Category Archives: Yahoo

Through City Swing, Tari Cash is disrupting stereotypes surrounding golf. (Photo: City Swing)

Sports have the incredible ability to bring individuals of all backgrounds and socioeconomic levels together. However, it's not as simple to expose people to various athletics. One woman is looking to change that narrative, and she's using golf as a means to introduce more women and minorities to the sport.

Tari Cash is the founder of City Swing, a Washington, D.C.-based virtual golf facility that allows individuals of all experience levels to put their skills to the test. Cash's motivation for starting the brand catapulted following an episode in April 2018. According to CNN, police were called on five Black women for allegedly playing golf too slowly at a semi-private course in Pennsylvania they'd recently joined.

Cash has capitalized off the early success with City Swing Foundation, a nonprofit that provides access, free lessons and equipment to underrepresented and unserved communities in the nation's capital.

The former Under Armour exec spoke with Yahoo Sports about City Swing's birth, misconceptions about golf and a greater need for minority inclusion within the golf community.

Yahoo Sports: How did you come up with the concept of City Swing?

Tari Cash: "We started the company in 2018 and I think the years leading up to its inception is when it really started to click how much I was using golf as a strategic tool to create relationships with executives at the companies I worked with. They were seeing me differently after we played golf together or spoke about our our shared love for golf. At the same time, indoor golf and golf simulation was becoming a trend. It was very popular in Asia and was slowly making its way to the United States, but hadn't really jumped off.

"So, the intersection of me understanding that this was an important tool for business reasons and the fact that there was not an indoor golf simulator in D.C., those were really the key points that gave me the confidence to say, 'Let's go do this.' We started with a popup in 2018 just to see if it made sense. Thankfully, it really resonated with the local community and once we got validation, I thought, 'Let's try to create a company.' "

Story continues

YS: Why do you think golf was the solution to connecting with executives compared to other method you tried in the past?

TC: "Yeah. I love that question. When golfing, you're spending four to five hours with these people. You're put into a foursome and the majority of athletic activity is a very small fraction of the total round. Most of the time you're riding in a cart or you're walking to your ball, so you're talking about family, vacations, business, etc. And that's how quality relationships are built when not in a conference room or a dinner where you're maybe getting 10 minutes with someone. Even though it's a long round, it's a much more efficient way to build deep relationships."

YS: I want to pivot to your foundation. Is that something that you knew you wanted to establish when you first started City Swing?

TC: "Yeah, I did. City Swing was born in 2018 and the foundation two years later. But we were always a social impact company from the very beginning. My mission has always been to create spaces where women and people of color feel really comfortable and connected to the game. The foundation is really our way of being able to go to those groups, provide a really fun and free first golfing experience and hopefully give them the tools needed to truly learn the game. My philosophy is that as you learn golf, those other characteristics like leadership and team building will also develop."

YS: What is a misconception that people normally have when you first interact with them about their golfing experience and how is City Swing working to eliminate those misconceptions?

TC: "I think the biggest misconception is that you need to be good at golf to start playing. So many people, particularly women, find they are actually ready to play on the course for a long time before they actually begin. That really only comes with time and practice. Particularly for women, we tend to wait, I think, a little longer than necessary to learn the game.

"At City Swing, we're going to teach you the terminology, how to use the equipment and, of course, the etiquette. There are techniques to golf that makes playing seamless. Once you nail those down, the focus can be on fostering healthy relationships. It's just about going at your own pace. We all remember the first time we learned to do anything, right?

"Women of color are an underrepresented group in general, and they haven't been playing golf because they haven't been invited into the game. Not because there's a lack of interest. We're making it inviting and welcoming, which in turn sees an increase in curiosity."

YS: Looking ahead, what are other intentions you want to take with not only City Swing, but also the foundation?

TC: "City Swing has three components to it. We've got our brick-and-mortar, the golf truck and the foundation. The three of those really work together to make golf more accessible and welcoming. The truck and the studios are huge opportunities for us to scale and grow the foundation as well. What we'll do is focus on mobilizing the golf truck for both events and our foundation. Eventually we'll open more studios nationwide and overseas. The goal is to be a global brand, and I believe we'll get there in due time."

Original post:

Tari Cash, a former bank exec, is on a mission to make golf more accessible and affordable - Yahoo Sports

The NFL preseason is just about over. Following Sunday night's contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions, coaches will gather to discuss which players on the roster bubble will make the final 53-man roster.

