BOARD CERTIFICATION EXAM STUDY GUIDES Lower Extremity Trauma
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A donor-advised fund is a private account created to manage and distribute charitable donations on behalf of an organization, family, or individual. Donor-advised funds can democratize philanthropy by aggregating the contributions of multiple donors, thus multiplying their impact on worthy causes. Donor-advised funds also have abundant tax advantages.
Donor-advised funds have become increasingly popular, as they offer the donor greater ease of administration while still allowing them to maintain significant control over the placement and distribution of charitable gifts. But, unlike private foundations, donor-advised fund holders enjoy a federal income tax deduction of up to 60% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for cash contributions and up to 30% of AGI for the appreciated securities they donate. Donors to these funds can contribute cash, stock shares, and other assets. When they transfer assets such as limited-partnership interests, they can avoid capital gains taxes and receive immediate fair market value tax deductions.
According to the National Philanthropic Trust’s 2023 Donor-Advised Fund Report, these funds have continued to grow in recent years, despite some headwinds including the Covid-19 pandemic and occasional stock market setbacks. Total grants awarded by donor-advised funds in 2022 increased by 9% to $52.16 billion, while total contributions rose by 9% to $85.5 billion.
Many donor-advised funds accept non-cash assets—such as checks, wire transfers, and cash positions from a brokerage account—in addition to cash and cash equivalents.
Donating non-cash assets may be more beneficial for individuals and businesses, leading to bigger tax bigger write-offs.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on May 31, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By AI
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What Is a SAFE Note?
A SAFE note is a type of convertible security that specifies a certain amount of money an investor will pay you as a business owner. In exchange, you agree to give the investor a certain amount of equity in your company at an agreed-upon future date. In other words, a SAFE note confers the right for an investor to purchase shares in your company in a future-priced round.
How SAFE Notes Work
According to ContractsCounsel, a SAFE note works in the following way:
An investor provides funding in exchange for the right to future equity.
You use the funding to grow your business.
After your company grows sufficiently, you secure another investor, and your company receives a “post-money valuation.”
You calculate your company’s price per share.
You convert the SAFE note into the applicable number of shares and distribute them to the SAFE investor. Typically, a SAFE note converts after an equity financing round.
Example of a SAFE Note
An investor purchases a SAFE note with a valuation cap of $20 million. During the next funding round, the value of your company is set at $40 million at $20 a share. Because the SAFE note has a valuation cap of $20 million, its owner can purchase twice as many shares of your company as new investors can. This was the incentive for the SAFE investor to provide funding earlier.
Within venture capital financing, a convertible note is a type of short-term debt financing that’s used in early-stage capital raises. In other words, convertible notes are loans to early-stage startups from investors who are expecting to be paid back when their note comes due. But, instead of being paid back in principal with interest—as would be the case with a typical loan—the investor can be repaid in equity in your company.
You might also think of a convertible note like an IOU. An investor provides you with capital now and the convertible note, acting as a short-term loan, ensures that you give the investor a stake in your startup later. From the investor’s point of view, the benefit in this exchange is that if they give you capital and a vote of confidence early on and you do well, you’ll repay them many times over.
How Do Convertible Notes Work?
Typically, an investor will provide an early-stage startup in need of capital with a loan (with repayment terms in the ballpark of a standard short-term loan, usually a year or two), along with repayment terms. This is the “note.” The note will include a due date at which time it’s mature and the balance will be due, along with interest. Generally, however, the note is not repaid like a normal short-term loan. Instead, you repay the investor for their loan with equity in your company, usually in conjunction with another funding round.
If, however, the maturity date comes along and your startup has not yet converted the note to equity, the investor can either extend the convertible note’s maturity date or call for the actual repayment of the note.
This being said, the whole idea behind convertible notes is that your company is on a strong growth trajectory and that is why the note is being issued—it amasses value for the investor and beelines to a priced round. Ultimately, the point of a convertible note is that the noteholder, or investor, doesn’t want to get their loan paid back— they want their debt to convert into a heavily discounted security in a successful, valuable company that’s growing extremely quickly.
Cons: The major downside of a convertible note is that you will eventually be giving up some control over your business. When the convertible note comes due, the investor will be granted equity in your business. If you’re not ready to split ownership of your business with outside parties, this is not the right financing option for you.
Posted on May 30, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By AI
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The terms “real estate agent” and “realtor” are often used interchangeably to describe a licensed professional who can help you buy or sell a home. But the terms have different meanings.
A realtor is a licensed salesperson who belongs to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and must comply with NAR’s code of ethics. The term is capitalized when describing a NAR member, and NAR owns the trademark.
A real estate agent is simply a licensed salesperson who does not belong to NAR, and refers to any individual who holds a real estate salesperson’s license.
Should you hire a real estate agent or a realtor? Agents who belong to NAR aren’t necessarily better than non-member agents. NAR is just a trade association — not a licensing body — so membership is optional.
Life planning and behavioral finance as proposed for physicians and integrated by the Institute of Medical Business Advisors Inc., is unique in that it emanates from a holistic union of personal financial planning, human physiology and medical practice management, solely for the healthcare space. Unlike pure life planning, pure financial planning, or pure management theory, it is both a quantitative and qualitative “hard and soft” science, with an ambitious economic, psychological and managerial niche value proposition never before proposed and codified, while still representing an evolving philosophy. Its’ first-mover practitioners are called Certified Medical Planners™.
Financial Life Planning is an approach to financial planning that places the history, transitions, goals, and principles of the client at the center of the planning process. For the financial advisor or planner, the life of the client becomes the axis around which financial planning develops and evolves.
Financial Life Planning is about coming to the right answers by asking the right questions. This involves broadening the conversation beyond investment selection and asset management to exploring life issues as they relate to money.
Financial Life Planning is a process that helps advisors move their practice from financial transaction thinking, to life transition thinking. The first step is aimed to help clients “see” the connection between their financial lives and the challenges and opportunities inherent in each life transition.
But, for informed physicians, life planning’s quasi-professional and informal approach to the largely isolate disciplines of financial planning and medical practice management is inadequate. Today’s practice environment is incredibly complex, as compressed economic stress from HMOs managed care, financial insecurity from insurance companies, ACOs and VBC, Washington DC and Wall Street; liability fears from attorneys, criminal scrutiny from government agencies, and IT mischief from malicious electronic medical record [eMR] hackers. And economic bench marking from hospital employers; lost confidence from patients; and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [PP-ACA] more than a decade ago. All promote “burnout” and converge to inspire a robust new financial planning approach for physicians and most all medical professionals.
The iMBA Inc., approach to financial planning, as championed by the Certified Medical Planner™ professional certification designation program, integrates the traditional concepts of financial life planning, with the increasing complex business concepts of medical practice management. The former topics are presented in this textbook, the later in our recent companion text: The Business of Medical Practice [Transformational Health 2.0 Skills for Doctors].
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For example, views of medical practice, personal lifestyle, investing and retirement, both what they are and how they may look in the future, are rapidly changing as the retail mentality of medicine is replaced with a wholesale and governmental philosophy. Or, how views on maximizing current practice income might be more profitably sacrificed for the potential of greater wealth upon eventual practice sale and disposition.
Or, how the ultimate fear represented by Yale University economist Robert J. Shiller, in The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century, warns that the risk for choosing the wrong profession or specialty, might render physicians obsolete by technological changes, managed care systems or fiscally unsound demographics. OR, if a medical degree is even needed for future physicians?
Say, what medical license?
Dr. Shirley Svorny, chair of the economics department at California State University, Northridge, holds a PhD in economics from UCLA. She is an expert on the regulation of health care professionals who participated in health policy summits organized by Cato and the Texas Public Policy Foundation. She argues that medical licensure not only fails to protect patients from incompetent physicians, but, by raising barriers to entry, makes health care more expensive and less accessible. Institutional oversight and a sophisticated network of private accrediting and certification organizations, all motivated by the need to protect reputations and avoid legal liability, offer whatever consumer protections exist today.
