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Tom Brady won six Super Bowls and 17 AFC East titles for the New England Patriots during his two-decade career with the franchise. Not bad for a sixth-round draft pick.

So, to be clear, Brady owes New England nothing. Ever.

Not an explanation. Not an apology. Not even a comment, really. Nothing. On the all-time scales of athlete/team, Bradys side is touching the floor.

That said, you cant blame former teammates, coaches, fans or anyone with the franchise if they wonder where Bradys head and heart were during the 2019 season. It was his final with the Pats and a time when he was also engaging in repeated conversations with the Miami Dolphins.

New England won the division again, but the end of the season was a disjointed mess. A loss in the wild-card round to Tennessee was New Englands fourth in six games.

During the second half of the season, Bradys play slipped seven of his 10 lowest-graded games by ProFootballFocus came after Week 11. He completed 64.8 percent of his passes in the first nine games of the season, but 55.3 after that.

At the time, Bradys relative struggles were shrugged off as missing Rob Gronkowski (who had retired) and the QB being 42 years old.

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Now, however, following a NFL disciplinary report released Tuesday involving the systematic tampering of the Dolphins, we know that during the 2019 season, Brady was engaged in numerous and detailed conversations with Miami executive Bruce Beal.

Brady was in the final year of his contract in New England. He later became a free agent and signed with Tampa Bay, where he is set to begin his third (and likely final) season. NFL rules prohibit teams from contacting players who are under contract with another team.

The Dolphins had impermissible communications [with Brady] as early as August 2019 and continued throughout the 2019 season and postseason, the NFL determined.

The league has suspended Beal and team owner Stephen Ross, who had knowledge and was supportive of the tampering, as well as stripped the club of two future draft picks.

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A federal lawsuit filed by former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores includes a scene where Ross entertains a prominent quarterback who was not yet a free agent on the billionaires yacht. Multiple reports say that QB was Brady.

"The investigators found tampering violations of unprecedented scope and severity," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated in handing down the ruling.

Brady will not be disciplined. The infraction is on the team, not the player.

That doesnt mean Brady is completely innocent here. In his 20th season in the league, he assuredly knew at the least the rough parameters of tampering. He was clearly a willing participant. Its not like he normally spends his time innocently communicating with rival executives.

Tom Brady doesn't owe New England anything. That said, it's hard not to wonder where his head was during a 2019 season that was rough by his lofty standards and during which we now know he was being actively recruited by the Miami Dolphins. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes, File)

Sure, this is how most job switches work; an employee gets contacted. Brady wasnt some normal job-seeker though.

So did the fact Brady was having conversations about his future with a different team impact his play while still with the Patriots? There is no way to know, of course. However, two of his worst games of the season came in a Week 17 loss to (coincidentally) Miami, which cost New England a first-round bye, and then in the wild-card loss to Tennessee.

Did he have one foot out the door?

This would run counter to a player whose career is defined by the relentless, even unhealthy, pursuit of victory. In New England phrases such as All In and Do Your Job and LFG are part of the lingo, in large part because of Brady.

You cant blame anyone there for wondering what was going on. Not that Bill Belichick is willing to admit it.

Im focused on training camp, Belichick told reporters Wednesday when asked about the tampering. Thats all in the past.

Again, New England got more than it ever could have asked for out of Tom Brady. The fact he was winning 12 regular-season games and a division title at age 42 was beyond anyones reasonable expectations.

Still, in that final season, Brady was, at the very least, willing to be tampered with.

There is a twist though that should temper any if any are even deserved hard feelings up in Foxborough. By talking with Miami in 2019, Brady unwittingly gave New England a parting gift that will pay off, at least to some degree, in the seasons to come.

The Dolphins are now without a 2023 first-round draft pick and a 2024 third-rounder. That means an AFC East rival will be less able (at least a little bit) to stock future rosters with talent that will take New England on twice a year.

So there is that.

Brady may not have orchestrated a deep playoff run the season he was chatting up Miami, but in the end, he delivered one more loss to the Dolphins and one more advantage to the Patriots.

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Where was Tom Brady's head in the 2019 season? It's fair to wonder amid Dolphins revelations - Yahoo Sports

Bill Russell was a late bloomer. Before the college basketball accolades and a pair of national championships, before the 11 NBA titles and five MVPs, before he became the most fearsome defensive player ever and a man firmly entrenched in the conversation for the greatest player of all time, there was a gangly, 5-foot-10 kid from Oakland's McClymonds High School who believed a job in the shipyards was in his future.

There proved to be so much more.

