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The explosive growth of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which took off this year in large part because of the growing popularity of Ethereum blockchain technology, is something that surprised the digital coins (ETH-USD) ex-core developer.

An NFT is a certificate of authenticity that shows proof of ownership for anything digital. The tokens are being assigned to one of a kind digital art and now music.

Aside from applications that are creating new revenue streams for the music, movie, sports, art and gaming industry, Lane Rettig sees the next installation of NFTs being more of a utility.

He cited an example where a theatergoer buys a Broadway ticket for $200, but pays Ticketmaster $45 for the ticket. Its absolutely ridiculous, Rettig told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview.

Im not saying Tickemaster adds no value, but theres no way they add like 30%. The reason Tickemaster is able to get away with charging so much is they basically have a monopolistic relationship with the vendors or sports teams, he argued.

The beauty of NFTs, which offer open protocols, is it opens up competition, Rettig explained. If tickets are built on a blockchain, competition is introduced because anyone can access the platform. Additionally, other people can build competing platforms and services and products.

Rettig argued that moving ticketing onto NFT platforms for concerts and sports events will make the market more liquid, allowing people to cut out fees and middlemen so patrons just have to pay the actual ticket price. Airline tickets could also move in this direction, he said.

Along the line of NFTs, smart contracts also offer efficiencies like receiving your salary by smart contract. Rather than getting a lump sum every two weeks, a smart contract system funds can be deposited every second, in a process called dripping.

Rather than getting $1,000 a month you get like 25 cents deposited into your account every two minutes, he said.

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Etherium is now the second-largest cryptocurrency measured by market capitalization, outpacing Bitcoins performance this year.

It is now being used for the majority of projects, notably NFTs, built on the blockchain (a digital ledger of digital transactions). But why exactly is it being chosen over Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and others?

According to Rettig, its just the technologys superiority. He likened it to Javascript the most widely used computer programming in the world to program everything from toasters to cars.

If you talk to any professional software developer, theyll tell you they dont like working with it. It has warts all over it, but its taken over the world, he added.

Similarly, he says Etherium isnt amazing and has clunkiness to it, but it works well enough and it has a first mover advantage.

I think crypto speaks to an open permission-less community driven vision. I think we need to determine how to build an open metaverse. It should be a place to gather and engage in social entertainment.Lane Rettig

Rettig stumbled upon crypto by accident in late 2016, early 2017. After attending an Ethereum developer conference in Mexico, and meeting co-creator Vitalik Buterin and other Ether stakeholders, his interest was piqued. He then joined the Ethereum Foundation.

I absolutely saw mass adoption when I learned of it, he said. The writing for me was on the wall.

Hes since left Etherium to work on a new blockchain called Spacemesh, thats building an alternative platform that still does a lot of the things Etherium does.

Its like a next generation Etherium, Rettig said. It does the things Etheriun does, but does them more efficiently and its more scalable.

While Bitcoin and Etherium are now mined by professionals, using big expensive computers, needing lots of capital that need to solve complex math problems to guess the code called proof of work, Spacemesh is being designed to use hard drive space on an ordinary computer.

That also makes Spacemesh 99% more green than Bitcoin and Etherium because it only uses hard drive space and no electricity.

In order to mine BTC or ETH, you need to dedicate a scarce resource to the network, Rettig said, which is a huge drain on electricity and the environment. But in the case of Spacemesh, instead of expending electricity youre allocating hard drive space for some period of time the space refers to the hard drive space, Rettig explained.

My vision for blockchain longer term is that these need to be things that anyone anywhere can operate without needing permission or a credit card to go to your bank or know your customer process. Maximum useability by home users, he told Yahoo Finance.

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 29: In this photo illustration, the Facebook logo is displayed on the screen of an iPhone in front of a Meta logo on October 29, 2021 in Paris, France. On October 28, during the Facebook Connect virtual conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced the name change of Facebook, believing that the term Facebook was too closely linked to that of the platform of the same name, launched in 2004. It is now official, the Facebook company changes its name and becomes Meta. (Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)

The virtual reality called the metaverse has gotten a lot of attention lately after Facebook (FB) changed its name to Meta Platforms, and announced plans around it.

Yet Rettig isnt jazzed about Facebooks premise, telling Yahoo Finance he found it highly disturbing, he said. I dont dislike Mark Zuckerberg, Im not anti-Facebook. But it was just so dystopian in so many ways it bothered me.

He says the overall concept is still fuzzy to him right now. Whatever it turns out to be, Rettig hopes its not Facebooks vision, which he speculates would be a closed, tightly controlled ecosystem much like Apples (AAPL).

Its the opposite of my vision for the future socially and technologically, he said. I think crypto speaks to an open permission-less community driven vision. I think we need to determine how to build an open metaverse. It should be a place to gather and engage in social entertainment.

However, Rettig thinks the metaverse could cause crypto to explode further. Because it resides outside of existing social and political order, it cant be denominated in any major currency. In theory, it would have to use something like Etherium, but wont be limited to one cryptocurrency.

It must be built using cryptocurrency and could not be built before cryptocurrency in the same way the Internet allowed an explosion of creativity and people to become their own bloggers along with building businesses, empires and brands in a global distributed fashion, he said.

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Ethereum developer sounds off on NFTs, metaverse and 'dystopian' Facebook - Yahoo Finance

Closing arguments in the criminal case against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will begin Thursday as jurors weigh whether she intentionally defrauded patients and investors in the blood-testing startup.