The final day to make that determination is Tuesday, Aug. 30. Teams must have their final 53-man roster submitted by 4 p.m. ET.

Being on the roster bubble isn't always a bad thing. Players who performed well in the preseason could find themselves traded to another club. Even those who do get cut can get picked up by another team, or land on a team's practice squad.

Want to know what moves your favorite team is making as its final roster takes shape? Keep it here for updates and analysis of the biggest moves before NFL rosters are finalized.

Read more:

NFL 2022 roster cuts: Which players will be released or traded before the start of the regular season? - Yahoo Sports

Walmart (WMT) may have an edge over its competition, Target selling gasoline. Walmart+ members can save 10 cents a gallon at a number of participating Walmart, Murphy, Exxon and Mobil (XOM) stations nationwide.

"This is actually Walmart's secret ingredient over Target," Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Refinitiv.

In Walmart's second-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings results, year-over-year sales grew 6.5%. This quarter alone, membership income grew 25.6%, according to Martis.

"When you look at the same store sales number, not only are these customers opening a membership to save money at the pump, but they're parking their cars, and they're going inside of the store and this is translating into strong same store sales, excluding gas," Martis told Yahoo Finance.

"This is telling us that the middle-class and the high-end consumer, they're trading down ... they're opening up a membership at Sam's Club [a division of Walmart] in order to save money at the pump."

Analysts polled at Refinitiv "are more bullish on the discounters that sell gasoline versus the ones that don't," like its direct competition Target (TGT) and other discount retailers like Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Dollar General (DG).

Shares of Walmart are down more than 8 percent compared to a year ago, whereas shares of Target are down nearly 33%.

Consumer spending is not as strong as it once was, according to Wells Fargo Investment Institute Investment Strategy Analyst Veronica Willis who believes the rush to spend is in the rearview mirror.

Were already seeing some signs that consumer spending may start to weaken and that strength in the consumer has been the bright spot in the economy," Willis told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview, "Once that starts to weaken, I think we're at risk for some more economic contractions."

In April 2021, there was a major boost in consumer spending following the release in stimulus checks. In the month of July 2022, retail sales remained relatively the same month-over-month but were up more than 10% compared to a year prior.

Story continues

BLOOMSBURG, UNITED STATES - 2022/08/18: The Walmart logo is displayed outside their store near Bloomsburg. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.

Click here for the latest trending stock tickers of the Yahoo Finance platform

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube

Continued here:

Walmart has a 'secret ingredient' in Target competition, analyst says - Yahoo Finance

For more business and finance explainers, check out our Yahoo U page.

Every year in August, the Federal Reserve holds a small gathering of the worlds leading economists and policymakers against the backdrop of the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming.

Only about 120 people attend the event every year, but the publicly-released papers and speeches as well as media engagements by policymakers have made the Kansas City Fed's Economic Policy Symposium a landmark event for Fed watchers and investors tuned in from afar.

The event has also become a globally significant affair, with central bank governors and heads traveling from as far as Japan to spend time at the Jackson Lake Lodge.

What happens at the symposium?

The late August event is usually three days, and begins with a dinner on Thursday. The next morning usually kicks off with a speech from the sitting Fed chair, followed by other speeches and panel discussions.

The conference is separate from the Feds eight, pre-scheduled policy-setting meetings, during which the Federal Open Market Committee votes to change interest rate or balance sheet policies in response to economic conditions.

But Fed chairs, aware of the heightened attention, have used speeches at the Jackson Hole meeting to provide an update on economic conditions and signal policy shifts ahead.

The heads of major central banks (i.e. the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England) are familiar faces at the events, offering opportunities to face-to-face interactions in and outside of the Jackson Hole Lodge's conference rooms.

On-site media interviews with various Fed officials add to the flurry of communication coming out of Jackson Hole, giving investors plenty of tea leaves to read on where policy could go in the future.

What has happened at previous symposiums?

Jackson Hole conferences of years past have underscored just how sensitive markets can be to the happenings in Wyoming.

In 1997, then-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan made remarks while global markets fretted over a currency crisis in Asia. Greenspan made a brief mention of Mexico in those remarks, sending the Mexican stock market tumbling on fears the Fed chair was signaling a spillover in the global financial system.

