BIG TECH STOCKS: Down … Down … Down!

By Staff Reporters

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Plunging tech stocks are dragging the markets down and snapping a brief winning streak. Up next for the economy: The third-quarter GDP report.

America’s internet giants are slumping hard in this era of higher interest rates, lower advertising budgets, and widespread economic uncertainty

For example, Meta recently became the latest Big Tech company to post rough financial results for the prior quarter. It recorded its second straight quarter of declining revenue and provided a gloomy outlook for Q4. Perhaps Meta shouldn’t even be considered “Big Tech” anymore. Since its share price peaked in September 2021, the company lost nearly two-thirds of its value…before diving another ~20% in after-hours trading yesterday.

What went wrong? Younger people are fleeing Facebook, and investors aren’t confident CEO Mark Zuckerberg can reinvent the company as a metaverse platform. “Meta has drifted into the land of excess—too many people, too many ideas, too little urgency,” a prominent shareholder wrote this week in a scathing letter. Meta’s metaverse unit, Reality Labs, has lost $9.4 billion so far this year.

While Meta may be the poster child for Big Tech’s struggles, it’s not the only company that needs a checkup

  • Google parent Alphabet posted its slowest revenue growth since 2013 (outside of one early pandemic quarter), and YouTube ad sales actually fell in Q3. It’s “a tough time in the ad market,” CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged. Alphabet shares had their worst day since March 2020.
  • And Microsoft also had its worst day since March 2020 after giving a disappointing forecast. Its push to dominate the metaverse is also faltering, per the WSJ.

Big view

Tech giants scored record profits during COVID, when interest rates were near zero, stimulus checks were flowing, and everyone was stuck inside with only the internet to entertain themselves. No anymore!

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ORDER: https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Health-Information-Technology-Security/dp/0826149952/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254413315&sr=1-5

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PODCAST: Private Equity in Healthcare Explained

By Eric Bricker MD

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Private Equity is a Newer Name for Leveraged-Buyout Firms that were Popular in the 1980s.

These Companies Use Investor Money and Debt to Buy Companies and Often Use Additional Debt to Accelerate Growth.

The Private Equity Firm then ‘Flips’ or Sells the Company for a Profit.

The Private Equity Firm KKR’s Acquisition of the Physician Staffing Firm Envision is a Great Example of This Strategy.

However, Private Equity Firms May Be Contributing to the Rising Cost of Healthcare Through Their Activities.

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BUSINESS OF MEDICINE: https://www.amazon.com/Business-Medical-Practice-Transformational-Doctors/dp/0826105750/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1448163039&sr=8-9&keywords=david+marcinko

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Hospitals in the RED

By Staff Reporters

Hospitals this year are seeing more red than black as growing financial challenges, like spiked labor costs and inflation on medical supplies, puts them on pace to have the worst financial performance into the pandemic thus far.

More than half of hospitals (53% of more than 900 sampled) are projected to have negative margins by the end of the year, compared to 39% in 2019, according to a September report from management consulting firm Kaufman Hall, on behalf of AHA. The firm put the median operating margin for hospitals at about -1%, which could mean service cuts, and for more vulnerable hospitals, including rural ones, closing their doors.

But why is the financial outlook so bleak for hospitals? A few factors are conspiring:

Labor costs: The top reasons hospitals are struggling financially in 2022 are “labor, labor, and labor,” said Kevin Holloran, senior director at Fitch Ratings. The healthcare labor shortage doesn’t just extend to nurses, but across the board.

Rising supply prices: Blame inflation. AHA reported that the “costs for energy, resins, cotton, and most metals surged in excess of 30%” between fall 2020 and early 2022.

Sicker patients, longer stays: Intensive care units across the country were overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients at the outset of the pandemic, but more recently hospitals have been caring for sicker non-Covid patients, said Aaron Wesolowski, AHA’s vice president for policy research and analytics

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HOSPITALS: https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Management-Strategies-Healthcare-Organizations/dp/1466558733/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380743521&sr=8-3&keywords=david+marcinko

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OPERATIONS: https://www.amazon.com/Hospitals-Healthcare-Organizations-Management-Operational/dp/1439879907/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334193619&sr=1-4

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What is CHROMETOPHOBIA?

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A great question to ponder during National Financial Planning Month!

About the “FEAR OF MONEY”

By Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Fear of money: An abnormal and persistent fear of money. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They worry that they might mismanage money or that money might live up to its reputation as “the root of all evil.” Perhaps they remember well the ill fortune that befell the mythical King Midas. His wish that everything he touched be turned to gold was fulfilled, and even his food was transformed into gold.

The fear of money is termed chrometophobia or chrematophobia, from the Greek “chrimata” (money) and “phobos” (fear). The “chrome” in “chrometophobia” may also be related to the Greek word “chroma” (color) because of the brilliant colors of ancient coins — for example, gold, silver, bronze and copper.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/0826102549

YOUR COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED.

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Comprehensive Financial Planning Strategies for Doctors and Advisors: Best Practices from Leading Consultants and Certified Medical Planners™

FINANCIAL PLANNING: https://www.routledge.com/Comprehensive-Financial-Planning-Strategies-for-Doctors-and-Advisors-Best/Marcinko-Hetico/p/book/9781482240283

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Risk Management, Liability Insurance, and Asset Protection Strategies for Doctors and Advisors : Best Practices from Leading Consultants and Certified Medical Planners™ book cover

RISK MANAGEMENT: https://www.routledge.com/Risk-Management-Liability-Insurance-and-Asset-Protection-Strategies-for/Marcinko-Hetico/p/book/9781498725989

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PHYSICIAN FINANCIAL ADVISORS: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2021/10/11/

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