Latest news with #AG
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why First Majestic Silver Corp. (AG) Soared On Wednesday
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) stands against other best-performing stocks. First Majestic Silver rallied for a third day on Wednesday, adding 2.59 percent to close at $6.33 apiece as investor sentiment was boosted by its successful discovery of vein-hosted gold and silver mineralization sites at its Santa Elena mining property in Mexico. In a statement on Wednesday, First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) said it discovered a new gold-silver deposit one kilometer away from the Santa Elena mining property in Sonora, Mexico, and also increased production of the Navidad deposit following successful drilling operations. With the additions of Navidad and Santo Niño, the Santa Elena property now hosts four significant gold-silver deposits: Santa Elena, Ermitaño, Navidad, and Santo Niño, underscoring the growing scale and potential of the district. An open-pit mine framed by a mountain range, highlighting the company's vast mining concessions. 'The Santo Niño discovery marks yet another exciting milestone for the district, and the drilling shows the vein remains open for expansion in most directions. At the same time, step-out drilling at the Navidad Discovery continues to intercept exceptionally high-grade mineralization and expand the resource envelope,' said First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) President and CEO Keith Neumeyer. Overall, AG ranks 8th on our list of best-performing stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of AG, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AG and that has 10,000x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Municipalities: It's time to hold mayors to account
There's been some improvement in the number of audit disclaimers, but overall it's pretty much a stuck record of ongoing poor performance for metros and municipalities. 'Widespread instability' is one characteristic of local government as described by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke. Pciture: GCIS It's time to hold mayors, speakers and council members to account for municipal failures, said Auditor-General of SA Tsakani Maluleke during a Wednesday parliamentary briefing on local government audit outcomes. Despite calls on municipal and metro leaders to act with urgency to overhaul local government – which is characterised by 'insufficient accountability, failing service delivery, poor financial management and governance, weak institutional capability and widespread instability' – the action taken has been too slow and has had little impact on the lived realities of South Africans, said Maluleke. 'Legislation is clear on what the responsibilities of mayors, councils and executive authorities are – it is the diligent and effective implementation of these responsibilities that is lacking.' The AG's latest report on local government audit outcomes for the 2024 financial year shows that just 16% of 257 municipalities received clean audits, and most of these (17) were in the Western Cape. The number of clean audits (41) is unchanged from 2021. Those with clean audits have the discipline and necessary governance to spend predictably and efficiently, said the AG. Read more 'Same story year after year': MPs unhappy as Auditor-General reveals local government audit outcomes A clean audit is not always an indicator of good service delivery and does not always reflect the lived experience of all communities in a municipal area, but it reflects honest communication with communities as to whether and when their needs will be met through accurate records. ALSO READ: 'Same story year after year': MPs unhappy as Auditor-General reveals local government audit outcomes There was almost no change in the number of municipalities with 'unqualified with findings' audits – there were 99 in 2024, compared to 100 in 2021. Things get worse from there: 93 (35%) were given 'qualified with findings' audit outcomes compared to 83 in 2021. The number of 'adverse with findings' outcomes increased to six (from four in 2021). Thirteen municipalities did not submit their financial statements on time. Of these, seven – with a combined budget of R6.85 billion – habitually disregard the legislated requirement to submit on time. There was a notable improvement in 'disclaimed with findings' audits from 28 in 2021 to 11 in 2024. More concerning is the number of audits outstanding – 10 in 2024, up from just one in 2021. ALSO READ: Questions about municipal manager's qualifications after R927 000 spent on 22 laptops – report Outcomes 'leave much to be desired' 'It's great we are reversing disclaimers, but this still leaves much to be desired,' said Maluleke. 'Unqualified with findings means that institution does not have the culture to plan, execute and deploy public funds efficiently.' It signifies weak internal controls to improve the quality of spending, as well as lax governance. The Free State and North West appear once again as the provinces with the most problematic municipalities, with either disclaimers or non-submission of statements. Source: Auditor-General SA ALSO READ: 149 municipalities are R1.4 billion in arrears on their pension fund payments Clean audit for Cape Town Of the eight metros, only Cape Town received a clean audit. Three (Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and eThekwini) received unqualified with findings audits, and three (Buffalo City, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay) earned qualified with findings audits. 