Story continues

The Fed had to clarify he was referring to the Mexican peso crisis of 1994, and not to some new emerging issue.

Politicians have also watched the event closely as well. In 2019, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a speech in the middle of then-President Donald Trumps campaign to berate the Fed into interest rate cuts. Trump, seemingly believing the Jackson Hole meeting was a policy-setting meeting, expressed disappointment that Powells speech did not coincide with a decision to lower interest rates.

Trump would respond by asking whether Powell was a bigger enemy to the nation than Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Why in Jackson Hole, Wyoming?

The Federal Reserves outpost in Kansas City originally conceived the event in 1978 as a forum to discuss agricultural trade. But over the following years, the Kansas City Fed made efforts to broaden out the scope of the conference to general policy matters.

In 1982, the Kansas City Fed sought to pick a venue that would fish Fed Chairman Paul Volcker out of his base in Washington, D.C.

Knowing that Volcker enjoyed fly fishing, the Kansas City Fed originally sought to hold the event in Colorado, but the timing of August led them to pick a location farther north: Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The event has been consistently held there since, although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event into a virtual format in 2020 and then again in 2021.

When held in-person, protestors will often travel to Jackson known for its massive inequality gap and organize near the lodge. Groups like the Fed Up Campaign and 350.org have called on the Fed to pay more mind to policies that impact marginalized communities and climate financing.

Click here for the latest economic news and economic indicators to help you in your investing decisions

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube

View original post here:

Why markets care so much about the Fed's annual Jackson Hole meeting Yahoo U - Yahoo Finance

Despite tough competition in the resort industry, one company is doubling down on a specific region The Caribbean Islands.

On a recent episode of Influencers with Yahoo Finance Editor-In-Chief Andy Serwer, Sandals Resorts Executive Chairman Adam Stewart explained why his company has remained in that region instead of expanding to other parts of the world.

"We feel that the Caribbean is a really magical place," Stewart said, later adding: "Our mission is to share the best of the four corners of the Caribbean with the world."

The all-inclusive resort chain competes with many large brands including Marriott International, Club Med, and the cruise industry. At the moment, Sandals has 24 properties across eight countries: Antigua, The Bahamas, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Curaao, and Turks and Caicos.

A general view during the amazing Sandals Royal Curaao Grand Opening Weekend Celebration on June 24, 2022, in Santa Barbara, Curacao. (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for Sandals Resorts)

However, Stewart noted that Sandals stands apart from other brands thanks to its emphasis on the consumer experience.

We fascinate and we revel in everything to do with customer experience," Stewart said. "And I think it keeps the big boys on their toes."

Sandals owns every single one of its resorts and has a repeat guest ratio of roughly 50%. The chain also boasts a group of customers called Diamond Team members that earn the status after staying in Sandals resorts for more than 100 nights.

The baseline of the team, the culture, and the business, the 'can do' attitude to get things done all centered around consumer experiences is really our thing, Stewart explained. And our agility, our team, when you look at the people around this organization, to have worked for this company for 20 years, you're still kind of a rookie coming into it.

According to Stewart, Sandals is actively looking to expand its footprint in the Caribbean. In addition to its new resort in the Dutch Caribbean Island of Curaao, the chain has projects in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Turks and Caicos underway.

Dylan Croll is a reporter and researcher at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @CrollonPatrol.

Story continues

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube

Here is the original post:

Sandals executive on expansion plans: The Caribbean is a really magical place - Yahoo Finance

Yahoo has recently opened up its fantasy hockey, and with it, its mock draft rooms.

Mock drafts are an important tool in understanding how your fellow general managers feel about certain players. It allows you to prepare different draft strategies in preparation for your fantasy draft. For instance, maybe you want to try the zero-goalie draft strategy, where you dont select a goalie before a specific round. Mock drafts will give you a sense of what netminders may be available when you decide to start selecting them.

When it comes time to the draft, many fantasy general managers will simply go by Yahoos ranking system (although so far this offseason, the regular ranking and the experts ranking are the same). There are also no projections yet for 2022-23, which can make it tougher for those who dont do a lot of fantasy leagues.

Ive been doing a few mock drafts over the past week.

Below are the top 10 players ranked too high on Yahoo. While the value of players will rise and fall depending on your leagues categories and how many rounds it goes, keep in mind that Yahoos default categories are goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play points, shots on goal and hits for forwards and defensemen, and wins, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts for netminders. A usual Yahoo draft is 16 rounds, with general managers looking to draft two centres, two left wingers, two right wingers, four defensemen, two goalies and four bench spots.

