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Crashes are the best times to get rich heres why Robert Kiyosaki thinks bitcoins plunge is great news and how you can take advantage of it

Bitcoin is on a wild ride.

The worlds largest cryptocurrency soared to $68,990 last November. Now, its at around $29,000 a staggering 58% pullback from the peak.

If the downtrend continues, Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki says hes ready to start buying.

BITCOIN CRASHING. Great news, he tweeted last week. I am waiting for Bitcoin to crash to 20k. Will then wait for test of bottom which might be $17k. Once I know bottom is in I back up the truck. Crashes are the best times to get rich.

Kiyosaki added that bitcoin is the future of money and that its bottom may be even lower at $11,000.

In todays market environment, its not easy to be a contrarian investor. But if you share Kiyosakis view, here are three simple ways to capitalize on bitcoin's potential rebound.

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The first option is the most straightforward: If you want to buy bitcoin, just buy bitcoin.

These days, many platforms allow individual investors to buy and sell crypto. Just be aware that some exchanges charge up to 4% in commission fees for each transaction. So look for apps that charge low or even no commissions.

While bitcoin commands a five-figure price tag today, theres no need to buy a whole coin. Most exchanges allow you to start with as much money as you are willing to spend.

Exchange-traded funds have risen in popularity in recent years. They trade on stock exchanges, so its very convenient to buy and sell them. And now, investors can use them to get a piece of the bitcoin action, too.

For instance, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) started trading on NYSE Arca in October 2021, marking the first U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF on the market. The fund holds bitcoin futures contracts that trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and has an expense ratio of 0.95%.

Theres also the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF), which made its debut a few days after BITO. This Nasdaq-listed ETF invests in bitcoin futures contracts, and charges an expense ratio of 0.95%.

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When companies tie some of their growth to the crypto market, their shares can often move in tandem with the coins.

First, we have bitcoin miners. The computing power doesnt come cheap and energy costs can be substantial. But if the price of bitcoin goes up, miners such as Riot Blockchain (RIOT) and Hut 8 Mining (HUT) will likely receive growing attention from investors.

Then there are intermediaries like Coinbase Global (COIN) and Paypal (PYPL). When more people buy, sell, and use crypto, these platforms stand to benefit.

Finally, there are companies that simply hold a lot of crypto on their balance sheets.

Case in point: enterprise software technologist MicroStrategy (MSTR). It has a market cap of $2.3 billion. Yet its bitcoin count reached 129,218 at the end of March, a stockpile worth around $3.8 billion.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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Crashes are the best times to get rich heres why Robert Kiyosaki thinks bitcoins plunge is great news and how you can take advantage of it - Yahoo...

Walmart is seeing a bifurcation in how its various consumers shop its stores as inflation takes its grip on wallets, explains CFO Brett Biggs.

The trend ranges from upper income households still buying name brand merchandise at higher prices, to lower income shoppers trading to cheaper private label products.

"We're seeing everything that's going on in the United States right now," Biggs told Yahoo Finance in an interview.

The comments come as Walmart had a surprising earnings shortfall for the first quarter as supply chain inflation weighed on profits. Walmart said Tuesday it also had to deal with higher-than-expected wage expenses due to the Omicron variant and inventory markdowns as consumers spending more cautiously.

Here is how Walmart performed compared to Wall Street estimates:

Revenue: $141.57 billion vs. $139.09 billion expected, $138.31 billion year over year

Adjusted earnings per share: $1.30 vs.$1.48 expected, $1.69 year over year

Total U.S. comparable sales, excluding gas: +4% vs. +2.26% expected, +6.2% Y/Y

The company lifted its full-year sales growth outlook to 4% from 3% back in February. But inflationary pressures and working through excess inventory clipped Walmart's profit outlook. The company sees earnings per share falling 1% this year compared to a prior outlook for a mid-single digit percentage increase.

Walmart shares fell 10% in afternoon trading. The company's ticker page was the most active on the Yahoo Finance platform.

"Transitory issues (labor, inventory) will abate, yet results reinforce inflation is starting to bear down on spending, even for a consumer cohort who has experienced very strong wage growth," said Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink in a note to clients.