The closing arguments will give each side a crucial opportunity to craft a cohesive narrative that makes their case and to re-introduce key pieces of evidence that the jury may have forgotten in the nearly four months since the trial began.

Its closing where you get to really argue your case, Cardozo law school professor Jessica Roth, who specializes in corporate & white-collar criminal law, tells Yahoo Finance. So they are very important.

The stakes in the case are high: Holmes faces 11 counts of fraud, each of which carries up to 20 years in prison. Holmes was indicted back in 2018 after Theranos imploded under regulatory scrutiny following revelations that it could not actually perform hundreds of diagnostic tests on a few drops of blood as it suggested to investors and the public. Theranos COO and Holmes' onetime boyfriend, Sunny Balwani, faces the same charges and is scheduled to face trial next year.

Holmes made the risky move of testifying in her own defense in the trial's final days, portraying herself as a hardworking entrepreneur who believed in her pitch and also testifying that she endured abuse from Balwani. While that testimony could influence the jury's decision, experts say the closing arguments will also carry significant weight.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes becomes emotional as she is asked to read romantic texts between herself and ex-boyfriend Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, as she is cross-examined by prosecutor Robert Leach at Robert F. Peckham U.S. Courthouse during her trial in San Jose, California, U.S., in this courtroom sketch, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Vicki Behringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Witnesses dont come in a logical order and often they come in bits and pieces that need to be put together, says criminal defense attorney and former white collar federal prosecutor Elisha Kobre. So the jury doesn't really get the full picture until the lawyers make their closing arguments.

Michael Weinstein, a former Justice Department trial attorney, says he sees closings as an opportunity to help the jury assimilate the larger mosaic of each sides narrative. However, he argued that jurors usually have a verdict in mind before those closings begin.

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Traditionally, at closing arguments, it's rare that a jury is going to go in with a guilty verdict and come out not guilty, Weinstein says. However, 10 minutes after they close the judge is going to instruct them and say: You can disregard all the lawyers arguments, and what you need to focus on is the evidence.

However, closing arguments can help jurors bolster their own arguments when trying to persuade fellow jurors that a particular verdict is called for.

By the end of trial especially after a trial the length of the Holmes trial almost all of the jurors will have made up their minds as individuals, says white collar criminal defense lawyer Jack Sharman. "In a closing, you want to confirm and reassure those jurors who have moved to your camp and away from your adversarys. You want to give your jurors ammunition arguments, exhibits, witnesses to use against your opponents jurors while the jury deliberates in the jury room.

As reinforcement, each side will likely revisit key evidence introduced during witness testimony. However, one significant part of Holmes' defense could get blocked from closings and deliberations: The government said it would request that the judge strike Holmes' testimony claiming sexual assault at Stanford University and alleging Balwani controlled and abused her, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The lawyers can only rely on the evidence that's been admitted, Kobre said, and if the judge excludes the evidence, the lawyers won't be able to say it.

Weinstein explains that even if the judge excludes or limits jurors from considering Holmes' abuse or sexual assault claims, the testimony remains in the jurors' minds making it uncertain whether it will carry influence.

In reality, they heard it already. The bell has been rung, Weinstein says.

The testimony they heard from Holmes, in fact, will likely play a large role as jurors decide whether to convict her. In cases where a defendant testifies, the verdict typically turns entirely on whether the jury believed them, according to Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor.

"If the defense persuades even one juror not to vote to convict, which may fall short of an acquittal, that alone is enough to prevent a conviction. If the jurors are unanimous not believing Holmes as to just one count, then a one-count conviction would result in a significant term of incarceration," Frenkel said.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

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Elizabeth Holmes closing arguments this week: What to expect - Yahoo Finance

The man who walked onto the pitch and was only made to exit after receiving a body slam from Sam Kerr will not face legal ramifications for the act, The Athletic's Charlotte Harpur reported.

That's because the law enacted to curtail disorderly fan conduct at soccer matches in the UK does not apply to the women's competition, per the report. So the Metropolitan Police department has not arrested the fan from Wednesday's incident, it confirmed to Harpur, and it has no intention to do so.

It's a troubling loophole as the women's game grows in popularity.

A young fan walked onto the pitch during a women's Champions League match between Chelsea and Juventus on Wednesday. Security was nowhere to be found and a Chelsea player attempted to push him gently toward the sideline to get off the pitch.

When he sauntered back toward the players still taking a video of himself, Kerr dropped a shoulder and decked him. What appeared to be a trainer or coach ushered him off the pitch at that point.

(NSFW language warning for video below:)

Kerr was given a yellow card and the club suspended the fan. But the police department confirmed to The Athletic no arrest was made, even though Section 4 of the Football (Offences) Act of 1991 would seem to allow for such an arrest.

Via The Athletic:

The law states: It is an offence for a person at a designated football match to go onto the playing area, or any area adjacent to the playing area to which spectators are not generally admitted, without lawful authority or lawful excuse [which shall be for him to prove].

The key term is "designated football match." By the provision enacted in 2004, a designated match is one in "which one or both of the teams represents a club which is a member of the English Football League, the Premier League, the Football Conference or the League of Wales, or represents a country or territory."

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The list excludes women's games completely, per The Athletic. Therefore, the fan who walked onto the pitch is not in violation of the law and did not commit an arrestable offense.

A pitch invader is grounded courtesy of Chelsea's Sam Kerr during the UEFA Women's Champions League Group A match at Kingsmeadow, London. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)

The women's Champion League was founded in 2001 as the UEFA Women's Cup. Lawmakers could and should have included it by name in the 2004 provision, but did not.

