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Major U.S. equities indexes climbed in the week's final trading session as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reinforced expectations that lower interest rates are on the horizon.

In remarks at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Powell suggested conditions are in place to cut the fed funds rate in September but stressed that the schedule and intensity of cuts will depend on evolving economic conditions.

The S&P 500 was up 1.2% on Friday. The Nasdaq jumped 1.5%, while the Dow advanced 1.1%.

Shares of construction materials supplier Builders FirstSource (BLDR) notched the top performance in the S&P 500, soaring 8.7%. While more clarity around forthcoming rate cuts and the promise of lower mortgage rates bodes well for construction activity, the company has also drawn attention for its aggressive stock buybacks and acquisitions. A Thursday report in highlighted how Builders FirstSource has managed to reduce net debt even as it repurchases shares and snaps up competitors, leaving the company in a strong position despite the uncertain trajectory of the housing market.

Cruise operators were another beneficiary of the increasing likelihood that interest rates are heading lower following Powell's speech. Cruising vacations represent highly discretionary purchases, and the operators tend to carry significant debts, making them particularly sensitive to interest rate changes. Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) sailed 7.7% higher on Friday, while Carnival (CCL) shares were up 7.4%.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shares gained 7.3% following a report on the entertainment giant's plans to revamp its cable network strategy. According to , the conglomerate plans to increase spending on programming for its TNT network, focusing on high-intensity dramas designed to appeal to the channel's male audience. The strategy marks a shift a way from the focus on streaming services and comes after the company lost its broadcasting deal with the NBA.

The prospect of rate cuts also led to a bright day for stocks in the solar industry. Lower interest rates reduce financing costs and make solar installations more attractive. Shares of solar micro-inverter manufacturer Enphase Energy (ENPH) jumped 6.5%. Earlier this week, analysts at Truist reaffirmed their "buy" rating on Enphase stock, pointing to potential operational expansion. Shares of solar panel maker First Solar (FSLR) were up 5.9% on the day.

Intuit (INTU) shares tumbled 6.8%, suffering the steepest loss of any S&P 500 stock, after the financial software company reported an unexpected quarterly loss and issued lackluster full-year profit guidance. The company behind TurboTax and Credit Karma announced last month that it planned to cut its workforce by around 10%, although it intends to replace departing employees with new talent to focus on artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

Shares of design automation software firm Synopsys (SNPS) fell 1.6% following the company's latest quarterly earnings report. Earnings per share (EPS) topped forecasts, but revenue was essentially in line with expectations. In January, Synopsys announced its plan to acquire engineering software provider Ansys (ANSS) in a $35 billion cash-and-stock deal, but U.K. regulators said earlier this week that they are considering the potential impact of the proposed transaction on competition in the country.

Shares of memory and data storage provider Micron Technology (MU) slipped 1.4% after Susquehanna trimmed its price target on the stock. The analysts' more subdued expectations follow an update from Micron, anticipating that DRAM and NAND bit shipments will remain relatively flat quarter over quarter. However, Susquehanna maintains a positive stance on the stock and predicts tight supply and demand dynamics to support an upcycle in the memory industry.

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Zion and Chinwe (ZINWE) have been evicted from the season 9 ‘No loose Guard’ edition of the Big Brother Naija Show.

They were evicted on Sunday, August 25, 2024, after they were voted out by the public.

ZINWE now become the fifth pair of housemates to be evicted from the show after FLORUISH, STREEZE, NDI NNE, and TAMI.

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Need another jolt of motivation to shore up a resolution to shed weight, sleep more soundly, boost nutrition or exercise levels, or cut back on alcohol? Then you'll be pleased to learn that any (and all) of these efforts can also add up to better brain health.

An international study led by researchers at the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital devised and validated a Brain Care Score (BCS) card that makes it easy to total up what you're doing well and where you might do better. The prize is a healthier brain — specifically a lower risk for dementia and strokes.

Designed to predict how current habits might impact future brain health, the user-friendly scorecard is apparently the first of its kind, says Dr. Andrew Budson, a lecturer in neurology at Harvard Medical School.

"It's a real service that the researchers have developed a scale like this and completed the first study to determine if scoring worse on this scale raises your risk for dementia and stroke," says Dr. Budson, who wasn't involved in the analysis. "On one hand, no one's done something quite like this before. On the other, however, it's really wrapping together health factors everyone has known for a number of years in new packaging."

What's included on the scorecard?

Called the McCance Brain Care Score, the card tallies points from 12 physical, lifestyle, and social-emotional domains.

Physical components relate to

Lifestyle components include

Social-emotional factors inquire about

Each response is given a score of 0, 1, or 2, with the highest possible score totaling 21. Higher scores suggest better brain care.