Biggs struck an upbeat note on the balance of the year, which of course includes key selling periods such as back to school and the holidays.

"We still feel great about the business model of the company. I feel good about about the year. It's that we're dealing with some things that we haven't dealt with before and we'll work our way through it," Biggs added.

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Yahoo Finance's Emily McCormick contributed to this story.

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

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Walmart CFO on consumers: We are seeing a little bit of everything - Yahoo Finance

Large investors are very downbeat on the economic outlook for the United States.

Growth expectations fell to an all-time low in May, according to the latest Bank of America fund manager survey out on Tuesday. For a dose of perspective, the current reading is below that seen during the Great Recession and the dot.com bubble.

Such dour sentiment comes despite economists expecting the U.S. economy will have grown around 2.5% in the second quarter and unemployment levels remaining near record lows.

Amid the tepid growth outlook, large investors are moving to the sidelines on stocks the survey shows.

The outlook for growth looks muted in the minds of large investors.

Fund managers had the highest amount of cash in their portfolios since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Tech stocks haven't been this hated (as viewed by the number of short positions on tech stocks) dating back 2006, the survey found.

Signs of carnage on growth fears, rate hike worries and stubborn inflation can be seen throughout the stock market right now.

Just take the major sell-off in one of the hottest tech trades of the past decade: the FAANG complex, which is comprised of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. All five components have shed more than 17% year-to-date, led by a nearly 69% crash for Netflix.

Jefferies tech analyst Brent Thill tells Yahoo Finance Live the sell-off in tech has been "unheard," and the selling pressure may not yet be over.

"While we don't have a recession in our forecast, we see the risk of a recession increasing. We now have it at about 30%. We see the risk though much larger in 2023 when those cumulative rate hikes from the Fed to attack inflation starts to weigh on mortgage payments and monthly payments for people going forward," said S&P Global Chief U.S. economist Beth Ann Bovino on Yahoo Finance Live.

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

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One chart reveals how bleak many view the state of the economy - Yahoo Finance

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are making big bets on farmland here are 2 effortless ways you can access it, too

Fear is taking over. The S&P 500 is down about 16% of its value in 2022, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has lost 26% over the same period.

Investors are worried about rising interest rates, supply chain issues, and an economic slowdown.

Billionaires are nervous, too. But they do have access to an asset class that has a proven track record of wealth protection: agricultural land.

Heres why the worlds wealthiest investors are buying farmland and how you can add exposure to this sector.

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Several factors make farmland a uniquely stable asset class.

For one, the underlying commodity is absolutely essential. Demand for wheat, soybean, canola seeds and corn will never go away. And this year, the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, along with protectionist policies in India, has created a global supply shock. Food prices have skyrocketed.

Farmland owners benefit from this upswing. This makes it a highly effective inflation hedge even better than most stocks and bonds. So its not a big surprise why billionaires have invested (heavily) in the space in recent years.

Bill and Melinda Gates prior to their divorce accumulated roughly 270,000 acres of farmland in less than a decade. Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos has amassed 420,000 acres in recent years.

Other noteworthy farmland investors include Ted Turner and Thomas Peterffy.

According to data published by the U.S. Agriculture Department, about 80% of rented farmland is owned by investors who do not farm themselves. This ratio could increase as more investors get involved and the barriers to entry drop.

Investing in farmland directly is expensive and complicated. But retail investors can add exposure to farmland through specific publicly traded real estate investment trusts.

Gladstone Land (LAND) is one of the few pure-play farmland REITs in the market. The company owns 112.5 million acres of farmland that is leased on a triple-net basis to farmers with excellent credit history and experience. According to the companys latest quarterly report, its occupancy rate is 100%.

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Gladstone currently offers a 2.2% dividend yield.

Farmland Partners (FPI) is another REIT focused on agricultural land across the U.S. The company owns 185,700 acres in 19 states and manages over 100 tenants who grow 26 major commercial crops. While the majority of the portfolio is farmland, it also owns groundwater assets and grain facilities across its properties. The stock offers a 1.7% dividend yield.

