BOARD CERTIFICATION EXAM STUDY GUIDES Lower Extremity Trauma
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Posted on September 27, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
BREAKING NEWS
By Staff Reporters
Tropical Storm Helene made landfall in Florida last night as a Category 4 hurricane, the strongest to ever hit the state’s Big Bend. It is a huge and powerful storm—with a wind field that could span the distance between tjhe State of Maryland/Washington, DC, and Indianapolis/Chicago—that has already caused historic flooding to some of Florida’s coastal communities.
How bad is it? The Waffle House Index, which has been used by FEMA as an indicator of a storm’s severity, closed all of its locations in Tallahassee, Florida. The Waffle House Index [WHI] is an informal metric named after the Waffle House restaurant chain, headquartered in Georgia, and used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine the effect of a storm and the likely scale of assistance required for disaster recovery.
And, as of 8am EST, Helene has weakened to a Category 1 as it’s moved into Atlanta, Georgia. Nearly 2 million customers are without power across Florida, Georgia, and North/South Carolina. You can get real-time updates here, as we hope everyone in the region is staying safe.
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Stock market yesterday: The S&P 500 clinched a fresh new record amid GDP data and micro chip stock gains.and Stonk Stocks. Stonk, a deliberate misspelling of stock (meaning “a share of the value of a company which can be bought, sold, or traded as an investment”), was coined in a 2017 meme. The word is often used humorously on the internet to imply a vague understanding of financial transactions or poor financial decisions.
Upbeat GDP data and new stimulus measures in China were largely to thank. One of the day’s big winners was Southwest Airlines, which soared after executives announced plans to revitalize the business.
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To keep up with the ever-changing field of health care, we must learn new and re-learn old terminology in order to correctly apply it to practice. By bringing together the most up-to-date abbreviations, acronyms, definitions, and terms in the health care industry, the Dictionary offers a wealth of essential information that will help you understand the ever-changing policies and practices in health insurance and managed care today.
Do you ever wish you could acquire specific information for your career activities without having to complete a university Master’s Degree or finish our entire Certified Medical Planner™ professional designation program? Well, Micro-Certifications from the Institute of Medical Business Advisors, Inc., might be the answer. Read on to learn how our three Micro-Certifications offer new opportunities for professional growth in the medical practice, business management, health economics and financial planning, investing and advisory space for physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals.
Micro-Certification Basics
Stock-Brokers, Financial Advisors, Investment Advisors, Accountants, Consultants, Financial Analyists and Financial Planners need to enhance their knowledge skills to better serve the changing and challenging healthcare professional ecosystem. But, it can be difficult to learn and demonstrate mastery of these new skills to employers, clients, physicians or medical prospects. This makes professional advancement difficult. That’s where Micro-Certification and Micro-Credentialing enters the online educational space. It is the process of earning a Micro-Certification, which is like a mini-degree or mini-credential, in a very specific topical area.
Micro-Certification Requirements
Once you’ve completed all of the requirements for our Micro-Certification, you will be awarded proof that you’ve earned it. This might take the form of a paper or digital certificate, which may be a hard document or electronic image, transcript, file, or other official evidence that you’ve completed the necessary work.
Uses of Micro-Certifications
Micro-Certifications may be used to demonstrate to physicians prospective medical clients that you’ve mastered a certain knowledge set. Because of this, Micro-Certifications are useful for those financial service professionals seeking medical clients, employment or career advancement opportunities.
Examples of iMBA, Inc., Micro-Certifications
Here are the three most popular Micro-Certification course from the Institute of Medical Business Advisors, Inc:
1. Health Insurance and Managed Care: To keep up with the ever-changing field of health care physician advice, you must learn new medical practice business models in order to attract and assist physicians and nurse clients. By bringing together the most up-to-date business and medical prctice models [Medicare, Medicaid, PP-ACA, POSs, EPOs, HMOs, PPOs, IPA’s, PPMCs, Accountable Care Organizations, Concierge Medicine, Value Based Care, Physician Pay-for-Performance Initiatives, Hospitalists, Retail and Whole-Sale Medicine, Health Savings Accounts and Medical Unions, etc], this iMBA Inc., Mini-Certification offers a wealth of essential information that will help you understand the ever-changing practices in the next generation of health insurance and managed medical care.