10. Anton Lundell

Lundell is ranked 112th overall, although early fantasy drafts have pushed his average draft position around 156th. However, in Yahoo leagues with the usual categories, why would you even want to draft Lundell unless its a super-deep league? In 65 games last year, Lundell had 18 goals, 26 assists, plus-33, four power-play points, 125 shots and 26 hits. Essentially, youre hoping he can increase in every category (aside from plus/minus), which may be too much of an ask.

9. Marc-Andre Fleury

In most leagues, hes still worth a top-15 pick. But in these league settings, its a different story. However, hes ranked in the top 10, and is being selected seventh or eighth in most of the mock drafts Ive been doing. Thats why its important to know your league settings. If your league counts saves, it gives a boost to Fleury. While hell probably pick up plenty of wins behind Minnesotas offense, his numbers for goals against average and save percentage were below average last year, even in his 11 regular season games with the Wild (and were even worse in the postseason).

8. Max Pacioretty

This is a reminder for anyone who will miss their draft and will need to auto draft to ensure you pre-rank your players to remove anyone who may be injured. Pacioretty is expected to miss most of this season with an Achilles injury. However, hes still ranked 40th overall, which means someone will waste a third or fourth-round pick on him. I did a 12-team mock draft on Sunday where there were only two auto draft teams, and Pacioretty was selected 52nd overall by one of those teams. Other players who will miss a good chunk of the season and you may want to move down your list include Robin Lehner, Charlie McAvoy, Anthony Duclair, Carey Price, Anthony Cirelli, Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom.

7. Nazem Kadri

After last season, when Kadri put up a 100-point pace, the newest Calgary Flame is going to be valued exceptionally high in many leagues. Besides points, he also put up a career high in shots per game (almost half a shot more than the previous season and a full shot over the previous few years to that). He also had a career high in power-play points, but his hit rate is no longer worthy of consideration. On Yahoo, hes ranked 56th overall and has an average draft position of 65th. While he may still be a productive player, he is due for regression back to normal and he isnt worth that high a pick. You may be better off drafting him in the position you would have a year ago.

6. Rookies

There are always plenty of rookies ranked too high, and each year you are warned not to take them over established veterans. Think of those who drafted Cole Caufield high last season, and how those GMs were forced to drop him when he was sent to the AHL. This year, youll see Owen Power ranked ahead of defensemen such as Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, Brent Burns and others. Matthew Beniers is ahead of Ryan Johansen, Logan Couture and Tyler Seguin. William Eklund is ahead of Jared McCann, Alex Killorn and Nino Niederreiter. Shane Wright is ahead of Jamie Benn, Mikael Granlund and Jeff Carter. There are no guarantees any of these rookies will even play the season in the NHL. Youre better off going with the veterans that you know than the rookies that you dont.

5. Vasily Podkolzin

Last year, he had 14 goals, 12 assists, plus-seven, three power-play points, 115 shots and 84 hits in 79 games. Ranked 139th overall in Yahoo, anyone drafting Podkolzin is hoping he can double his output from a season ago in almost every category. That isnt a recipe for success. Last year, his most frequent linemates were (in order): Elias Pettersson, Conor Garland, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. Thats some pretty good linemates, but not much production to show for it.

4. Spencer Knight

Its not as bad as a year ago, when Knight was ranked higher than Sergei Bobrovsky, but Knight is still ranked too high. Hes the 11th-ranked netminder, one behind Bobrovsky, and ahead of Tristan Jarry, Connor Hellebuyck and Cam Talbot. Even if Knight plays 35 games, he wont get as many wins as number one netminders on lesser teams, and his goals against average and save percentage arent great enough to waste that high a pick on.

3. Torey Krug

Krug is ranked as the 20th defenseman and 106th overall, but hes not the same player in St. Louis as he was in Boston. Hes gone from a 65-point pace with the Bruins to one in the low 50s with the Blues. His shot rate has declined each season and dropped to 1.8 per game last year. He also averages about a hit per game. Throw in the fact he is routinely missing games due to injury, and there are much better options for a defenseman that are ranked slightly lower, including Evan Bouchard and Dougie Hamilton.