Yet, the opportunity to revise the future at any age through personal re-engineering, exists for all of us, and allows a joint exploration of the meaning and purpose in life. To allow this deeper and more realistic approach, the informed transformation advisor and the doctor client, must build relationships based on trust, greater self-knowledge and true medical business management and personal financial planning acumen.
[A] The iMBA Philosophy
As you read this ME-P website, we hope you will embrace the opportunity to receive the focused and best thinking of some very smart people. Hopefully, along the way you will self-saturate with concrete information that proves valuable in your own medical practice and personal money journey. Maybe, you will even learn something that is so valuable and so powerful, that future reflection will reveal it to be of critical importance to your life. The contributing authors certainly hope so.
At the Institute of Medical Business Advisors, and thru the Certified Medical Planner™ program, we suggest that such an epiphany can be realized only if you have extraordinary clarity regarding your personal, economic and [financial advisory or medical] practice goals, your money, and your relationship with it. Money is, after only, no more or less than what we make of it.
Ultimately, your relationship with it, and to others, is the most important component of how well it will serve you.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: CONTACT: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on May 28, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Rick Kahler MSFP CFP®
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OVER HEARD IN THE FINANCIAl ADVISOR’S LOUNGE
A basic strategy for asset protection is to hold various assets in different entities. Putting real estate, small businesses, and other assets into trusts, corporations, or limited liability companies (LLCs) is effective protection that is relatively easy to put into practice. Not only do I recommend this strategy to clients, I use it myself. Recently, however, I discovered a potential downside.
About 25 years ago, I invested in some rare coins in a corporation I owned and put them into a safe deposit box owned by the corporation. When my business relocated 12 years ago, the safe deposit box billing was not forwarded to the new address and was never paid again. Last year I went to retrieve the coins from the safe deposit box, which I had not visited in 25 years. I discovered the box had been drilled open three years earlier and my collection turned over to the unclaimed property division of the State Treasurer’s office.
I was told getting the coins back would be simple enough. I just needed to verify that I owned the company which owned them by providing the corporation’s tax ID number. However, the corporation no longer existed. I didn’t have a record of its tax ID number. The IRS wouldn’t verify the number without my giving them the address the company had used. That address was a post office box number that I no longer used and couldn’t remember. The state’s position was “no tax ID, no coins.” The only verification of my identity as owner of the corporation was my signature on the bank’s safe deposit box application. Eventually, with the support of bank officers who were willing to swear that I was who I claimed to be, I got my coin collection back. The hassle involved in this process was a reminder of an important component of asset protection. Maintain accurate records so you don’t end up hiding assets from yourself.
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A good start is to create a master file of all the entities that hold your assets. This can be any system that’s easy for you to use: a computer spreadsheet, a set of file folders, or a single paper list. Share it as appropriate with your CPA, attorney, or financial planner. The master list should include the name of each company, its date of incorporation, tax ID number, address, and other relevant information like phone or bank account numbers. Also keep an inventory of the assets each company owns.
Once you’ve created a master list, it’s essential to keep it up to date as you buy or sell assets, close companies, or transfer ownership. Set up a system, as well, to remind yourself of tasks like filing tax returns, completing minutes of annual meetings, and paying the annual safe deposit box rent. Make your record-keeping easier by eliminating unnecessary complications.
For example, you probably don’t need a separate address for each trust, corporation, or LLC. Instead of creating a separate company for each asset, you might consider grouping smaller assets within one entity. I’d suggest first discussing the pros and cons with an attorney or financial planner. For larger assets like real estate, I do recommend holding each one separately.
When I talk to clients about asset protection, I mention that part of the price we pay for it is an increase in paperwork. It’s easy to accept that idea with casual good intentions. The case of my reclaimed coin investment is a good reminder of the importance of keeping up with that paperwork. If we don’t, we might protect ourselves right out of access to our own assets.
Most individual physician portfolios are simply a list of stocks. Doctors with such lists usually know the cost of each position and when they acquired it. It is not unusual to find inherited low cost stocks in the account that have been held for many years.
When you inherit securities, a new cost basis is established (the price of the stock on the date of death or six months later—the executor of the estate makes this determination). Even though there would be no capital gain liability if the stock were sold immediately after date of death, most people simply don’t do anything, just hold the stock. Of course taxes should be considered when selling securities but the investment merit should be the overriding factor.
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Doctor and Accountant Opinions
In a personal communication, Mr. L. Eddie Dutton, CPA said, “First make an investment decision and if it fits into the tax plan, so much the better. Doctors often wonder where they will get the money to pay the taxes. I say to get it from the sale of the appreciated stock and cry all the way to the bank with your profit.”
Dr. Ernest Duty MD, a very successful private investor advises “Ask yourself this question: If you had the money instead of the stock, would you buy the stock? If your answer is ‘Yes’ then, hold on to the stock but if you say ‘No, I wouldn’t buy that stock today’ then, sell it” [personal communication].
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: E-MAILCONTACT: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Giving circles support with their dollars, but also build awareness, volunteer, become board members and more. Individuals multiply their impact and knowledge, have fun, and connect with their local community.
People are coming together around the world to create the change they want to see in the world. Giving circles are a growing global movement with more than 2,500 active circles around the world giving intentionally and thoughtfully.
Posted on May 25, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters and AI
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What is a cashier’s check?
Unlike a personal check, a cashier’s check is guaranteed by a bank, drawn from the bank’s own funds, and signed by a bank representative. It’s typically used for large or important transactions, such as buying a car or making a down payment on a home, because it offers more security to the recipient than a personal check.
Traditionally, bank customers obtain a cashier’s check by visiting a bank or credit union in person. There’s usually no limit on the amount of the cashier’s check as long as you have the money to cover it. You and the bank or credit union representative sign the check, and the money is withdrawn from the financial institution’s funds when the check is cashed. However, some online banks may allow you to order a cashier’s check online or over the phone.
If you need a cashier’s check the same day and your bank doesn’t have physical branches, a credit union in your area might issue cashier’s checks even if you’re not a customer. Otherwise, consider signing up with a bank or credit union with physical branches in your area.
There is typically a fee to get a cashier’s check, though the amount isn’t significant. Often, you’ll pay less than $20 even for cashier’s checks of several thousand dollars. The relatively low fees for cashier’s checks and guarantee of funds make them useful when making large, important transactions.
A money order is another paper payment method similar to a check. You pay the amount up front (usually in cash or debit), plus a small fee, and the issuer prints a money order that can be filled out to a specific recipient. Because the payment is prepaid, money orders are considered a safe alternative to personal checks, especially for smaller transactions or when sending money through the mail.
Money orders are available at many banks and credit unions as well as some retailers, grocery stores, and post offices. Domestic money orders can’t exceed $1,000, so they aren’t suitable for large transactions. However, while there is a limit on the amount of each money order, you can purchase multiple money orders to pay for more than one expense.
Money orders also have relatively low fees. For example, the United States Postal Service (USPS) charges $2.35 for money orders of $0.01 to $500.00, and $3.40 for money orders between $500.01 and $1,000.00
Which payment method is safer: cashier’s check vs. money order?
Cashier’s checks and money orders are both relatively safe forms of payment — both ensure the payment will not bounce.
However, cashier’s checks are generally safer due to the process financial institutions follow. Cashier’s checks are backed by a bank’s own funds, not your personal account, and are signed by a bank employee — making them harder to counterfeit and more trusted by recipients. The payee must also provide a photo ID when cashing the check, so only the person the financial institution specifies can access the money.
Money orders are paid from your personal bank account funds. They can be easier to forge, especially the ones purchased at retail outlets rather than banks.
That said, both are safer than personal checks or mailing cash, and both can be tracked if lost. But for high-value purchases, a cashier’s check is the more secure option.
An investment advisor (sometimes spelled “investment adviser”) is defined as a company or person who has a government registration allowing them to choose, manage and recommend investments for clients. Investment advisors are also sometimes referred to as stock brokers. They are not fiduciaries.
