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BBN’s Bella has revealed what’s considered a ‘big flex’ for her in this Gen Z era.

She said that feeling when you are in a doctors office and he asks if you sm%ke and you say no it’s a big Flex plus she also think it’s important for doctors to include “do you do drugs?” to their routine questions cause this our Gen z generation.

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Singer Kizz Daniel has said that If you want to breakup with him, you should pay him for all things he did for you, as he hinted that his marriage with his wife has cra§hed.

He added that he has no issue with anyone breaking up with him, as long has he will get back all his investment as pension, which included the airtime, gifts, the f¥ck and everything he has done, then you can leave.

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It’s been a good year for pension funds. While public pension funds still face pressure to resolve long-run funding shortfalls, a new study projected that in 2024, state and local government pension funds would net a solid average yearly return of 7.4% due to gains in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.

A pension fund is an employer-sponsored retirement benefit plan that’s funded by governments, companies, or organizations like unions, and sometimes also employees. Those contributions are then invested in the financial markets. 

Whenever a pension fund has more liabilities, or benefits promised, than assets, it has a funding shortfall. The study by Equable, a nonprofit think tank that works with the public retirement system, found that the national shortfall in assets for public pension plans is expected to decrease to $1.34 trillion this year from $1.61 trillion in 2023. So despite strong returns performance this year, pension funds still face more than a $1 trillion debt.

“This is a welcome improvement, but it will require additional years of similar performance to break public plans out of their pension debt paralysis,” researchers wrote in the State of Pensions 2024 report from Equable.

The researchers attribute the overall increase in public pension debt that's led to underfunded plans, from 2000 to 2022, to three factors: better actuarial assumptions used to calculate benefits, underperforming investments, and interest on pension debt that's grown faster than employee contributions.

Growing debt is "why pension fund investment managers continue shifting assets toward high-risk, high-reward bets even as contribution rates continue to set historic highs,” said the report.

Since fiscal 2001, state and local pensions have increasingly shifted their portfolio allocation toward private capital, hedge funds, and real estate in an effort to boost investment returns, according to the Equable report. 

The study said government employers have had to increase their contribution rate to make up for the funding shortfalls as well. Between fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2024, government employer contributions increased more than threefold, from 9.30% of payroll to more than 31%.

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The Dow climbed to a record high in intraday trading Tuesday following several better-than-expected earnings reports, while the S&P 500 also gained, and the Nasdaq was slightly lower.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) led gains on the Dow after the health insurance provider beat profit forecasts as it posted higher revenue from its Optum health care unit.

Shares of PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) also rose as the bank reported results that exceeded forecasts and gave a stronger full-year outlook for net interest income (NII).

Match Group (MTCH) shares took off after it was revealed activist investor Starboard Value has taken a 6.6% stake in the operator of online dating services, and is calling for the company to explore a sale.

Shares of firms in the housing sector, including Pultegroup (PHM), Builders FirstSource (BLDR), and Home Depot (HD), advanced amid rising optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year, boosting home sales. 

Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares tumbled as the investment and stock trading provider said it would have to downsize to maintain profitability.

The price of gold rose to a record high, while oil futures fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined. The dollar was up on the euro, pound, and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies traded higher.

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Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja ordered a bench (arrest) warrant on a medical doctor at the health facility of Kuje Correctional Centre identified as Abraham Ehizojie for failing to produce the medical report of Binance executive, Tygran Gambaryan or show up in court.

According to Nairametrics, the Nigerian government had accused Binance and its executives, Tygran Gambaryan and the fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla, of allegedly conspiring amongst themselves to conceal the origin of the financial proceeds of their alleged unlawful activities in Nigeria, including $35,400, 000.

The Nigerian authorities said they committed an offence contravening Section 21 (a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

It must be recalled that Justice Nwite had ordered the Nigerian Correctional Service doctor to produce the medical reports of the Tigran Gambaryan, warning the correctional service against non-compliance to the court’s directives.

He added that the medical practitioner at the prison service will have to appear in court if the medical report is not produced.

At the proceedings on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi said in open court that the judge’s order had not been complied with.

The judge then asked a prison official who brought the Binance executive to court about the development.

The prison official said he got the court order and delivered the order to the doctor last week Tuesday, adding “He is not here and I expected him to be here.”

The EFCC counsel, Ekene Iheanacho told the judge that he thought that the medical officer will be in court today.

Mordi then said the court should issue a bench warrant against the medical officer of the prison service and that his client be remanded in a hospital immediately so that he can be diagnosed to see what his true state of health is.

“My client came in here in a wheelchair. He has been complaining of back p+in. We need to be careful of the life in our hands,” Mordi said. heanacho responded that he does not dispute the fact that the defendant should be given adequate treatment but he has issues with being remanded in hospital custody.

After hearing from the lawyers, Nwite said it is unfortunate that a government institutions will be treating his orders with levity.

“I hereby make an order of bench warrant on the medical doctor at the Kuje Correctional Service, Abraham to appear before this court,” he said.

He also ordered that Gambaryan be taken to the Nizamiye hospital for a medical checkup for 24 hours, at any time of his choice but under full security.

The case was then adjourned to 11 October 2024 for continuation of trial.

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Homebuilder confidence remained subdued in July, dropping to its lowest reading since December as high borrowing costs weighed on sentiment. 

The National Association of Home Builders' index of confidence came in at 42 in July, down a point from the prior month—a reading that shows a majority of builders believe the market is in poor condition. Economists were expecting the index to move up one point instead, according to a survey of economists by the and Dow Jones Newswires.

Homebuilders were down on their current sales and traffic of prospective buyers. However, they were slightly more optimistic about expected sales in the next six months.

High mortgage rates have discouraged potential buyers, as high borrowing costs pressure housing affordability. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still hovering near 7%, but homebuilders are hoping that interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve can change that.

“While buyers appear to be waiting for lower interest rates, the six-month sales expectation for builders moved higher, indicating that builders expect mortgage rates to edge lower later this year as inflation data are showing signs of easing,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris.

The central bank's influential fed funds rate and traders' expectations of it affect the trajectory of mortgage rates.

Investors seem to think that trajectory is on the right track, as homebuilder stocks rallied on that same optimism Tuesday. Shares of D.R. Horton (DHI), Toll Brothers (TOL), PulteGroup (PHM), KB Home (KBH) and Lennar Corporation (LEN) all traded more than 3% higher.

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