"All these physical and lifestyle factors can contribute to the risk of dementia to some extent through strokes," Dr. Budson says. "Those that aren't a risk through strokes are usually related to the fact that a healthy brain is a brain that's using all of its parts. Engaging in healthy relationships and meaningful activities helps us maintain good brain structure and function."

What did the analysis involve?

The study was published online in Frontiers of Neurology in December 2023. It involved nearly 399,000 adults ages 40 through 69 (average age 57; 54% women) who contributed personal health information to the UK Biobank.

During an average follow-up period of 12.5 years, participants recorded 5,354 new cases of dementia and 7,259 strokes. Researchers found that participants with higher Brain Care Scores at the study's start had lower risks of developing dementia or strokes over time.

These threats to health and independence take a stunning — and growing — toll on people in the US. Dementia affects one in seven Americans, a rate expected to triple by 2050. Meanwhile, more than 795,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke each year, according to the CDC.

What did the study find?

Each five-point step higher in the BCS rating assigned when the study began was linked to significantly lower risks of dementia and stroke, with those odds varying by age group:

But those brain disease benefits appeared to diminish for those older than 59 at the study's start. This group experienced only 8% lower odds of dementia and a 33% lower risk of stroke with each five-point higher score on BCS. Study authors theorized that some of these participants may have already been experiencing early dementia, which is difficult to detect until it progresses.

"I feel very comfortable that the study's conclusions are entirely correct, because all the factors that go into its BCS are well-known things people can do to reduce their risk of stroke and dementia," Dr. Budson says.

What are the study's limitations?

However, Dr. Budson notes that the study did have a couple of limitations,. The UK Biobank fell just short of collecting all the components of the BCS in its dataset, lacking meaning-of-life questions. So its scores ranged from 0 to 19, not up to 21. "It's a practical limitation, but it should be acknowledged that so far, there have been no studies to validate the actual 21-point scale they're recommending we use," he says.

The analysis also evaluated participants' scores at just one point in time instead of several, Dr. Budson says. Future research should determine whether people can lower their stroke and dementia risk by improving their BCS over time with behavior and lifestyle changes.

How can you play this game at home?

While better brain health may be the clear prize of a higher score, it's far from the only benefit. That's because improving any health component of the BCS also benefits our overall well-being.

"By improving these factors, not only will people help their brain, but they'll also help their heart and reduce their risk of cancer," Dr. Budson adds. "These factors will absolutely also improve your psychological health, which is certainly an important part of brain health."

The scale's simple breakdown of health factors also makes it easy to focus on tweaking one or two without getting overwhelmed.

"Let's say someone's nutrition isn't perfect — and they know it — but they're not willing to change their diet. Fine. They can then decide to do more aerobic exercise, for example, or to stop drinking, or to get the sleep their body needs," he says.

What one change could put you on a path to better brain health?

If he had to choose just one factor to improve brain health, Dr. Budson would focus on meaning of life, "which means you generally feel your life has meaning or purpose," he says. To do that, he suggests giving deep, quiet thought to what you wish your life's purpose to be, whether you expect to live a long time or just a few years.

"Once you have a purpose, then you have a reason to follow through with assessing all the other items on the BCS scale and seeing what you can do so you'll be around longer, and be competent and capable longer, to help fulfill the meaning and purpose of your life," he says.

Source: Harvard Health Publishing

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested five cross-border female dr¥g tr@ffickers at the Seme border while on their way back to Lagos from Ghana.

NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, August 25 said the leader of the syndicate, 42-year-old Olaribigbe Bashirat Feyisara has been under NDLEA radar before being tracked and arrested on Wednesday August 21.

She was arrested along with other members of her gang: Abogun Fatimah Ladidi; Osibeluwo Tolulope Oluwaseun; Akanni Balikis Oluwatoyin and Ajetumobi Amudalat

“At the point of their arrest at the Seme border, a total of 14 packs of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 6.97kg, were recovered from hidden parts of their bodies,” the statement reads.

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Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, a businessman based in Onitsha, Anambra state, has excreted 68 wraps of coc@ine after 12 days of excretion observation following his arrest at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

This was disclosed by NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, August 25.

The 36-year-old was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, August 8, 2024 at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport while attempting to board the first flight out of Lagos to Abuja where he was scheduled to join a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 10am same day.

The suspect, who came under NDLEA surveillance following intelligence had arrived Lagos from his base in Onitsha, Anambra state the previous day, August 7, lodged in a hotel where he swallowed the 68 wraps of coc@ine before heading to the airport for a 6:30am flight the following morning.

He was thereafter intercepted by NDLEA operatives who moved him into excretion observation where he spent the next 12 days excreting the coc@ine pellets weighing 1.282 kilograms.

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