2. Bowen Byram

Byram is going to be a stud in this league, but hes still a few years away from you considering drafting him around 132nd. He has Devon Toews and Cale Makar in front of him for ice time and power-play time, and he doesnt shoot enough (just 1.6 shots per game last year). Hes also a huge injury risk, playing only 30 games last year thanks to a concussion. Let someone else take the risk.

1. Jake Oettinger

Oettinger will be a much better play this year than any of the Stars netminders from a year ago, but hes ranked as the sixth-best goalie in the Yahoo system. Thats too high, and I wouldnt be selecting him as a top-10 goalie. Oettinger was awesome last year, but dont forget he faltered as the season went along, concluding his last 20 games with an 11-9-0 record, a .905 SV% and a 2.81 GAA. A full year as a starter will be great, but hes still young and could falter once again.

See the original post:

Top 10 Players Ranked Too High on Yahoo - dobberhockey.com

At this years Monterey Car Week, Lincoln (F) is celebrating a big milestone - in style.

The brand, now in its 100th year, will be a featured marque at Sundays Pebble Beach Concours dElegance and will show off its Model L100 electric concept vehicle. The electric vehicle (EV) concept is a massive vehicle with a completely configurable, luxurious interior that reimagines what it will be like to be transported in an autonomous future.

Ford CEO Jim Farley believes this is Lincolns future.

The biggest change in our industry isnt really electrification, its more about autonomy coming together with a software updatable vehicle, Farley told Yahoo Finance from inside the Model L100 Concept at the Quail Event in Carmel, California. Going to a digital powertrain is great, but the real change in our industry is going to be using your interior differently than you think at least on the high end.

For the interior at least, its something Farley calls a digitally enabled experience, which can be changed ad infinitum via software updates.

Lincolns transformation, which will see the brand go all-electric and introduce 4 new EV models by 2026, is mirroring the changes happening at Ford, where Farley has split up the business into two operating units in order to drive its EV transformation.

Lincoln Model L100 Concept Interior

For Farley, the split needed to happen in order to get things done, faster.

I have no idea why other people wouldnt to it, Farley says about splitting up the ICE (internal combustion engine) business and the EV business.

I was watching the company literally struggle; I saw a transmission engineer trying to learn about batteries, [the transformation] was just going to take too much time, we dont have time, were way behind, Farley says about the need to change the way Ford was doing business. So to catch up and pass we need to specialize I have no idea how we would make this transition if we didnt specialize.

Farley says Ford is currently insourcing many things, from electronic equipment to software things the company used to outsource. That has led to hiring new workers from other industries to help that change, one that is easier for the company to do with two separate business units.

Story continues

Farley believes the new incentives for EVs and componentry coming from the just signed Inflation Reduction Act is a big deal.

It will definitely help our industry, I would say our economists would be very favorable to what just happened, but the biggest benefit isnt the EV consumer credit, its the $35 per kilowatt hour (kWh) support for battery production in this country, Farley says.

Legedary race car driver and restorer Phil Hill

As a young man, Farley worked with legendary race car driver and car restoration expert Phil Hill and Monterey. He also worked on many cars that ended up at the Pebble Beach concours competition.

[Monterey Car Week] brings me back to, for me, my original love of our industry, and frankly how I paid for grad school, and the people I learned the most about cars from where those mechanics making eight bucks an hour, Farley said. I learned more about beauty, and excellence in engineering from them, than from any of our fancy engineers.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube

Read the original:

Ford CEO: Splitting off EV unit needed to happen to transition faster - Yahoo Finance

Aqib Talib wont be joining Amazons Thursday Night Football broadcast team after all.

Aqib told the NFL Networks Ian Rapoport on Sunday that, following the arrest of his brother after a shooting earlier this month, he will be stepping away from his role with Amazon.

Aqib was set to join Amazon as an analyst for its Thursday Night Football coverage this season.

Aqib brother, Yaqub Talib, turned himself into the Dallas County Jail earlier this month and is now facing murder charges after he allegedly shot and killed a youth football coach. Aqib was present for the incident, and witnesses told WFAA last week that Aqib instigated the fight by crossing the field during a game and confronting referees.

Aqibs lawyer said in a statement after the shooting that he was very distraught and devastated.

Aqib Talib was present when this unfortunate incident occurred and is very distraught and devastated over this terrible loss of life, his lawyer said. He would like to convey his condolences to the family of the victim and to everyone who witnessed this unfortunate tragedy.