Investing in farmland through these two REITs may not add much passive income to your portfolio. But they certainly have the potential to provide capital appreciation and inflation protection.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are making big bets on farmland here are 2 effortless ways you can access it, too - Yahoo Finance

Since leaving his post as U.S. Surgeon General in the Trump administration, Dr. Jerome Adams has taken to Twitter and other social media to advocate for better masking, testing strategies and other widely supported public health issues.

Now executive director of Purdue University's Health Equity Initiatives, Adams says working outside of the political realm allows him to more clearly express his own opinions and help on more of a grassroots level.

"I'm proud of the work that I was able to accomplish, even with the guardrails that existed. But when you're removed from that situation, you can have that conversation about nuance that I think is really what is valuable for people at the ground level in their day-to-day lives," Adams told Yahoo Finance.

Despite daily tensions during the pandemic, Adams says he chose to stay in the Trump administration because he felt it was important to work from the inside. As surgeon general, Adams said he fought to keep rent protections in place and better represent the nation's most vulnerable populations.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks after receiving the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Cheriss May

"I think it's easy for people to sit on the sidelines and say, 'Hey, you should have left.' It's hard for them to understand that if you don't have good people who are representing vulnerable populations in government, whether you like that government leadership or not, that bad things can happen. It's hard to see the harm that didn't happen, especially in the fog of war," Adams explained.

"Everyone has a job and a boss. And we recognize that you can't go to work every day and criticize or undermine your boss and expect to keep your job. And so you have to pick and choose your battles," he said.

"You can't change the game from the sidelines," he added.

While in office, and before vaccines were available, the Trump administration struggled to predict the trajectory of the virus and was strongly criticized for its policy calls.

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Adams has his own criticisms of the Biden administration, but says there are ways to help create better policies in a country as diverse as the U.S.

"One of things we need to do is make sure we are getting out into the streets, out of Washington D.C.," he said, pointing to trips he and Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump's COVID-19 response coordinator, took in 2020.

"What you hear in Washington, D.C., doesn't reflect what's going on in counties and cities and communities across America. We heard over and over again that there was plenty of testing, and we had numbers that supported the fact ... but there wasn't equitable distribution from that testing and we didn't know that until we got into hospitals and got into communities," Adams said.

Equity and distribution problems still exist. For example, antibody testing isn't available to the public. It is only available through doctors offices, Adams said. And there are reports that Pfizer's (PFE) antiviral drug Paxlovid isn't widely available.

"There are disconnects that are happening in the system, between the tools being available on a national level and the tools actually being utilized on the ground level," he said.

It's why it is crucial that Congress continue to fund the pandemic response, Adams said.

"It's going to be important for equity, and it's going to be important for our economy, that we continue to do the things necessary to control this virus," he said.

When asked what he has to say about the political shadow that follows him as a result of serving in Trump's administration, Adams said he is committed to providing science-based guidance now that "guardrails" are off.

He said he understands why the CDC and FDA continue to receive so much criticism for the policies and decisions that have occurred under the Biden administration.

"Its hard to talk about nuance when you are in the position where there is no political room for error," Adams said.

He felt the sting when he first advised against mask-wearing, and later pivoted as it became clear it was a crucial tool against the virus.

"It's hard to have a discussion about the fact that masks aren't perfect, but they're better than nothing, in a world where they become politicized and one side says 100% masking is the only thing that's going to keep us alive and the other side says that everyone should be able to say no to masking under any and all circumstances," Adams said.

"That's what makes it hard."

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What you hear in DC doesn't reflect what's going across the US: Fmr. US Surgeon General - Yahoo Finance

Chad Marek is charged in the death of Regan Gibbs. (Associated Press)

Former Kansas University soccer player Regan Noelle Gibbs was found dead in her Lawrence home on Monday. She was 25 years old.

Her husband Chad J. Marek, 26, is facing a first-degree murder charge in her death.

Gibbs was a goaltender for Kansas from 2015-18 and played on two NCAA tournament teams. She was a native of Naches, Washington, and attended West Valley High School before enrolling at Kansas. Head coach Mark Francis released as statement on Tuesday mourning Gibbs.