William Felton Russell died Sunday with his wife Jeannine at his side. He was 88. The greatest winner in professional sports Russells 11 championships in 13 seasons is a mark unlikely to ever be matched had a career that included 12 All-Star appearances and an Olympic gold medal in 1956. He was at his best in the biggest moments: In 30 elimination games at the college, pro and Olympic levels, Russell was a staggering 28-2.

Said Tommy Heinsohn, a teammate of Russells in Boston: He would do superhuman things when they needed to be done.

Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, in Monroe, Louisiana, where racism was deep-seated. Russells parents, Charlie and Katie, knew people there who had been born slaves; Black men and women were forced to wait in line behind whites at places like drug stores and gas stations, and Katie Russell, dressed in a new suit she made for herself, was once stopped by police and told not to wear white women clothes, according to a feature on Russell written in 2001.

Russells family moved to Oakland in the 1940s, where basketball first took hold. Russell was a gifted athlete his Celtics teammate, John Havlicek, said Russell could have been a champion decathlete but basketball came slowly. As a sophomore at McClymonds, Russell was nearly cut from the junior varsity team. He suited up for only half the games that season.

Russell didnt start until his senior year, and even then scholarship offers were scarce. Phil Woolpert, the head coach at nearby University of San Francisco, was the only coach to offer him a scholarship. Under the guidance of Woolpert and assistant coach Ross Giudice Much of what I am, I owe to Ross, Russell wrote in his 1966 autobiography Go Up for Glory Russell transformed from a clumsy kid who struggled to make layups into one of college basketballs most dominant players. Backboned by Russell, the Dons won two college basketball championships and strung together a winning streak of 55 straight games.

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Basketball legend Bill Russell, who won 11 championships for the Celtics, has died at 88. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Turner Sports)

NBA team executives took notice. One was Red Auerbach, Bostons grizzly head coach. In 1956, Rochester held the No. 1 pick in the draft. St. Louis had No. 2, and Boston had arranged a trade to move up if Russell were still on the board. As legend has it, Walter Brown, the Celtics owner who co-owned the popular Ice Capades, made a deal with Rochester owner Lester Harrison: Dont draft Russell, and the Ice Capades would commit to performing at Rochesters arena.

The Royals drafted Sihugo Green. The Celtics sent Ed Macauley and the player rights of Cliff Hagan to St. Louis in exchange for the second pick and the rights to Russell.

Russell was a defensive pioneer. He popularized shot-blocking. I was an innovator, Russell told The New York Times. I started blocking shots although I had never seen a shot blocked before that. The first time I did that in a game, my coach called timeout and said, No good defensive player ever leaves his feet. Russell was a master of tip-blocking, tapping shots to his teammates to ignite fast breaks instead of swatting shots into the stands.

Much of what defines todays great defensive players began with Russell. His ability to slide across the lane to provide help defense. His ability to alter shots. Said Auerbach: He put a whole new sound in [the] game. The sound of footsteps.

To his teammates, Russell was gregarious, known for a bellowing laugh. To the those outside the locker room, Russell was often withdrawn. Jekyll and Hyde, Bob Cousy once said. Russell had a complicated relationship with Boston. He often said he didnt play for Boston he played for the Celtics. Russell lived in Reading, Massachusetts, a town just north of the city. One night, Russell came home to find his house vandalized. Racial epithets were spray-painted on his walls. Burglars poured beer on his pool table, smashed in his trophy case and defecated on his bed.

Every time the Celtics went out on the road, vandals would come and tip over our garbage cans, Russells daughter, Karen, wrote in 1987. My father went to the police station to complain. The police told him that raccoons were responsible, so he asked where he could apply for a gun permit. The raccoons never came back.

Russell was never just a basketball player; in airports, he often replied, No, when asked if he was. Everywhere, Russell stood up against inequality. Once, in Marion, Indiana, Russell was presented with the key to the city. Later that same night, Russell was refused service at a local restaurant. He immediately drove to the mayors house and gave back the key.

Few athletes were as outspoken as Russell on controversial subjects. He fought back against the racism he dealt with in Boston. He criticized the NBA for what he saw as quotas on the number of Black players in the league. In 1961, after a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky, refused to serve some of the Celtics Black players before an exhibition game, Russell organized a boycott of the game. In 1975, he declined to attend his Hall of Fame induction, later calling it insulting to all the Black players who were not inducted before him.

He refused to sign autographs, but welcomed a conversation.

"What I'm resentful of, you know, is when they say you owe the public this and owe the public that," Russell told the Saturday Evening Post in 1964. "You owe the public the same thing it owes you. Nothing. I'd say I'm like most people in this type of life; I have an enlarged ego. I refuse to misrepresent myself. I refuse to smile and be nice to the kiddies. I don't think it is incumbent upon me to set a good example for anybody's kids but my own."