Unlike other financial advisors who may not be regulated, investment advisors are regulated by their state or the Securities Exchange Commission depending on how much money they manage. Investment advisors may also offer services like retirement planning.
COMMENTS APPRECIATED
The Medical Executive-Post is a news and information aggregator and social media professional network for medical and financial service professionals. Feel free to submit education content to the site as well as links, text posts, images, opinions and videos which are then voted up or down by other members. Comments and dialog are especially welcomed. Daily posts are organized by subject. ME-P administrators moderate the activity. Moderation may also conducted by community-specific moderators who are unpaid volunteers.
A hedge fund is a limited partnership of private investors whose money is pooled and managed by professional fund managers. These managers use a wide range of strategies, including leverage (borrowed money) and the trading of nontraditional assets, to earn above-average investment returns. A hedge fund investment is often considered a risky, alternative investment choice and usually requires a high minimum investment or net worth. Hedge funds typically target wealthy investors.
I want to invest with a manager that has the skills to “hedge” a portfolio, but I do not wish to mix my money with other investors as in a hedge fund.
QUESTION:Can I hire hedge fund managers to manage my account separately?
Some hedge fund managers do take the time to recruit and manage separate accounts, with or without the help of referring brokers.
However, before long the administrative burden of managing so many separate accounts can become quite significant. Hence, the minimums for such separate accounts are generally much higher than if one were to invest in the manager’s hedge fund.
The best feature of these separate accounts is that potentially every aspect of the investment account, including fees, is negotiable. Other features include greater transparency and increased liquidity, since separately managed accounts can often be shut down on short notice.
Investors must be aware, however, that for practical purposes the portfolio manager generally will buy and sell the same securities in the separately managed accounts that the portfolio manager buys and sells in the hedge fund, yet the expenses incurred by the investor will likely be higher.
Posted on May 23, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stocks wavered throughout the day as the 10-year Treasury yield rose back above 4.5%, making a convincing argument for investors to buy risk-free bonds with big yields rather than equities.
Yields on both 20-year and 30-year Treasuries traded above 5% after the Republican tax and spending bill passed the House, raising fears of a bigger US deficit and lower creditworthiness in the years ahead.
Bitcoin continued to climb last night, hitting a new record high of $111,886.41 in the wee hours of the morning before losing some ground throughout the trading session today.
Nike gained 2.30% on the news that it will begin selling its shoes on Amazon for the first time since 2019.
Fannie Mae popped 46.73% and FreddieMac jumped 42.50% on President Trump’s comments that he’s seriously considering bringing the mortgage giants public.
Advance Auto Parts exploded 57.14% higher after better-than-feared earnings made it clear that its turnaround plan is working.
Urban Outfitters soared 22.84% after reporting EPS of $1.16 last quarter, far better than the $0.84 per share analysts had forecast.
Snowflake gained 13.47% thanks to a strong first quarter and management’s expectation that revenue will rise about 25% this quarter.
What’s down
Walmart lost 0.48% on the news that it will cut 1,500 jobs in a corporate restructuring.
Analog Devices fell 4.63% even though the semiconductor maker beat Wall Street estimates on both sales and profits last quarter.
Health insurance stocks took a hit on reports that the US government will conduct “aggressive” Medicare Advantage audits. Humana sank 7.58%, UnitedHealthGroup fell 2.08%, and CVSHealth dropped 3.06%.
Posted on May 21, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
DEFINED
By Staff Reporters
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Stocks ticked down yesterday, ending a six-day rally after some influential CEOs—including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon—warned that markets have grown too complacent about tariffs and potential stagflation. But it was a spectacular day for Warby Parker, which climbed more than 15% after Google announced it’s partnering with the eyewear company on Google Glass (RIP) a new smart glasses device.
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Stagflation is the simultaneous appearance in an economy of slow growth, high unemployment, and rising prices.
Once thought by economists to be impossible, stagflation has occurred repeatedly in the developed world since the 1970s.
Policy solutions for slow growth tend to worsen inflation, and vice versa. That makes stagflation hard to fight.
Stagflation is the combination of high inflation, stagnant economic growth, and elevated unemployment.
The term stagflation, a blend of “stagnation” and “inflation,” was popularized by British politician Lain MacLeod in the 1960s, during a period of economic distress in the United Kingdom. It gained broader recognition in the 1970s after a series of global economic shocks, particularly the 1973 oil crisis, which disrupted supply chains and led to rising prices and slowing growth. Stagflation challenges traditional economic theories, which suggest that inflation and unemployment are inversely related, as depicted by the Phillips Curve.
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According to Wikipedia, stagflation presents a policy dilemma, as measures to curb inflation—such as tightening monetary policy—can exacerbate unemployment, while policies aimed at reducing unemployment may fuel inflation.
In economic theory, there are two main explanations for stagflation: supply shocks, such as a sharp increase in oil prices, and misguided government policies that hinder industrial output while expanding the money supply too rapidly.
NOTE: A portmanteau word or part of a word made by combining the spellings and meanings of two or more other words or word parts (such as smog from smoke and fog).
The stagflation of the 1970s led to a re-evaluation of Keynesian economic policies and contributed to the rise of alternative economic theories, including monetarism and supply-side economics.
Posted on May 21, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
The S&P 500 snapped a 6-day winning streak as the rally following the US & China tariff ceasefire faded and investors looked elsewhere for buying signals.
Federal Reserve speeches abound this week, with several central bankers warning of an economy under duress.
Both gold and bitcoin consolidated their recent gains, offering investors alternatives to suddenly not-so-safe bonds and a sagging US dollar.
Tesla climbed 0.51% after CEO Elon Musk committed to spending the next five years running the EV manufacturer.
Moderna popped 6.06% after the FDA announced new limits on Covid-19 vaccine approvals that were more lenient than expected.
Warby Parker soared 15.57% on news of a partnership with Google to create smart glasses.
Pony AI rose 5.74% after the Chinese auto maker posted impressive earnings and cited high demand for autonomous taxi rides.
Amer Sports surged 19.05% after the athletic equipment maker posted a strong beat-and-raise earnings announcement.
D-Wave Quantum soared 25.93% after the quantum computing company unveiled its newest computing system.
Levi Strauss & Co. rose 1.42% on the news that the jeans company is selling Dockers to Authentic Brands Group for $311 million.
What’s down
Home Depot fell just 0.61% after the home renovation retailer missed earnings estimates, beat revenue forecasts, kept its fiscal guidance intact, and said it won’t raise prices.
Airbnb tumbled 3.27% after Spain ordered the company to take down over 65,000 listings.
VikingHoldings sank 4.99% despite earnings and sales beating estimates, but investors didn’t like hearing that the the cruise line operator transported fewer passengers last quarter than expected.
AES lost 4.05% after the solar stock was downgraded by Jefferies analysts, who are worried about lower demand for renewable energy.
Posted on May 20, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Coinbase under investigation – Hit with ransom attack
Coinbase’s wild week got much wilder when the New York Times reported that the SEC has been looking into whether the crypto exchange misstated the size of its user base in securities filings. Per the New York Times, the investigation started under President Biden and has continued under President Trump.
The subject of the investigation appears to be Coinbase’s claim in past disclosures and marketing materials that it has 100 million “verified users.” A company spokesperson said it no longer reports that metric and the investigation should not continue.
The report came days after Coinbase joined the S&P 500, and just hours after it said it could lose $400 million following a recent hack by “rogue overseas” agents looking to steal customer data.
Financial Advisors and Financial Planners Usually Aren’t Millionaires
According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), financial advisors had a median annual salary of $99,580 in 2023, which is significantly higher than the national average of $65,470. Of course, salaries of financial advisors can differ significantly by their location and level of expertise. The client’s profile may also have an impact on their compensation. But, many are not rich.
This is unfortunate. Financial advisors and Financial planners don’t rank among the millionaire professions in Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko’s book The Millionaire Next Door. Many work as salaried employees rather than entrepreneurs, lacking the scalable income potential of business owners who reinvest profits.
