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Each week during the 2021-22 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the leagues biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether the trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.

There was almost a 50% chance in the 2015 NBA draft lottery that Karl-Anthony Towns would land on the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers or Philadelphia 76ers, but the Minnesota Timberwolves held onto the No. 1 spot, and we have had a lot fewer discussions about Towns as a result. It is high time we have one.

Anyone who has watched the Timberwolves this season has noticed a different Towns one more fiery and more committed to defense than ever before, which is all we ever really wanted to see from him and it is translating to winning basketball, at least so much as it can on a young roster with a limited ceiling.

Yet, no one outside Minnesota is really talking about Towns, because we have long since written off the former top overall pick as the NBA's next megastar. The Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler has gone so far as to call him "soft," even though Towns was 22 years old the lone season they played together. The label stuck, since one is more vociferous than the other, but the past two years have proven Towns is anything but soft.

Towns has emerged from devastating tragedy the loss of his mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, and six more family members to the COVID-19 pandemic a more impactful leader, both on and off the court, and he has entered this season with a clearer recognition of the stigmas attached to his Timberwolves career.

"I think what's really on the line is people's perception of Minnesota. Of me," Towns told Sports Illustrated's Michael Pina at the end of September, when he entered his seventh training camp with the Wolves. "I'm for sure not gonna fail. So I got to do what I got to do, but the pressure is high for me to win and rightfully so."

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Towns is averaging 24.2 points (on 51/42/83 shooting splits), 9.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 34.5 minutes through 31 games. He is one of only 10 players and the only center shooting better than 42% on five or more 3-point attempts per game. Only three others are averaging a 24-9-3 this season Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid and Towns is scoring more efficiently than all but Jokic, the reigning MVP. It adds up to a top-15 ranking in most every all-encompassing advanced statistical category.

None of it is all that far from Towns' career marks. The defense is what has set him apart this season. He is more aggressive defending on the perimeter and recovering to protect the rim. He is still not exceptional at either, but the effort is there, and a chaotic system designed by first-time head coach Chris Finch has better defined his responsibilities in an outfit featuring a handful of quicker defenders to fill the space around him.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns is playing with more emotion than ever before. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The result is a personal defensive rating of 107.7, an imperfect metric, but the best of his career by far. The Timberwolves are operating like a top-10 defensive unit when Towns is on the floor, despite sharing many of his minutes with offense-first point guard D'Angelo Russell and second-year wing Anthony Edwards.

Offensively, Towns is unlike any player we have seen. He is well on his way to becoming the second-best 3-point shooting big man in history behind Dirk Nowitzki. Among the 40 frontcourt players who have made at least 700 3-pointers in his career, Towns owns the highest 2-point field-goal percentage and fifth-highest 3-point percentage, making him by far the most efficient inside-out threat among all forwards and centers.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has fielded four coaches and six general managers during Towns' seven seasons. They turned Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and three top-seven draft picks into Malik Beasley and Russell, allowing Butler to delay the development of two of their No. 1 overall picks in between. The franchise has done nothing but bungle the roster around Towns an all-time offensive talent for six seasons.

Somehow, Towns is still only 26 years old, on the precipice of his prime.

Can you imagine how much time would be dedicated to discussing the front-office failures of the Lakers, Knicks or 76ers, had Towns landed on any of those teams? Instead, he is a forgotten star, painted by Butler as "a loser," toiling on a team within one loss of the Lakers for the West's No. 6 seed. He is a giant lying in wait, with two years left on his contract. Either Minnesota does right by him, or someone else will score big.

Determination: Fact

Towns has been a vocal advocate of COVID-19 vaccines, given his family's firsthand experience with the deadliness of the virus, but one fellow All-Star has been willing to actively hinder his team's title odds in opposition of them. The Brooklyn Nets welcomed an unvaccinated Kyrie Irving into the fold this week, even citing the virus' impact on the roster as reason to disavow a previous decision not to allow him to play.

New York City's vaccine mandate still does not permit Irving to attend home games for the Nets.

Irving faced a couple questions about his vaccination status after Wednesday's season debut in Indiana, provided a prolonged nonsensical response and finished with, "Oh come on, man. Don't hang on to me."