'Of those with unqualified with findings [outcomes], only Ekurhuleni gave us quality financial statements. 'City of Joburg did not give us quality financial statements,' said Maluleke. 'They should have the skills and resources to compile financial statements.' The AG detailed some of the problems at Buffalo City: a vacancy for a district engineer for electricity that went unfilled for 80 months, and a vacancy for a sanitation engineer that had not been filled after 24 months. 'We must ask the question why things fall apart? Why can they not get the skills they need?' said Maluleke. '[There are] challenges of stability at council and administration levels, and institutions have become weaker over the years.' ALSO READ: SIU finds no corruption in City of Joburg but Auditor-General has concerns Infrastructure projects The result of these deficiencies is that the financial health of local government is weakening. This is aggravated by poor management of infrastructure projects, which are delayed, poorly planned, inadequately supervised, and often over budget. Deficiencies were identified at 87 of the 113 projects (77%) that were visited by the AG's office. Overall, metros have continued to regress from 2021, despite their greater capacity and large budgets. SA's eight metros are responsible for delivering services to 8.9 million people, or 46% of all households in the country. The financial health of metros remains concerning as they struggle to collect revenue, despite implementing recovery and turnaround plans. ALSO READ: Mashatile: How national government is aiming to reform local municipalities Unfunded budgets Some 113 municipalities adopted unfunded budgets in the 2024 financial year, contrary to the advice given by national and provincial treasuries. Unauthorised spending of R31.8 billion incurred by 174 municipalities was the result of unreliable information and a lack of diligence and impactful decision-making by mayors and councils. 'Municipal finances are severely troubled and even though funds are constrained, mayors, councils and municipalities are displaying little fiscal discipline. 'Money paid by residents and funded from the national purse is often wasted through poor financial and procurement decisions and project failures,' said the AG. 'The limited funds that municipalities had were also not spent carefully. The main reasons for the continuing financial losses and waste were widespread poor payment practices, uncompetitive and uneconomical procurement practices, limited value and benefit received for money spent, and weaknesses in project management.' Creditors are not paid within legislated timelines, and the debt owed to Eskom and the water boards remains high and continues to increase. If these debts are not paid, communities are left without access to basic services such as electricity and water. ALSO READ: Emfuleni's R636 million betrayal: Critical infrastructure funds returned while residents suffer Failure of the Eskom debt relief programme The Eskom debt relief programme was intended to provide some relief to municipalities that struggled to pay the electricity supplier, but 53 of the participating municipalities (84%) are not complying with the conditions of the programme, warns Maluleke. Another problem is the ongoing non-compliance with procurement legislation, leading to financial losses and contractors not delivering. Some 214 municipalities had findings on non-compliance with procurement and contract management legislation. The lack of consequences in local government continuously slows any progress towards improved service delivery and financial performance. This is most evident in poor and slow responses to investigating allegations of financial and supply chain management misconduct and fraud indicators. Also evident is a lack of enthusiasm for dealing with unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure. ALSO READ: Distressed municipalities spent less than 4% of budget on maintenance — Cogta Material irregularities Some 281 material irregularities worth R8.7 billion were identified during the year, mostly for goods and services not received or of poor quality or not being in line with contracts. Late payment of suppliers leads to interest charges, with inefficient use of resources resulting in little or no benefit for the money spent. Revenue is lost due to incorrect or no billing, debt not recovered, and unrecorded receipts. Another problem among poorly performing municipalities is the use of consultants, at huge cost, to little apparent avail. ALSO READ: How residents in one North West town are tackling municipal collapse Call to action Maluleke issued a call to action for local government turnaround: Build capable institutions with intergovernmental support; Professionalise and build capacity in local government, making it an attractive place for professionals to work; and Instil a culture of ethics and accountability, characterised by consequence management and where material irregularities are treated with the urgency they deserve. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It should not be up to the government': Tyler smoke shop urges people to veto THC ban bill