Our soccer program is heartbroken to hear about the tragic loss of Regan," the statement reads. "She was a tremendous teammate and young woman, and touched so many during her time at Kansas. Regan will always be remembered for the impact she had both on and off the field. We share our condolences to her family, friends and teammates during this difficult time.

The Lawrence Police Department announced via news release that officers arrived at the couple's apartment after receiving a call at 7:26 p.m. on Monday to find Gibbs dead. Marek was at the scene when first responders arrived.

Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart told the Lawrence World Journal that Marek made the 911 call himself and told the dispatcher that God told him to do it. Marek was arrested at the scene and detained on $1 million bail with the prosecutor citing the "excessive brutality" of the crime in the bail request, the Lawrence Times reports. Officials didn't announce the method of the alleged murder.

Marek appeared before the Douglas County District Court and told the judge that Jesus Christ is my attorney," the World Journal reports. According to the World Journal, Marek was frequently seen in downtown Lawrence "evangelizing with a bullhorn." His Facebook page contains messaging that includes linking Halloween, the Easter bunny and COVID-19 vaccines to Satan.

Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden said in court on Tuesday that Marek had at least 10 prior convictions including battery, interference with medical emergency crews and interference with law enforcement, the World Journal reports.

Marek is scheduled for his next court appearance on May 24.

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Husband charged with murder in death of former KU soccer player Regan Gibbs, says God told him to do it - Yahoo Sports

It looks like divisions in college football could soon become a thing of the past.

In an expected move following recommendations from the Football Oversight Committee, the NCAAs Division I Council officially voted to eliminate a requirement for conferences to have divisions in order to hold a conference championship game.

Previously, NCAA rules mandated that football conferences with 12 or more members hold a championship game and split teams into divisions with round-robin schedules for divisional opponents.

Now, FBS conferences will be able to create their own rules for deciding a champion. Its expected that most, if not all, FBS conferences will put the two teams with the best records into their championship games instead of pitting the two division winners against one another. With that change, divisions could be scrapped as soon as the 2023 season.

Minutes after the NCAAs announcement, the Pac-12 became the first conference to say it will do just that. In years past, the winners of the Pac-12 North and South would face each other for the conference title. Beginning with the 2022 season, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages will meet.

According to the Pac-12, the updated rules would have resulted in a different title game matchup in five of the past 11 seasons.

Our goal is to place our two best teams in our Pac-12 Football Championship Game, which we believe will provide our conference with the best opportunity to optimize CFP invitations and ultimately win national championships, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said. Todays decision is an important step towards that goal and immediately increases both fan interest in, and the media value of, our Football Championship Game.

The Pac-12's current conference football schedule will remain in place for the 2022 season, but "scheduling scenarios for seasons beyond 2022 will continue to be reviewed," the league said.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 03: A general view of the PAC-12 logo at midfield before the PAC-12 Football Championship football game between the Oregon Ducks and the Utah Utes at Allegiant Stadium on December 03, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

In a hint that additional changes around college football are coming, the Pac-12 noted that Wednesdays change by the NCAA D-I Council was unanimously supported by all FBS conferences.

Schedules for the 2022 season based in most conferences on divisions are already set, but updated conference scheduling formats are on the horizon. The ACC has publicly mulled a 3-5-5 scheduling model that would have its members play three permanent opponents each season and then cycle through the others over a two-year period, playing five teams one year and the other five the next year. That change could be implemented as soon as 2023, according to ESPN.

Other formats, like having four-team pods, have also been discussed among conferences. In getting rid of divisions, conferences like the SEC would avoid the long periods of time where two teams do not play each other. And as Kliavkoff noted, putting the two best teams against one another can help with College Football Playoff positioning.

Theres also the issue of imbalance within conferences. In the Big Ten, for example, the East division champion has won the conference title in all eight seasons with the current format.

Even without divisions, it will still be a challenge for conferences with as many as 16 teams (like the expanded SEC with Texas and Oklahoma) to create a balanced schedule.

A second rule change was also formally approved by the Division I Council on Wednesday. It involves the 25-man cap on signing classes for college football programs.