It's another example of women's exclusion from the general sport conversation, and it has potentially dangerous impacts. This time it ended well enough, with Kerr decking the fan in a laughable moment that flew around social media sites overnight. But it could have ended in tragedy.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes raised concerns with reporters after the match, noting that with the growth of the women's game and players becoming superstars, their safety needs to become a priority.

But The Athletic reported that matches are not attended by police unless there is a specific need, such as a sold-out stadium or recent crime in the area. And the issue reaches across the pond where the WNBA and NWSL are growing in popularity in the U.S.

In September 2019, Los Angeles Sparks star Chiney Ogwumike saw a fan coming at her sister, former MVP Nneka Ogwumike, while on the court after a game. Security was there to tackle the fan, though he initially got by them.

But in general, security is more lax at women's events. And now, at least in the UK, it's clear that laws don't protect female athletes, either.

That change needs to be made a priority before something terrible happens.

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Pitch invader decked by Sam Kerr can't be arrested because it was a women's match - Yahoo Sports

Yahoo!s Pete Thamel, formerly of Sports Illustrated, tweeted the following this morning in response to SE365s tweet about a video interview that Aranda did with Joel Klatt. That was convoluted, but its worth the watch.

I want to be clear about somethingI dont really have sources and never have. Ive not actively sought to cultivate them, and we here at ODB, basically as a matter of practice, do not want to break news. We have from time to time, but the standard for what I would consider confirmed enough to be reportable is so high that it would take a lot.

That being said, sometimes people reach out to tell a few of us things, and this fits with those things, which can be generally stated as follows: 1) Aranda interviewed at LSU and then turned down whatever offer he gave them, 2) the new football ops center will have Arandas fingerprints all over it and is a major selling point for keeping him in Waco, 3) there will be an extension, and it will be sizable, particularly if Aranda wins the Big 12 this year and a major bowl, and 4) insane NFL guarantees aside, Baylor does not lose coaches it wants to keep, and it was never going to go quietly into the night on a guy that seems to fit here so well.

Now, does this mean its a done deal that Aranda is staying? Of course not. Things change. No matter how much you love your coach, remember that their profession is one of mercenaries. Until the ink is dry on that extension and the terms are announced, I wont feel really good about anything. But I feel pretty good right now, and I think you should, too.

Besides, its Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

UPDATE: Ross Dellenger of SINow has also weighed in to confirm.

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Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated Reporting Dave Aranda Is About To Get $Paid ... To Stay at Baylor - Our Daily Bears

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao says it's totally OK if billionaire investors like Warren Buffett don't get into the cryptocurrency space, it's not for everyone.

In fact, Zhao thinks the Berkshire Hathaway CEO would be wise not to get involved.

"I wouldn't convince him to invest in crypto. I think it's not necessary that everybody has to invest in crypto," Zhao said on Yahoo Finance Live. "My mom doesn't use the internet that much and that's fine. The internet is fine. My mom is fine. So I basically think it's a free world. We don't have to convince everybody to use crypto, it's only for the people that want to use crypto."

Zhao praised Buffett's investing skills after reading a book about the Oracle of Omaha, "Warren Buffett: Inside the Ultimate Money Mind."

"I recently just stumbled upon it, and it's a great book, actually," he said. Buffett "has many investment theses that are timeless. And that still applies to crypto. It's just that he's not personally interested in crypto."

Even though Buffett isn't too keen on crypto, Zhao said he thinks they have similar investing strategies.

"He likes to hold a small number of stocks that he knows well. And he doesn't want to diversify over across hundreds of stocks. And that's very similar to my personal mentality. I only hold BMB and BTC. I don't diversify myself across different crypto assets," Zhao said.

He added that Buffett "is at a different stage in his life where I think the learnings, the philosophies, the teachings are valuable to the world. He is super successful which I respect a lot. We don't need to get him into crypto. He used a flip phone based on a couple years ago. I get worried if he uses crypto, he may not have the necessary skills or the knowledge on how to keep his own crypto safe."

Buffett has been a vocal critic of crypto, famously calling it "rat poison" in a 2018 interview. Buffett's righthand man Charlie Munger called bitcoin "disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization" at Berkshire's annual meeting earlier this year.

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While Zhao praised Buffett's investing acumen, he had sharper words for another member of the billionaire club.

"Well, I don't intend to be sassy on Twitter... In his tweet he said I am shady," said Zhao on Yahoo Finance Live, when asked about a recent Twitter exchange with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Binance suspended dogecoin withdrawals on Nov. 11 due to a glitch during a network update. Musk a long-time proponent of dogecoin tweeted Tuesday morning that the Binance suspension looked "shady."

Added Zhao, "I am not aggressive by nature, but not submissive or cowardly when it comes to defending our business. I view defending Binance as my job and the crypto industry as my life's mission."

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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Binance CEO: We don't need to convince Warren Buffett to invest in crypto - Yahoo Finance

The number of Americans applying for first-time jobless claims reached the lowest level since November 1969, with the number of filings dropping to 199,000.

Improvements in the labor market have been broad-based, with the weekly rate of those rendered newly unemployed falling precipitously across the country since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

As usual, the Labor Department's latest weekly report included a breakdown of the states and territories with the highest and lowest insured unemployment rates, or the ratio of people claiming jobless benefits divided by the overall size of the labor force. For a number of states, this key labor market metric improved to its best level in two years, showing an even smaller proportion of their populations were claiming jobless benefits than before the coronavirus outbreak.

