to scratch me from the show by the third episode, they still continued to send media to me to talk about the important issues of saving cats in the wild and ending private possession.”

Portrayed by Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon?

“Wondery had done a podcast in April 2019 called ‘Joe Exotic,'” Baskin said. “NBC said they were going to be doing this show based on the Wondery podcast. … I heard it was going to be Kate McKinnon, who is an amazing talent. She’ll give me a sense of humor.”

Where are the rest of the “Tiger King” characters today?

“Joe Exotic is serving 22 years in prison for two attempts on my life, hiring two different hit men to kill me,” Baskin said.

“Doc Antle is being sued on several wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty charges. … Tim Stark was sued by the USDA and the Department of Justice. … It was easy to make the case against Joe Exotic; he was just the dumbest one.”

Would she ever support a pardon for Joe Exotic?

“I would be all in favor of him getting a pardon … if he did two things,” Baskin said.

“He needs to work with authorities to bring down the rest of these other abusers. … He could also speak out to Congress and say, ‘We need this bill to pass.’ … He’s chosen not to, which shows he hasn’t had a change of heart. Until he does, he’s right where he belongs.”

WTOP's Jason Fraley chats with Carole Baskin (Part 2)

Hear the full conversation with Carole Baskin on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”

The Link Lonk


June 28, 2021 at 11:42AM
https://wtop.com/entertainment/2021/06/carole-baskin-wants-you-to-forget-tiger-king-and-watch-the-conservation-game/

Carole Baskin wants you to forget ‘Tiger King’ and watch ‘The Conservation Game’ - WTOP

https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

In Lowell’s Acre neighborhood, a reminder: ‘Never forget where you came from’ - Lowell Sun

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LOWELL — Growing up in the Acre’s North Common Village public housing, Phil Shea would set up shop on the nearby Market Street bridge and shine shoes for 10 cents a pair. Now, that bridge is named after him.

“And I still have the shine box,” Shea, 79, said.

Shea, his entire family from across the country — and even one person who came from Ireland — and local dignitaries past and present gathered at Market and Lewis streets Sunday afternoon for the dedication of the new Philip L. Shea Bridge, which fittingly has a plaque emblazoned with the words, “Never forget where you came from.”

Standing feet away from where he lived on Lewis Street as a child, Shea certainly hasn’t.

Now the chairman of the Lowell Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, Shea paused, speechless and overcome with emotion, upon seeing the unveiled plaque for the first time Sunday. He called the experience “very humbling,” and that it “means the world to me and my family.”

“It was amazing what an upbringing we had here in the Acre,” Shea said, sharing memories of his youth and the lifelong friendships he made in the city’s most diverse neighborhood.

LHA CEO/Executive Director Gary Wallace said he’s known Shea for 40 years, and nearly every conversation, no matter the topic, always refers back to Shea’s life experiences in the Acre.

“Phil never forgot the Acre, and he continues to give back,” Wallace said.

“It’s truly appropriate that a bridge across the street from where Phil grew up is being named in his honor,” said Kevin Murphy, the former city manager and state representative, and a longtime friend of Shea, who served as emcee for the event.

In a citation proclaiming June 27 Phil Shea Day in Lowell, Mayor John Leahy outlined the long political career that brought Shea from the City Council to the state Legislature in the 1970s and 1980s, serving as a representative and then a senator. Since the city adopted its current model of government in 1944, Shea is the only Lowell politician to be elected to all three of those positions, Leahy said.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin worked with Shea for many years, first when both were state representatives in the 1970s and then as Shea rounded out his career in public service as chief financial officer under Galvin.

Galvin said it was apt to name a bridge after Shea because he is a builder of bridges. Shea is known for forging many partnerships that benefited the city, and for mentoring young public servants.

“In many ways, Phil represents the spirit of the city of Lowell,” Galvin said. “He’s a guy that never went down for the count, always comes up, all the time, continuing to work for the city of Lowell.”

City Councilors Daniel Rourke and William Samaras, who entered the motion passed unanimously by the council in March to name the bridge in Shea’s honor, said Shea’s accomplishments and impact in the city go far beyond his political and professional service.

Rourke said that when his uncle died tragically young in 2000, Shea was the first person that he saw come and comfort his grandparents through the difficult time. Samaras said Shea, a fellow 1959 graduate of Lowell High School, has been a good person as long as he’s known him, and he has worked hard to raise money to provide scholarships for LHA youth, “so that he can make sure that they get their ticket out of poverty, because he knows education is the route to go.”