Stanley and Danko also stressed frugality, a challenge for advisors pressured to flaunt success—think luxury cars or upscale offices—making them “income-statement affluent” rather than “balance-sheet affluent.”
The truth is that a Financial Advisors’ success isn’t measured in client returns. Instead it is measured in their ability to gather assets and retain clients. In other words; Financial Advisors do not need to be good with money.
Financial Advisors need to be good with marketing, advertising, sales and people.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
S&P 500 surges 20% in Six Weeks as Stock Market Euphoria Returns to Wall Street
U.S. stock markets surged after an agreement between the Trump administration and China to lower tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 1,000 points, while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 gained nearly 600 and about 100 points, respectively last week. The improvement has erased recent losses from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The U.S. and China agreed to reduce tariffs on each other’s goods for an initial 90 days. The U.S. will lower tariffs on Chinese products from 145% to 30%, while China will cut its tariffs on American imports from 125% to 10%.
This unexpected breakthrough has eased tensions in their trade war and positively impacted global markets.
A hedge fund is a limited partnership of private investors whose money is pooled and managed by professional fund managers. These managers use a wide range of strategies, including leverage (borrowed money) and the trading of nontraditional assets, to earn above-average investment returns. A hedge fund investment is often considered a risky, alternative investment choice and usually requires a high minimum investment or net worth. Hedge funds typically target wealthy investors.
My medical practice has a small self-directed pension plan with profit sharing features.
QUESTION: Can my medical practice’s retirement plan invest in a hedge fund?
Such a pension fund falls under a category called self-directed “plan” assets.
Among the rules are that each participant in the plan counts toward the 100 investor maximum under which most hedge funds operate, that each plan participant be a fully accredited investor, and that the hedge fund keep investments such as pension plans and other funds covered under ERISA to less than 25 percent of total assets under management.
Markets started the day down yesterday but regained lost ground throughout the afternoon as investors decided that any day with no new tariff announcements is a good day.
Be advised: Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that “supply shocks” pose a challenge for the economy, and that interest rates may need to remain higher for longer. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said a recession is still on the table.
Oil took a tumble on comments by President Trump that the US is nearing a deal with Iran over its nuclear program that could lift sanctions against the country.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on May 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Rick Kahler MSFP CFP™
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If I had a dollar for every time someone referred to the “good old days,” of the American economy, I could probably buy a vintage diner, jukebox and all, and still have enough left for a slice of apple pie.
The newest round of on-again, off-again tariffs is built around that same kind of nostalgia. Slapping big taxes on goods from other countries will supposedly protect American jobs and industries. The aim is to bring factories back, boost wages, and make the country more self-reliant.
This is a powerful story that taps into a deep feeling that we’ve lost control. Supporters argue that the U.S. has opened its markets and played by the rules, allowing many other countries to prosper at its expense, while America has been in a long, slow economic decline. This story frames the U.S. as a victim, with tariffs a form of payback to punish countries that have “taken advantage of us.”
Except that story is a myth. Rather than punishing foreign economies, the pain of tariffs hits Americans at home. Our businesses face costlier goods, consumers pay higher prices at the store, and the ripple effects include falling sales, layoffs, and frayed trade relationships.
In addition, the U.S. economy has actually been booming. Over the past three decades, the U.S. has pulled far ahead of most developed nations. In 2008, the American economy was about the same size as the Eurozone’s. Today, it’s nearly twice as large. Wages have risen. Even the poorest U.S. state now has a higher per-person income than countries like France, Japan, or the U.K.
So why do so many people still feel like we’re falling behind?
First, the growth hasn’t reached everyone, especially in rural America. In some areas and industries, jobs have disappeared and opportunities have dwindled.
Second, many people who are doing okay themselves have bought into a powerful, repeated myth that things are going terribly for everyone else.
This narrative takes hold in people’s internal voices, the parts of themselves shaped by past pain, fear, or frustration. Tariffs, then, can feel like a way to stand up and take action. It makes perfect sense to want to relieve anxiety by shutting the world out and protecting what is left.
Yet, when we act from fear or anger without pausing to reflect, we tend to overcorrect or trade one set of problems for another. This is what many economists and business leaders see happening with tariffs. Even supporters of tariffs are beginning to admit they’re a gamble. Many are still willing to take that gamble if it means restoring something they feel they’ve lost, a sense of purpose, security, and control.
Reacting out of fear in this way is not likely to create lasting solutions. A more challenging but more productive approach would be to take time to listen with compassion to those inner voices, helping them move past anxiety to find answers based in truth rather than myth. Maybe real liberation comes from letting go of narratives that no longer serve us, choosing a future built on connection, courage, and clarity.
Because if we keep heading down an isolationist path, turning inward out of fear, the future might not be the golden age we imagine. It might look a lot more like the actual 1950s, before the civil rights movement, before women fully entered the workforce, before the innovations that made the U.S. economy a global leader. A time more isolated, less equal, and far less dynamic than the one we’ve come to idealize.
That’s a version of the past we don’t need to relive, no matter what nostalgic song is playing on the jukebox.
Posted on May 6, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Vitaliy Katsenelson CFA
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The technology at the core of the mania is different every time. What doesn’t change over time is human emotion – the fear of missing out and then the fear of loss.
AI has a feel of “this time is different.” Optimism rarely erupts about the same technology twice; this is why history doesn’t repeat but rhymes. The technology at the core of the mania is different every time. What doesn’t change over time is human emotion – the fear of missing out and then the fear of loss, in that order.
Humans are an optimistic bunch. We need it; it’s essential to our survival and progress; but eventually, we take our optimism too far. The graveyard of financial ruins is full of these stories.
I have beat the dotcoms and Nifty Fifties to death, so let’s go to back another century. My friend the brilliant Edward Chancellor wrote about the railroad boom and bust in England in the 1800s. Here he is, edited for brevity:
The first railway to use steam locomotives opened in 1825 and was designed to carry coal, not passengers. Railway promoters simply did not appreciate the potential demand for high-speed travel. The successful launch of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, however, demonstrated the commercial viability of passenger travel. By the early 1840s, Britain’s railway network stretched to more than 2,000 miles. Railway companies were delivering acceptable, if not spectacular, returns for investors.
Then railway fever suddenly gripped the nation. Enthusiasts touted rail transport not just for its economic benefits, but for its benign effects on human civilization. One journal envisaged a day when the “whole world will have become one great family speaking one language, governed in unity by like laws, and adoring one God.” In the two years after 1843, the index of rail stocks doubled.
Investment peaked at around 7% of Britain’s national income. Railway enthusiasts predicted that rail would soon replace all the country’s roads and that “horse and foot transit shall be nearly extinct.”
In 1845, Britain’s railways carried nearly 34 million passengers. If the 8,000 miles of newly authorized railways were to deliver their expected 10% return, then the industry’s total revenue and passenger traffic would have to climb five fold or more – all within the space of just five years. “This should have alarmed observers by itself … But they were deluded by the collective psychology of the Mania”, writes Odlyzko.
In 1847 a severe financial crisis broke out, induced in part by the diversion of large amounts of capital into unprofitable railway schemes. It turned out that the revenue projections provided by so-called “traffic takers” were wildly overoptimistic. Railway engineers underestimated costs. The vogue for constructing direct lines between large urban centers proved mistaken, as most traffic turned out to be local. As a result, Britain’s rail network was plagued with overcapacity. By the end of the decade, the index of railway stocks was down 65% from its 1845 peak.
The railroad bubble in England is just one example; there are hundreds of similar stories across market history. They all share this theme:
A new technology appears on the horizon. In the early stages, investment is rational, but then at some point excitement, imagination, and optimism take over, leading to overinvestment (usually creating a financial bubble). Investors make a lot of money until most lose it all. When the dust settles, only a few companies survive.