"I don't even think you can call it an economic recovery anymore," Chris Rupkey, chief economist for FWDBONDS, told Yahoo Finance Live. "Remember the best economy in 50 years late in 2019? Well, we're way, way, way above that right now. I dont even think you can call this a reopening of the economy after the pandemic were miles and miles ahead of the fourth quarter of 2019.

South Dakota was the state with the lowest insured unemployment rate. As of the week ended Nov. 6, the state's rate was at 0.2% on a seasonally unadjusted basis. The last time this figure was below that level was in October 2019.

The national average insured unemployment rate was at 1.3% for the same week, or the lowest since December 2019. At its worst pandemic-era point in May 2020, during widespread lockdowns and layoffs, the insured unemployment rate peaked at 15.9% nationally.

Other states also posted insured unemployment rates well below the national average. Alabama's insured unemployment rate for the week ended Nov. 6 came in at 0.3%, or the lowest on record for the state based on data spanning back to the 1980s. Nebraska's rate also came in at 0.3% for the period, marking a two-year low.

Five states Kansas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah and Virginia posted insured unemployment rates of 0.4% for the start of November, also representing a marked improvement from their pandemic-era highs.

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A little less than half of U.S. states and territories or 19 in total posted insured unemployment rates at or above the national average at the start of the month. Of these, the Virgin Islands saw the highest rate at 3.0%, which marked a slight uptick from the prior week's 2.2% rate. Still, this was well below its pandemic-era peak of nearly 18% in June 2020.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and Alaska each posted insured unemployment rates of 2.7%, tying for the second-highest rates in the nation, based on the latest data. California followed close behind with an insured unemployment rate of 2.6%. Many of the states posting persistently elevated insured unemployment rates have been those that rely heavily on tourism and their service economies, given the ongoing recovery still taking place in these industries after the outbreak.

"Workers remain in high demand in a labor market where payrolls and the civilian labor force remain well below pre-pandemic levels," wrote Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, in a note Wednesday morning. "Developments on the health front remain a risk that may weigh on labor supply, but we expect workers to gradually return to the labor market, as the cushion from savings diminishes, supporting job growth over coming months."

Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck

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New unemployment claims fall to 52-year low: Here are the best and worst states for jobs - Yahoo Finance

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on, nearly three-quarters of Americans (74 percent) now say their lives have returned to normal, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

Its a number that underscores both the progress made possible by safe and effective vaccines and the challenges ahead as the holidays approach and yet another winter wave gets underway in the United States.

The survey of 1,696 adults, which was conducted from Nov. 17 to 19, found that only 15 percent say that things never stopped being normal for them a reminder of just how profoundly the virus has disrupted American life.

Yet as the U.S. pandemic enters its 21st month, most Americans now characterize their own lives as either "very normal" (21 percent) or "somewhat normal" (53 percent), considering the impact of COVID-19.

People enter a COVID-19 testing site in February in Seattle. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Far fewer say their lives are either not very normal (19 percent) or not normal at all (7 percent).

After falling nationally for more than a month, COVID-19 cases are surging again in places with cooler weather that were spared the worst of the initial Delta spike in the U.S., which hit undervaccinated Southern states hardest this summer. Hospitalizations, up 6 percent nationwide over the last two weeks, are beginning to rise, too.

In that light, a return to normal may seem premature and for many, it very well could be. A full 70 percent of unvaccinated Americans, for instance the people who continue to account for nearly all COVID hospitalizations and deaths describe their own lives as normal, and about a quarter of them say their lives are very normal (25 percent) or never stopped being normal to begin with (27 percent). Thats more than the number of vaccinated Americans who say the same (19 percent and 8 percent, respectively).

Likewise, nearly two-thirds of unvaccinated Americans (65 percent) now say that COVID poses either a small threat (31 percent) or no threat (34 percent) to them personally, and just 42 percent of unvaccinated Americans compared to 63 percent of fully vaccinated Americans say they wear a mask in public always or most of the time.

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This suggests that in many cases, the people with the least protection against COVID are also the ones being the least careful about it a dynamic that could make the coming winter wave more difficult and deadly than it needs to be.

At the same time, however, its important to note that 71 percent of U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and for them, returning to normal was both the point and the promise of getting vaccinated in the first place.

The poll shows that promise is being fulfilled, as vaccinated Americans learn to live with COVID.

Asked why your life is back to normal again, 57 percent of Americans which represents nearly everyone who says their lives stopped being normal because of COVID-19 but now say things have returned to normal again mention vaccines. Given the chance to select from a series of reasons all that apply, 38 percent of respondents cited the reason as being I am vaccinated, 8 percent cited the children in my life are vaccinated, 21 percent cited the seniors in my life are vaccinated and 13 percent cited I got a booster shot.

Strollers in New York City enjoy a warm evening in February. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Asked on a follow-up question to name the single most important reason why their own lives are back to normal, 30 percent of Americans choose some aspect of vaccine availability far more than choose cases are low in my community (4 percent); businesses are fully reopened in my community (7 percent); I no longer have to wear a mask in public (5 percent); I know I can get a life-saving treatment if COVID makes me sick (3 percent); schools are open again (3 percent); or Ive already had COVID (4 percent).

As a result, behavior has changed dramatically over the past year including a near doubling in reports of unmasked gatherings. In October 2020, 26 percent of registered voters said they "remove[d] their mask outdoorswith people who aren't members of [their] immediate family" every day or more than once a week; today, 50 percent of registered voters say they do.