On the court, Russells career was highlighted by his rivalry with Wilt Chamberlain. At 7-foot-1, 275 pounds, Chamberlain was significantly bigger than Russell and arguably just as quick. While Chamberlain had the statistical edge against Russell 28.7 points and 28.7 rebounds in a whopping 142 matchups Russells teams routinely came out on top. Russells Celtics were 85-57 against Wilt; in eight playoff series against Chamberlain, Russell lost only once.

Russell retired in 1969, serving the last three seasons as Bostons player-coach. He returned to the coaching ranks in 1973, in Seattle, where he stayed for four seasons. In 1987, he took over the Sacramento Kings, but lasted just 58 games before moving to the front office. He was fired in 1989. He didnt return to the NBA.

In retirement, Russell continued to be recognized for his achievements. He was named one of the NBAs 50 greatest players in 1996 and had the Finals MVP trophy named after him in 1999. In 2011, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2013, Boston unveiled a statue in his honor.

For all he accomplished, he is best known for this: On the court or off, Bill Russell never backed down.

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Bill Russell, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, dies at 88 - Yahoo Sports

I cant tell you how excited I am that football is almost back (preseason doesn't count). The air, general moods, food its all just better during college football Saturdays and NFL Sundays. As part of my first dive into the 2022 NFL season, Im starting with the AFC East because Ive seen no player talked about more in the last few weeks than Josh Allen. So, heres what Im thinking for some of the teams in the AFC East.

Allen hit 763 rushing yards last season, so 550.5 seems low, right? One huge thing for me is Im not quite convinced that Allen will be the same player without offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Allen has had Daboll by his side for all four seasons of his career, molding him, grooming him and building him up from an inaccurate Wyoming quarterback to the elite threat he is now.

The progression we have seen from Allen during his time with the Buffalo Bills is outstanding. In the last two years, Allen has seen his biggest jump in completion percentage and his second-biggest jump in passing yards per game with Daboll as his play-caller. The person calling the plays matters just ask the Chicago Bears. Daboll is now the head coach of the New York Giants, and Allen is left with Sean McDermott, a defense-minded head coach.

What do defensive-minded coaches like to do? Control the clock, play stout defense and run the ball. Allen is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 4,000 yards and rush for more than 750 yards. Hes the first quarterback to have three straight seasons of at least eight rushing scores and last year he led the Bills in rushing yards in the postseason. Yet earlier this year, McDermott said he wanted Allen to run less. Were doing right by him by doing right by our team, McDermott said. When a defense-minded head coach says he wants to run more but run the QB less, I believe him. It seems like hes taking a page out of the ol' Mike Zimmer playbook.

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Josh Allen throws during Bills training camp at Saint John Fisher University on July 24, 2022, in Pittsford, New York. (Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images)

Besides, the Bills dont exactly have an easy schedule of rushing defenses. Buffalo faces the Rams, Titans, Dolphins and Ravens all top 14 against the run in the first four games of the season. The Bills close the season facing the Patriots twice, Dolphins again and the Bengals. Weeks 5-12 are pretty friendly, but if the Bills' rushing offense cant get going in the first few weeks, theres a chance the game plan may shift.

How to play this in-season

If you dont like season-long props, Id be looking to take Allens under rushing prop in each of the first four games. This is the time McDermott will be trying to prove his point of running Allen less. Allen had 10 games last year rushing for 40 yards or more. Only two of those games were against teams mentioned above.

Ill be the first to admit it: I am not entirely convinced Tua Tagovailoa is a franchise quarterback. However, there is optimism surrounding the Dolphins this season, and the opportunity Im looking to capitalize on: backing the Dolphins ATS, both as underdogs and especially at home.

In the last two seasons, the Dolphins are 12-7 ATS as an underdog and 13-4 ATS at home, the best ATS home record in the NFL in that span. Those marks did occur during COVID times, with quarterback injuries in both 2020 and 2021, and with aging offensive coordinator Chan Gailey at the helm in 2020. Miami also had one of the worst units at protecting the quarterback and didnt have much of a running game.

This year, Miami could be even better. The Dolphins, ranked 12th in opponent yards per play last year, are looking to be just as good if not stronger defensively. Because Tua was sacked 40 times over the last two seasons, the Dolphins have rebuilt their offensive line with Connor Williams and Terron Armstead, while also dropping WR DeVante Parker and adding Tyreek Hill and Cedrick Wilson. Perhaps the most important factor of all: The team has a new head coach in Mike McDaniel, who learned in Kyle Shanahan's offense.