Programs are only allowed to add 25 scholarship players per recruiting cycle between high school recruits and transfers. But for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, the 25 scholarship limit has been totally removed. The limit of 85 total scholarships remains in place for FBS programs (63 for FCS), but the change allows for additional roster flexibility and maneuvering for coaching staffs over the course of the year.

With the one-time transfer rule in effect and the extra year of eligibility provided to players due to the COVID-19 pandemic, roster management has been more chaotic than usual.

Programs that lose a substantial amount of players to the NFL or the transfer portal have had a difficult time getting back to 85 scholarship players due to the limit on the number of prospects they can add in one signing class.

"Some schools hadn't given out all their scholarships and felt constrained by the annual limit," said DI Council chair Shane Lyons, the athletic director at West Virginia. "This temporary change provides schools more flexibility and adds opportunities for incoming and current student-athletes to receive aid."

Moving forward, the Football Oversight Committee will be tasked with collecting recruiting data and monitoring trends over this two-year span to "inform potential future rule changes," the NCAA said.

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With new college football rule change, divisions could become a thing of the past - Yahoo Sports

In the latest episode of the Yahoo Sports podcast, senior NBA insider Chris Haynes and senior NBA writer Vince Goodwill discuss the performances by Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler in the Playoffs, and debate if he is the best player left in the field. Hear the full conversation on the Posted Up with Chris Haynes podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CHRIS HAYNES: What's gotten to your boy Jimmy Butler?

VINCE GOODWILL: This is what he does.

CHRIS HAYNES: Not scoring like this though, Vince. This surge he's been on, I haven't seen this, man.

VINCE GOODWILL: I've seen this from him in different points of his career. When I was covering him in Chicago, our relationship got off to a rocky start because I told him he wasn't as good as Kawhi Leonard or Paul George.

CHRIS HAYNES: How do you feel about that now, Vince?

VINCE GOODWILL: Oh, it's time to have a discussion. It's time to have a conversation now. You know what I mean?

CHRIS HAYNES: Just a conversation? You don't want to admit that? You don't admit fault that you were wrong?

VINCE GOODWILL: No, no, no. He asked me because he was doing a "Slam" cover at-- a "Slam" magazine cover at the time. It was him, Kawhi, and Paul. And he said, who would you take out of the three of us? And I said, honestly, Jimmy, I'll take you last. But this was in the '15, '16 season. This was Jimmy coming off of his first really, really good year. And those guys had done it.

CHRIS HAYNES: I understand. I'm asking right now. Do you change your opinion on where he stands amongst those two?

VINCE GOODWILL: I changed my opinion the next year. I didn't need five years to change my opinion.

CHRIS HAYNES: But more importantly, did you tell him you changed? Does he know?

VINCE GOODWILL: I will never give Jimmy Butler that validation. Are you serious?

CHRIS HAYNES: See, man?

VINCE GOODWILL: I would never give him that--

CHRIS HAYNES: You're being petty.

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VINCE GOODWILL: Because--

CHRIS HAYNES: You're plenty.

VINCE GOODWILL: It's not petty, Chris. It is, you're never going to give someone the validation. Because you know what he said to me? He said to me that day, I'm going to prove to you that I'm better than those. And you know the thing he did that year, Chris?

CHRIS HAYNES: What did he do?

VINCE GOODWILL: Kawhi Leonard had a game winner in Chicago. Jimmy blocked it. About a week later, Paul George came to town. Jimmy hit like an alley-oop tip in layup over him that was at the buzzer. He didn't have to say anything to me. But he made sure when we got to the locker room back in the days when we were allowed in locker rooms and everything, Chris.

CHRIS HAYNES: That was a long time ago.

VINCE GOODWILL: Long, long, long, long, long time ago. He was like, you still taking them over me?

CHRIS HAYNES: So he remembered.

VINCE GOODWILL: Oh, he don't forget a thing. He's the best player left. He is the best player left.

CHRIS HAYNES: Whoo. You putting him over Steph, huh?

VINCE GOODWILL: He's doing it on both ends. He's giving it to you on both ends. When I'm talking about best player left, I'm not talking about naturally gifted, talented, all that. He literally turned the game, Chris, in that third quarter with two cringeworthy steals that Eric Spoelstra was trying to pull his hair out because you know Eric Spoelstra don't like his guys gambling off the defense like that.