And that was it.

"It's not an ideal situation, and I'm always praying that things get figured out and we're able to come to some collective agreement, whether it be with the league or it's just things that's going on that could help kind of ease what we're all dealing with COVID-19 and the vaccine," Irving told reporters on Wednesday.

"I think everybody's feeling it, so I don't want to make it simply about me and someone lessening the rules for me," the 29-year-old added. "I know what the consequences were, I still know what they are, but right now, I'm just going to take it one day at a time like I said and just enjoy this time I get to play with my guys."

What? Five hundred of his NBA peers have taken vaccines without incident. More than 9 billion doses have been administered worldwide. Duke required at least eight vaccines for Irving to attend the university. Yet, he is sacrificing $17 million in salary and his team's championship favorite status in opposition. We will soon find out if protesting an FDA-approved vaccine is more important to Irving than a home playoff game.

Good for him, I guess? I just don't see how any of this is worth applauding his 22 points in a win over the Pacers, when he will head right back home to watch the Nets host the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. He is treating his cause as a personal crusade, like so many are, ignoring the societal implications of his stance.

At least Towns can defend his position.

Determination: Fiction

Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

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NBA Fact or Fiction: Karl-Anthony Towns, the forgotten star - Yahoo Sports

Bed Bath & Beyond is permanently closing more stores.

Another 37 stores located in 19 states will shutter, most by the end of February, Bed Bath & Beyond told USA TODAY. The locations are currently going through store closing liquidation sales.

The company confirmation comes ahead of the planned release of the retailers quarterly earnings Thursday morning where officials will provide a business update.

The New Jersey-based home goods retailer which also operates buybuy Baby and Harmon Face Values announced in July 2020 that the company would close 200 of its namesake stores over two years, accounting for 21% of its Bed Bath & Beyond stores.

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Macy's store closings 2022: Macy's is closing more stores in 2022. Will your location close? See the list.

Retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond have also announced rounds of store closings in January. Macy's shared its latest list of upcoming closures Wednesday and Bed Bath & Beyond also had closings announced last January and in January 2020.

The home goods retailer has been launching more store-owned brands as part of its transformation plan. It started last March with the Nestwell bedding and bath brand.

Bed Bath & Beyond is closing more stores in 2022, including its store in San Angelo, Texas.

In this latest round of Bed Bath closures, New York will lose seven stores, five California stores will close and four Washington state locations. Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas will lose two stores apiece.

Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia are each losing one store.

A list of closing dates was unavailable. The San Angelo Standard-Times, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that the San Angelo, Texas store would close Jan. 23.

The New York-based Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, also part of the USA TODAY Network, reported the Canandaigua store would close in the coming months.

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Recall alert: Ground beef sold at Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons recalled for possible E. coli contamination

Walmart online orders: Walmart expanding 'InHome' delivery service that delivers groceries to the kitchen or garage

Campbell: Almarida Place, 515 East Hamilton Avenue

Laguna Niguel: 32391 Golden Lantern

Milpitas: 147 Great Mall Drive

Rancho Santa Margarita: 22235 El Paseo

Tustin: Tustin Market Place II, 13692 Jamboree Road

Auburn: Auburn Plaza, 217 Grant Ave.

Canandaigua: 328 Eastern Blvd.

Glenmont: 388 Feura Bush Road

Niagara Falls: 1520 Military Road

Plainview: 401 S. Oyster Bay Road

Port Chester: 25 Waterfront Place

Spring Valley: 14 B Spring Valley Marketplace

Brownsville: Sunrise Palms Shopping Center, 3000 Pablo Kisel Blvd.

San Angelo: 4169 Sunset Drive

East Wenatchee: 511 Valley Mall Parkway

Longview: 200 Triangle Center

Seattle: 2600 SW Barton St.

Union Gap: 1740 East Washington St.