Back then, 19 percent of registered voters also said they "removed their mask indoors with people who aren't members of [their] immediate family" every day or more than once a week; today, 38 percent of registered voters say they do.

Similarly, the number of registered voters who now say they eat indoors at a restaurant (31 percent) and work unmasked in close proximity to others (32 percent) at least once a week is nearly twice as high as last October (17 percent and 18 percent, respectively).

And while only 30 percent of registered voters said they were planning to gather indoors with family and friends last Thanksgiving, 57 percent now say thats how theyre planning to celebrate this year.

As the hypercontagious Delta variant continues to spread across the Northeast and Upper Midwest and as protection from the initial vaccine doses wears off somewhat its reasonable to wonder (and worry) what effect increased indoor, unmasked gatherings will have on COVID rates this holiday season. Just one-third (34 percent) of fully vaccinated Americans say theyve already received a booster; less than half of seniors (49 percent) say the same. Along with lack of caution among the unvaccinated, waning immunity could exacerbate the U.S. winter wave.

A waiter serves food to customers dining indoors at Langer's Deli in Los Angeles in August. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Yet even as they restore some semblance of normalcy in their own lives, most Americans (55 percent) continue to wear masks in public most or all of the time, and even more (71 percent) say no when asked if the pandemic is over in the U.S. Only 16 percent say yes.

Most Americans also think the pandemic will get worse (44 percent) or stay the same (39 percent) this fall and winter; just 16 percent think it will get better. Asked how long they envision wearing a mask after theyre no longer required, just 29 percent of Americans say never; the rest say whenever Im in public anywhere (19 percent); whenever Im in public, but just indoor spaces (24 percent); or only during flu/COVID/cold season (13 percent).

How to reconcile the return to normalcy with continued caution and even pessimism about the pandemic itself? Increasingly, Americans are learning to "live with" COVID by distinguishing between the risks to themselves and the risks to others.

Asked whether the pandemic is "over as it pertains to your own life" as opposed to whether its "over in the U.S." twice as many Americans (32 percent) say yes. And while 41 percent of Americans now describe COVID-19 as posing at least some threat to them personally, more say it still poses at least some threat to "others in your life" (52 percent) or to "America as a whole" (69 percent).

The partisan polarization that has plagued the United States response to COVID persists even here. Among those who voted for former President Donald Trump in the last election, 61 percent say the pandemic is over as it pertains to their own lives, versus just 16 percent of those who voted for President Biden. Likewise, 83 percent of Trump voters say COVID poses no threat or a small threat to them personally; 74 percent say it poses no threat or a small threat to others in their lives; and 62 percent say it poses no threat or a small threat to the United States as a whole.

President Biden discusses the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11, at the White House campus earlier in November. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In contrast, the vast majority of Biden voters say COVID poses a big threat or some threat to the country as a whole (97 percent) or to others in their lives (72 percent), even as far fewer (55 percent) say the same about the personal threat posed by the virus.

That goes a long way toward explaining why 77 percent of Democrats wear a mask most of the time in public, compared to just 31 percent of Republicans despite the fact that similar numbers of Democrats (76 percent) and Republicans (82 percent) describe their own lives as normal.

Just 58 percent of Republicans say they have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 85 percent of Democrats, while only 32 percent of Republicans say they have already received a booster (13 percent) or would get one if available (19 percent), compared to 73 percent of Democrats (32 percent already received, 41 percent would get one if available).

As for the 26 percent of all Americans who say their lives are still not normal, they remain deeply divided over what the future holds. More say that they cannot envision life ever being normal again after COVID (9 percent) or that theyre not sure (9 percent) than say that they can envision a return to normalcy (8 percent).

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The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,696 U.S. adults interviewed online from Nov. 17 to 19, 2021. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race and education, based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as well as on 2020 presidential vote (or non-vote) and voter registration status. Respondents were selected from YouGovs opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 2.6 percent.

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Poll: As winter COVID surge begins, 74 percent of Americans say their lives have returned to 'normal' - Yahoo News

worker and car among huge stacks of money under year 2022 Illustration by Delphine Lee

The U.S. stock market continues to astound with its resiliency, overcoming obstacle after obstacle like a gold-medal track star clearing hurdles. Pandemic? No longer much of a problem. The highest inflation since the '90s? Not a deal breaker. Record-high stock prices? We'll pay up and buy every dip that comes along, no matter how minuscule.

The S&P 500 index logged 64 new highs in 2021 (as of early November), the second-highest annual total in index history. Since our January 2021 outlook a year ago, the broad market benchmark has returned 35.8%, including dividends. We said at the time to expect low-double-digit returns, but that if we were off, it would be because we were too conservative. At midyear, the upper end of bullish 2021 price targets for the S&P 500 among Wall Street strategists reached the 4,600 mark. On Nov. 5 (the date for prices, returns and other data in this article), the index closed at 4,698.

Will the juggernaut continue in 2022?

Our answer is a qualified yes. It has proved to be a mistake to underestimate corporate America, and the market enjoys some strong fundamental underpinnings. But the old challenges remain, and new ones have surfaced.

So, once again, we encourage investors to moderate their expectations. You can only reopen an economy once (fingers crossed), and we are likely at or past peaks for growth rates in the economy and corporate profits.

"We head into the new year with a glass-half-full outlook," says Eric Freedman, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "But like most market environments, this one is a mosaic of risks, some forecastable and some not."