2. Health Economics and Finance: Medical economics, finance, managerial and cost accounting is an integral component of the health care industrial complex. It is broad-based and covers many other industries: insurance, mathematics and statistics, public and population health, provider recruitment and retention, health policy, forecasting, aging and long-term care, and Venture Capital are all commingled arenas. It is essential knowledge that all financial services professionals seeking to serve in the healthcare advisory niche space should possess.
3. Health Information Technology and Security: There is a myth that all physician focused financial advisors understand Health Information Technology [HIT]. In truth, it is often economically misused or financially misunderstood. Moreover, an emerging national HIT architecture often puts the financial advisor or financial planner in a position of maximum uncertainty and minimum productivity regarding issues like: Electronic Medical Records [EMRs] or Electronic Health Records [EHRs], mobile health, tele-health or tele-medicine, Artificial Intelligence [AI], benefits managers and human resource professionals.
Other Topics include: economics, finance, investing, marketing, advertising, sales, start-ups, business plan creation, financial planning and entrepreneurship, etc.
How to Start Learning and Earning Recognition for Your Knowledge
Now that you’re familiar with Micro-Credentialing, you might consider earning a Micro-Certification with us. We offer 3 official Micro-Certificates by completing a one month online course, with a live instructor consisting of twelve asynchronous lessons/online classes [3/wk X 4/weeks = 12 classes]. The earned official completion certificate can be used to demonstrate mastery of a specific skill set and shared with current or future employers, current clients or medical niche financial advisory prospects.
Mini-Certification Tuition, Books and Related Fees
The tuition for each Mini-Certification live online course is $1,250 with the purchase of one required dictionary handbook. Other additional guides, white-papers, videos, files and e-content are all supplied without charge. Alternative courses may be developed in the future subject to demand and may change without notice.
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Contact: For more information, or to speak with an academic representative, please contact Ann Miller RN MHA CMP™ at: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com [24/7].
The enterprise value [EV] tends to be thought of as a theoretical takeover price if a company were to be bought. It is calculated as market capitalization plus debt, minority interest and preferred shares, minus total cash and cash equivalents.
Enterprise value = common equity at market value (this line item is also known as “market cap”) + debt at market value (here debt refers to interest-bearing liabilities, both long-term and short-term) + minority interest at market value, if any + preferred equity at market value + unfunded pension liabilities and other debt-deemed provisions – value of associate companies – cash and cash equivalents.
In mathematics, the absolute value or modulus of a real number x, denoted |x|, is the non-negative value of x without regard to its sign. Namely, |x| = x if x is positive, and |x| = −x if x is negative (in which case −x is positive), and |0| = 0. For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of −3 is also 3. The absolute value of a number may be thought of as its distance from zero.
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In finance, absolute value, also known as an intrinsic value, refers to a business valuation method that uses discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to determine a company’s financial worth. The absolute value method differs from the relative value models that examine what a company is worth compared to its competitors. Absolute value models try to determine a company’s intrinsic worth based on its projected cash flows.
Absolute value refers to a business valuation method that uses discounted cash flow analysis to determine a company’s financial worth.
Investors can determine if a stock is currently under or overvalued by comparing what a company’s share price should be given its absolute value to the stock’s current price.
There are some challenges with using the absolute value analysis including forecasting cash flows, predicting accurate growth rates, and evaluating appropriate discount rates.
Absolute value, unlike relative value, does not call for the comparison of companies in the same industry or sector.
Posted on September 23, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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In the cryptocurrency world, people who HODL are usually inexperienced traders but who have a lot of faith in the future of Bitcoin. These traders believe that one day, Bitcoin will become a mainstream currency with a six-figure value. That is why they can’t risk losing any of their investments for short-term trading gratifications. These traders argue that given Bitcoin’s limited supply, the price will always rise as fewer and fewer coins remain in circulation and more investors and institutions recognize it as a store of value.
In a nutshell, HODL is now used to describe an investing strategy where investors are discouraged from trading based on short-term price swings. The approach basically stems from the rationale that inexperienced traders are more likely to lose their investment in short-term trading since they cannot correctly read and interpret vital signals. The safest approach for them, therefore, is to simply HODL and wait until their investments become highly profitable when the price goes up. Hodling can also help traders avoid two common mistakes in the cryptocurrency market. These are:
The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) that can cause traders to buy high
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) that can cause traders to sell low, also known as SODling.
Hodlers believe that cryptocurrencies will someday supplant fiat currencies and become insanely valuable. They, ideally, do not believe in exchanging cryptocurrencies for traditional money.