Aqib played in the league for 12 seasons from 2008-2019, first with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before spending time with the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams. The 36-year-old defensive back was named a Pro Bowler five times and won a Super Bowl with the Broncos.

Aqib spent time with Fox as an analyst after retiring from the NFL in 2020.

Aqib Talib was going to join Amazon as an analyst for its "Thursday Night Football" coverage this fall. (Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Go here to see the original:

Aqib Talib splits with Amazon after brother allegedly shot, killed youth football coach - Yahoo Sports

For the fifth year in a row, Yahoo Sports is simulating an entire NFL season in "Madden." While there have been some dubious results in the past Nick Foles leading the Bears to the Super Bowl and Urban Meyer winning coach of the year this practice has produced an accurate champion way back in 2019.

This time around, things only slightly go astray, so lets jump right in.

Apparently Zach Wilson does have that dog in him, as the New York Jets somehow managed to finish 11-6 and win the AFC East for the first time since 2002, when Wilson was 3 years old. The second-year pro, whose current status for Week 1 is in question due to injury, had arguably the worst year of all the other 2021 first-round QBs (more on this later), but racked up 3,183 yards and 28 touchdowns while limiting his interceptions to just four on the season.

Outside of that, the rest of the division winners seem entirely in the realm of possibility. The Indianapolis Colts were by far the leagues most dominant team, going 16-1, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs (13-4) and Dallas Cowboys (12-5).

Note: Due to constraints, we were unable to simulate the 11-game suspension for Deshaun Watson.

Nothing too surprising to report with the simulations wild-card teams, all of whom finished either 11-6 or 10-7. The most notable takeaway is the NFC South being the most competitive division in the league, landing three playoff teams and the Atlanta Falcons, who just missed out, finishing at 8-9.

While nobody would be stunned to see the Bengals regress a little bit (they finished 8-9 in the sim and missed the postseason), Madden flat out doesnt like the Los Angeles Rams. Last years prediction had the Rams finishing 4-13 and Matthew Stafford having the worst year of his career. This year, things were a little bit better, but Los Angeles still missed the playoffs going 9-8.

Story continues

[It's fantasy football season: Create or join a league now!]

The Rams shouldnt feel too slighted though, since Madden sims might just have a bias against the City of Angels. The Chargers, a team many have pegged as a dark horse Super Bowl contender, finished 4-13, tied for the franchises fewest wins since 2015.

Prescott had arguably the greatest regular season of any quarterback in NFL history in the sim, finishing with 5,649 yards, 57 touchdowns and completing 72% of his passes. Despite Prescott setting single-season records for both yards and touchdowns, Dallas would still fall short in January, losing in the NFC championship game to the New Orleans Saints.

While the Falcons missed the playoffs, if things play out like Madden predicts, Atlanta hit two home runs early in the 2022 NFL draft. Drake London, a wide receiver out of USC, finished the season with 1,305 yards and 11 touchdowns, earning him the top offensive rookie award over Steelers wideout George Pickens. Arnold Ebiketie, meanwhile, the 38th overall pick out of Penn State, edged out Sauce Gardner to win Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, collecting 8.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. Capping it all off, while he did not win any hardware, Falcons third-round QB Desmond Ridder threw for 5,024 yards and 36 touchdowns with a 67% completion rate.

As far as the rest of the awards go, Rams receiver Cooper Kupp won Offensive Player of the Year after setting the single-season record for receiving yards with 2,114 (600 yards more than the simulations second-highest receiver, Robert Woods); Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby broke Michael Strahan and T.J. Watts sack record with 24.5 to win Defensive Player of the Year; and Frank Reichs Colts led the league in wins, earning him the Coach of the Year.

The Indianapolis Colts had a whopper of a regular season when Yahoo Sports simulated the 2022 campaign on "Madden NFL 23." (Photo credit: EA Sports)

While Wilson was the only second-year QB to lead his team to the playoffs, the other four passers taken in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft managed to have solid campaigns. Heres what their stat lines looked like:

Trevor Lawrence 4,612 yards, 43 TDs, 66% completion percentage

Trey Lance 3,778 yards, 28 TDs, 60% completion percentage

Justin Fields 4,108 yards, 30 TDs, 63% completion percentage

Mac Jones 4,820 yards, 29 TDs, 70% completion percentage

Of the four, Fields was the only one who led his team to a winning record, as the Bears finished 9-8 in the NFC North. New England finished 8-9, Jacksonville 7-10 and San Francisco 5-12.

