Latest news with #CNO
National Observer
6 days ago
- Climate
- National Observer
Cold days are coming too late, cutting off northerners
A worker uses heavy equipment to clear the Wetum winter road across the Moose River outside Moose Factory First Nation near the James Bay Coast in Northern Ontario. The road, which crosses the frozen Moose River, is a vital link south for the first nation, allowing citizens access to Timmins and the rest of the Ontario highway system. Jesse Winter/ Canada's National Observer You did it. Thank you to the CNO community for supporting The Climate Solutions Reporting Project goal of raising $150,000. Goal: $150k $153k Listen to article Stan Kapashesit grew up in the 1980s on the James Bay coast, and when he was a kid, travelling to see family and friends during Christmas was a given. He'd cross the Moose River over an ice road with his parents, making his way to Moosonee. Looking back, he remembers the road always being ready by early December. This year, that same road didn't open until the very end of December — and even then, it was open only to light loads, not the big trucks that bring supplies to town. After that, the temperatures spiked again, and it could only be crossed by snowmobile for about a week. The road going further south — which connects Moosonee to the provincial highway system and first opened about a decade ago — didn't open until Christmas. It didn't open for New Year's. It didn't open until a month later, the morning of January 29. 'It was open earlier, longer. It was just more accessible. Growing up here, living here, [I'm] just seeing the season get shorter and shorter,' said Kapashesit, while driving over the Moose River, a dusting of white snow trailing his black truck tires. It's a phenomenon First Nations in northern Ontario have long observed. Multiple people interviewed by Canada's National Observer along the James Bay coast in March offered the same observation, which is supported by scientific studies, including an alarming report by the Canadian Climate Institute that found that half of Canada's winter roads will be unusable in 30 years. The roads that connect Moose Cree First Nation to the outside make up a portion of the weaving network of temporary ice roads connecting communities in Ontario to paved, permanent highways. Built up each year over frozen rivers, streams and muskeg, ice roads are vital throughways — food, medicine, fuel and people are all moved along them at a fraction of the price of flying, but their seasons are being squeezed due to rising temperatures caused by climate change. Kapashesit, who is associate executive director of Moose Cree First Nation, says they're exploring the viability of building an all-season road, as is Fort Albany First Nation about 200 km north. Anyone living on the James Bay Coast will tell you: the ice road season has been steadily shrinking over recent decades. In part three of our series on ice roads in the region, we look at the climate context behind the future of ice roads in Ontario. The cost of maintaining the road is inseparable from the pressures of climate change in northern Ontario, and both are mounting in tandem. The federal and provincial governments chip in money to construct and maintain winter roads in the province, but the First Nations who manage them are on the hook for remaining costs. Funding has not caught up to inflation rates. Winter roads are invaluable to the First Nations they connect because they make goods cheaper, but those savings dwindle as the road season shrinks. In Neskantaga First Nation, an isolated community in the middle of the province, its winter road opened a full month earlier between 2008 and 2018: on Dec. 22 compared to Jan. 22. This year, according to updates posted on Facebook, it opened around the same day, on Jan. 19. And while open and closing dates paint a telling picture of the winter road season, another revealing metric is the reduction in very cold days, specifically those -30 degrees Celsius or colder. Frigid conditions are necessary for constructing a road that can bear thousands of pounds, explains Sudbury-based geologist David Pearson — they cause the ice to thicken quickly, and make it safe for road builders to get out on the surface of the road. Canada's National Observer analyzed federal data from five weather stations in Ontario, four of which are in isolated communities that rely on winter roads, and found that there has been a significant reduction in -30 degrees Celsius days in communities that need them to build winter roads. Meanwhile, a slew of climate change-related shifts are making the ice road system untenable, notes a 2023 report by Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN). Not only are warmer days forcing ice road opening dates to be later, but more snow and rain earlier in the winter 'increases water levels and water movement speeds, resulting in slower freeze times of water crossings,' making maintaining the roads more challenging. There isn't one way to define a winter road season as viable, explained Canadian Climate Institute report co-author Ryan Ness. 'It's generally assumed that a winter road is impassable in a particular month if the monthly average temperature is greater than -5 C,' said Ness, who explained that increased temperatures will continue to ratchet up in coming decades, making those months more common. Once there are only a few weeks cold enough to host the road, 'it's not cost-effective anymore to build them for the season,' he said. 'The discussion around an all-season road becomes ... is it more feasible to invest a million dollars every year to build the road that's gonna be open all year round, as opposed to just two months — at most,' said Kapashesit. How many back-to-back, extreme cold days occur in future (what climate scientists refer to as Freezing Degree Days, or FDDs) depends on the amount of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions put into the atmosphere. A study by Climate Data mapped the number of FDDs under a high-emissions scenario. In Moose Cree First Nation, the accumulation of FDDs needed to construct an ice road is expected to arrive much later in the coming decades: by the 2070s, on average, there will be enough FDDs to build an ice road by mid-January, representing a 27-day push forward from the 1980s. A study from York University came to a similar conclusion. It notes the lifespan of one-metre-thick ice required by transport trucks will become much shorter under all warming scenarios. 