Latest news with #Sokolow
New York Post
01-08-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Sick cruise ship passenger furious after getting hit with shocking bill: ‘What is this nightmare?'
They got more than they asked for. There's nothing worse than getting sick on vacation — especially if your getaway is out at sea. A frustrated traveler took to Reddit to share not only how bad their recent experience was getting ill on a Norwegian cruise ship — but also how expensive it was. Advertisement In the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, the disgruntled cruise ship passenger warned, 'Don't get sick on a cruise ship' above a picture of a lengthy, itemized medical bill. This traveler left his vacation poorer and sicker. The original poster came off that cruise with a tan and a $9,750.86 bill. Advertisement If you look closely, it seems that 21 different tests were performed on the OP, which totaled around $8,761 — and then an additional $618.59 on medications and $380.27 on supplies. Yikes. It's unknown what exactly this cruise-goer came down with — but it obviously was bad. Many empathetic Reddit users took to the comment section of the post to share similar sickly experiences. Advertisement 'My neighbor had to be airlifted off a cruise ship the other year. Fortunately she is a 'veteran cruiser' and carries enough insurance to mitigate the diabolical costs. Sorry you have to absorb this, OP.' 'Over $100 to slap a fingertip pulse ox sensor on you?? What is this nightmare?' There was nothing relaxing about this cruise ship vacation. 'I love the new patient charge, where every patient is a new patient.' Advertisement To avoid getting slapped with a wildly expensive bill like this poor soul — there are a few precautions you can take to avoid getting sick before boarding your next cruise vacation. Use hand sanitizer and wash your hands thoroughly. 'Infectious diseases spread quickly on cruise ships because a lot of people share the same space day and night for an extended amount of time in relatively close contact,' Dr. Shalom Sokolow, an emergency medicine physician at Northwell's Phelps Hospital, told The Post. 'Always wash your hands after you have been in contact with other people and before you eat,' Sokolow said. While it's tempting to pig out on the buffet — Dr. Eric Ascher, a family medicine physician at Northwell's Lenox Hill Hospital, explained how it's 'also an easy way for the norovirus to spread because of all the shared utensils.' Sokolow agreed, adding, 'Plentiful and fun food is among the main appeals of a cruise and there is no reason to miss out.' 'However, there are a few basic steps to protect yourself from getting sick.'
Miami Herald
20-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Bank of America quietly reboots Microsoft stock price target
Momentum has been quietly building around Microsoft (MSFT) stock. It's been a steady build for the tech giant, backed by strong momentum, sustained interest, and a growing sense that something more could be coming. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Just ahead of its hotly anticipated earnings event, one respected firm made a major adjustment. It's the kind of shift that screams for attention, and for those who track tone as much as numbers, this one landed differently. Image source: Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images Microsoft hasn't just ridden the AI wave; it's effectively built the surfboard. Over the past year, it has doubled down on AI and cloud, turning its humongous tech platform into a full-blown enterprise AI machine. At the core of it all is its cloud engine in Azure and its AI-powered assistant in the Copilot assistant. Azure is doing the heavy lifting. Sales from Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud segment jumped to $26.8 billion last quarter, up more than 20% year-over-year. Azure alone pushed into the mid-30s growth range, led by relentless demand for cloud migrations and AI-powered workloads. Related: Bank of America makes its boldest AMD call yet That demand didn't happen by accident. Microsoft has been pumping billions into global infrastructure, including data centers, compute capacity, and AI-specific expansion. The result is that Azure is quickly becoming the go-to platform for companies building large-scale AI infrastructure. On the user side, Copilot is starting to look like a secret weapon in Microsoft's repertoire. Since its launch a couple of years ago, Copilot now touches everything from Office to Windows to GitHub. The baked-in productivity layer is gaining massive traction, and analysts peg its annual run rate at around $10 billion. Recent upgrades make it even stickier: AI vision tools, desktop automation, and developer features turn Copilot into a can't-miss kind of assistant. Meanwhile, Microsoft's AI focus extends deep into security and analytics. Azure Data Explorer is pushing real-time insights, and Copilot for Security continues to automate incident response while tying AI directly into Defender and Sentinel. More News: Google gets unexpected boost from ChatGPTElon Musk moves xAI, Grok onto Palantir turfLuxury carmaker fires shot at Tesla in robotaxi wars That power-packed fusion of cloud, data, and defense is becoming a critical value pitch. With these engines humming, Microsoft's market impact is obvious. It has seen nine consecutive quarters of EPS growth, and sales neared $70 billion in a single quarter, along with a market cap brushing $4 trillion. Microsoft heads into its July 30 earnings report with major momentum, and now a significantly higher price target to match. Bank of America just raised its price target on Microsoft stock to $585, up from $515. It also reaffirmed it as a "Top Pick," citing partner checks that show solid deal activity across cloud and software lines. The bullish outlook leans heavily on Azure. In particular, cloud migrations, security, and data analytics are driving growth, with analysts now modeling Azure's year-over-year gain at 35.5% in constant currency. The robust cloud platform has also been significantly boosted by a healthy 18 percentage points from AI-related demand. Related: Cathie Wood drops $36 million on her favorite stock That's slightly above BofA's previous 34.2% base case, and though a subtle beat, in this market, subtle matters. On the productivity side, Office continues to throw its weight around. BofA sees commercial Office growing 15%, beating the previous 14% forecast. Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant suite, is also gaining ground, with partner feedback showing adoption is picking up, especially around E3/E5 licenses. Even the PC business is seeing a bit of a lift. Mobile and Personal Computing could post 3.4% growth, on the back of stronger-than-expected global PC shipments in Q2. That's ahead of BofA's 2.4% call and shows that hardware softness might be stabilizing. Looking ahead, analysts feel Microsoft is holding its pace into fiscal 2026, with sales growth expected to stay around 14%. That's got everything to do with Azure's growing share of the pie and early signals of a ramping Copilot cycle. Plus, with its stock up nearly 30% since last quarter, the bar is a lot higher. Nevertheless, the sentiment remains firm, and Microsoft isn't showing signs of slowing. Related: Major analyst revamps Nvidia stock price target after China surprise The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