And he went off. And he locked up Jayson Tatum. Then he big bodied Jayson Tatum for 40. You tell me what remaining player in the playoffs can do that on both ends. There's better offensive players. Yes. Steph is a better offensive player. Luka Doncic is a better offensive player. Jayson Tatum is. But who can do it that way and dominate a game on both ends of the floor? If Giannis was still playing, I'd be saying it was Giannis. But Giannis is sitting at home right now.

CHRIS HAYNES: All right. Hold on. You're saying Jimmy Butler is better than Stephen Curry. Is that what you're saying?

VINCE GOODWILL: I'm saying Jimmy Butler has performed better than Stephen Curry in these playoffs. 30 a night. Eight boards. Six assists. Steals and blocks. He's performed better. He has. I don't think there's much-- I don't think there should be much debate. Steph hasn't performed to Steph-like standards in these playoffs as of yet. Now--

CHRIS HAYNES: Does it matter? Does it matter? You know their resume already. You've seen what they've done.

VINCE GOODWILL: Oh, you mean resume like James Harden's resume before the Eastern Conference semifinals? Or were you willing to bet on James Harden's resume, Christopher Haynes?

CHRIS HAYNES: No. Because I seen what he was doing this season. So no. I was not. No.

VINCE GOODWILL: You've seen his movies. Right? Ain't you seen my movies? That's how I talk. Yeah. Yeah.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Posted Up - Is Jimmy Butler the best player left in the 2022 Playoffs? - Yahoo Sports

There was a lot working against the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

It was going to be difficult for the Celtics to refocus after an emotional Game 7 win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. They had just one day in between games, after a tough series against the reigning champs. That's a tough spot, especially against a good Miami Heat team.

Then the Celtics took two roster hits. Al Horford was out due to health and safety protocols. Marcus Smart missed Game 1 with a foot injury. That shortened the Celtics' rotation.

It wasn't a huge shock when the Celtics faded badly in the second half. They lost 118-107. Miami played well, but a lot of that result seemed due to the issues Boston faced.

Game 2 will be where we find out what kind of series this should be. Smart is expected back and Horford cleared protocols, so he'll play. Derrick White, who started Game 1 in Smart's place, will be out as his wife is expecting to give birth. The Heat are 3.5-point favorites for Thursday night's game at BetMGM.

Both teams have been great this season. The Heat, the East's best team, have been good from opening night through the Game 1 win over Boston. The Celtics took a while to get it together, but since late January they have been the NBA's best team. It's a great series.

Thursday seems like a prime zig-zag theory game. That's an approach in which bettors do the opposite of what happened in the previous game of a series. The Heat won and covered in Game 1, but the Celtics showed they were more than capable of taking a game in Miami. It was just a bad situation for them. Boston will bounce back, assuming Smart plays. We'll see if the Heat can hold off their charge.

Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics will do battle again in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Here's the first look at the sports betting slate for Thursday:

We have our second golf major starting Thursday. Yahoo Sportsbook's Pamela Maldonado broke down her favorite bets:

The Florida Panthers, which had the NHL's best record in the regular season, lived on the edge in the first round of the NHL playoffs but survived. They're back to fighting out of a hole early in their second-round matchup.

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The Panthers are down 1-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning and face a crucial Game 2. They're -165 favorites, and that line is not giving the Lightning much credit. The Lightning are built for the playoffs and the same might not be true for the Panthers.

The Colorado Avalanche also have a Game 2, after an overtime win over the St. Louis Blues in Game 1. The Avalanche were clearly the better team in Game 1, they're the best team left in the NHL playoffs and they should have an easier time in Game 2. The Avs are -225 favorites but taking them on the puck line at -1.5, for +105 odds, could be the better play.

There's an eight-game baseball slate, with five games happening in the afternoon. The most intriguing games are probably the San Diego Padres with Yu Darvish pitching against the Philadelphia Phillies (-120) and the St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets (-185).

The Celtics seem primed to cover, and it's worth a +140 play on the moneyline as well. As a bonus, take that Avalanche puck line, and why not, how about Viktor Hovland to win the PGA at +2500.