TYLER, Texas (KETK)– The ban on THC in Texas has local businesses and East Texans concerned. Senate Bill 3 will ban all THC products and now waits for Abbott's signature. Co-owner of Dragon's Breath in North Tyler said a full THC ban will do more harm than good. 'We were disgusted' Civil Rights activists call for Tyler Police resignations When the House and Senate passed the bill, co-owner, Lauren Gilmore made all THC products 25 percent off and she believes SB-3 becoming law would be harmful to Texans. 'Honestly, just putting people's lives at risk and making ordinarily law-abiding citizens into criminals,' Dragon's Breath co-owner, Lauren Gilmore said. The bill was spearheaded by Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick. AG Commissioner, Sid Miller, has supported the bill and said taking away THC will protect kids. 'You have seventh grader to walk in a convenience store buy a bag of gummies. You know Delta-9 gummies which is full strength marijuana and take those back to junior high and pass them around. That wasn't illegal. We never intended for that to happen,' AG Commissioner Sid Miller said. 'The GOP is split on it. There's a lot of them would like to keep it the status as is, or at least legalize some form of legal use of THC outside of medicinal use. There's a portion of the Republican Party that is dead set against it. He's kind of between a rock and a hard place.' 'I think people should be able to be trusted with what they're putting into their body. It's all up to them. It should not be up to the government. This should not be a nanny state,' Gilmore said. Dragon's Breath strictly follows the 21 or older law when selling in Gilmore's store. THC sales is 30% of their business at Dragon's Breath. Nearly 6000 shops around the state will be affected by the bill. 'It's unfortunate that they're going to be affected negatively economically, but that was a risk they took and they knew that going in doesn't make it any better,' Miller said. If SB-3 becomes law, Gilmore is worried for the wellbeing of her customers. 'Some people are using it, you know, just for aches and pains from joint muscles, arthritis, lots of anxiety and depression,' Gilmore said. She believes people will find cannabis on the streets and their lives may be in danger. 'I had a friend who actually OD'd from laced fentanyl cannabis on the streets, which is to me is way more dangerous getting it on the street than inside a shop where all of these products have been tested by a lab,' Gilmore said. Dragon's Breath will remain open and Gilmore will try to keep all of her staff. If signed by Abbott, the law will take effect in September and stores in Texas will have until January to be in full compliance with the law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
TechCrunch
3 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Delaware attorney general reportedly hires a bank to evaluate OpenAI's restructuring plan
In Brief Delaware's attorney general is hiring an investment bank to advise on OpenAI's for-profit conversion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The independent evaluation could prolong the transition, or gum up OpenAI's plans even further. OpenAI's conversion will help it attract new investment and eventually go public, but first, the startup needs to secure approvals from state regulators. Although OpenAI and Microsoft have hired their own investment banks to advise on the deal, Delaware's AG is now seeking an independent evaluation of the equity that OpenAI's nonprofit will receive. Regulators seem to be zeroing in on a key factor in OpenAI's conversion, which could significantly affect the price OpenAI ultimately pays to simplify its structure. Corporate governance experts say Elon Musk may have raised the price of OpenAI's nonprofit when he submitted a $97.4 billion takeover bid for the startup, despite the fact that OpenAI promptly rejected it.
Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
'Absolutely bonkers' -- Arthur Gourounlian reveals new business venture
Arthur Gourounlian has expressed his delight as he launched a new business venture on Thursday. The choreographer is one of the judges on RTÉ's Dancing with the Stars and also has his own clothing line AG by Arthur Gourounlian. Now, the father-of-two has branched into the world of fragrances as he launched his first-ever scent. Arthur Gourounlian has expressed his delight as he launched a new business venture on Thursday. Pic: Instagram/Arthur Gourounlian The AG is a unisex scent with Arthur detailing it as 'memory in the purest form.' Announcing the fragrance on Instagram, he said: 'It's your first concert, echoing in the night air. Your first love, lingering like a whispered promise. That unforgettable family gathering, warmth wrapped in laughter. 'This perfume is more than a fragrance; it's a moment frozen in time. A single note can unlock a world, and now, a new one begins. 'This is the start of a long journey I've dreamed of. One scene. Infinite memories. The first of many.' Taking to Instagram Stories on Thursday, Arthur detailed how he's 'always been obsessed' with perfume. He shared: 'My first perfume, I bought when I was 16 years old with my first hairdressing pay check. I was over the moon because we couldn't afford perfumes or colognes, things like that. Arthur added that it was 'absolutely bonkers,' but explained that he set out to create a scene that could be worn 365 days a year. Pic: Brian McEvoy 'I never thought in a million years that this day would arrive, I have my own fragrance!' Arthur added that it was 'absolutely bonkers,' but explained that he set out to create a scent that could be worn 365 days a year. 'Not only for special occasions, we are already so blessed to be on Earth every day is a special occasion so I want everyone to spray it going to the supermarket, communions, weddings, birthdays. 'It smells sultry, beautiful and, I'm going to say, LIFE.' The 44-year-old followed up to share that the notes in the fragrance were bergamot; rose; amber and musk, and the scent would be exclusively available on AG Official.
