The News

 The satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.

“The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement provided by his lawyers.

The Onion acquired the conspiracy theory platform’s website; social media accounts; studio in Austin, Texas; trademarks; and video archive. The sale price was not immediately disclosed. The Onion said its “exclusive launch advertiser” will be the gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

“Everytown will continue to raise awareness on InfoWars’ channels about gun violence prevention and present actual solutions to our nation’s gun violence crisis, including bipartisan, common-sense measures and public safety initiatives backed by Everytown,” The Onion said in a statement Thursday.

Jones confirmed The Onion’s acquisition of Infowars in a social media video Thursday and said he planned to file legal challenges to stop it.

Last broadcast now live from Infowars studios. They are in the building. Are ordering shutdown without court approval,” Jones said on the social platform X.

Jones was broadcasting live from the Infowars studio Thursday morning and appeared distraught, putting his head in his hand at his desk.

Sealed bids for the private auction were opened Wednesday. Both supporters and detractors of Jones had expressed interest in buying Infowars. The other bidders have not been disclosed.

The Onion, a satirical site that manages to persuade people to believe the absurd, bills itself as “the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events” and says it has 4.3 trillion daily readers.

Jones has been saying on his show that if his detractors bought Infowars, he would move his daily broadcasts and product sales to a new studio, websites and social media accounts that he has already set up. He also said that if his supporters won the bidding, he could stay on the Infowars platforms.

Relatives of many of the 20 children and six educators killed in the shooting Jones and his company for defamation and emotional distress for repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control. Parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats by his followers.

The lawsuits were filed in Connecticut and Texas. Lawyers for the families in the Connecticut lawsuit said they worked with The Onion to try to acquire Infowars.

 Fetterman urged reporters to ask his Republican colleagues for their response to Trump tapping Gaetz, who resigned from Congress on Wednesday night.

“We all know, you know, what the Democratic side’s going to be,” Fetterman said. “That’s where the interesting answers are going to come from, my colleagues on the GOP that are going to vote, or justify voting, for that mess.”

Trump on Wednesday announced a series of nominations, including Gaetz for the top law enforcement post in the country. The announcement took many Senate Republicans by surprise, and some expressed skepticism that his nomination could get through the upper chamber.

Among the main concerns for some Senate Judiciary Committee members, and for senators in general, will be the Department of Justice’s years-long investigation into allegations that Gaetz had sex with an underage girl. The investigation was closed last year, and Gaetz was not criminally charged. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The House Ethics Committee, up until Gaetz’s resignation from Congress, was investigating whether the Florida Republican engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other allegations. With Gaetz’s resignation, the panel no longer has jurisdiction but could still vote to release the report.

 That's the response of multiple organizations in response to a white supremacist gathering outside Howell's American Legion Post 141 on Saturday, Nov. 9, during a performance of "The Diary of Anne Frank."

In specific, the quote is from the American Defamation League (Michigan), which wrote a statement Monday on X, formerly Twitter.

More:'We were hiding with Nazis outside': White supremacists protest play in Howell

“We are disgusted by the far-right extremists who praised Hitler and waved Nazi flags outside of an American Legion hosting the play ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ and we stand with American Legion 141 and @HowellTownship who know that hate doesn't belong in their community.”

According to video posted to social media by the American Legion, a group of five demonstrators holding Nazi flags and American flags with white supremacist symbols gathered outside the organization where the show was produced by Fowlerville Community Theatre.

A member of the American Legion told WLNS the play was intended to be educational amid reports of rising antisemitism. The organization went live on Facebook on Saturday, filming the demonstrators being confronted by deputies from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.

One demonstrator can be heard telling deputies they're protecting their right to free speech.

Another four demonstrators were seen waving Nazi flags in Fowlerville at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Grand Street. It's unclear whether the protests shared members, as their faces were covered.

The Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also spoke out against the demonstration.