Shea has served on many city boards and commissions over the years, but there was one entity that always stood out from the rest. Shortly after she became city manager, Eileen Donoghue said the “irreplaceable” Shea came to her and made it known that he would give up all of the others if he could have the opportunity to serve on the Lowell Housing Authority board, to give back to the youth living in LHA properties today.

Wallace said that under Shea’s tenure, the LHA has invested millions of dollars in its properties and in Acre residents, and formed a scholarship foundation in his name that has granted more than $250,000 to LHA youth.

Recalling the message he gave to Lowell High School students five years ago when he was inducted into the school’s Distinguished Alumni, Shea said if he can succeed, so can they. When he was a young man, he said he doubted his potential, but he had an opportunity to study accounting at then-Bentley College. Now, he does his part to help the city youth who grew up like he did to realize their potential, too.

Wallace also presented a bouquet of flowers to Shea’s longtime girlfriend, Anne Farley, who cared for Shea following the major heart attack he suffered last fall. Eight months after his near-death experience in October, Shea said he’s grateful for his improving health and to see his four children, their spouses and 10 grandchildren thriving.

After the ceremony, Shea became the first person to ride over the newly dedicated bridge, as a passenger in an LHA truck.

The ceremony was immediately followed by a reception at the Olympia Restaurant, along with the presentation of the 2021 Philip L. Shea Lowell Youth Activities Program Scholarship awards. This year’s recipients are Victoria Berrio, Steven Doung, Benjamin Ortiz and Kiss Quick, all students at UMass Lowell, and Danisha Ramirez, a student at Middlesex Community College.

The Link Lonk


June 28, 2021 at 08:11AM
https://www.lowellsun.com/2021/06/27/in-lowells-acre-neighborhood-a-reminder-never-forget-where-you-came-from/

In Lowell’s Acre neighborhood, a reminder: ‘Never forget where you came from’ - Lowell Sun

https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Tainted? Asterisk? Forget it. CWS drama made State's route to a national title more difficult. - Mississippi Today

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State fans stayed and cheered long after the Bulldogs’ victory over Teas Saturday night. State players and coaches soaked it in . (MSU athletics)

OMAHA — So there’s a narrative making the rounds – particularly on social media – that no matter who wins this College World Series, it’s a tainted championship.

You know why. It is because North Carolina State, a CWS semifinalist, got eliminated by COVID-19, and not on the field. You know the story. No reason to rehash it all. It’s a terrible, horrible, awful, regretful thing that happened to the Wolfpack, who were a Cinderella story if there ever was on in college baseball. 

Chris Lemonis may have said it best. “Man, it sucks what happened,” he said in a Sunday press conference

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But don’t try telling Lemonis or his Bulldogs that if they somehow defeat Vanderbilt – the defending national champion, after all – in a best of three championship series that Mississippi State’s first-ever national championship would be stained, that there would be an asterisk beside it. Don’t tell me either. That’s just not right. 

If anything, North Carolina State’s elimination from the CWS made State’s road more difficult – much more difficult, actually. Now, the Bulldogs will face well-rested Jack Leiter – “the best arm the country,” says State star Tanner Allen – in the first game of the championship series.

While State needed to use its ace, Will Bednar, to beat Texas Saturday night, Leiter and Vandy rested. To win the championship, State will have to go through both Leiter and Kumar Rocker, who probably will be the top two pitchers taken in the Major League draft next month. Tainted? An asterisk? Come on… 

“I don’t see that,” Lemonis said Sunday. “I mean, I see us having to play. They way that we came through it and the games that we’ve had to play and now you’re having to play Vandertbilt. There will be no asterisk for us.

“And I hate it for N.C. State,” Lemonis continued. “I have three coaches who worked for (NC State coach Elliot Avent) on my staff I have a long relationship with Elliot. My nieces and nephews all went to N.C. State. I have a lot of respect there. Man, it sucks what happened.

“But for our guys, that stuff’s out of our control. All we can do is show up and play., and whoever is in the other dugout we compete against. … Actually, it probably makes our job a little harder – not easier…”

Oddsmakers certainly agree. Vegas has made Vanderbilt a -200 betting favorite, meaning if you want to bet on Vandy you have to risk $200 to win $100. In baseball, that’s a heavy, heavy favorite.

But nothing ever seems easy for this State baseball team, which has won three one-run ballgames here in Omaha. These Bulldogs really do seem to play their best when they have their backs against the wall.