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The Daily Sweat: Celtics look to bounce back, even series against the Heat - Yahoo Sports

While the first congressional hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years didnt reveal the existence of extraterrestrial life, it did affirm that the U.S. military is taking sightings of unknown craft seriously as a national security threat.

A House Intelligence Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing convened Tuesday morning with a 90-minute public session that was followed by closed-door testimony later in the day.

Unidentified aerial phenomena [UAPs] are a potential national security threat, and they need to be treated that way, Rep. Andr Carson, D-Ind., said at the beginning of the hearing, referring to the preferred technical term for unidentified flying objects, or UFOs.

For too long, the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis, he added. Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did. DOD officials relegated the issues to the backroom or swept it under the rug entirely, fearful of a skeptical national security community.

Today we know better, Carson continued. UAPs are unexplained, its true, but they are real. They need to be investigated, and any threats they pose need to be mitigated.

The first congressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena in over 50 years was held on Tuesday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The hearing the first on the topic since 1966, when congressman and future president Gerald Ford held one after a sighting in Michigan was less focused on concerns about alien invasion and more on intelligence lapses that could lead to other nations having unknown technology about which the U.S. is not aware. That push included making sure pilots feel comfortable reporting anything they see.

The intelligence community has a serious duty to our taxpayers to prevent potential adversaries such as China and Russia from surprising us with unforeseen new technologies, said Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark. This committee has an obligation to understand what you are doing to determine whether any UAPs are new technologies or not and if they are, where are they coming from?

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In November, the Pentagon announced the new Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group program to help with tracking. It followed a June 2021 report documenting 144 observations dating back to 2004.

We know that our service members have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena, and because UAP pose potential flight safety and general security risks, we are committed to a focused effort to determine their origins, Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, testified at the hearing. We want to know whats out there as much as you want to know whats out there. We get the questions not just from you. We get it from family, and we get them night and day.

Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, testifies on Tuesday. (Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images)

Scott Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence, said the Pentagon's database of unidentified objects has grown to approximately 400 reports. He said that while there had not been any collisions between military craft and UAPs, there had been at least 11 near misses. Bray said the military had not picked up communication signals from the objects, nor had it tried to begin communications with them.

Generally speaking, it appears to be something thats unmanned, appears to be something that may or may not be in controlled flight, so we have not attempted any communication with that, he said, noting that the military had not fired on any UAP, nor had it come across any wreckage that isnt consistent of being with terrestrial origin.

While Bray said that most of the sightings that were still unexplained could be attributed to a lack of data, he conceded, There are a small handful of cases in which we have more data that our analysis simply hasnt been able to fully pull together a picture of what happened.

The American fascination with and military interest in UFOs are both decades old. In his opening remarks, Carson referenced the Air Forces Project Blue Book, a classified program set up in 1952 that counted more than 12,000 UFO sightings over its 17-year existence, with hundreds still unexplained. A 2006 report of a disk hovering over OHare International Airport in Chicago was dismissed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a weather anomaly. The 1947 crash of a high-altitude balloon in Roswell, N.M., inspired generations of conspiracy theories about flying saucers. The unmanned craft was part of a top-secret program to monitor Soviet weapon tests.

Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence, plays a video of an unidentified aerial phenomenon during the congressional hearing on Tuesday. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

In a March 1966 letter to two fellow congressmen, Ford wrote, In the firm belief that the American public deserve a better explanation than that thus far given by the Air Force, I strongly recommend that there be a committee investigation of the UFO phenomena. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject. The following month, Ford issued a statement saying that while some had ridiculed his call for a congressional investigation, they were a fraction of those who had given approval to look into a March event in which 40 people, including 12 police officers, claimed to have seen a cluster of UFOs.

In 2017, the New York Times published a story about how former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had pushed for funding for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which investigated unexplained aerial sightings. The program ran from 2007 to 2012.

Im not embarrassed or ashamed or sorry I got this thing going, said Reid. I think its one of the good things I did in my congressional service. Ive done something that no one has done before.

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Military takes UFOs seriously at congressional hearing: 'We want to know what's out there' - Yahoo News