This AI boom reminds me of the telecom sector in the 1990s. The internet was going to change the world, and it did, but first we had tremendous overcapacity in global fiber and telecom equipment.
One could say that telecommunications companies overestimated demand for broadband and underestimated changes in technology, and that would be true. But there was a more nuanced dynamic at play, what economists call the fallacy of composition.
What’s true for one participant isn’t necessarily true for the group.
Posted on May 5, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Vitaliy Katsenelson CFA
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“Any time you make a bet with the best of it, where the odds are in your favor, you have earned something on that bet, whether you actually win or lose the bet. By the same token, when you make a bet with the worst of it, where the odds are not in your favor, you have lost something, whether you actually win or lose the bet.”
– David Sklansky, The Theory of Poker
Over a lifetime, active investors will make hundreds, often thousands of investment decisions. Not all of those decisions will work out for the better. Some will lose and some will make us money. As humans we tend to focus on the outcome of the decision rather than on the process.
On a behavioral level, this makes sense. The outcome is binary to us – good or bad, we can observe with ease. But the process is more complex and is often hidden from us.
One of two things (sometimes a bit of both) can unite great investors: process and randomness (luck). Unfortunately, there is not much we can learn from randomness, as it has no predictive power. But the process we should study and learn from. To be a successful investor, all you need is a successful process and the ability (or mental strength) to stick to it.
Several years ago, I was on a business trip. I had some time to kill so I went to a casino to play blackjack. Aware that the odds were stacked against me, I set a $40 limit on how much I was willing to lose in the game.
I figured a couple hours of entertainment, plus the free drinks provided by the casino, were worth it. I was never a big gambler (as I never won much). However, several days before the trip I had picked up a book on blackjack on the deep discount rack in a local bookstore. All the dos and don’ts from the book were still fresh in my head. I figured if I played my cards right I would minimize the house advantage from 2-3 per cent to 0.5 per cent.
Wanting to get as much mileage out of my $40 as possible, I found a table with the smallest minimum bet requirement. My thinking was that the smaller the hands I played, the more time it would take for the casino’s advantage to catch up with me and take my money.
I joined a table that was dominated by a rowdy, half-drunken blue-collar worker who told me several times that it was his payday (literally: he was holding a stack of $100 bills in his hand) and that he was winning. I played by the book. But it did not matter. Luck was not on my side and my $40 was thinning with every hand.
Meanwhile, the rowdy guy was making every wrong move. He would ask for an extra card when he had a hard 18 while the dealer showed 6. The next card he drew would be a 3, giving him 21. Then the dealer would get a 10 and then a 2 (on top of the 6 that already showed), leaving him with 18. The rowdy guy barely paid attention to the cards.
Some retired people live on a fixed income and many of them live right on the edge of their financial capability. At some time in their life, they may have to make a choice regarding many purchases.
In this case, we will illustrate “choice” using a couple’s purchase of Long-Term-Care Insurance [LTCI]. Of course, economics is the study of choice; wants, needs and scarcity, etc. In our case, if they decide to make the purchase they commit to a lifetime of premium payments. The financial tradeoff is this; if they make the commitment to purchase LTCI, they must give up something else.
EXAMPLE: In order to maintain a monthly premium of $100 ($1,200per year), an elderly patient, retired layman or couple must essentially relegate about $30,000 of financial assets to generate the $100 necessary to make an average premium payment (assumes a 7% rate of return with 4% withdrawal rate) or [4% X $30,000 = $1,200 year]. Thus, if the monthly premium cost is $500 per month, the elder must give up the use of $150,000 of retirement asset just to generate enough cash flow to pay for the LTC insurance.
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The married elder couple has to make the Hobson’s Choice decision among lifestyle (dinners, vacations, gifts to children, prescription drugs, medical care or food and shelter) versus paying an insurance premium to provide for nursing home coverage for a need, which may be very real, but will not occur until sometime in the ambiguous future.
And so, when faced with such a tough economics Hobson’s Medicine Choice, neither of which delivers peace of mind or a respectable solution; many will simply decide that, in either case, they may already end up impoverished. Thus, many will often opt for the better lifestyle now … while they can enjoy it … together.
Cite: Anonymous Health Insurance Agent, Norcross, Georgia
COMMENTS APPRECIATED
The Medical Executive-Post is a news and information aggregator and social media professional network for medical and financial service professionals.
Feel free to submit education content to the site as well as links, text posts, images, opinions and videos which are then voted up or down by other members. Comments and dialog are especially welcomed.
Daily posts are organized by subject. ME-P administrators moderate the activity. Moderation may also conducted by community-specific moderators who are unpaid volunteers.
Posted on April 30, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
FUNDAMENTAL INDUSTRY CHANGES
By Staff Reporters
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Index Funds
An index mutual fund or ETF (exchange-traded fund) tracks the performance of a specific market benchmark—or “index,” like the popular S&P 500 Index—as closely as possible. That’s why you may hear people refer to indexing as a “passive” investment strategy.
Instead of hand-selecting which stocks or bonds the fund will hold, the fund’s manager buys all (or a representative sample) of the stocks or bonds in the index it tracks.
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Quantum Computing
Unlike traditional computers that use bits, quantum computers utilize qubits. These qubits are capable of being in a state of superposition, where they can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, enabling the processing of multiple calculations at once. This could allow quantum computers to outperform classical computers in solving certain complex problems. However, the field is still overcoming challenges such as qubit stability and decoherence; especially in these three areas:
Quantum computing could fundamentally alter healthcare by accelerating drug discovery and improving individualized medicine. Rapid analysis of enormous volumes of biological data allows quantum computers to find trends that might guide the creation of more potent treatments. In addition to accelerating drug development, this will enable customized treatments tailored to unique genetic profiles.
Faster and more accurate financial models produced by quantum computing will transform the banking sector. Through real-time analysis of intricate financial systems, it can help investors to control risk and make better decisions. More precise market forecasts will help maximize portfolio management and trading strategies.
Through greatly enhanced medical diagnosis and patient care, quantum computing can transform the healthcare industry. Quantum computers can remarkably accurately find trends and possible health hazards by analyzing enormous volumes of medical data in a fraction of the time. Early diagnosis and more customized treatment alternatives follow from this.
B–QTUM Index Fund
Index Description: The BlueStar® Machine Learning and Quantum Computing Index (BQTUM) tracks liquid companies in the global quantum computing and machine learning industries, including products and services related to quantum computing or machine learning, such as the development or use of quantum computers or computing chips, superconducting materials, applications built on quantum computers, embedded artificial intelligence chips, or software specializing in the perception, collection, visualization, or management of big data.
Posted on April 30, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Coca-Cola rose 0.84% after the beverage behemoth beat earnings expectations. Not only that, it also doubled down on its forward-looking guidance, saying that revenue will grow 5% to 6% while comparable earnings per share will jump 2% to 3% in 2025. Tariff mania may raise some costs, but the company said it would be “manageable,” putting it a step ahead of arch-rival PepsiCo.
Pfizer jumped 3.28% today after the pharma giant announced that it expects to cut costs by about $7.7 billion by the end of 2027 thanks to advances in AI and automation. Despite lower sales in Q1, the company managed to keep its 2025 revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion intact. While that forecast takes into account the $150 million blow from tariffs, it does not include any future tariffs (which President Trump has threatened to slap on the pharma industry).—LB
Meta Platforms gained 0.85% after the social media giant announced it will launch a standalone AI app to compete with ChatGPT. Expect more details in its earnings call tomorrow.
JetBlue Airways may have pulled guidance, but investors like the airline’s lower-than-expected loss last quarter so pushed shares 2.70% higher.
Speaking of fintech, PayPal climbed 2.14% thanks in no small part to a 20% pop in Venmo revenue.
Honeywell International gained 5.40% thanks to strong earnings and sales for the manufacturing conglomerate.
Deutsche Bank climbed 4.08% after Germany’s largest lender reported a 39% increase in profit last quarter.