For two straight years, Parker was the league's worst player in receiver separation. Now Miami has Jaylen Waddle, Hill, and Wilson, who are all top 35 in this category. The 49ers, with McDaniel as offensive coordinator, ranked first in yards after the catch (for four straight seasons), while Miami was dead last in 2021.

The Dolphins have a (currently) healthy quarterback, an improved offensive line, a great head coach, receivers that can produce, and a great ATS home record before all of that. Miami could be the team that adds bucks to your bankroll.

As an extra tidbit, the New England Patriots and Dolphins both finished 13-4 ATS last year as six-point teaser legs. Thats 26-8. In the last two seasons, the Dolphins have gone 27-6 on a six-point teaser.

The Patriots have a tougher schedule, but I would definitely trust the Dolphins as a teaser leg throughout the season.

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NFL betting, odds: How to bet Josh Allen and the AFC East - Yahoo Sports

Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But the truth is, you can make significant gains if you buy good quality businesses at the right price. For example, the American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) share price is 68% higher than it was five years ago, which is more than the market average. In stark contrast, the stock price has actually fallen 12% in the last year.

So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for American Homes 4 Rent

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the last half decade, American Homes 4 Rent became profitable. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd expect the share price to be up. Since the company was unprofitable five years ago, but not three years ago, it's worth taking a look at the returns in the last three years, too. Indeed, the American Homes 4 Rent share price has gained 50% in three years. During the same period, EPS grew by 27% each year. This EPS growth is higher than the 14% average annual increase in the share price over the same three years. Therefore, it seems the market has moderated its expectations for growth, somewhat. Of course, with a P/E ratio of 75.83, the market remains optimistic.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

earnings-per-share-growth

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on American Homes 4 Rent's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for American Homes 4 Rent the TSR over the last 5 years was 77%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

The total return of 10% received by American Homes 4 Rent shareholders over the last year isn't far from the market return of -12%. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 12%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data remains strong, and the share price is simply down on sentiment, then this could be an opportunity worth investigating. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for American Homes 4 Rent (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

American Homes 4 Rent is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Investors in American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) have made a favorable return of 77% over the past five years - Yahoo Sports

Donald Trumps widely expected 2024 campaign which he could formally announce as early as this year appears likely to focus on upending Washington's bureaucracy.

The former president and his allies would put thousands of government employees in their sights who are traditionally insulated from politics. On Tuesday, during a summit in Washington, Trump and his top political allies sketched out an economic component of their attacks on bureaucracy, targeting an old GOP villain: regulations.

Regulations hurt a lot and the regulatory state is one of the reasons the economy has contracted, Larry Kudlow, a former Fox host who worked as director of the National Economic Council in Trumps White House, said during a panel conversation hosted by the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute.

We need to make it much easier to fire rogue bureaucrats who are deliberately undermining Democracy, Trump added during his speech later in the day, when he strongly implied he would be a candidate in 2024. If those reforms are enacted, Trump vowed, "Washington will be an entirely different place."

Former president Donald Trump speaks during the America First Agenda Summit on July 26 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

While Republicans have assailed Washington bureaucracy and regulations for generations, the effort this time comes after twin stories from Axios that laid out how far Trump and his allies are preparing to go should voters return them to power.

The articles outlined a plan that if enacted would upend Washington by firing potentially thousands of government employees who are traditionally not replaced after each election cycle.

When taking office, presidents typically have around 4,000 so-called political appointments to make. If Trumps plan came to fruition, that number could balloon to more than 50,000.

Critics say the idea would introduce massive uncertainty into basic government services every time a new president is elected. But Kudlow made the case Tuesday that dramatic actions in 2024 could help spur economic growth.

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He claimed federal regulations now impose a total economic cost of about $2 trillion per year. That's remarkable, he said. It's like strangling enterprise. He said that Biden had run the economy into the ground and "we're either in a recession or at the front end of the recession."

Larry Kudlow, former Director of the National Economic Council, listens from the side of the stage at the America First Policy Institute America First Agenda Summit in Washington on July 26. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)

Also on Tuesdays panel was Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA). The Republican Whip picked up on Kudlows comments and listed agencies that he said were guilty of regulatory state overreach from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Departments of Energy and the Interior.

The focus on supposed government bloat and regulation which was also a 2016 and 2020 campaign talking point comes even though the Trump administration added billions in government red tape during his time in office, as the American Action Forum reported. Historically, every president ends up adding to government rules while in office, with Democrats adding more than Republicans.