'For these trucks, our research shows that the number of days of safe ice will decline by 90 per cent with an increase of 1.5 C of global warming,' writes lead author Reader R. Iestyn Woolway. That becomes a 95 per cent decline if the planet warms by 2 C — and a 99 per cent decline with a 3 C global temperature hike. The shrinking season of the Wetum Road and others like it will only continue to dwindle, Pearson said. Ice roads are constructed and authorities gradually let heavier vehicles onto them as the road gets thicker, so the most revealing metric is when the roads open to full loads and can handle deliveries of goods. This year on Feb. 21 — which is supposed to be in the thick of the winter road season — just seven of 33 stretches of winter roads in Ontario were open to full loads, according to an update from Indigenous Services Canada. Using the precautionary principle — a scientific approach that says decisions should be based on the most severe scenario, even if there is uncertainty, due to potential harm — is essential when considering the future of ice roads, Pearson said. 'Using the 90th percentile means that there is no long-term future for winter roads in the North. The future is limited to, I think, sometime in the 2040s — max,' he said. This is story three in a series Canada's National Observer is producing on ice roads in Northern Ontario – in collaboration with I-SEA and The Donner Canadian Foundation. June 2nd 2025 Cloe Logan Journalist @ Keep reading As ice road melts, a First Nation eyes solid ground By Cloe Logan News April 14th 2025 Driving the ice road: a journey along a community's disappearing lifeline By Cloe Logan News April 5th 2025 Wood pulp, steel cables: Scientists study how to make ice roads last longer By Bob Weber News Politics October 15th 2019 Share this article Share on Bluesky Share on LinkedIn Comments
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Is CNO (CNO) Up 0.5% Since Last Earnings Report?
A month has gone by since the last earnings report for CNO Financial (CNO). Shares have added about 0.5% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is CNO due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. It turns out, estimates revision have trended downward during the past month. At this time, CNO has an average Growth Score of C, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top quintile for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, CNO has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. CNO belongs to the Zacks Insurance - Multi line industry. Another stock from the same industry, Principal Financial (PFG), has gained 5.8% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended March 2025. Principal Financial reported revenues of $4.01 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +5.5%. EPS of $1.81 for the same period compares with $1.65 a year ago. For the current quarter, Principal Financial is expected to post earnings of $2.02 per share, indicating a change of +23.9% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -1.2% over the last 30 days. Principal Financial has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) based on the overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions. Additionally, the stock has a VGM Score of C. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Malaysian Reserve
19-05-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
CNO Financial Group to Host Virtual Investor Briefing on Tuesday, June 10
CARMEL, Ind., May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) today announced that it will host a virtual investor briefing focused on its Investments function on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The presenters will include members of CNO's investment management team. This event will provide investors, analysts and key stakeholders with an in-depth look at the company's investment approach and portfolio performance. It will conclude with an interactive Q&A session with Chief Investment Officer Eric Johnson, Chief Financial Officer Paul McDonough and members of the company's Investments leadership team. Participate by WebcastTo participate, please register here. The event will also be accessible through the Investors section of our website at Participants should register on the website at least 15 minutes before the event begins. Participate by ReplayA replay of the webcast will be available on the Investors section of our website at About CNO Financial GroupCNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) secures the future of middle-income America. CNO provides life and health insurance, annuities, financial services, and workforce benefits solutions through our family of brands, including Bankers Life, Colonial Penn, Optavise and Washington National. Our customers work hard to save for the future, and we help protect their health, income and retirement needs with 3.2 million policies and $37.4 billion in total assets. Our 3,400 associates, 4,800 exclusive agents and 5,500 independent partner agents guide individuals, families and businesses through a lifetime of financial decisions. For more information, visit
National Observer
15-05-2025
- Business
- National Observer
What disappeared from the Pentagon website