Contributing: Rosanna Fraire, San Angelo Standard-Times; Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

KFC Beyond Fried Chicken: KFC launching plant-based Beyond Fried Chicken at restaurants nationwide starting Monday

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Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko. For shopping news, tips and deals, join us on our Shopping Ninjas Facebook group.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bed Bath and Beyond closing 2022: See the February store closings list

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Is your Bed Bath & Beyond store closing? See the stores slated to close by the end of February - Yahoo Finance

Casey Thompson is heading north to Nebraska.

The former Texas quarterback announced Friday that he would be joining the Cornhuskers. Thompson said in December that he was transferring away from Texas after he split time with Hudson Card as the Longhorns' starting QB in 2021. He'll have two seasons of eligibility with Nebraska.

Thompson started the Alamo Bowl at the end of the 2020 season in place of Sam Ehlinger and then competed with Card to be the starter under new coach Steve Sarkisian in 2021. Card won the competition out of fall camp but Thompson took over as the starter after replacing Card in a loss to Arkansas.

Thompson played in all 12 of Texas games in 2021 and was 165-of-261 passing for 2,113 yards and 24 TDs with nine interceptions. He also rushed for four touchdowns.

After taking over as the starter in Week 3, Thompson was Texas primary QB. He was replaced by Card in a loss to Iowa State. Both QBs played in the home loss to Kansas before Thompson played against West Virginia and Kansas State to end the season.

Thompson is now the favorite to be the new starter for the Huskers after the departure of Adrian Martinez. The four-year starter transferred to Kansas State, where he's in line to replace Skylar Thompson.

Thompson comes to Nebraska as the Huskers are looking to change the offense significantly in Scott Frost's fifth season. Nebraska hired Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple after the Panthers' offense was one of the best in college football in 2021 with Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison. Nebraska finished the 2021 season at 3-9 with eight of those losses coming by eight points or fewer. The school made the decision to keep Frost after a fourth losing season, and a winning season seems like a must in 2022 if Frost is going to be around for a sixth season.

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Former Texas QB Casey Thompson transferring to Nebraska - Yahoo Sports

The New York Giants might have broken Joe Judge.

Last week, Judge seemed to give up on his team. He called 23 runs and two passes in the first half against the Chicago Bears and predictably trailed 22-3 at halftime. He finished the day with a weird media conference that included him saying former Giants players call him saying they wish they'd have stayed. He also seemingly made reference to the Washington Football Team as a "clown show" and he had to walk that back.

Judge's weird act continued Sunday. The Giants don't have much at quarterback but also have nothing to lose either. Which made the weirdest sequence of play calls this season even weirder. On second-and-11 and third-and-9, the Giants called quarterback sneaks and then punted.

To repeat: The Giants called quarterback sneaks on second-and-11 and third-and-9. They were backed up near their own end zone, but wow.

Giants fans booed and Judge earned all of their scorn. Judge's explanation after the 22-7 loss won't help Giants fans feel much better.

There were reports that Judge was coming back for a third season. That seems to have given him an attitude that he's untouchable, because the past month of Giants football has been an extreme embarrassment, injuries or not.

Maybe Giants ownership needs to think about this some more.

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge is having a rough end to this season. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Joe Judge's odd end to the season continues with QB sneaks, including one on third-and-9 - Yahoo Sports

CES 2022 saw huge announcements from companies ranging from GM to Intel. But its the TVs tech giants like Samsung, LG, and Sony (SONY) that tend to grab the most headlines. And this years technology extravaganza was no different.

And as usual, they delivered, debuting striking new sets that blow away the 10-year-old flat screen youve got sitting in your living room.

Theres just one problem: manufacturers tend to make it incredibly difficult to understand the technology packed into their sets. Rather than 4K and 8K, this years biggest buzzwords were Mini-LED, MicroLED, and OLED.

But telling the difference between the three can be confusing. Which type is brighter? What has better color? Which is the least expensive? Its a lot to take in.

But thats why Im here. So buckle up, because were about to take a crash course in TV tech.

Before we get started, lets talk about LED TVs. LED TVs use LEDs to light up their screens. Usually, they have strips of LEDs aligned on their inside top and bottom or side edges. The light from the LEDs passes through a liquid crystal display layer (LCD) and polarizing materials to light up the massive number of pixels that create images on your screen.