There is one popular meme that perfectly captures this maximalist philosophy. The meme is a satirical version of the Matrix Movie where Neo asks Orpheus “ “What are you trying to tell me, that I can trade my bitcoin for millions someday?” and Orpheus responds, “No Neo, I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready … you won’t have to.”
That, according to Hodlers, means that a time will come when you won’t have to sell your Bitcoin for fiat money because there won’t be any fiat money but only Bitcoin.
Posted on September 22, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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*** Individuals Working in Care Management Rose by 63.8% Nearly 100 entities responded to the Sixth Annual Survey of Healthcare Consumer Engagement Practices. According to the survey:
• 65.8% of respondents reported that member experience was within the scope of their role in 2021: • 40.5% of respondents indicated their role included some responsibility for on-boarding and retention • Individuals working in care management rose by 63.8% • Individuals working in digital transformation rose by 50.4% • Individuals working in population health grew by 47.1% Source:Engagys, December 16, 2021 CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/082610254
Posted on September 22, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Kitchen Sinks Market by End-user and Geography – Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026
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Kitchen Sink stock market disclosures are a communication technique commonly used by political parties, public companies and businesses, although it’s not so well known by the public. The idea is to release all of your bad news at the same time rather than creating a drip-drip effect over an extended period of time.
Steven Barnett, professor of communications at the University of Westminster, says it’s used by organizations when they have some really shocking news they know they are not going to get away with burying. “You’re saying: ‘Let’s just sweep up every piece of bad news we’ve got, put it all in one place, take all of the flak and deal with it at the same time'”. “When you’re announcing the worst figures in your corporate history, you know it’s never going to be a page two story.”
It’s the opposite of the “dead cat” strategy where you distract people from something that is garnering a lot of attention. The idea being that, by placing a dead cat on the table, you make people look in a different direction.
“If you know that you have pretty appalling news, it makes absolute sense to get it all out at the same time because the speed and intensity of the news cycle demands that the agenda moves on so you know you’ll be out of the spotlight within 48 hours.”
Posted on September 22, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
WHAT IS IT?
On an earnings call last year Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the term “enterprise metaverse.”
By [Avatar] Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
DEFINITION: The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet.
The word “metaverse” is made up of the prefix “meta” (meaning beyond) and the stem “verse” (a back formation from “universe“); the term is typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe.
The law was named in 1860 by Henry Dunning Macleod, after Sir Thomas Gresham (1519–1579), who was an English financier during the Tudor dynasty. However, there are predecessors.
The law had been stated earlier by Nicolaus Copernicus. It was also stated in the 14th century, by Nicole Oresme in his treatise On the Origin, Nature, Law, and Alterations of Money, and by jurist and historian Al-Maqrizi (1364–1442) in the Mamluk Empire; and noted by Aristophanes in his play The Frogs, which dates from around the end of the 5th century BC.
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IOW: It is the tendency for money of lower intrinsic value to circulate more freely than money of higher intrinsic and equal nominal value (often expressed as “Bad money drives out good”).
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Gresham’s Law applies to new coins and worn coins. Worn coins are likely to have lost some of their metallic weight through wear and tear, so they should have less value than new coins. But government sets them to have the same value. Thus worn coins are artificially overvalued and new coins are artificially undervalued.
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So, is Gresham’s Law still relevant today?
THINK: The modern Bitcoin, and related crypto-currency, controversy? We asked colleague Timothy J. McIntosh CFP® MPH CFA for some insights.
Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
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Posted on September 20, 2024 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.
Microsoft will buy back up to $60 billion in shares and is boosting its dividend by about 10% (from 75 cents per share to 83 cents).
Stat: 60%. That’s how much Intuitive Machines’ stock jumped in early trading yesterday after NASA awarded the company a contract to “build moon data satellites.” (CNBC)
MobilEye Global popped 14.99% after Intel announced it has no plans to sell any of its 88% stake in the autonomous driving company. Intel shares rose 1.78% as well.
What’s down
Trump Media & Technology Group fell 5.89% as the lockup period, during which early investors like the former president can’t sell their stake in the company, is about to end.
Progyny plummeted 32.65% after the health insurance benefits company announced it is losing a key customer that accounts for 12% of Progyny’s revenue.
Five Below sank 2.22% after JP Morgan analysts downgraded the stock, though they also boosted their price target.
The SPX rose 95.38 points (1.70%) to 5,713.64; the $DJI added 522.09 points (1.26%) to 42,025.19; the NASDAQ Composite® ($COMP) added 440.68 points (2.51%) to 18,013.98.