For 2022, we expect more-normalized stock market returns. That means something in the high single digits, plus between one and two points in dividends. Think somewhere a bit above 5,050 for the S&P 500, or north of 39,000 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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For now, in broad terms, we prefer stocks to bonds and U.S. markets over international offerings, and we like the looks of small companies, value-priced fare and companies that do well when the economy does and can cash in on supercharged consumer spending. Later in the year, in a more temperate post-COVID economy, look to larger-capitalization healthcare and technology names for long-term, stable growth.

Investors will have to pick their spots carefully in 2022 and may not be able to rely on a rising tide lifting all boats either in broad index terms or even within a particular investment style or sector. "It will be a decent year for stocks if you're a stock picker, a more modest year if you're an S&P 500 investor," says Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

Economic growth, although decelerating from a strong reopening bounce, is expected to remain robust in 2022, with the U.S. leading global developed economies.

The health of the American consumer is a big part of the story, says Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at securities firm Baird. "I'm bullish on the U.S. economy and U.S. stocks," he says. "Our economy is consumer-driven and consumption-based, and we emerged from the recession with consumers in a better position than they've been in long-term memory." Debt in relation to income is down, and debt service is manageable with still low, albeit rising, interest rates, he notes.

The Conference Board, a business and economic research group, forecasts U.S. gross domestic product growth of 3.8% in 2022. That's down from an estimated 5.7% in 2021 but well above the pre-pandemic trendline of 2.2% from 2010 through 2019. Kiplinger's forecast of 4% growth in 2022 is more optimistic than the Conference Board's. By 2023, many economists expect GDP growth to fall back to the 2% to 3% range.

With the economy on solid footing, the Federal Reserve has begun to peel away the crisis measures it instituted when the pandemic first hit. The Fed announced in November that it would start scaling back its massive bond-buying program, a process likely to conclude next summer. The last time the Fed tapered a bond-buying program aimed at shoring up the economy, in 2013 and 2014, the stock market dipped in a so-called "taper tantrum" but recovered nicely.

The central bank will likely start raising rates in the second half of 2022. Kiplinger sees two quarter-point hikes in the Fed's short-term benchmark rate in 2022, with hikes continuing into 2023. Look for the yields of 10-year Treasury notes to reach 2.3% by year-end 2022, up from 1.5% recently.

Rising rates put fixed-income investors in a bind, because bond prices typically move in the opposite direction of rates. You'll do best by venturing beyond plain-vanilla Treasuries.

"Most of our fixed-income picks are what we call non-core," says Shalett, "in areas like bank loans, preferred shares, convertible bonds, select mortgage-backed securities a lot of it is very nontraditional."

Given today's challenges, corporate profits are surprisingly strong, despite the trials of the pandemic, rising production costs, supply chain snafus and labor shortages.

U.S. companies recorded a brilliant third quarter, with an earnings growth rate for companies in the S&P 500 expected to be 41.5% when all the reports are tallied, according to earnings tracker Refinitiv. Nearly 81% of companies beat analysts' estimates in a typical quarter, only 66% do so.

When the books close on 2021, analysts expect profits to be up 49% from 2020 levels. Earnings will come back to earth in 2022, with analysts expecting annual growth more along the lines of 7% to 8%, closer to the long-term historical average. Expect the strongest growth in industrials and energy stocks, plus the consumer discretionary sector (companies that make or provide nonessential goods or services).

For investors worried that a stock market at all-time highs is too pricey, the strong earnings support should allay some fears. The market "melt-up" in 2021 (the opposite of a meltdown) has been led by a melt-up in earnings rather than by the inflating price-earnings ratios that drove stocks in 2020, notes economist and market strategist Ed Yardeni.

"An earnings-led bull market is much better than a P/E-led bull market; it's less prone to sell-offs because it is supported by fundamentally strong earnings," he says. The S&P 500's P/E has drifted down from a high of more than 23 to just over 21 recently, even as the index keeps climbing.

"That tells you how great earnings growth has been," says Tony DeSpirito, chief investment officer of U.S. Fundamental Equities at investment giant BlackRock. "That's been kind of lost on people."

Perhaps the biggest risk facing the market this year is one with a long reputation as a bull-crusher: inflation. Inflation erodes the value of financial assets and ushers in higher interest rates as central bankers try to tamp it down.

In October, inflation measured by the consumer price index was up 6.2% from a year earlier, the highest annual rate since November 1990. It marked the sixth straight month above 5%. Kiplinger expects inflation to hit 6.6% by year-end 2021 before falling back to 2.8% by the end of 2022 above the 2% average rate of the past decade.

"Inflation is in the air, and it risks becoming a market issue, an economic issue and a political issue," says Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.

The run-up in prices is a result of surging demand from consumers with plenty of savings to spend colliding with stubbornly persistent supply-chain bottlenecks. It's exacerbated by labor shortages putting upward pressure on wages, as younger workers remain slow to return to the post-COVID workforce or change to better-paying gigs while an increasing number of older workers opt out for good.

Some of that will resolve with the end of the pandemic or our acceptance of living with it. Nixon is confident that inflation will ultimately revert to the low-level "stuckflation," as she calls it, that characterized the pre-COVID era. But longer-term demographic trends and a movement toward deglobalized trade and supply chains "may coalesce in an extended period of steadily rising prices," conclude Conference Board economists.

Keep an eye on corporate profit margins in 2022; they'll be a key measure of how companies are coping with rising costs. For now, solid economic and earnings growth seem the most likely model for the near future, says Yardeni. A darker scenario would play out if price hikes and wage increases were to start to feed off of each other in a wage-price spiral reminiscent of the 1970s, especially if economic and earnings growth rates are pinched by continuing parts and labor shortages.