The problem is LEDs are relatively large, which means they cause light to bleed between pixels. So if youre watching a movie where someone in a dark cave turns on a flashlight, the light will bleed into parts of the scene that are supposed to stay dark, making them look washed out.

OLED, or organic light-emitting diode, TVs have individual pixels that emit their own light. So they dont need LED backlights. That also means individual pixels can be turned off completely, allowing for complete blackness. That enables these sets to have a better overall contrast ratio and more vibrant, dynamic colors. But OLEDs are still pricey, with most easily costing more than $1,000 compared to hundreds of dollars for LED TVs. Whats more, they dont have the same level of brightness as LCD TVs.

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LG's new EVO OLED TV was on display at CES 2022. (Image: LG)

Mini-LED TVs are a relatively new kind of TV tech. Samsung and LG debuted their first mini-LED models at CES 2021, and added even more to their lineups at this years show.

Mini-LED TVs offer improved color and contrast over standard LED TVs by using, well, smaller LEDs packed together in greater numbers to light up a televisions pixels. The idea is to allow for better light control, thus cutting down on light bleed. Its an improvement over standard LED TVs, but still not as good as OLED sets. That said, theyre generally less expensive than OLED.

Finally, MicroLED TVs use a newer kind of technology combining the best of both LED and OLED TVs. Instead of passing light through a combination of panels including an LCD sheet to light up pixels, MicroLED TVs, like OLED TVs, light their own individual pixels. And with literally millions of those MicroLEDs packed into a screen, that means incredible light control, brightness, and contrast.

Its more or less the holy grail of television technology. But, and this is a big but, theyre only available in MASSIVE screen sizes. Were talking 98 inches and larger. And they dont come cheap, either. Prices are in the tens of thousands of dollars, and Samsung even showed off one priced at more than $100,000 in 2021.

Got all of that? Good, because now it gets tricky. See, TV companies love to use their own branding for these technologies, or tinker with them to a degree to make their televisions seem more exclusive than the next companys. Samsung has a TV technology called QLED, for instance, that uses quantum dots, basically another layer in the stack of sheets that make up an LED TV, which it says improves overall image quality.

Samsung's new Neo QLED TV is that company's name for its mini-LED line of products. (Image: Samsung)

With that in mind, lets talk about the televisions LG, Samsung, and Sony showed off at CES 2022, since theyll likely show up in your living room in the near future.

LG is the undisputed leader in OLED TVs, having made them a key part of its offerings for years. And this year, the company pushed the technology into a wider range of sizes. The company will now sell OLEDs with screens from 42 inches to 97 inches. LG also showed off its new MicroLED screen, a 136-inch beast, though it didnt announce a price. Chances are youll need a second mortgage to pay for it, though.

Samsung came into CES 2022 with a host of new TVs using both Mini-LEDs and a smaller 98-inch MicroLED TV. It also showed off its own QD-OLED TV, which is an OLED TV that uses quantum dot technology and is supposed to provide the capabilities of OLED with the brightness and color of Samsungs quantum dot tech.

Then theres Sony. The technology giant gave us a peek at a number of new TVs including its Mini-LED sets and OLEDs ranging from 42 inches to 65 inches.

Suffice it to say, youve got plenty of options if youre heading out to get a new TV in the coming months. If youre jonesing for a new television this year, then your best bet is to hold out until sites and stores hold their annual Super Bowl Sunday sales. Thats when youll get the most bang for your buck, as retailers bring in newer models and get rid of last years televisions.

Ill have more about those deals as we get closer to the big game. So stay tuned.

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The 3 hottest TV technologies on display at CES 2022 - Yahoo Finance

If the Federal Reserve is too heavy-handed with its interest rate hikes this year as a means to stomp out high rates of inflation, there is one critical risk that most investors probably aren't factoring in.

Recession.

"That is the risk [of a recession in 2023]," said Mohamed El-Erian, Queens' College, Cambridge University president and Allianz advisor, on Yahoo Finance Live. "We haven't had a situation in the past in which the Fed has been really late [with rate hikes] and the Fed hasn't ended up tipping the economy into a recession that's why we want to avoid that outcome."