These words stopped me cold. "Why are you considering compromising with traditional media? It's an industry locked in a death spiral... You're compromising with a dying industry rather than dominating it. Crushing it." This was Mark Zuckerberg talking. His words are revealed in Sarah Wynn-Williams' explosive memoir Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Zuckerberg is fighting to suppress this book with legal injunctions, but its revelations illuminate the hostility Meta has shown toward facts, news and the information systems democracy depends upon. The most damning aspect of Careless People isn't its documentation of Facebook's actions, but its exposure of the calculated contempt behind them — the disregard for human lives left vulnerable on their platforms, for democratic institutions undermined by their algorithms and for sovereign nations treated as mere extraction sites. They embody what Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff identified so precisely in 2019 as "surveillance capitalism." These are not just tech companies but extractive predators that harvest our most intimate data to predict, manipulate and monetize our behavior while skilfully operating beyond meaningful accountability. When Critical Information Disappears This letter marks the launch of an urgent fundraising campaign for CNO. As we witness unprecedented threats to both our information ecosystem and our national security, Canada's National Observer is stepping up a new stream of coverage we're calling "Reality Check." During the federal election, journalists Rachel Gilmore and Emily Baron Cadloff led this new fact-checking service at CNO, focused on dispelling climate disinformation. We need more funds now to continue to provide this vital service and to do more. We're seeking to build more dedicated reporting focused on the convergence of disinformation, climate change and democracy. To make this vital work possible, we need to raise $150,000 by May 31st. I hope you'll join us in this critical mission after reading why this initiative is more necessary than ever. The urgency of our work was brought into sharp focus for me in a shocking way as I was doing some research on national security and climate. In 2015, the US Department of Defense issued a historic report that explained how climate change was not just an environmental issue — it was a national security issue. The Pentagon warned that the impacts of climate change — instability, mass displacement and the failure of governments to meet basic needs — were real and accelerating. Fast forward to now, and try to find that report online. You won't. The link leads to a 404. The original document has been erased. That's because the Trump administration ordered US agencies last February to remove references to the climate crisis from their websites. What has been erased from official records is chilling — the disappearance of critical knowledge about the climate threats we face — threats that continue to evolve and become more dangerous with each passing day. This deliberate erasure of information isn't just bureaucratic housekeeping — it's information warfare. In a world where critical security assessments can simply vanish overnight, who preserves the knowledge citizens need to understand the challenges we face? Who has the facts? While government websites can be scrubbed clean of inconvenient truths, a firehose of disinformation continues unabated across podcasts, Instagram, TikTok and countless other platforms. It is happening in the US but needless to say, it also affects us in Canada. Over the past ten years, CNO has steadily built a permanent, secure archive with over 40,000 well-researched climate articles that will remain accessible to the public regardless of political shifts. Help us continue to build this vital archive. When Meta Abandoned Canada In August 2023, we witnessed Meta's true priorities when they abruptly removed all news content from their platforms in Canada rather than comply with new legislation. The impact was immediate and devastating. At CNO, our traffic plummeted and stories that once reached millions disappeared from Facebook and Instagram feeds. Our Facebook page went dormant and the 30,000 or so people who went there for news were disappointed. Fake news on Facebook dominates. This wasn't a business decision; it was a power play that revealed the tech giant's fundamental indifference to democratic discourse. The consequences extend far beyond our industry. While legitimate news vanishes from platforms, disinformation flourishes unchecked. This creates a dangerous reality where climate change becomes in some minds "just an opinion" and genuine national security threats go underreported or misunderstood. Recent polls show climate concerns falling among Canadians' priorities — not because the crisis has abated, but because the information ecosystem has been corrupted. As our recent podcast, The Takeover, documents, far-right influencers and business leaders in the oil industry are now aggressively trying to debunk the idea that there even is a 'climate crisis.' Our Plan to Fight Back After ten years as publisher of CNO, I've come to understand that disinformation is the fundamental problem we must solve before we can effectively address climate change and national security. That's why I'm asking for your support today. If we can raise $150,000 by May 22, we will be able to ramp up with: But if we can reach $250,000, we will create a fully dedicated desk with both a researcher and a reporter working exclusively on disinformation and security issues. At a time when U.S. agencies have been ordered to remove references to the climate crisis from their websites, and when Trump has weaponized tariffs against our economy, Canada needs to strengthen its information system. Independent journalism that preserves critical information and holds power accountable depends on people like you to play the role that it must. While Meta and other platforms can switch off access to news with the flip of a switch, your support ensures CNO remains resilient and independent. Unlike the vanishing Pentagon climate security report that now leads to a 404 error, we've built a permanent, secure archive that will remain accessible regardless of who holds power. The stakes couldn't be higher. The geopolitical order is in