Now that he's officially been named the starter in Carolina, its not out of the realm of possibility for Baker Mayfield to have a strong season and lead the Panthers to the playoffs. In the simulation, Mayfield finished with 3,955 yards and 31 touchdowns, which would both be career highs for the former No. 1 overall pick. The bizarre thing that happened was that the Steelers traded for Sam Darnold, despite drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 draft. Darnold finished with 4,410 yards, 27 touchdowns and 21 interceptions for Pittsburgh, which did not make the postseason.

In what appears to be a make-or-break year for the Dolphins and Tagovailoa, the "Madden" simulation appears to leave things as murky after the season as they currently are. Miami finished last in the AFC East at 6-11, and Tagovailoa threw for 3,944 yards, 21 touchdowns and completed 61% of his passes. While the yardage and touchdown totals would be the highest of his career, the offense appears mired in mediocrity with him under center. If the actual season plays out like this, get ready for Miami to have to make a difficult call next spring.

Davante Adams, Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz were three of the bigger name players to change teams this offseason. Ryan had by far the most success of the three, both individually and from a team perspective. The former NFL MVP threw for 4,492 yards and 41 touchdowns with a 69% completion rate, leading the Colts to the leagues best record. Ryan would not get a chance to erase the 28-3 cloud that hangs over his head however, as Indianapolis lost to Kansas City in the AFC championship game.

"Madden" expects Davante Adams to have a solid campaign in his first season as a Raider. (Photo credit: EA Sports)

Heres how Wentz and Adams finished their seasons:

Wentz 4,324 yards, 31 touchdowns 63% completion percentage

Adams 105 receptions, 1,513 yards, 9 touchdowns

While the Colts and Cowboys finished with the best records in the AFC and NFC, respectively, it was New Orleans and Kansas City that played in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona. When all was said and done, the Saints defeated the Chiefs, 34-14 to win the franchises second Super Bowl title. In a moment that brings everything perfectly full circle, Tyrann Mathieu was named Super Bowl MVP against his former team, in the stadium where the team that drafted him, the Cardinals, plays.

This was the fourth year in a row Madden placed the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Here's the list, in alphabetical order: Tom Brady, Joe Flacco, A.J. Green, DeSean Jackson, Julio Jones, Jason Kelce, Devin McCourty, Matt Ryan, Emmanuel Sanders, Harrison Smith, Ndamukong Suh and Trent Williams.

It seems surprising that weeks after being eliminated in the AFC championship game and coming off a 16-1 season that Matt Ryan would retire, but Madden seems to think that he and the other half of one of the most prolific QB-WR pairings in NFL history in Julio Jones will call it quits.

Few other names jumped out from the overall retirement list. As far as Brady goes, well all believe it when it actually happens for more than a few weeks.

More here:

'Madden NFL 23' predicts the 2022 season, including 16-1 Colts and Dak Prescott winning MVP - Yahoo Sports

Oil prices could spike again by the beginning of 2023, says one analyst.

"Domestically, whether it's oil or it's gas, these companies have very very limited incremental capacity at this time," Truist Securities Managing Director of Energy Research Neal Dingmann told Yahoo Finance Live.

U.S natural gas prices rallied on Monday to new 14-year highs over reserve concerns and the energy crisis in Europe. Oil prices declined during the session amid worries of a global slowdown and the prospects of a nuclear deal with Iran, which would translate into more crude entering the market.

Dingmann believes oil could fall to about $80 per barrel this year, before jumping to $110 in early next year.

"We're seeing the same thing from OPEC+. All these areas have very very little incremental capacity which makes for me the chance for a spike, whether that be for gas or oil very very possible by early next year," said Dingmann.

Oil futures came off the session lows after Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said OPEC+ may be forced to cut production due to a disconnect of fundamentals in the oil market.

West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) had been down more than 4% during todays session but came well off the lows to settle 54 cents lower at $90.23/barrel. Brent crude (BZ=F) futures fell 44 cents to settle at $96.28.

Ines is a markets reporter covering equities. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube

Link:

'Limited' oil and gas capacity could send prices higher in 2023, analyst says - Yahoo Finance