Market participants widely expect the Fed to lift rates three times this year, and conclude their bond-buying program by March. But the timing of those interest rate increases could be pulled forward given continued hot inflation readings.

Investors bore witness to eye-popping levels of inflation in 2021 as workers (in short supply) demanded higher wages, ports were clogged due to the pandemic, home prices ripped higher and gas prices marched upward.

In November, the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) clocked in growth of 6.8%. That marked the fastest rate of inflation since 1982.

Bond manager DoubleLine told Yahoo Finance Live this week it sees headline inflation coming in at 4% in 2021. The upcoming CPI print could show a headline gain of 7%.

"I don't think we are going back to the old school one and a half to 2% inflation because it's permeated the psyche for a period of time. And so I think we are going to have to deal with higher levels of inflation, and the front end of the bond curve is telling you that if you look at breakeven spreads," DoubleLine co-chief investment officer Jeff Sherman said on Yahoo Finance Live.

The sticky inflation and subsequent actions from the Fed is leading to the likes of bond king Jeffrey Gundlach and El-Erian to raise the specter of a recession within the next 24 months. In turn, it could be a volatile road for investors ahead after an impressive 2021 for markets.

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"This is obviously painting a tricky picture for both the economy and for markets," El-Erian added.

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

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Here's the biggest risk with what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates: Mohamed El-Erian - Yahoo Finance

Crypto investors have cashed out over $135 billion dollars from the asset class so far in 2022, according to Coinmarketcap market cap data, and bitcoin (BTC-USD) is down around 7% year-to-date and hovering around $43,000 as of Thursday at 10 AM ET.

"There are no signs of a decisive reversal in sight," Mikkel Morch, executive director at digital assets hedge fund Ark36, told Yahoo Finance when asked about the largest cryptocurrency's recent price action relative to its drawdown over the past two months.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies began tumbling after the publication of notes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting. Following the broader stock market down, especially technology growth stocks captured on the Nasdaq-100 (NDX).

Morch added Yahoo Finance that similarities between the current price movement and those witnessed in Mid-May and August suggest reasons for "cautious optimism in the medium term."

"In any case, only a clear break above $50K would signal a major reversal in the trend and investors should keep in mind the inherently volatile nature of the digital asset market," the fund director added.

Bitcoin is now trading below its 200-day moving average (DMA) for the first time since September, a signal of the market's uncertainty.

Yuya Hasegawa, an analyst with Tokyo-based crypto exchange Bitbank, told Yahoo Finance that the downward pressure on the Bitcoin price should be expected to continue until the market fully prices in the tighter-than-expected future monetary policy.

Hasegawa noted that a further drawdown to $40,000 in the near term remains a possibility.

"A strong jobs report on Friday could justify the Feds hawkish stance and could trigger another sell off. Next weeks US inflation data (CPI &PPI) could help the price to rebound," he told Yahoo Finance.

So-called "memecoins" also fell, with the price of Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD) coin dropping more than 8%.

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Cryptocurrencies powering smart contract protocols, which arguably trade like technology growth stocks more than BTC, took an even greater beating. Ether (ETH-USD) trades down more than 10% at $3,400. Performing marginally worse, its smaller contenders, Solana (SOL-USD) and LUNA (LUNA1-USD), each dropped similar amounts. Polkadot (DOT) has performed worse on the day while Solana (SOL) is still shaking off a drop a similar drop of 14% from a week ago.

Since the pandemic began, Bitcoin and the 10-year U.S. bond have moved almost in lockstep, a pattern that runs contrary to the idea that BTC is a risk-on asset.

As of Monday, the two assets diverged with the yields on the 10-year rising while BTC dropped.

Fundstrat's Sean Farrell asserted to Yahoo Finance that the pattern emerged because 10-year treasury yields, while signaling the risk-on market is running hot, wasn't taken as a warning indicator for the Federal Reserve's policy decision to raise interest rates since the U.S. economy first experienced COVID-19.

"Now that we have more certainty surrounding the timing and degree of a hawkish shift in policy, we see Bitcoin behave closer to a small-cap tech stock," Farrell stated in an email.