Sherwin-Williams may have missed on revenue last quarter, but the paint company beat earnings estimates and kept its forward guidance intact, so shareholders pushed it up 4.80%.
Royal Caribbean eked out a 0.02% despite reporting record bookings and boosting its profit outlook, a rare move these days amid tariff uncertainty.
Leggett & Platt may not be a household name, but it sells household goods—and the bedding company’s solid earnings and strong fiscal guidance sent shares 31.73% higher.
What’s down
General Motors fell 0.64% after the automaker beat on top and bottom line estimates but warned that it will have to pull its forward guidance and suspend stock buybacks.
Spotify dropped 3.04% despite active monthly users rising 10% last quarter. The problem, believe it or not, was lower guidance.
Regeneron lost 6.87% thanks to disappointing sales for its hit eye drug Eylea.
NXP Semiconductors may have beaten analyst estimates last quarter, but management’s lower-than-expected earnings guidance disappointed investors, and pushed shares 6.94% lower.
The Zweig Breadth Thrust may sound like an extremely difficult yoga position, but it’s actually a bullish technical indicator with an extraordinary record of 100% accuracy that was just triggered.
Created by investment advisor and author Martin Zweig, the indicator takes the 10-day moving average of the number of advancing stocks across the market and divides it by the number of advancing stocks plus the number of declining stocks. When the resulting percentage rises from below 40% to above 61.5% in 10 trading days, it’s a sign that stocks are rapidly going from oversold to overbought.
The math is a bit complicated, but Carson Research’s Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick certainly thinks highly of it.
According to the chart that he just posted on X, the Zweig Breadth Thrust has a perfect record of predicting market gains 6 and 12 months after it appears.
With the indicator triggering on Friday, here’s hoping that we can continue to trust the Zweig Thrust.
If you looked at how stocks were doing yesterday morning and then looked away, we’ve got good news.
After a rough start to the day—especially for tech companies, whose earnings are due out soon—stocks mostly turned things around, with the S&P 500 and the Dow ending the day in the green.
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IBM plans to invest $150 billion in the US over five years. That includes $30 billion earmarked for R&D for manufacturing its mainframe and quantum computers in the US. It’s not the only tech company to announce a big commitment to spend in the US since President Trump took office and unveiled steep tariffs on imports from abroad.
Nvidia and Apple have each separately said that they plan to spend $500 billion stateside over the next four years. Companies in other industries, including pharmaceuticals, have also committed to increased US investment.—AR
Much like a springy inflatable structure often resembling a four-sided building and used by children for jumping for sport and fun, stocks staged a much-needed bounce-house back week on hopes that the trade war would de-escalate, with the S&P 500 climbing for four straight days to close 4.6% higher.
Whether the rally continues this week may depend on the Magnificent Seven earnings on tap—each of those Big Tech stocks has fallen at least 6.5% this year, shedding a combined $2.5 trillion in market value, per the Wall Street Journal.
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company. When you purchase an annuity, you make a lump-sum contribution or a series of contributions, generally each month. In return, the insurance company makes periodic payments to you beginning immediately or at a pre-determined date in the future. These periodic payments may last for a finite period, such as 20 years, or an indefinite period, such as until both you and your spouse are deceased. Annuities may also include a death benefit that will pay your beneficiary a specified minimum amount, such as the total amount of your contributions.
The growth of earnings in your annuity is typically tax-deferred; this could be beneficial as you may be in a lower tax bracket when you begin taking distributions from the annuity.
Warning: A word of caution: Annuities are intended as long-term investments. If you withdraw your money early from an annuity, you may pay substantial surrender charges to the insurance company as well as tax penalties to the IRS and state.
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There are three basic types of annuities — fixed, indexed, and variable
1. With a fixed annuity, the insurance company agrees to pay you no less than a specified (fixed) rate of interest during the time that your account is growing. The insurance company also agrees that the periodic payments will be a specified (fixed) amount per dollar in your account.
2. With an indexed annuity, your return is based on changes in an index, such as the S&P. Indexed annuity contracts also state that the contract value will be no less than a specified minimum, regardless of index performance.
3. A variable annuity allows you to choose from among a range of different investment options, typically mutual funds. The rate of return and the amount of the periodic payments you eventually receive will vary depending on the performance of the investment options you select.
The Medical Executive-Post is a news and information aggregator and social media professional network for medical and financial service professionals.
Feel free to submit education content to the site as well as links, text posts, images, opinions and videos which are then voted up or down by other members. Comments and dialog are especially welcomed.
Daily posts are organized by subject. ME-P administrators moderate the activity. Moderation may also conducted by community-specific moderators who are unpaid volunteers.
In finance, a “Dead Cat Bounce” is a small, brief recovery in the price of a declining stock.
Derived from the idea that “even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height“, the phrase, which originated on Wall Street, is also popularly applied to any case where a subject experiences a brief resurgence during or following a severe market decline.
Named for a U.S. economist, the JB Taylor Rule is a mathematical monetary-policy formula that recommends how much a central bank should change its nominal short-term interest rate target (such as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate target) in response to changes in economic conditions, particularly inflation and economic growth. It’s typically viewed as guideline for raising short-term interest rates as inflation and potentially inflationary pressures increase. The rule recommends a relatively high interest rate (“tight” monetary policy) when inflation is above its target or when the economy is above its full employment level, and a relatively low interest rate (“easy” monetary policy) under the opposite conditions.
To illustrate, the monetary policy of the FOMC changed throughout the 20th century. The period between the 1960s and the 1970s is evaluated by Taylor and others as a period of poor monetary policy; the later years typically characterized as stagflation. The inflation rate was high and increasing, while interest rates were kept low. Since the mid-1970s monetary targets have been used in many countries as a means to target inflation.
However, in the 2000s the actual interest rate in advanced economies, notably in the US, was kept below the value suggested by the Taylor rule.
Posted on April 21, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
BREAKING NEWS
Artificial Intelligence Enhanced
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Markets drop as tariff concerns shake the market
Key takeaways (1:30 EST)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a significant drop of more than 1,100 points, reflecting investor anxiety over tariff policies finance. The S&P was down 150 and the NASDAQ was down 550.
This decline is part of a broader trend affecting the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, as geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties weigh heavily on market sentiment finance.yahoo.com .
Investors are closely monitoring developments regarding trade policies and their potential impact on the economy, leading to heightened volatility in the stock market
Several years ago a group of highly trusted and deeply experienced financial advisors, insurance service professionals and estate planners noted that far too many of their mature retiring physician clients, using traditional stock brokers, management consultants and financial advisors, seemed to be less successful than those who went it alone. These Do-it-Yourselfers [DIYs] had setbacks and made mistakes, for sure. But, the ME Inc doctors seemed to learn from their mistakes and did not incur the high management and service fees demanded from general or retail one-size-fits-all “advisors.”
In fact, an informal inverse related relationship was noted, and dubbed the “Doctor Effect.” In others words, the more consultants an individual doctor retained; the less well they did in all disciplines of the financial planning and medical practice management, continuum.
Of course, the reason for this discrepancy eluded many of them as Wall Street brokerages and wire-houses flooded the media with messages, infomercials, print, radio, TV, texts, tweets, dinners and internet ads to the contrary. Rather than self-learn the basics, the prevailing sentiment seemed to purse the holy grail of finding the “perfect financial advisor.” This realization confirmed the industry culture which seemed to be:
Bread for the advisor – Crumbs for the client!
And so, Marcinko Associates formed a cadre’ of technology focused and highly educated multi-degreed doctors, nurses, financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, psychologists and educational visionaries who decided there must be a better way for their healthcare colleagues to receive financial planning advice, products and related advisory services within a culture of fiduciary responsibility.
We trust you agree with this specific niche knowledge, and collegial consulting philosophy, as illustrated thru our firm and these two books.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
The VIX soared to 60.13 last Monday before plummeting all the way to 33.76 on Wednesday, the day after the president paused tariffs. But while the VIX has since settled down a bit, investor fear is still high. The VIX closed above 30 for 10 straight trading sessions and the last time that happened was during the bear market back in October 2022, according to MarketWatch—not exactly a comforting comparison.