In Vanderbilt, they play a team they know well and respect. They played the Commodores a three-game series at Nashville in April. Vandy won two of the three. (But State beat Leiter and roughed him up in a Game 2 victory.) In recent seasons, the rivalry has been fiercely competitive and so much fun to watch. Indeed, State’s memorable victory in the Super Regional at Nashville in 2018 was just about as good as college baseball gets.

“They have been here, they know how to win,” Lemonis said of Vandy. “They are a very formidable opponent, and they just know how to play the game and they are well-coached. It will be a tough matchup. It will be who gets the big hit or who makes the big play because they are very good.”

Tanner Allen (left) and Rowdy Jordan are playing in their third College World Series but will play for the first time in the championship series beginning Monday night. (MSU athletics)

Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin had similar praise for State Sunday, and what you can tell listening to both men is that it’s not just coachspeak. Vandy knows State. State knows Vandy. It must seem to Corbin like he’s been facing Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen forever. For sure, it must seem to Jordan and Allen that they’ve been facing Kumar Rocker forever.

Now, they’ll face off at least two more times, maybe three, with the national championship on the line. Yes, it’s a shame what happened to North Carolina State. Nevertheless, this ought to be good stuff.

Mississippi State has been playing baseball for 136 years. The Bulldogs have won 18 SEC championships, played in 39 NCAA Tournaments, won multiple NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals and have played now in 12 of these College World Series. There’s one trophy missing from the case.

Here, in Omaha, State has endured much heartbreak.

Lemonis was asked Sunday if this team feels the burden of all that past history.

“We can’t — you know, you can’t go back. We know our whole university and our whole state is behind us, and we just want to play good and represent our fan base,” Lemonis said. But the reality is, these poor kids, I mean, Tanner Allen I don’t think was born when some of these we lost or whatever. They are here. They are making their own mark on history. That’s our goal.”

And if, they somehow do it, there’ll be no asterisk.

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by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today
June 27, 2021