Credit: Fundstrat digital asset team

Farrell went on to say that once again, the most obvious dynamic crypto investors can expect in the near term is increased volatility. Traders who like cryptocurrency specifically for the volatility of the asset class can lever their positions at relatively cheap rates overnight. For instance, on many exchanges they can take on 25% leverage in BTC or ETH futures without contributing more than 1% of their own money. For the market as a whole, this could mean a more exaggerated drawdown sparked by liquidations if crypto prices do not improve according to Farrell.

Meanwhile, longer term BTC investors have largely flipped from net-sellers to net-buyers over the past week, signaling that bulls still remain optimistic about BTC's performance.

As for Bitcoin miners, the specialized computers that secure the cryptocurrency's payment network, the Bitcoin hash rate dropped yesterday following an internet blackout in Kazakhstan where roughly 18% of the world's BTC miners are estimated to operate.

Illustrative image of two commemorative bitcoins seen in the snow. On Monday, January 3, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Hash rate measures how many miners contribute computing power towards Bitcoin. While many indicators haven't yet registered the hash rate's drop, it's estimated to have fallen at least 12%. Bitcoin's price typically leads the hash rate, not the other way around, but hash rate does indicate its level of security as a decentralized payments network.

Given that Bitcoin withstood a much larger hash rate drop of more than 50% over the summer following the Chinese government's ban on cryptocurrency mining, many observers remain optimistic about the network's security despite political change and a worsening energy crisis in a country estimated to contribute 18.10% of Bitcoin's hash rate.

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

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Bitcoin price tumbles and 'no signs of a decisive reversal in sight,' hedge fund risk manager says - Yahoo Finance

It's been a bad start of the year for Bitcoin (BTC-USD), and 2022 could bring in a bit more pain.

While some bulls continue to forecast $100,000, one strategist doesn't see that happening this year - or next.

"Long term, I love cryptocurrency, I love Bitcoin. But the charts and I'm a technician are just not showing that," Gareth Soloway, president and CFO of InTheMoneyStocks.com told Yahoo Finance Live.

"Bitcoin for me, has a nasty head-and-shoulders pattern on it. Believe or not, in early 2022, or early 2023, you could see a move down sub-$20,000 in Bitcoin," he added.

"We've seen Bitcoin hovering between $52,000 and $46,000 for the last month. And it keeps hitting on that $46,000 level. So on a technical basis, if you break below that $46,000...you are going to see downside to about $42,000, the low from early November."

The digital coin broke a key support level on Wednesday following the latest FOMC minutes which highlighted a more hawkish discussion among Fed officials than what markets had anticipated.

Soloway highlights another pattern. While the Dow and S&P 500 (^GSPC) saw a Santa Claus rally coming into the new year, Bitcoin has continued to falter in the last month. It's now more than 35% off its all time high levels from November.

"There's some little disconnect with cryptocurrency as a riskier asset, and I do worry that, it, including Ethereum (ETH-USD) will start to see further downside," said Soloway.

The technician predicts Gold (GC=F) will outperform the S&P 500 and Bitcoin for this year. However long term, he still believes Bitcoin will be the place to be.

"You look 5 years out, Bitcoin is easily at $100,000, maybe even $250,000. But for me, I'm looking at the leverage in the system including the stock market," said Soloway.

The Federal Reserve's plan to reduce its balance sheet and likely raise interest rates this year "is going to take a lot of money and liquidity out of the system."

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"Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are going to see their dot-com moment over the next year or two," he added.

Ines is a markets reporter covering stocks from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre

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Bitcoin will see its 'dot-com moment' over next year or two: Charts technician - Yahoo Finance

With every new year comes a clean slate. For Cathie Woods Ark Invest, that doesnt seem to be the case.

The firms beaten-down Ark Innovation Fund (ARKK) has hit a new low in 2022 already. After shedding 7% in Wednesdays sell-off, the fund is down 9% this week so far and 45% from its peak in February 2021, with the decline marking its worst drawdown since inception in 2014.

