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Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.'s 'serial killer mentality' is serving him well amid bumpy patchPC Connection, Inc. ( NASDAQ:CNXN – Get Free Report ) fell 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $72.49 and last traded at $73.05. 54,514 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 80,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.75. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, StockNews.com raised PC Connection from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Get Our Latest Report on PC Connection PC Connection Stock Down 0.6 % PC Connection Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. PC Connection’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.73%. Insider Activity at PC Connection In related news, Director Negrini David Beffa sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 71,750 shares in the company, valued at $5,022,500. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . 56.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of PC Connection by 0.4% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 37,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in PC Connection by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 3,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in PC Connection by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PC Connection by 5.3% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of PC Connection in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.85% of the company’s stock. PC Connection Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) PC Connection, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of information technology (IT) solutions. The company operates through three segments: Business Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Public Sector Solutions. It offers IT products, such as computer systems, software and peripheral equipment, networking communications, and other products and accessories. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for PC Connection Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PC Connection and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

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Batteries not only power electric cars, but can supply energy to buildings and stabilize power grids, through bidirectional charging. Electric cars boast increasingly powerful batteries that are charged from the energy grid or rooftop solar systems. But when the car isn't in use, its battery can serve as storage for homes and the energy grid via a bidirectional charging process that can reduce power costs. How does it work, and are there drawbacks? What is bidirectional charging? Until recently, power flowed in one direction to electric vehicle (EV) batteries from the charging station. A charged battery could not only power the electric motor, electronics, lights and heating but external devices such as a fridge when camping, a drill on a building site or even another EV. These additional functions are called V2D (vehicle-to-device), and V2L (vehicle-to-load). But using the latest bidirectional chargers, EV batteries can also supply entire buildings with electricity using vehicle-to-home (V2H), or feed electricity into the public grid via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. They can also simply charge car batteries. However, bidirectional devices are currently only available in select charging station locations. How much electricity can a car battery store? The batteries in EVs are becoming cheaper and more powerful. The battery in the Tesla Model Y, for example, has at least 62 kilowatt hours (kWh), the VW ID.4 has 77 kWh and the Renault small car (R5) has at least 40 kWh. By comparison, the electricity consumption of a two-person household in Germany is around 54 kWh per week. A mid-range electric car could therefore completely cover this electricity requirement with a full battery charge. In addition, the new ID.4 and R5 models are already designed to power buildings and feed electricity into the grid. With a bidirectional charging station, solar power can flow from the roof of a house into the car battery during the day, and back into the building from the car in the evening. This means residents can use cheap solar power both day and night. By linking to the electric car, homeowners can save on installing additional battery storage units for the solar system. In single-family homes, solar battery systems usually have a capacity of 5 to 10 kWh, and cost up to €10,000 ($10,440). Meanwhile, bidirectional charging is "not harmful to the car battery per se," said Robert Kohrs, an expert in smart energy grids at German research body, the Fraunhofer Institute. "If you do it right, controlled charging and discharging can increase battery life by 5 to 10%." How can electric cars stabilize the power grid? Cars are driven on average less than an hour a day in Germany. During the time that e-cars are parked, grid operators could use the batteries to temporarily store electricity and thus compensate for fluctuations in the power grid. This will help use the growing amount of solar and wind power flowing into national grids. In recent years, that has amounted to 70% of power generated in Denmark and just under 50% in Germany — though it's often available when it's not needed. EV batteries can temporarily store the surplus electricity from these renewable energy sources. When demand increases, the electricity can be fed back into the grid. This also relieves the pressure on gas or coal-fired power plants during periods of high consumption, while less battery storage is required to stabilize the electricity grids. Meet you at the charging hub! To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The savings potential for the shared use of car batteries in the EU could reach €22 billion annually, according to a recent study commissioned by the European environmental organization, Transport & Environment. The report said EVs could cover up to 9% of the EU's electricity requirements, and temporarily up to 20%, making them an important pillar of the electricity system. While the affordable and climate-neutral energy supply of the future will be based primarily on solar and wind power, according to a study published in Science magazine, this will require battery storage systems with a capacity of 74 billion kWh worldwide by 2050. By 2050, there could be 1.5 billion EVs worldwide, said the researchers. With batteries averaging 60 kWh per vehicle, this global fleet could store a total of up to 90 billion kWh of electricity. What are the benefits of car batteries for car, home and grid? According to the Fraunhofer study on EV power integration, e-car owners could save between €31 and €780 per year by sharing the battery power with their own home or the power grid. In France, private owners of the new electric Renault R5 were offered 10,000 kilometers (around 6,200 miles) of free driving electricity in return for connecting their car to a bidirectional charging