Trump's focus on 2024 and his likely campaign also come as the former president faces legal and other scrutiny from seemingly all directions. He is the focus of probes from federal prosecutors, the attorneys general of both DC and New York, a district attorney in Georgia, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, and more.

Trump worked his mention of government workers briefly into an otherwise wide-ranging speech Tuesday that was perhaps his most complete articulation of the likely 2024 message to come. He started the speech by focusing on themes of American carnage. At one point, he called the United States "a cesspool of crime under Joe Biden.

He also mocked transgender athletes, attacked the Jan. 6 committee, and covered a wide range of topics during speech, which lasted about 90 minutes. His mention of being able to fire more government employees echoed similar remarks from over the weekend and appears likely to become a staple in the coming months.

"We have to do so much, we need to save our economy and stop the inflation," Trump added Tuesday.

This week's series of speeches during Trumps first visit to Washington D.C. since leaving office came as part of a summit hosted by the Trump-focused think tank formed to promote the former presidents ideas while President Joe Biden is in the White House.

The group portrays itself as a sort of administration in waiting should Trump return to Washington permanently. Headed by Brooke Rollins, the former head of Trumps Domestic Policy Council, it is populated by an array of former Trump officials from Kudlow to Kellyanne Conway.

The bureaucrats and the elites and ideologues and the fanatics who run Washington have diminished a lot of what is best about our country, Rollins said on Tuesday. The calvary is coming.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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Trump and his allies outline the economic case for upending DC bureaucracy - Yahoo Finance

Walmart's second earnings warning of 2022 says a great deal about the financial stresses U.S. consumers are increasingly seeing amid sky-high inflation, a bear market in stocks, and lofty gas prices.

The world's largest retailer slashed its second-quarter and full-year profit outlooks late Monday owing to rampant inflation and a consumer retrenchment for discretionary items such as apparel. Walmart now sees full-year earnings tanking 11% to 13% compared to a prior estimate for a 1% drop.

"This pre-release humanized what's happening inside the household in terms of decision-making," Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "When we see consumers compromising wants to fund their needs because of inflation, that's a real human response."

Walmart shares plunged nearly 8% as of 12:40 p.m. during Tuesday's trading session. The ticker page was the most trafficked on Yahoo Finance, underscoring concerns about what the retailer's commentary means for the economy and markets in the near term.

Walmart isn't alone in experiencing a consumer going into financial preservation mode, and its earnings warning also placed pressure on competitors like Target and vendors in the mold of HanesBrands.

In a pre-announcement of its own, grill-maker Weber said it badly missed second-quarter earnings expectations this week. The quarter was so bad that Weber fired its CEO just like what happened at Gap several weeks ago.

We are taking decisive action to better position Weber to navigate historic macroeconomic challenges, including inflationary and supply chain pressures that are impacting consumer confidence, spending patterns, and margins, Weber's non-executive chair Kelly Rainko said in a statement.

Bath & Body Works also warned last week it would see earnings come in below consensus estimates as consumers reined in their spending.

A customer shops for nutrition products in a Walmart Supercenter on July 08, 2022, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Walmart's primary rival Target kicked off concerns about the retail sector's health in June with a shocking decision to liquidate massive amounts of slow-moving inventory and take a more cautious view on near-term profits.

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Other retailers such as RH, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Kohl's have issued more cautious outlooks as consumers shift spending away from discretionary categories.

"There is this pivot happening from discretionary and general merchandise into necessities," Wissink said. "The household is having to make discriminate decisions every single week about funding that inflation."

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's earnings whiff 'humanized' the toll of inflation, analyst says - Yahoo Finance

After several calm days of her legal team calling character witnesses on her behalf and arguing for a lenient sentence, Brittney Griners next appearance in Russian court is likely to be a bit more intense.

The judge is expected to directly interrogate her on Wednesday, her attorney Maria Blagovolina told Yahoo Sports.

Griner faces up to 10 years in Russian prison after she flew into a Moscow airport in February and Russian customs officials allegedly found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. The WNBA star pleaded guilty in court on July 7, arguing that she did not intend to break the law and that she inadvertently brought the vape cartridges into the country because she packed in a hurry.

Experts anticipate that Griners testimony on Wednesday will echo her guilty plea. In a Russian criminal trial, it is common for both the judge and prosecutor to cross-examine the defendant.

Griner was escorted into court in handcuffs on Tuesday wearing a dark hoodie with the slogan Black lives for peace printed on the back. An Associated Press photographer captured Griner holding up images of supporters from the courtroom cage that is used to hold defendants during Russian criminal trials.