The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) climbed five basis points to 3.74%, while the 2-year note yield was unchanged.
The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) slid to 16.33, registering its lowest close so far this month.
Posted on September 19, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The Russell 2000 Index is a stock market index that measures the performance of the 2,000 smaller companies included in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 is managed by London’s FTSE Russell Group, widely regarded as a bellwether of the U.S. economy because of its focus on smaller companies in the U.S. market.
As of 31st December 2022, the weighted average market capitalization of a company in the index is approximately $2.76 billion and the median market capitalization is approximately $950 million. The market capitalization of the largest company in the index is approximately $8.1 billion. It first traded above the 1,000 level on May 20th, 2013, and above the 2,000 level on December 23rd, 2020.
Similar small-cap indices include the S&P 600 from Standard & Poor’s, which is less commonly used, along with those from other financial information providers.
Posted on September 18, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
At 2 pm EST Today
By Staff Reporters
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ABOUT THE FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE
The term “monetary policy” refers to the actions undertaken by a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve, to influence the availability and cost of money and credit to help promote national economic goals. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 gave the Federal Reserve responsibility for setting monetary policy.
The Federal Reserve controls the three tools of monetary policy–open market operations, the discount rate, and reserve requirements. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is responsible for the discount rate and reserve requirements, and the Federal Open Market Committee is responsible for open market operations. Using the three tools, the Federal Reserve influences the demand for, and supply of, balances that depository institutions hold at Federal Reserve Banks and in this way alters the federal funds rate. The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions lend balances at the Federal Reserve to other depository institutions overnight.
Changes in the federal funds rate trigger a chain of events that affect other short-term interest rates, foreign exchange rates, long-term interest rates, the amount of money and credit, and, ultimately, a range of economic variables, including employment, output, and prices of goods and services.
And so, the macroeconomic FOMC is kicking off at 2pm ET today, when the Fed will announce the first interest rate cut in over four years. But, financial watchers are split between two predictions: a standard 0.25% cut or a more aggressive one of 0.5% (investors are betting on the latter, while many analysts think the former).
Regardless of its size, today’s rate cut and subsequent ones are expected to make borrowing cheaper for consumers and businesses, with ripple effects throughout the economy.
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements.
Subscribe: MEDICAL EXECUTIVE POST for curated news, essays, opinions and analysis from the public health, economics, finance, marketing, IT, business and policy management ecosystem.
Walt Ehmer, the president and CEO of Waffle House and a member of the board of trustees for the Atlanta Police Foundation, has died at age 58, the foundation announced last Sunday; 2024. Ehmer joined Waffle House in 1992 and quickly rose to senior leadership, becoming president of the company in 2002, and later adding the titles of CEO and chairman, according to information from Georgia Tech University, his alma mater.
“His leadership, dedication and warmth touched the lives of many, both within the Waffle House family and beyond. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a news release.
415 Restaurants Closed in Georgia and Elsewhere in 2022
The Waffle House Index [WHI] is an informal metric named after the Waffle House restaurant chain, headquartered in Georgia, and used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine the effect of a storm and the likely scale of assistance required for disaster recovery.
IOW: “If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? Well, that’s really bad”, according to Craig Fugate – Former Head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA].
Posted on September 7, 2024 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.
Telehealth has become all the rage following the Covid-19 pandemic, with about 17% of appointments going virtual, up from 1% in February 2020.
Stat: 350. That’s about how many small and rural US hospitals—out of roughly 1,800—are using free and cheap cybersecurity resources the White House rolled out this summer. (Nextgov/FCW)
Quote: “We’re being blinded.”—Meghan Curry O’Connell, chief public health officer for the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board, on the reported lack of access Native American tribal epidemiology centers have to federal government health data (KFF Health News)
Read: Race is used in clinical algorithms that determine patient diagnoses and care for everything from kidney transplants to lung function. A growing number of health professionals argue it shouldn’t be. (Stat)
Bowlero climbed 6.68% after announcing impressive revenue growth and a positive fourth-quarter forecast.
Guidewire Software gained 12.36% thanks to a strong quarter for the insurance software provider.
Big Lots soared 8.73% after it faked out the market and delayed the announcement of its latest quarterly earnings for another week. Management is probably trying to find some loose change between the couch cushions to stave off bankruptcy.
What’s down
Broadcom sank 10.36% after beating earnings but failing to impress investors with revenue guidance for next quarter.