Then again, just because fear skyrocketed last week doesn’t mean the markets will tank in turn. “Since 1997, there have been 11 times the VIX spiked above 45—and 10 out of 11 times, the S&P 500 was higher four months later by an average of +6.4%,” noted Austin Hankowitz in the latest edition of the Rich Habits newsletter.
Finally, the VIX closed above 30 Thursady as tariff talk and monetary policy pivots keep investors on their toes. But while worries might keep investors on the sidelines, some on Wall Street are taking this opportunity to be greedy while others are fearful.
When you buy a share of stock, you are taking ownership in a company. Collectively, the company is owned by all the shareholders, and each share represents a claim on assets and earnings. If the company distributes profits to its shareholders, you should receive a proportionate share of the earnings.
Stocks are often categorized by the size of the company, or their market capitalization. The market capitalization is determined by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the current share price. The most common market cap classes are small-cap (valued from $100 million to $1 billion), mid-cap ($1 billion to $10 billion), and large cap ($10 billion to $100 billion).
Stocks are also categorized by their sector, or the type of business the company conducts. Common sectors include utilities, consumer staples, energy, communications, financial, health care, transportation, and technology.
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Stocks are often viewed as being in one of two categories — growth or value.
Growth stocks are ones that are associated with high quality, successful companies that are expected to continue growing at a better-than-average rate as compared to the rest of the market.
Value stocks are ones that have generally solid fundamentals, but are currently out of favor with the market. This may be due to the company being relatively new and unproven in the market, or because the company has recently experienced a decline due to the company’s sector being affected negatively. An example of this would be if the federal government was to levy a new tax on all cell phones, thus negatively affecting all cell phone company stocks.
History has shown that, over time, stocks have provided a better return than bonds, real estate, and other savings vehicles. As a result, stocks may be the ideal investment for investors with long-term goals.
Posted on April 18, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed on Good Friday. Many global markets will also be closed Friday. Exceptions include Japan and mainland China, which will be open as usual. U.S. markets will reopen Monday. Many international markets will remain shut to mark Easter Monday, including Australia, Hong Kong, and exchanges in France, Germany and the U.K.
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YESTERDAY 4/17/25
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🟢 What’s up
TSMC eked out a 0.10% gain after the semiconductor maker reported a 60% increase in profits last quarter and downplayed the effects of tariffs.
Charles Schwab isn’t just the guy who made $2 billion from market chaos last week. It’s also the brokerage that reported record quarterly revenue, but shares only rose 0.65%.
Hertz climbed another 43.87%, tacking on another day of big wins after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital took a stake in the rental car company.
Trump Media & Technology Group popped 11.65% after the company asked the SEC to investigate a hedge fund with a $105 million short bet against it.
Chinese tea chain Chagee soared 15.86% in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
DR Horton missed analyst expectations last quarter and lowered its fiscal year guidance, but investors quickly forgave the country’s largest homebuilder and pushed shares up 3.16%.
What’s down
Alphabet took a 1.38% hit after a federal judge ruled that Google is a monopoly. This marks Alphabet’s second antitrust loss since last August.
Alcoa fell 6.98% after the aluminum mining behemoth announced it ate about $20 million in tariff-related costs last quarter, noting that this figure could rise to $90 million in the current quarter.
Abbott Laboratories gained 2.77% after the pharma company missed sales estimates but still beat earnings forecasts.
Gold miners continue to climb as gold keeps hitting new highs. Newmont rose 2.51%, while Gold Fields gained 3.35%.
What’s down
Tesla sank 4.94% after the company’s share of EV sales in California fell below 50% in the first quarter, while export controls threaten plans to produce Cybercabs in the US.
United Airlines fell 0.01% despite reporting its “best first-quarter financial results in five years,” according to management. The airline took the unique measure of providing two different financial outlooks for the year ahead: one for a stable economy, and one for a recession.
Lyft shed just 0.46% on the news that the ride-hailing company is acquiring European taxi app Free Now for $199 million.
Interactive BrokersGroup reported a 47% increase in trading volume last quarter that helped it beat revenue expectations, but the brokerage still tumbled 8.95% after missing profit forecasts.
Palantir gave up some of its recent gains following its big NATO announcement, sinking 5.78% today as investors collected profits.
JB HuntTransport Services’ management team warned that the logistics company sits squarely in the crosshairs of the trade war, pushing shares down 7.68%.
Omnicom Group tumbled 7.28% after the advertising firm missed revenue estimates thanks to economic uncertainty.
Posted on April 16, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Investors were apparently tired of all the volatility yesterday, leading to a relatively calm day where indexes ever-so-slightly slipped. But it was a big day for Netflix after the Wall Street Journal reported that the streaming giant has plans to double its revenue and reach a $1 trillion valuation by 2030.
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🟢 What’s up
Hewlett Packard Enterprise popped 5.11% after Elliott Investment Management took a $1.5 billion stake in the tech company.
Rocket Lab rocketed (sorry) 10.14% higher after the space stock inked deals with both the US Air Force and the UK Ministry of Defense.
Netflix rose 4.83% on a report from the Wall Street Journal that the streaming giant plans to hit a $1 trillion market capitalization and double its revenue by 2030. The company announces earnings on Thursday.
Bank of America and Citigroup both posted strong Q1 earnings that beat analyst forecasts (more on that below). BofA climbed 3.60%, while Citi rose 1.76%.
Albertsons tumbled 7.49% after the grocer’s full-year guidance came in below expectations.
Allegro Microsystems sank 9.68% on the news that ON Semiconductor has withdrawn its offer to acquire the chipmaker.
Applied Digital plummeted 35.94% after the digital infrastructure company missed analyst revenue estimates, despite sales climbing 22% last quarter.
#recessionindicator: Coty sank 8.57% after the beauty retailer was double downgraded by Bank of America analysts, citing a slowdown in makeup spending.
Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
WARNING – WARNING
By Staff Reporters
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A “retirement account scam” is a type of online fraud that occurs when a third party administrator (TPA) for retirement investment accounts is tricked into authorizing a money distribution to an imposter posing as the true account holder.
The imposter often starts the scam by calling the TPA, identifying himself or herself as an actual account holder, and requesting a withdrawal distribution form. Once the imposter receives the withdrawal distribution form, the imposter returns the completed form to the TPA. The form is completed with the account holder’s real personal identifying information (PII)—often stolen via schemes, data breaches, and other hacking offenses—and bank account information for an account controlled by the imposter or the imposter’s conspirators.
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After the TPA processes the fraudulent request, the request is forwarded to the investment firm responsible for managing the account holder’s investments, and the funds—often the account holder’s life savings—are then directed to the imposter’s designated bank account.
Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Natural Disaster Insurance
Protecting accumulated assets by insuring them against the wrath of Mother Nature
Most homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover damages arising from floods or earthquakes. If a home, or any other real property like a vacation home or beach condo, is in an area subject to floods or earthquakes, consider the value of purchasing insurance that covers such catastrophes.
Take the time to review your homeowners’ policy, making sure that it will repair or replace your roof if damaged by hail, and will apply in the event of high winds, rather than only in tornadoes. The key to the maintenance of any type of insurance is to anticipate all of the possible calamities, and then to decide whether you can afford to lose the assets exposed to those calamities.
Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Stocks kept the good vibes going for a second trading day yesterday with tech companies like Apple rising as investors reacted to the weekend’s news that smartphones and computers would be temporarily exempt from “reciprocal” tariffs—at least until new semiconductor tariffs are imposed.
Car companies also jumped after President Trump suggested he wanted to “help” as automakers try to transition their production to the US in the face of 25% auto tariffs.
Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
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A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that in 2021, UnitedHealth Group received just under $14 billion in extra Medicare Advantage payments after using a code that made its members appear sicker. It’s another tough break for the plan and provider that has faced allegations of illegally taking additional money from patients and taxpayers, especially after its CEO was fatally shot in early December.