The slow-moving trial continued on Tuesday with Griners legal team summoning a Russian narcology expert. Mikhail Tetyushkin, according to reporters who were present in the courtroom, testified that, while marijuana is illegal in Russia, it is used as a medical treatment for athletes in various countries, including the United States.

Brittney Griner holds images standing in a cage at a court room prior to a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (AP)

At a previous hearing this month, Griners legal team presented the court with an American doctors letter saying that Griner had been prescribed medical marijuana to help her cope with chronic pain from injuries that she sustained during her basketball career. Defense attorneys have also summoned the team captain and team director from Griners Russian basketball club to vouch for her character.

Tom Firestone, the former resident legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, told Yahoo Sports that Griners legal team is doing the right things under the circumstances but admitted that whether or not it will help is hard to say. Doctors notes and character witnesses may not result in a more lenient sentence for Griner if she is truly more political pawn than criminal defendant.

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Griners trial should be considered entirely theater, said Danielle Gilbert, a Dartmouth University foreign policy fellow who specializes in hostage diplomacy. Gilbert contends that the trial is only about Russias efforts to legitimize holding Griner while Russian officials seek to trade her in a prisoner exchange or for some other concession from the United States.

Griners imprisonment comes at a time of renewed hostility and distrust between the U.S. and Russia. Relations between the two nations are at their lowest point since the Cold War as a result of Russias assault on Ukraine and the U.S. joining Western allies in imposing economic sanctions.

The State Department has declared Griner to be wrongfully detained in Russia since May and has described negotiating a deal to secure her freedom as a top priority. Russian officials have bristled at that classification and have demanded that the U.S. respect the laws of their country.

On July 4, Griner sent President Biden a letter urging him to please dont forget about me and the other American detainees.

Im terrified I might be here forever, she wrote.

Efforts to negotiate Griners release may be complicated by Russias apparent asking price in a potential prisoner exchange. Russian state media outlets have linked Griners case to the fate of notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who earned the nickname Merchant of Death after smuggling military-grade weapons to rogue leaders and insurgent groups across Africa and beyond.

Griner's attorneys have said they expect her trial to conclude by early August. Blagovolina told Yahoo Sports that she'll have a better idea when sentencing will occur after Wednesday's hearing.

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Brittney Griner poised to testify in Russian court - Yahoo Sports

It looks like Netflix's (NFLX) $200 million bet on "The Gray Man" might have paid off.

The action-packed film starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana De Armas made its debut on the platform on Friday and quickly climbed its way to the top of the streamer's competitive top 10 list, despite lackluster reviews.

According to the company's latest global viewing report, subscribers watched more than 88 million hours of the movie within its first three days on the platform (July 22 - July 24).

For context, "Red Notice" clocked more than 364 million hours of viewing time in its first 28 days, while "Dont Look Up" amassed 360 million hours over that same time period. "The Gray Man" is expected to surpass those figures.

On the heels of those numbers, Netflix unveiled that a "Gray Man" sequel is already in development with Ryan Gosling and directing duo Joe and Anthony Russo all set to return.

A spin-off is also in the works from "Deadpool" screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.

"The Gray Man" (Courtesy: Netflix)

The movie's $200 million budget makes it the most expensive Netflix film to date.

"Movies are a one-time thing and some of these costs have gotten so large," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro, told Yahoo Finance.

He described the current streaming landscape as a "Wild West," with platforms scrambling for top-tier content in order to keep up with their competitors.

"Budgets have been getting bigger," Robbins added. "The talent is there. It's just a question of which service is going to streamline the ability to put out quality product consistently and maintain subscribers."

Netflix, which shed nearly 1 million subscribers in Q2 and revealed softer-than-expected guidance for Q3, has battled an uptick in subscriber churn, or the number of customers that drop off the service.

That comes amid increased competition, with some industry watchers warning that a "streaming recession" is on the horizon. The original streaming giant plans to introduce an ad-supported tier next year to ease some of these woes.

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Another monetization opportunity is theatrical partnerships, which is why some industry watchers are questioning why "The Gray Man" did not receive a wider theatrical rollout.

Theatrical "gives you a window where you can make a lot of money on top of your subscriptions that could even pay your cost of some of these franchise tentpole titles," Jon Christian, EVP of digital media supply chain at Qvest, the largest media and entertainment-focused consulting company, previously told Yahoo Finance.

Although Netflix has played some original features in theaters, including 2018 breakout hit "Roma" and the more recent hits "The Irishman" and "Don't Look Up," those debuts (similar to "The Gray Man") had very short theatrical windows with much more limited releases.