Super Micro Computer just can’t catch a break, and fell another 6.79% after a JP Morgan analyst downgraded the stock due to the sense of uncertainty hanging around it.
UIPath shed 6.04% even though the AI software provider beat top and bottom line expectations, forecast solid growth ahead, and increased its share buyback program.
Semiconductor stocks sank as a group, pulled lower by fears of slowing growth. ASML Holding dropped 5.38%, MarvellTechnology slid 5.28%, and KLACorporation stumbled 3.47%.
The S&P 500® index (SPX)dropped 95points (–1.73%) to 5,408.42, down 4.3% for the week; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® ($DJI) fell 410.34 points (–1.01%) to 40,345.41, down 2.9% on the week; NASDAQ Composite® ($COMP)declined 436.82 points (–2.55%) to 16,690.83, down 5.8% for the week.
The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) fell two basis points to 3.71%and was down 20 basis points for the week, but now, it has a six-basis point premium to the 2-year Treasury note yield, which fell 28 basis points this week.
The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) hopped to 22.21 after hitting 23.76 intraday, the highest since August 8.
Posted on September 6, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
TODAYSEPTEMBER SIXTH
By Staff Reporters
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National Read a Book Day on September 6th calls all book lovers to indulge in their favorite hobby, guilt-free. Bringing new worlds to life, books enlighten us and transport us on exciting adventures. They can challenge our perspectives on the human experience in ways unmatched by other media. In a world deluged by technology, National Read a Book Day encourages us to silence the noise and turn the pages for a while.
While National Read a Book Day is believed to have originated in the US, other details of the day’s history are unclear. What is clear, though, is Americans’ love for books! And, for many, this is a welcomed day because 81% of us don’t feel we spend as much time reading as we would like. So, today is the perfect opportunity to set aside a little time to catch up on our “to read” list.
The popularity of book clubs points to our ongoing love for books. They date back to the 1600s with women’s Bible studies. But, in the last few decades, reading has taken on a much more social element influenced, in large part, by Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. Starting in 1996, Oprah’s Book Club recommended 70 books contributing to over $55 million in sales and has been credited with inspiring millions of people to read books.
Over 74% of Americans have read at least one book in the last 12 months. Sure, the busyness of life definitely gets in the way of our reading pursuits with many other activities competing for our time. Luckily, electronic platforms have made it easier for us to read on the go. Almost 20% of books consumed are now via electronic platforms. Whatever format you prefer, grab or download the book on the top of your stack and dive in!
Posted on September 5, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
Information that Physician Investors Should Know?
By Staff Reporters
DEFINITION: Fractional shares are partial shares of a company’s stock. Instead of owning one or more full shares of the stock, you own a portion, or fraction, of one. In the past, investors generally would end up with fractional shares only after a stock split, since brokers allowed the purchase of full shares only.
A fractional share is a portion of an equity stock that is less than one full share.
Fractional shares often result from stock splits, which don’t always result in an even number of shares.
Mergers or acquisitions create fractional shares, as companies combine new common stock using a predetermined ratio.
Fractional shares can make it easy to buy very small stakes in many different companies. But, if your brokerage charges commissions, you might wind up paying a lot of fees due to the temptation to invest in many different companies.
Posted on September 5, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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An increasingly common leasing scam is the money factor lie
The “money factor” in leasing is the financing cost of a monthly lease payment and is similar to an interest rate – and it’s important to know the difference. The money factor is a small decimal and should be shown as such, whereas the interest rate is a percentage. A deceitful sales person will count on you not knowing the difference.
For example, a interest rate of 2.5% is not the same as a factor of .0025 and when the latter is used to calculate your lease payment, he or she ends up overcharging you. As a result, you have to pay much more over the lease term without realizing it.
To calculate the money factor, use this formula: Money Factor = Lease Charge / (Capitalized Cost * Residual Value) * Lease Term. It’s important to note that the customer’s credit score determines the money factor. The higher your credit score is, the lower the money factor on the lease will be.
One way to calculate the money factor is by converting it to an APR. To do this, you multiply the money factor by 2,400. If a car dealer provides you with an interest rate, divide it by 2,400 to find the money factor.
In another example, if you are quoted a money factor of .003 on a loan, that would be (2,400x.003) 7.2%. If the car dealer quotes you an interest rate of 4.2%, you can divide it by 2,400 to find the money factor of .00175.