US stocks edged higher on Monday as investors focused on tech’s temporary reprieve from President Trump’s tariffs.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) trimmed bigger gains to rise a healthy 0.8%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) also closed off its session high, up 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up around 0.7%, or more than 300 points.
Posted on April 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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🟢 What’s up
Auto stocks soared on comments from President Trump that car companies “need a little bit of time.” GM rose 3.48%, Ford climbed 4.13%, and Stellantis gained 5.64%.
Investors are bullish: WeBull exploded 374.72% after the online investment platform went public via SPAC merger last Friday.
Goldman Sachs rose 1.87% after the Wall Street titan announced record revenue in its equities-trading business thanks to stock market volatility in the first quarter.
Palantir gained 4.60% after it sealed a deal with NATO to provide the organization with its advanced AI-powered warfighting system.
Intel climbed 2.89% on news that it will sell a 51% stake in its programmable chips unit Altera to Silver Lake Management.
Pfizer somehow rose 0.96% despite announcing that it is discontinuing the development of a once-daily weight-loss pill after a patient experienced a liver injury. That’s great news for Viking Therapeutics, which has its own oral weight-loss pill in the pipeline. Shares of Viking rose 10.58%.
Speaking of biotech stocks, Verve Therapeutics soared 26.38% after the company reported no issues with patients trialing its new gene-editing technology.
What’s down
Meta Platforms fell 2.22% as its antitrust trial began today. If it loses its case against the FTC, it may be forced to sell off Instagram.
DaVita sank 3.03% after the kidney disease treatment company announced it was the victim of a ransomware attack.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings fell 1.10% on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs analysts, who believe the vacation club company will struggle as fewer people splurge on travel. Marriott International received the same treatment, and also dropped 0.77%.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (really rolls off the tongue) tumbled 6.39% after the luxury goods retailer missed analyst expectations, reporting a 3% decline in sales compared to forecasts of 2% growth.
It’s a bit broad, but Citi analysts downgraded all US stocks to “neutral” this morning. The analysts argued that US stocks are too exposed to President Trump’s policies and are expensive compared to international peers, and endorsed investing in Japanese, European, and UK equities instead.
Posted on April 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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US Markets
After one of the most volatile weeks in Wall Street history, the S&P 500 closed 5.7% higher for its best week since 2023. But investors are taking little comfort with the rebound in stocks.
A declining dollar fell to a three-year low against the euro on Friday and spiking bond yields have some observers warning of a monumental, structural shift away from the US as a safe haven due to the recent tariff turmoil.
Posted on April 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Beneficiary designations can provide a relatively easy way to transfer an account or insurance policy upon your death. However, if you’re not careful, missing or outdated beneficiary designations can easily cause your estate plan to go awry.
Where you can find them
Here’s a sampling of where you’ll find beneficiary designations:
In several states, so-called “lady bird” deeds for real estate
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10 tips about beneficiary designations
Because beneficiary designations are so important, keep these things in mind in your estate planning:
Remember to name beneficiaries. If you don’t name a beneficiary, one of the following could occur:
The account or policy may have to go through probate. This process often results in unnecessary delays, additional costs, and unfavorable income tax treatment.
The agreement that controls the account or policy may provide for “default” beneficiaries. This could be helpful, but it’s possible the default beneficiaries may not be whom you intended.
Name both primary and contingent beneficiaries. It’s a good practice to name a “back up” or contingent beneficiary in case the primary beneficiary dies before you. Depending on your situation, you may have only a primary beneficiary. In that case, consider whether it may make sense to name a charity (or charities) as the contingent beneficiary.
Update for life events. Review your beneficiary designations regularly and update them as needed based on major life events, such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
Read the instructions. Beneficiary designation forms are not all alike. Don’t just fill in names — be sure to read the form carefully. If necessary, you can draft your own customized beneficiary designation, but you should do this only with the guidance of an experienced attorney or tax advisor.
Coordinate with your will and trust. Whenever you change your will or trust, be sure to talk with your attorney about your beneficiary designations. Because these designations operate independently of your other estate planning documents, it’s important to understand how the different parts of your plan work as a whole.
Think twice before naming individual beneficiaries for particular assets. For example, you may establish three accounts of equal value initially and name a different child as beneficiary of each account. Over the years, the accounts may grow or be depleted unevenly, so the three children end up receiving different amounts — which is not what you originally intended.
Avoid naming your estate as beneficiary. If you designate a beneficiary on your 401(k), for example, it won’t have to go through probate court to be distributed to the beneficiary. If you name your estate as beneficiary, the account will have to go through probate. For IRAs and qualified retirement plans, there may also be unfavorable income tax consequences.
Use caution when naming a trust as beneficiary. Consult your attorney or CPA before naming a trust as beneficiary for IRAs, qualified retirement plans, or annuities. There are situations where it makes sense to name a trust — for example if:
Your beneficiaries are minor children
You’re in a second marriage
You want to control access to funds
Be aware of tax consequences. Many assets that transfer by beneficiary designation come with special tax consequences. It’s helpful to work with an experienced tax advisor to help provide planning ideas for your particular situation.
Use disclaimers when necessary — but be careful. Sometimes a beneficiary may actually want to decline (disclaim) assets on which they’re designated as beneficiary. Keep in mind that disclaimers involve complex legal and tax issues and require careful consultation with your attorney and CPA.
Posted on April 13, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Convertible Arbitrage
Convertible arbitrage is the oldest market-neutral strategy. Designed to capitalize on the relative mispricing between a convertible security (e.g. convertible bond or preferred stock) and the underlying equity, convertible arbitrage was employed as early as the 1950s.
Since then, convertible arbitrage has evolved into a sophisticated, model-intensive strategy, designed to capture the difference between the income earned by a convertible security (which is held long) and the dividend of the underlying stock (which is sold short). The resulting net positive income of the hedged position is independent of any market fluctuations. The trick is to assemble a portfolio wherein the long and short positions, responding to equity fluctuations, interest rate shifts, credit spreads and other market events offset each other.
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Hedge Fund Research (HFR) New York, offers the following description of the strategy
Convertible Arbitrage involves taking long positions in convertible securities and hedging those positions by selling short the underlying common stock. A manager will, in an effort to capitalize on relative pricing inefficiencies, purchase long positions in convertible securities, generally convertible bonds, convertible preferred stock or warrants, and hedge a portion of the equity risk by selling short the underlying common stock. Timing may be linked to a specific event relative to the underlying company, or a belief that a relative mispricing exists between the corresponding securities. Convertible securities and warrants are priced as a function of the price of the underlying stock, expected future volatility of returns, risk free interest rates, call provisions, supply and demand for specific issues and, in the case of convertible bonds, the issue-specific corporate/Treasury yield spread. Thus, there is ample room for relative mis-valuations.
Because a large part of this strategy’s gain is generated by cash flow, it is a relatively low-risk strategy.
Posted on April 13, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Credit Card Mistakes to Avoid
No number has as far-reaching an impact on your money as your credit scores. Here are some credit card obstacles all physicians, nurses and medical professionals should dodge on the road to financial security
The vast majority of physicians and medical professionals major in one of the hard science while in college; biology, engineering, chemistry, mathematics, computer science or physics; etc. Few take undergraduate courses in finance, business management, securities analysis, accounting or economics; although this paradigm is changing with modernity. These course are not particularly difficult for the pre-medical baccalaureate major, they are just not on the radar screen for time compressed and highly competitive students; nor are they needed for medical or nursing school admission, or the many related allied health professional schools.
In fact, William C. Roberts MD, originally from Emory University in Atlanta, and former editor for the Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings and The American Journal of Cardiology, opined just a decade ago:
“Of the 125 medical schools in the USA, only one of them to my knowledge offers a class related to saving or investing money.”
And so, it is important to review some basic principles of economics, finance and accounting as they relate to financial planning in thees two textbooks; and this ME-P.
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