"I hate to say it, but 'stagflation' is a relevant word here, says Yardeni. He currently assigns a 65% probability to a growthy, "roaring '20s" scenario and only a 35% probability to the stagflation story.

The first order of business in 2022 is to protect your portfolio from inflation, if you haven't already. If you bought Treasury inflation-protected securities early in 2021, congratulations, you're ahead of the curve.

Now, TIPS are "massively expensive," says Morgan Stanley's Shalett. "We're sellers of TIPS." One alternative: Series I savings bonds, paying a rate of 7.12% through April 2022.

Because of their growth potential, stocks are a good long-term hedge against inflation especially if you zero in on companies with pricing power. They can either control costs to keep profit margins plump or pass on price increases because of strong demand for their products.

Companies with a Buy rating from BofA Securities that sport growing sales, healthy margins and expanding market share include farm equipment firm Deere & Co. (DE, $355), streaming giant Netflix (NFLX, $646), chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM, $163) and Prologis (PLD, $147), a real estate investment trust (REIT) that is also a member of the Kiplinger ESG 20, the list of our favorite stocks and funds with an environmental, social and governance focus. Investment firm Capital Group notes that Netflix has raised subscription rates in the U.S. four times since 2014 while maintaining robust subscriber growth.

Firms with low labor costs are also a good bet. According to Goldman Sachs, healthcare distributor AmerisourceBergen (ABC, $128) rings up an average of $9.6 million in sales per employee. For context, the median S&P 500 company can chalk up $400,000 in revenues per worker.

As hypersonic stock-price returns start to trail off, dividends will be a more important contributor to total returns in 2022 and beyond. "We see dividend preservation and growth as the single most important criteria for stock selection, which could potentially be the difference between a flat-to-negative and a positive return over the next 10 years in the S&P 500," write strategists at BofA Securities. They also make the case that in terms of inflation protection, stocks with growing dividends are in the sweet spot between commodities (all inflation protection, no yield) and bonds (all yield, no inflation protection).

You'll have plenty of dividend payers to choose from. Companies are restoring payouts that were curtailed during the pandemic.

A proposal in Washington to levy a 1% charge on corporate buybacks could sway cash-rich companies to favor dividend payouts, says BlackRock's DeSpirito, who also manages the firm's Equity Dividend Fund. And companies are increasingly responding to investors' thirst for income. "We continue to be in a yield-starved world. Demographically, the need for income is the highest it's ever been," says DeSpirito.

Stocks in the Kiplinger Dividend 15 (the list of our favorite dividend stocks) with a history of rising payouts include pharmaceutical firm AbbVie (ABBV, $117, yield 4.8%) and defense contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT, $340, 3.3%). Stocks that BofA recommends with yields that can stand up to inflation include a number of energy firms, including Chevron (CVX, $115, 4.7%) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC, $66, 3.7%).

Dividend-growth funds worth a look include Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX) and T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth (PRDGX). The latter is available in an exchange-traded version (TDVG, $34).

Like Janus, the ancient Roman god of transitions and dualities, the stock market will be two-sided in 2022, says Freedman, from U.S. Bank.

In the first part of the year through the second or third quarter cyclical stocks, or those most tied to the economy, should dominate, including consumer discretionary stocks, such as leisure and hospitality names, and financials. Small- and mid-cap stocks should shine, says Freedman, as well as stocks with a value orientation.

In the back half of the year, says Freedman, as COVID shifts from "pandemic to endemic" and the economy settles into a steadier but slower growth mode, look for tech and healthcare to lead. Those sectors are supported by long-term trends not easy to reverse, such as the demographics of an aging global population and the search for productivity gains in an increasingly digital economy.

Financials, and banks in particular, should profit from a yield curve that is expected to steepen, with long-term rates rising faster than short-term rates, allowing banks to charge more on loans than what they pay to borrow.

"Banks are our number-one sector preference," says Morgan Stanley's Shalett. The potential savings as banks transition from a branch-oriented business, heavy on employees and real estate, to more of a digital model is not yet reflected in stocks' prices, she says. Consider Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Financials (RYF, $66), an exchange-traded fund that gives as much weight to smaller, regional banks as it does to big money center institutions (it's also a member of the Kiplinger ETF 20).

Gain broad exposure to consumer discretionary companies those providing goods or services that consumers dont have to buy but want to with Vanguard Consumer Discretionary (VCR, $356), but be warned that Tesla (TSLA) and Amazon.com (AMZN) account for one-third of the portfolio.

With a recovery in travel gaining momentum, analysts at investment firm Jefferies say online travel-services firm Booking Holdings (BKNG, $2,619) is "a solid value play." Research firm CFRA is high on air travel, with Strong Buy ratings on Alaska Air (ALK, $59), Delta Air Lines (DAL, $44) and Southwest Airlines (LUV, $52). Among casinos, Jefferies recommends MGM Resorts International (MGM, $50) and Caesars Entertainment (CZR, $106), citing strength in digital gaming and historically high profit margins.

Small-company stocks have taken the market lead and lost it more than once during this recovery.

"They face some unique headwinds emerging from COVID, says Baird's Mayfield. Bigger companies have more workarounds in a COVID-constricted environment, with employees able to work from home or the ability to shift to more e-commerce, whereas many smaller firms are customer-facing and hospitality-focused. "Relative performance has not been what we expect coming out of a recession," says Mayfield. "Small caps have room to play catch-up, and it's likely they'll do so."