A rout in growth-oriented stocks that has battered ARKK was made worse on Wednesday as investors mulled the likelihood of sooner-than-expected rate hikes after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December meeting reflected concerns from policymakers about worsening inflation, signaling more imminent intervention by the central bank.

Losses in Arks beleaguered exchange-traded fund come amid the renewed pressures in technology stocks that sent the Nasdaq tumbling 3.1% and the S&P 500 down 1.9% in Wednesdays trading session. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield topped 1.7% to yield its highest since April, deepening the downturn in high-growth stocks.

Bespoke Investment Group pointed out that ARKKs 2022 declines place it only 6.66 percentage points above the S&P 500 since the ETFs pre-COVID high and 17.9 percentage points below the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) as of Wednesday. At its February 2021 peak, the fund was significantly outperforming both benchmarks beating SPY by 143% since its pre-COVID peak and the more tech-heavy QQQ by 117%.

Wood, whose prescient stock picks made her a star on Wall Street after ARKK returned 150% in 2020, promised investors just one month ago that her strategy could deliver a 40% compound annual rate of return during the next five years a projection she later updated to a lower but still ambitious 30%-40% after some rebuke.

All 20 of ARKK's top holdings were in the red at Wednesday's close. Losses were led by Roku (ROKU), down 11.72%; UiPath Inc. (PATH) down 10.33%; and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), down 8.97%. Of the 20 holdings, all except Tesla (TSLA) are down 20% or more from recent highs.

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All 20 of Ark Innovation's top holdings except Tesla are down 20% or more from recent highs.

Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc

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Cathie Woods flagship Ark ETF off to a rough start in 2022 down 45% from its peak - Yahoo Finance

The titanic, albeit controversial legacy of late Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs drew renewed interest this week when the tech giant became the first company to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion.

The feat owes in no small part to the development of the iPod and iPhone both overseen by Jobs which shaped the behavior of billions of people across the globe in how they listen to music and connect with loved ones.

In a new interview, former Apple engineer Tony Fadell who's credited with inventing the iPod and helping design the iPhone tells Yahoo Finance that Jobs taught him how to anticipate and serve a customer's wishes.

Plus, Jobs brought his passion for music and artists into his work, prioritizing creators and their compensation as he pursued business ventures, Fadell said. In that vein, Jobs would want to "fix" the lack of pay for musical artists on streaming services if he were alive today, Fadell added.

"It was all about in the music store not iPod it was always about: What do the customers really want?" Fadell says.

"What is going to give them that social or that emotional experience that they crave that they want?" he adds. "A rational part of that [is] making it simple."

Jobs, who was fired in 1985 from his role as the head of a team developing Apple's Macintosh computer, rejoined Apple as CEO in 1997 after its acquisition of his software company NeXT.

Meanwhile, Fadell worked at Apple spin-off company General Magic for four years designing hand-held communication devices until he moved to Dutch electronic company Philips, where he served as chief technology office of its Mobile Computing Group.

Fadell joined Apple as a consultant in 2001, proposing the idea for the iPod and leading its development as a staff engineer. In the ensuing years, he helped create the iPhone under the oversight of Jobs.

Fadell now serves as a board member at Dice, an app-based ticket sale platform. The London-based company, founded in 2014, built a platform that combines in-app ticket sales with social features that track users' tastes and those of their friends.

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Steve Jobs gestures during his keynote address at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco on January 7, 2003. REUTERS/Lou Dematteis

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Fadell noted that Jobs would take issue with the lack of compensation provided to musical artists by streaming services. Platforms like Spotify (SPOT) and Apple Music have faced a growing backlash from artists over what they consider insufficient pay for the music on their products.

"When you see something like this, you're like, 'Wow, I think that if Steve was here, today, he would go, we need to get artists more money,'" Fadell says.

"I know how much he loved musicians, bands, and wanted to support them," he adds. "I remember way back when he was looking at buying certain media companies that kind of stuff because he really wanted to revolutionize that."

"So as far as I'm concerned, if he woke up today and saw the streaming services the way they are today, and where the artists are not getting fairly paid, he would fix that," Fadell says. "Absolutely"

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What iPod inventor Tony Fadell says he learned from Steve Jobs - Yahoo Finance