"Those movies prove that the quality can be achieved, but they didn't have the same opportunity in theaters and could have done very well," Robbins said, anticipating that the integration of theatrical content with streaming will take time.

Alexandra is a Senior Entertainment and Food Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com

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Netflix's $200M 'The Gray Man' jumps in debut weekend, more than 88M hours viewed - Yahoo Finance

The year has been grueling to those holding almost every type of stock. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is down 16% year-to-date. The Nasdaq (^IXIC) is down 24% during that same period. Even the energy sector (XLE) the only one positive year-to-date has seen some of its gains evaporate recently.

In a new Yahoo Finance series, we're looking at some of the strategies experts recommend for how to navigate a bear market. To kick things off, we asked them what they think investors should do in an environment of tighter monetary policy and the threat of a recession.

We've seen some rally days over these last couple of weeks. Have the markets bottomed? What should investors do now?

The names that have really benefited since mid-June and the last Federal Reserve meeting have been the highest beta areas of the market. Some of the names that are sort of non-profitable technology would be a way to sum that up," Chris Pollard, Cowen managing director and head of market Strategy told Yahoo Finance Live.

"Those are the names that have had very pronounced movements and this is a way to sort of pair back on those exposures," P added. "I think using this time, this countertrend movement, to raise some cash and to provide yourself some optionality for what should be a push towards new lows, is what we would be advising here."

"The movement that weve seen over the last couple of weeks is unlikely to be durable upside," he noted.

When will capitulation happen?

"That's another way of saying, 'When do I come in and buy'. The real capitulation happens when people say 'don't even talk to me about this anymore,'" Interactive Brokers' chief strategist, Steve Sosnick told Yahoo Finance Live.

"We're still in a bear market and we still are seeing the Fed as a headwind," he said.

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates at their next meeting next week. Tighter monetary policy has been a headwind for stocks as liquidity dries up.

"Don't be seduced" by "short, sharp, and ferocious bear market rallies," he advised.

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"You really don't get bottoms unless you see change in fiscal or monetary policy. I don't see that right now," he added.

Should investors hold onto stocks which have lost money?

Some experts say this depends on the company in question and the time horizon of the investor.

"The average bear market for the broader S&P 500 has taken roughly a year to bottom, but this can be much longer for individual equities (if they recover at all)," Ross Mayfield, Investment Strategy analyst at Baird told Yahoo Finance.

"Investors should ask themselves if the investing case for owning the stock has fundamentally changed and what the timeline for the invested money actually is," he added.

He also noted, "Market volatility and selloffs are simply part of the experience for the longer-term investor they occur with regularity but have always eventually ended with the market making new highs. Further, holding cash in an attempt to perfectly time the market bottom is a very risky proposition that can result in someone missing the rally that starts the new bull market."

Bearish scenario in stock market with bear figure in front of red price drop chart.

How do investors prepare their portfolio in light of an economic slowdown, or a recession?

"When we look at the percentage probabilities of whether we're going to tip over into a recession or whether we're just going to see a slowing growth environment. We give a slight edge to the slowing growth environment, simply because of the strength of the consumer coming into this," Kristen Bitterly, CIti Global Wealth head of North American investments told Yahoo Finance.

She recommends "creating some strong diversification within the portfolio across fixed income and equities. And really leaning into quality and being relatively conservative when it comes to stretching for yield, or extending yourself when it comes to credit," she added.

"I think there is a portfolio solution here as an investor, to remain fully invested, but ensuring that you have raised quality across equities and fixed income," said Bitterly.

Valuations have come down significantly.

Allspring Global Investments Senior Investment Strategist Brian Jacobsen told Yahoo Finance that one of the areas he likes is are consumer staples side and the technology.

"It's almost like a barbell approach here where there are a number of names that seem that they probably got thrown under the bus so to speak as people got a little bit more pessimistic thinking that the Fed might induce a recession as they try to tame inflation," he added.

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

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What Wall Street strategists recommend doing in this bear market - Yahoo Finance

After more than a year of negotiations, Congress is on the cusp of passing a bill to alleviate the chip shortage and shore up U.S. competitiveness with China in part by giving $50 billion to the semiconductor industry.

The Senate voted 64-32 on Tuesday to end debate on the so-called CHIPS+ bill. This key step, which required 60 votes, now sets the stage for final passage in the coming days.

As the key procedural step got underway, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the effort will help "one of the most important struggles of this century."

"The 21st century will be won or lost on the battleground of technological innovation," he added.