<h1>Tainted? Asterisk? Forget it. CWS drama made State’s route to a national title more difficult.</h1> <p class="byline">by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today <br />June 27, 2021</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Celenration-at-Omaha-1200x458.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1007560" /><figcaption>State fans stayed and cheered long after the Bulldogs' victory over Teas Saturday night. State players and coaches soaked it in . (MSU athletics)</figcaption></figure> <p>OMAHA — So there’s a narrative making the rounds – particularly on social media – that no matter who wins this College World Series, it’s a tainted championship.</p> <p>You know why. It is because North Carolina State, a CWS semifinalist, got eliminated by COVID-19, and not on the field. <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2021/06/26/mississippi-state-texas-baseball-cws/">You know the story.</a> No reason to rehash it all. It’s a terrible, horrible, awful, regretful thing that happened to the Wolfpack, who were a Cinderella story if there ever was on in college baseball. </p> <p>Chris Lemonis may have said it best. “Man, it sucks what happened,” he said in a Sunday press conference</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="alignright size-large"><img src="https://mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Rick-Cleveland-.png" alt="" class="wp-image-548669" /><figcaption>Rick Cleveland</figcaption></figure> </div> <p>But don’t try telling Lemonis or his Bulldogs that if they somehow defeat Vanderbilt – the defending national champion, after all – in a best of three championship series that Mississippi State’s first-ever national championship would be stained, that there would be an asterisk beside it. Don’t tell me either. That’s just not right.&nbsp;</p> <p>If anything, North Carolina State’s elimination from the CWS made State’s road more difficult – much more difficult, actually. Now, the Bulldogs will face well-rested Jack Leiter – “the best arm the country,” says State star Tanner Allen – in the first game of the championship series. </p> <p>While State needed to use its ace, Will Bednar, to beat Texas Saturday night, Leiter and Vandy rested. To win the championship, State will have to go through both Leiter and Kumar Rocker, who probably will be the top two pitchers taken in the Major League draft next month. Tainted? An asterisk? Come on… </p> <p>“I don’t see that,” Lemonis said Sunday. "I mean, I see us having to play. They way that we came through it and the games that we’ve had to play and now you’re having to play Vandertbilt. There will be no asterisk for us.</p> <p>“And I hate it for N.C. State,” Lemonis continued. “I have three coaches who worked for (NC State coach Elliot Avent) on my staff I have a long relationship with Elliot. My nieces and nephews all went to N.C. State. I have a lot of respect there. Man, it sucks what happened.</p> <p>“But for our guys, that stuff’s out of our control. All we can do is show up and play., and whoever is in the other dugout we compete against. … Actually, it probably makes our job a little harder – not easier…”</p> <p>Oddsmakers certainly agree. Vegas has made Vanderbilt a -200 betting favorite, meaning if you want to bet on Vandy you have to risk $200 to win $100. In baseball, that’s a heavy, heavy favorite.</p> <p>But nothing ever seems easy for this State baseball team, which has won three one-run ballgames here in Omaha. These Bulldogs really do seem to play their best when they have their backs against the wall.</p> <p>In Vanderbilt, they play a team they know well and respect. They played the Commodores a three-game series at Nashville in April. Vandy won two of the three. (But State beat Leiter and roughed him up in a Game 2 victory.) In recent seasons, the rivalry has been fiercely competitive and so much fun to watch. Indeed, <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2018/06/11/in-133-years-of-mississippi-state-baseball-weve-never-seen-anything-quite-like-this/">State’s memorable victory in the Super Regional at Nashville in 2018 was just about as good as college baseball gets</a>.</p> <p>“They have been here, they know how to win,” Lemonis said of Vandy. “They are a very formidable opponent, and they just know how to play the game and they are well-coached. It will be a tough matchup. It will be who gets the big hit or who makes the big play because they are very good.”</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Tanner-and-Rowdey-1200x789.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1007561" /><figcaption>Tanner Allen (left) and Rowdy Jordan are playing in their third College World Series but will play for the first time in the championship series beginning Monday night. (MSU athletics)</figcaption></figure> <p>Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin had similar praise for State Sunday, and what you can tell listening to both men is that it’s not just coachspeak. Vandy knows State. State knows Vandy. It must seem to Corbin like he’s been facing Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen forever. For sure, it must seem to Jordan and Allen that they’ve been facing Kumar Rocker forever.</p> <p>Now, they’ll face off at least two more times, maybe three, with the national championship on the line. Yes, it’s a shame what happened to North Carolina State. Nevertheless, this ought to be good stuff.</p> <p>Mississippi State has been playing baseball for 136 years. The Bulldogs have won 18 SEC championships, played in 39 NCAA Tournaments, won multiple NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals and have played now in 12 of these College World Series. There's one trophy missing from the case.</p> <p>Here, in Omaha, State has endured much heartbreak.</p> <p>Lemonis was asked Sunday if this team feels the burden of all that past history.</p> <p>"We can't -- you know, you can't go back. We know our whole university and our whole state is behind us, and we just want to play good and represent our fan base," Lemonis said. But the reality is, these poor kids, I mean, Tanner Allen I don't think was born when some of these we lost or whatever. They are here. They are making their own mark on history. That's our goal."</p> <p>And if, they somehow do it, there'll be no asterisk.</p>

This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2021/06/27/mississippi-state-vandy-cws-drama/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i1.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1007559&ga=UA-75003810-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

1

Tagged: featured, Sports

Rick Cleveland

Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger. He was sports editor of Hattiesburg American, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers.
Rick has been recognized 12 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year, and is recipient of multiple awards and honors for his reporting and writing.

More by Rick Cleveland

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The Link Lonk


June 28, 2021 at 05:04AM
https://mississippitoday.org/?p=1007559

Tainted? Asterisk? Forget it. CWS drama made State's route to a national title more difficult. - Mississippi Today

https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Forget Meme Stocks, Buy These 3 High-Growth Tech Stocks Instead - The Motley Fool

forget.indah.link

Meme stocks -- investments that have gone viral among retail investors on social media, embodied by GameStop -- are all the rage right now, and are showing no signs of going away anytime soon. That's totally fine, they've made some investors lots of money. But bear in mind many of the businesses that have been swept by meme stock euphoria aren't a sure bet for the long term. On the contrary, many of them are on shaky footing and are more of a short-term trade than they are an investment for the long haul.

To that end, three companies that do look like long-term buys that could generate massive returns over time are Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC), Coupa Software (NASDAQ:COUP), and Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX). Here's why these Fool.com contributors think so.

Healthcare delivery is still ripe for disruption

Nicholas Rossolillo (Teladoc Health): Let's face it, taking time out of our busy schedules to go to the doctor's office is no fun -- and so 2019. In the wake of the pandemic, consulting with a healthcare professional via phone or video conference has become commonplace. Teladoc Health built itself into the leader on this front ahead of the quick and massive migration to telemedicine last year, and the stock exploded some 140% higher in 2020 as a result.  