“We condemn this display of neo-Nazi hate and join all those speaking out against the rising bigotry and societal division we are witnessing nationwide,” said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid. “All such attempts to promote racism, antisemitism or any other form of bigotry must be repudiated by local, state and national religious and political leaders.”

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.    

WLNS also quoted Jason Woolford, recently elected to represent the area in the Michigan House of Representatives, and Howell Mayor Robert Ellis — both of whom are frustrated by Howell's continued reputation as a safe space for white supremacists.

“I’ll say to those that are using our community and, in most cases don’t even live here, to promote a message of hate, quit coming here,” Woolford said.

 President-elect Donald Trump moved to build out his national security team Tuesday, announcing he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.

In a flurry of announcements, Trump said he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East. Trump also said he would nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security and named Bill McGinley, his Cabinet secretary in his first administration, as his White House counsel.

Trump is rolling out a steady stream of appointees and nominees for his upcoming administration, working thus far at a faster pace and without as much drama as his first transition following his 2016 victory. His selection of Hegseth, who lacks senior military or national security experience, was sure to draw questions about his qualifications to lead the department.

Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year, and has been outspoken about rooting out what he has called “woke-ness” in the military.

The book, according to its promo, combines “his own war experiences, tales of outrage, and an incisive look at how the chain of command got so kinked,” and bills itself as “the key to saving our warriors — and winning future wars.”

While the Pentagon is considered a key coveted post in any administration, the defense secretary was a tumultuous post during Trump’s first term. Five men held the job during his four years only to resign, be fired or serve briefly as a stopgap. Just two of them were actually confirmed by the Senate.

Trump’s relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they weren’t prepared to explain or defend. Many of the generals who worked in his first administration — both on active duty and retired — have slammed him as unfit to serve in the Oval Office and he has condemned them in return.

Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012.

He also championed the case of four former Blackwater contractors convicted in a 2007 shooting rampage in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. They were pardoned by Trump in one of his final acts in office.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”

Hegseth has “an excellent background as a junior officer but does not have the senior national security experience that secretaries need,” said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think Trump was tired of fighting with his secretaries of defense and picked one who would be loyal to him.” Cancian said the lack of experience might make it more difficult for Hegseth to get through Senate confirmation.

Noem is a well-known conservative and former member of Congress who used her two terms leading a state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. She was considered a potential presidential contender herself, but declined to challenge Trump. She instead launched an overt pitch to be selected vice president but lost that nod when Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate.

If confirmed, Noem would head an agency that is at the center of Trump’s sweeping immigration plans and his campaign vow to carry out mass deportations of immigrants in the United States illegally. There are an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally.

 After President-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to root out government waste, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized Trump's decision, suggesting he had tapped two people to execute the job of one person.

"The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person," Warren said in a post on X, sarcastically adding, "Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient." 

Musk and Ramaswamy "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement.

Trump noted that the team, nicknamed "DOGE," "will provide advice and guidance from outside of government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before."

Musk has invited the public to share their thoughts about what should and should not be slashed.

"All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining," he tweeted.

Ramaswamy dropped his bid for the GOP presidential nomination and endorsed Trump back in January.

"DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & and abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reform & they deserve to be part of fixing it," he tweeted.

A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our servicemembers. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected," she declared in a post on X.

Hegseth is an author and Army veteran who earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman's Badge, according to his website.

His last day with Fox was Tuesday.

Trump said in a statement that Hegseth "will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy."

 CPI inflation, retail sales, producer prices, and more earnings will be in focus this week.

• Shopify stands out as a buy, particularly with the holiday season around the corner.

• Occidental Petroleum’s challenging landscape makes it one to approach with caution.!

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday to cap off their best week of the year, as the Dow and S&P 500 surged to new records after Donald Trump's decisive election victory.

Investors are betting that a Trump administration will bring lighter regulation and tax cuts that could boost the U.S. economy.