station for an average of 15 hours a day. The offer has been "well received in France, we are getting a lot of interest," said Thomas Raffeiner from Mobility House, a German-Swiss company that markets bidirectional charging — and the low cost of energy for consumers who utilize the flexibility of car batteries . Raffeiner told DW that more such offers are in the works. According to a survey commissioned by energy supplier Eon, 77% of respondents would use bidirectional charging technology to supply their own buildings, while 65% would support electricity grids. Experts recommend that the new generation of private and public charging stations should function bidirectionally wherever possible. The Fraunhofer study estimated that this would increase the initial costs by roughly €100 for small charging stations (up to 22 KW), and by around €250 for a fast charging station. However, these additional costs would be offset by the savings made within a few months of use. Sources: https://www.transportenvironment.org/uploads/files/2024_10_Study_V2G_EU-Potential_Final.pdf This article was originally written in German Is range anxiety real? EV charging problems and advances To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoInvesting in assets can put you in a better position by the time you’re ready to retire. While stocks and real estate have received plenty of attention over the years, gold remains a reliable investment that has been around for thousands of years. It’s an essential resource for many industries, is a medium of exchange and serves as a safe-haven asset during geopolitical unrest or periods of market volatility. Gold is a hedge against inflation and can thrive during economic uncertainty. That last advantage is a key distinction that separates it from stocks and real estate. However, physical gold doesn’t produce yield like dividend stocks or cash flow like investment properties. Fortunately, it’s still possible to use precious metals to generate retirement income. This guide will explain several ways to use gold for retirement income. Open a gold IRA A gold individual retirement account — or gold IRA — allows you to accumulate physical precious metals in a tax-advantaged account. You won’t have to worry about gold storage, as the IRA’s custodian will handle it. You can then cash out on your gold holdings when you need to cover living expenses. The IRS sets limits for how much you can contribute to an IRA, whether it’s a conventional or gold IRA. If you make the maximum contribution to a gold IRA, you can’t contribute to another IRA. The maximum contribution for traditional and Roth IRAs is currently capped at $7,000 per year for those age 49 and younger. The IRS raises this limit periodically, but you can make catch-up contributions if you are 50 years or older. Catch-up contributions allow you to invest an additional $1,000 into your IRA each year. Anyone can open a Roth IRA, but your modified adjusted gross income must be below $146,000 to contribute the full amount. Investors who earn too much for a Roth IRA can use the backdoor method to fund it. This involves moving funds from a traditional IRA — which doesn’t have income restrictions — to a Roth IRA. Some gold IRA providers give you the flexibility to set up traditional and Roth IRAs. Learn more by reading our guide to the best gold IRA companies . Invest in gold stocks and gold ETFs Gold stocks are easier to buy and manage than physical gold. You also wouldn’t need a separate IRA just for gold investments. However, gold stocks can underperform the precious metal due to several factors. For instance, Newmont Corp. — the world’s largest gold mining company — has only seen its stock gain 13% over the past five years, failing to keep pace with gold prices , which have gained more than 70% during the same period. Varying financial performances and opportunities result in gold stocks having different results than physical gold. Investors have to trust that a company will make good business decisions instead of leaning exclusively on the long-term reliability of gold. However, gold stocks have an edge with liquidity, especially if you want to receive dividends. For example, Newmont has a dividend yield above 2%, and it’s not the only gold stock that offers a good dividend. Some people prefer to avoid the complexities of converting physical gold into cash and opt for dividends and stocks instead. Some gold exchange-traded funds also produce yield, which help generate income in retirement. These gold ETFs hold baskets of gold mining companies, whereas some gold ETFs are backed by physical gold and do not pay dividends. Similar to gold stocks, gold ETFs have also lagged the gains of physical gold. For example, while the VanEck Gold Miners ETF has a dividend that yields around 1.34%, it gained 41.55% over the past five years compared to the 70% return for physical gold. Buy physical gold and exchange it when necessary It takes more time to buy physical gold than buying a stock, including finding a reputable and trustworthy gold dealer . Physical gold isn’t as liquid, and you are responsible for storage (and optional gold insurance , as well). However, a key advantage of physical gold is that you claim full ownership of the asset. While gold ETFs and IRAs give you exposure to gold and better liquidity, buying the physical asset gives you the most control. Some people value having control over the asset instead of trusting a custodian, gold miner or fund manager. Luckily, physical gold commands a lot of value without taking up much space. A kilogram of gold is smaller than most iPhones, and an ounce of gold is about half the size of an iPhone. It’s easy to hide and move gold around if needed, but it’s still good to find professional storage and get it insured in case something happens. Physical gold should continue to gain value due to inflation. Then, you can sell your gold bars and coins when you need extra retirement funds. Should gold be a part of your retirement strategy? Putting all of your eggs in one basket is very risky, and that’s why many experts recommend diversifying your portfolio. Gold can be a valuable part of the mix, as its returns aren’t correlated to the stock market. The prices of precious metals can hold steady or gain value when stocks and real estate enter corrections. And while expert opinions on gold vary, many agree that investors shouldn’t allocate more than 5-10% of their portfolio to the precious metal. This amount of exposure provides a good buffer against inflation while allowing you to allocate funds to other asset classes. IRAs are attractive options for gold investors who want to capitalize on tax benefits while growing their portfolios. Conventional IRAs reduce your present taxable income, while Roth IRAs shield you from taxes on your distributions and capital gains. While those types of accounts can hold gold-backed equities like stocks and ETFs, only gold IRAs can hold precious metals. Investors should assess their long-term goals and financial situations before accumulating gold.Recession-Proofing Your Portfolio With Gold