2021 has been a different story though. After getting off to a hot start, Teladoc is currently down 18% so far this year. There's mounting worry that this is now a commoditized offering, and it's never a warm-and-fuzzy feeling when Amazon announces its launching its own competing service. But Amazon's entrance into the healthcare technology space is more of a validation that the multi-trillion dollar-a-year healthcare industry (in the U.S. alone) is ripe for disruption, not a threat to Teladoc. There's plenty of room for multiple companies to thrive here.

Plus, Teladoc can't really be pegged as just a facilitator of video conferencing. It has a wide array of in-house healthcare professionals and specialists, and jump started a new segment aimed at remote health monitoring, coaching, and health data with the purchase of Livongo Health last autumn. Teladoc is the leader in the virtual care space for a reason, and this is no stagnant company resting on its laurels. There's no shortage of ways global healthcare delivery could be improved upon, and I expect Teladoc will continue to develop new capabilities and further disrupt the massive global health and wellness feeding trough. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is still a small company with an enterprise value of just $26 billion. Management expects revenue to grow as much as 85% for full-year 2021 to $2.02 billion. For what it's worth, that means shares trade for just 13 times full-year expected sales. If Teladoc's growth story (it's been a double-digit percentage grower since its IPO in 2015) remains intact, this is a steal and potentially game-changing investment today. I, for one, remain a buyer.

Image source: Getty Images.

The perfect solution for trying times

Anders Bylund (Coupa Software): Business software specialist Coupa Software only does one thing, but it does it very well. The company provides expense management tools for companies of every size. Coupa's software manages everything from procurement and invoicing to contracts and sourcing pipelines. Based on the spending patterns flowing through the system, Coupa then applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to help you do everything better.

All of this is done as transparently as possible. One of Coupa's many rallying cries is that "the best user interface is no user interface." Your company's workers and executives shouldn't have to think about how to analyze and improve the business spending process. In Coupa's world, it all happens automatically when you run your business.

This combination of powerful expense controls and easy-to-use tools makes Coupa's software particularly useful in times of disruption and high economic pressure. The coronavirus pandemic is a great example of this perfect storm. Coupa's revenue growth accelerated over the last four quarters and the company is generating more cash profits than ever.

At the same time, the stock was caught in the spring market's broad retreat from growth stocks. Shares are trading 33% below the all-time highs that were set in February. This isn't a cheap stock by any reasonable measure but you get what you pay for. Coupa has sown the seeds for fantastic business growth and should continue to deliver year-over-year top-line jumps between 30% and 40% for the foreseeable future. You can't say that about the headline-grabbing meme stocks, whose soaring market caps rarely depend on actual business results.

Get ready for a hyper-converged future

Billy Duberstein (Nutanix): If you like cloud stocks, you should love hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) stocks too, and the leading HCI player in this growing market is Nutanix.

Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) is a term for the software operating system that allows corporations to run their workloads and applications across all types of data infrastructure -- public, private, or on-premises data centers -- from a single, simple plane of glass. In a world in which most large companies use a mix of clouds, on-premise data centers, or managed private clouds, you can see how managing that all from a single interface would be much simpler for employees, who now won't have to learn how to run multiple types of applications and infrastructure.

Unsurprisingly, the HCI market is forecast to grow strongly, from $21 billion in 2020 to $30 billion by 2025. Not only that, but Nutanix has also developed adjacent products, such as database-as-a-service, unified storage, and disaster-recovery-as-a-service, which could double Nutanix's addressable market to $61 billion by 2025, up from $39 billion in 2020.

Like other software companies have done before, Nutanix is transitioning from a one-time license model to a recurring subscription sales model. That lowers Nutanix's headline revenue, as larger one-time licenses are replaced by lower but longer-term subscription contracts. And that masks what should be stellar growth over the next five years.

At its recent investor day, new CEO Rajiv Ramaswami forecasted annual contract value growing at a 25% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years. Ramaswami also sees Nutanix's current cash burn flipping to free cash flow positive by the end of this year or 2022, on the way to between $300 million and $500 million in free cash flow by 2025. And given the long-term hybrid cloud tailwinds and the fact that Nutanix should still be growing at a 20%-plus rate in 2025, that likely won't be the end of the growth story.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

The Link Lonk


June 27, 2021 at 06:00PM
https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/06/27/forget-meme-stocks-buy-these-3-high-growth-tech-st/

Forget Meme Stocks, Buy These 3 High-Growth Tech Stocks Instead - The Motley Fool

https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en