The cost of the bill is still being tabulated. A preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office assesses the bill will incur roughly $79 billion in new spending over the coming decade. The bill will also redirect existing government money to the effort; a fuller accounting is expected to be released soon.

Lawmakers had previously passed a more ambitious version of the bill, and for a time legislators discussed a slimmed down version that would only include the direct inducements to the semiconductor industry. But in the end, lawmakers added a host of provisions back into the bill, ballooning the cost.

Here are the highlights from in the bill, which Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) recently told Yahoo Finance affects the costs for so many things for Americans from your cellphone, to your vacuum cleaner, to the government weapons systems.

President Joe Biden spoke with CEOs, labor leaders, and members of his economic team on Monday during a virtual meeting on semiconductors. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Tuesday's vote came after a full court press from the Biden administration to restart the effort after months of fruitless negotiations.

"America invented the semiconductor its time we bring it home, President Joe Biden said at a virtual White House event on Monday.

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo addressed criticism of the bill by stressing that it doesn't aim to make businesses more profitable but instead seeks to invest in the U.S. economy.

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From the private sector, a host of companies descended on Washington this week to push the bill over the finish line. Gary Cohn, the former Director of the National Economic Council and a current vice-chairman of IBM (IBM), said his company alone was bringing over 60 executives to meet with lawmakers.

The key provision in the bill is the $50 billion for chipmakers. Of those funds, $39 billion are earmarked to build, expand, or modernize domestic facilities for chip-making.

The remainder $11 billion is set aside for research and development. This money appears designed to alleviate a rift that had been developing between semiconductor companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Nvidia (NVDA), which had focused on designing but not manufacturing these crucial chips and were worried about being left out.

In any case, Intel (INTC) will be a key recipient of the funds. The company recently postponed the groundbreaking on an Ohio factory because of delays with the bill but promised to move ahead if it becomes law.

Other companies that appear likely to receive funds include Texas Instruments (TXN), Micron Technology (MU), Global Foundries (GFS), and Samsung.

Elsewhere in the bill, another $4.2 billion will help fund other areas of the industry like workforce training, defense initiatives, future innovation, and for the U.S. mobile broadband market. The money for broadband focuses on leap-ahead technologies, including an effort to promote non-Chinese 5G equipment manufacturing.

Another portion is a new Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit, which creates a new 25% tax benefit for semiconductor manufacturing. Its part of a suite of efforts that, advocates say, will allow the U.S. to catch up in the global semiconductor manufacturing race.

The U.S. role in semiconductor manufacturing has fallen from nearly 40% in 1990 to 12% today, according to a recent report from the Semiconductor Industry Association. The situation is even worse with the worlds most advanced logic semiconductors, 100% of which were manufactured overseas in 2019. The group has applauded progress on the bill.

President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor chip during a 2021 event at the White House. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Daniel Clifton, head of Washington research at Strategas, told Yahoo Finance recently that many view semiconductors as "the new oil." If a nation can control oil and chips, you start to control the production of just about anything that's going to happen in the economy and we could see that that's where the long-term trend is, he said.

The bill is also set to restrict semiconductor companies' activities, banning new work in specific countries that present a national security threat to the United States. The language is clearly aimed at China, which has been moving to bolster its semiconductor industry, as well.

The provision is designed to ensure that China doesnt receive any benefits from the new U.S. government funds. We're not going to have to worry so much about the actions of an adversary, meaning China, when it comes to our supply of semiconductor chips, Sen. Kelly said.

On Monday, Biden also noted that the guardrails mean were not going to allow these companies to use these funds to buy back stock or issue dividends.

The bill also includes billions to beef up science training efforts to help the U.S. compete against China. In total, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will divvy up $52 billion in funding increases over the coming years for initiatives aimed at shoring up U.S. competitiveness in areas like building a STEM workforce

The bipartisan effort has engendered opposition from a swath of Republicans but also one of Biden's own allies. Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called the bill a blank check "at a time when semiconductor companies are making tens of billions of dollars in profits and paying their executives exorbitant compensation packages."

He also savaged the "guardrails" in the package, noting that companies would still be able to outsource some jobs abroad and also use their profits to make stock buybacks if they want.

Despite opposition from Sanders and Republicans on Tuesday, lawmakers were able to nonetheless move to end debate, setting up a vote for likely final passage later this week.

The House of Representatives will then likely consider the bill before they adjourn Friday for their summer recess. Some conservative House Republicans are trying to stop it and have taken to calling it a fake China bill. However, House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise who is charged with counting the votes seemed resigned that it could be headed to Biden's desk by the end of the week.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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Chips bill advances in Senate Here's what's in the $79B legislation - Yahoo Finance