flux. Climate-driven disasters are growing in scope. And disinformation threatens to undermine our collective response to these challenges while making billionaires wealthier. Just this week, Meta announced they'd posted $42 billion in sales in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Why This Matters to Me Personally As many of you know, I came to Canada in 2001, a month after 9/11, to start a new life here. I became a Canadian citizen, raised two sons on this soil, divorced and remarried a Canadian. I came with an idealistic view of Canada that over the years has shifted to a more realistic view of its strengths and limitations, but I still believe that Canada is a world leader and gem of a progressive democracy with the potential to offer hope around the world as authoritarianism spreads. My home is in Canada, and it's here where I've built both a family and a publication dedicated to truth. The threats we face today are not abstract policy disagreements. They are direct challenges to Canadian sovereignty and security. With Trump attacking Canada's economy through tariffs and floating the outrageous notion of absorbing Canada as the 51st state, it often feels like his goal is to make us feel insecure, anxious and uncertain. This deliberate destabilization serves those who benefit from a confused and divided public. Together with you, we can help push back against confusion and falsehoods. This isn't just another fundraising campaign. It's about whether Canadians will have access to vital information when they need it most. What we build today will serve Canadians for generations. Standing Against a Dystopian Future In Careless People, Wynn-Williams reveals Zuckerberg's ultimate vision: creating a 'fifth estate' with Facebook as the singular news platform for billions. While he may have temporarily lost interest in this digital monopoly, the infrastructure and ambition remain. What stands between that dystopian information landscape and a healthy democracy isn't government regulation or corporate conscience — it's independent journalism with the resources to withstand pressure and preserve truth. Your support today doesn't just fund reporting; it ensures Canada maintains the information sovereignty essential to remaining the country we love, not the 51st state in someone else's empire. When I launched CNO in 2015, I could not have predicted how dramatically the information landscape would shift — how tech giants would claim to support journalism while plotting to "crush" it, how climate science would be erased from government websites or how disinformation would flood into the void where verified news once stood. What began as a publication focused primarily on climate reporting has evolved into something more fundamental: a guardian of facts in an era when facts themselves are under assault. The connections between disinformation, climate denial and threats to national security have never been clearer or more dangerous. When Trump speaks of tariffs and annexation, when Meta abandons Canada while disinformation flourishes, when critical climate security documents vanish without a trace — these aren't isolated incidents, but symptoms of a coordinated assault on informed democracy.
National Observer
15-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Separatists, Silos, and the Battle for Canada's Future
With the federal election behind us and America's interest in annexing Canada apparently on hold for the time being, it's tempting to think the worst of the recent crisis is behind us. My fear is that the real battle has only just begun. Alberta's increasingly noisy separatist movement, and Premier Danielle Smith's willingness to amplify and enable it, creates a clear fissure that Donald Trump could exploit. The recent election helped expose the vulnerabilities in our informational ecosystem, ones that can and will be weaponized by foreign and domestic political actors. And our social media platforms continue to isolate Canadians in their own self-imposed silos, ones where things like facts and nuance barely stand a chance. This is precisely why our Climate Solutions Reporting Project has become more vital than ever. As these information battles intensify, climate journalism stands as a crucial counterweight to misinformation and division. We've set an ambitious goal of raising $150,000 by May 22 to expand this essential reporting, but we can't get there without your support. Your contribution, pays for journalism that cuts through these silos and builds the informed consensus we desperately need in these uncertain times. If Mark Carney government cares as much about protecting Canada's cultural and territorial sovereignty as it claimed during the recent election campaign, it will have to do more than just protect the status quo here. It has to meaningfully reinvest in the CBC and redirect its focus towards protecting our access to reliable news and information. It needs to crack down more aggressively on foreign-funded influence campaigns and the useful idiots who advance and amplify them domestically. And it should probably re-assess the value of its Online News Act, one that has only served to damage the access many Canadians have to news. But there are also things you can do to protect Canada from these malign and malicious forces. And yes, one of them is subscribing to Canada's National Observer. Like most online publications, we increasingly depend on subscribers to fund our journalism and share our work. And while other outlets might lean on techniques like rage-farming to drive their engagement and support, CNO is fact-based reporting. By supporting independent journalism you're helping expand an ecosystem where the facts are checked, the details matter, and the noisiest voices (present company excluded, perhaps) don't get all of the oxygen. With each subscription you're helping build a place where we can talk about the country we want to build and share, and creating cultural momentum that becomes more irrepressible with each additional voice.