For the week, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4.6%, the benchmark S&P 500 gained 4.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite popped 5.7%.

Source: Investing.com

The week ahead is expected to be an eventful one as investors assess the outlook for the economy, inflation, interest rates and corporate earnings.

On the economic calendar, most important will be Wednesday’s U.S. consumer price inflation report for October, which is forecast to show headline annual CPI rising 2.4% year-over-year.

Other noteworthy economic reports include U.S. retail sales data, as well as a report on producer prices, will help fill out the inflation picture.

Source: Investing.com

That will be accompanied by a heavy slate of Fed speakers, including Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday.

Elsewhere, the earnings season continues, with the list of notable names due to report including Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA).

Regardless of which direction the market goes, below I highlight one stock likely to be in demand and another which could see fresh downside. Remember though, my timeframe is just for the week ahead, Monday, November 11 - Friday, November 15.

Stock To Buy: Shopify

Shopify stands out as a top buy this week, as the e-commerce software leader is anticipated to deliver another quarter of strong top-line growth and provide an upbeat outlook thanks to robust growth across key metrics.

Shopify’s report is set for release Tuesday at 7:00 AM ET. Market participants expect a sizable swing in SHOP stock after the print drops, according to the options market, with a possible implied move of approximately 14% in either direction. Shares gapped up 26% after its last earnings report in August.

Source: InvestingPro

Analysts have raised profit forecasts 33 times in recent weeks, as per an InvestingPro survey, highlighting confidence in Shopify’s continued expansion.

Wall Street expects adjusted EPS to rise 14% to $0.27, while revenue is set to increase 23% to over $2.1 billion, driven by positive merchant growth and consistent demand for Shopify’s suite of software and payment tools.

Additionally, Shopify has a proven seasonal advantage: its stock tends to gain momentum leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday (NASDAQ:MNDY) (BFCM). Historically, shares have risen about 7% in the two weeks prior to BFCM from 2016 to 2023, showing resilience as demand spikes ahead of the holiday shopping season.

As more merchants capitalize on e-commerce for the holiday rush, Shopify remains well-positioned for upside.

SHOP stock ended at $87.12 on Friday, its highest closing price since February 12. Shares have gained 11.8% year-to-date. At current levels, the Ottawa, Canada-based e-commerce specialist has a market cap of $112.5 billion.

Source: Investing.com

As InvestingPro points out, Shopify sports a near perfect ‘Financial Health’ score of 4.0 out of 5.0 thanks to its favorable positioning in the software application industry, which has allowed it to leverage a resilient business model and strong profit growth.

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Stock to Sell: Occidental Petroleum

In contrast, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) is facing a more challenging outlook, making it a strong sell this week due to an unpredictable energy market and fluctuating oil prices.

The company is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings report after the market closes at 4:15PM ET on Tuesday. According to the options market, traders are pricing in a swing of around 6% in either direction for OXY stock following the print.

The energy sector’s current uncertainties make Occidental’s path to growth more complicated, with the company navigating complex conditions around global demand and strategic shifts within the industry.

Source: InvestingPro

The oil and gas producer’s earnings outlook has dimmed, with 16 of 17 analysts reducing their EPS forecasts in recent weeks, reflecting a challenging market.

Earnings are expected to decline 36.4% year-over-year to $0.75 per share on revenue of $7.1 billion, down 4% annually. This decrease comes amid volatile oil prices and ongoing debates around the global energy demand outlook.

Although Occidental has made moves to enhance its position within the sector, including recent strategic initiatives, near-term pressures continue to weigh on the stock. Consequently, the risk of underperformance appears higher as the company battles broader market uncertainties and industry-specific hurdles.

OXY stock closed at $50.53 on Friday, not far from a recent 52-week low of $49.51 touched on November 1. Shares are down 15.4% in 2024. At current valuations, the Houston, Texas-based company has a market cap of $47 billion.

Source: Investing.com

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