For a slug of small caps, try iShares Core S&P Small-Cap (IJR, $120), an ETF 20 pick. Or call in a pro with actively managed T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value (PRSVX), a member of the Kiplinger 25, the list of our favorite no-load funds.

Tech stocks are likely due for a bout of turbulence as interest rates rise. And after warnings in recent earnings reports from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com, we learned that they're not immune from supply-chain woes or rising-wage pressures. But as 2022 rolls on, you might hear tech and healthcare names, instead of utilities and packaged food firms, touted as a new breed of defensive stock.

"Tech is the new staple," says DeSpirito. "It's remarkably resilient." Healthcare stocks can count on stable growth as society ages and requires more medical care, he says. Making the most of a flexible approach, T. Rowe Price Global Technology (PRGTX), a Kip 25 fund, is a good choice.

The boom in semiconductors has legs far beyond today's supply crunch. Research from investment management firm Capital Group notes that chips are used in everything from phones and laptops to refrigerators and ovens (new cars require as many as 100 chips) and are essential to technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and 5G wireless. Cash in with Fidelity Select Semiconductors Portfolio (FSELX). Our healthcare picks include UnitedHealth Group (UNH, $456) and Kip 25 fund Fidelity Select Health Care (FSPHX).

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The five-day Thanksgiving weekend stretch known as one of the biggest box office blocks of the year will see Disney's "Encanto" battle Lady Gaga's "House of Gucci" as cinemas compete for moviegoers' attention, and hope to offset jitters associated with COVID-19.

Box Office Pro chief analyst Shawn Robbins told Yahoo Finance that consumers can expect more options than last year, but don't expect ticket sales to reach pre-pandemic levels just yet.

"This is certainly quite a turnaround from a year ago when very little was coming out and very few people were going to theaters, but we're also not quite back to the level of two years ago," the analyst said.

"Still, I think we're going to see a major shift this weekend," Robbins added.

"Encanto," set to run exclusively in theaters, is widely expected to come out on top, with Box Office Pro estimating that the film will attract upwards of $42 million over the three-day opening weekend.

Disney's "Encanto" (Courtesy: Walt Disney Animation Studios)

Robbins said he believes vaccine availability for kids will play "a major role in parents decisions to take kids out to movies" although a full return will "still take time."

Still rising COVID-19 infections is leading to some hesitancy among moviegoers. "I don't think it's everybody coming back at once, but this is part of the transition process of this recovery. I think we'll see the next big turning point over the holiday," Robbins added.

Following "Encanto," Box Office Pro estimates that the the heavily marketed "House of Gucci" will earn between $14 million - $19 million over the three-day weekend.

Still, the film which cost a whopping $75 million to produce has received mixed reviews, which could deter some consumers from venturing out to see it on the big screen.

"I do think reviews are important," Robbins said, although he noted that star power is equally important, citing the movie's all-star cast that also includes Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek and Al Pacino.

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"These are names that still sell and I think Lady Gaga in particular is going to be really important to bring out that 18 to 35-year-old audience, but especially women around that age, and maybe even [older]," he explained.

Other flashy titles set to receive the holiday treatment this year include "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" and "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City."

Overall, Robbins cautioned that pandemic-era challenges will still persist, regardless of the films available.

"The risk is still the fact that the pandemic isn't over. There's a lot of pandemic fatigue," he said.

With Disney's "Encanto" set for an exclusive 30-day theatrical run, Robbin's hinted at a "new normal" in which the three-month theatrical window will disappear replaced by an updated 45-day version.

This is a "major step for Disney" compared to the company's previous day-and-date release model, Robbins said. He added that it will be "a balancing act" for studios when deciding which films should go to streaming and which should play out at the box office.

"It's certainly become a more complicated calculation," he added.

Alexandra is a Producer & Entertainment Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193

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From 'Encanto' to 'House of Gucci,' Thanksgiving box office set to battle 'pandemic fatigue' - Yahoo Finance

Amazon's stock was priced at $18 when it went public in 1997. Today, the stock trades for more than $3,600 as the tech behemoth has cashed in on surging markets such as cloud services and online retail.

Veteran tech analyst Mark Mahaney of Evercore ISI thinks Uber (UBER) could be the next Amazon-like investment as it capitalizes on its own expanding market known as the on-demand economy.

"To me, Uber fits the bill of a still early stage company that has massive TAMs [total addressable markets]. It's not founder led and that is one negative. But it has a compelling value proposition," Mahaney said on Yahoo Finance Live.

Mahaney the author of new tech investment book Nothing But Net believes Uber has an opportunity to take advantage of hot growth markets like ride-hailing and delivery.

"The total addressable markets that Uber faces are truly massive. We are talking about ride-hailing and delivery, not just restaurant food delivery but all sorts of delivery. I call those trillion dollar TAMs," Mahaney explained.

After a disastrous IPO in 2019, Uber has begun to show it's getting its act together. The company has sold off non-core assets to slash expenses, while also investing more behind its core businesses of ride-hailing and delivery.

Uber's third quarter marked the first time as a public company in which it delivered adjusted operating profits. Third quarter bookings rose 57% from the prior year as mobility picked up with the COVID-19 pandemic rounding the corner.

For the fourth quarter, Uber sees adjusted operating profits in a range of $25 million to $75 million.

Despite the operational progress, Uber has a ways to go to show it could be an Amazon-like stock as Mahaney suggests.

Uber shares are down 12% year to date, under-performing rival Lyft (LYFT) whose stock is unchanged on the year. At $44.59 currently, Uber's stock trades below its 2019 IPO pricing of $45.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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