The money factor may be shown in an easier-to-read format, like 1.75 instead of .00175. This can often confuse customers because it appears to be a low interest rate. But don’t be fooled by a money factor presented as a factor of 1,000. Always be sure to ask if the number you are given is the APR or the money factor. If it’s the money factor, convert it to APR so that you can clearly see the interest rate.
Posted on September 4, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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Yesterday was only the first trading day of what’s traditionally Wall Street’s weakest month of the year, and September’s already living up to its reputation.
U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday to their worst day since an early August sell-off, as a week full of updates on the economy got off to a discouragingly weak start. The S&P 500 sank 2.1% to give back a chunk of the gains from a three-week winning streak that had carried it to the cusp of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 626 points, or 1.5%, from its own record set on Friday before Monday’s Labor Day holiday. The NASDAQ composite fell 3.3% as Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks led the way lower.
Understanding the September Effect
From 1928 through 2023, the S&P 500 index has averaged a decline during the month of September.
Stock Trader’s Almanac. “September Almanac: Worst Month of the Year since 1950.” This is, however, an average observed over many nearly a century, and September is certainly not the worst month of stock-market trading every year. In fact, for some years September has been among the best-performing months. Moreover, while the average return for September is negative, the median return for that month has turned positive.
While the September Effect might present a market anomaly in the sense that it violates the assumption of market efficiency, the effect is not overwhelming and, more importantly, is not predictive in any useful sense. This is because the time period under consideration will matter a great deal.
For instance, if an individual had bet against September over the last 100 years, that individual would have made an overall profit. If the investor had made that bet only since 2014, though, that investor would have lost money.
Beside market, limit and stop orders, there are some other miscellaneous orders for the physician or guided investor, to know:
A stop limit order is a stop order that, once triggered or activated, becomes a limit order. Realize that it is possible for a stop limit to be triggered and not executed, as the limit price specified by the doctor may not be available.
In addition, there are all or none and fill or kill orders, and even though both require the entire order to be filled, there are distinct differences. An all or none (AON) is an order in which the broker is directed to fill the entire order or none of it.
A fill or kill (FOK) is an order either to buy or to sell a security in which the broker is directed to attempt to fill the entire’ amount of the order immediately and in full, or that it be canceled.
The difference between an all or none and a fill or kill order is that with an all or none order, immediate execution is not required, while immediate execution is a critical component of the fill or kill. Because of the immediacy requirement,
FOK orders are never found on the specialist’s book. Another difference is that AON orders are only permitted for bonds, not stocks, while FOK orders may be used for either.
Also, there exists an immediate or cancel order (IOC), which is an order to buy or sell a security in which the broker is directed to attempt to fill immediately as much of the order as possible and cancel any part remaining. This type of order differs from a fill-or-kill order which requires the entire order to be filled. An IOC order will permit a partial fill. Because of the immediacy requirement, IOC and FOK orders are never found on the specialist’s book.
Long and Short Positions
A long buy position means that shares are for sale from a market makers inventory or owned by the medical investor outright. Market makers take long positions when customers and other firms wish to sell, and they take short positions when customers and other firms want to buy in quantities larger than the market maker’s inventory. By always being ready, willing, and able to handle orders in this way, market makers assure the investing public of a ready market in the securities in which they are interested. When a security can be bought and sold at firm prices very quickly and easily the security is said to have a high degree of liquidity, also known as marketability.
A short position investor seeks to make a profit by participating in the decline in the market price of a security.
Now; let’s see how these terms, long and short, apply to transactions by medical investors [rather than market makers] in the securities markets.
When a doctor buys any security – he is said to be taking a long position in that security. This means the investor is an owner of the security. Why does a doctor take a long position in a security? Well, receiving dividend income to make a profit from an increase in the market price is one reason. Once the security has risen sufficiently in price to satisfy the investor’s profit needs, the investor will liquidate his long position, or sell his stock. This would officially be known as a long sale of stock, though few people in the securities business use the label “long sale”. This is the manner in which the above investor had made a profit is the traditional method used; buy low, sell high.
Let’s look at an actual investment in General Motors to investigate this principle further. A medical investor has taken a long position in 100 shares of General Motors stock at a price of $70 per share. This means that the manner in which he can do that is by placing a market order which will be executed at the best “available market price at the time, or by the placing of a buy limit order with a limit price of $70 per share. The investor firmly believes, on the basis of reports that he has read about the automobile industry and General Motors specifically, that at $70 a share, General Motors is a real bargain. He believes that based on its current level of performance, it should be selling for a price of between $80 and $85 per share. But, the doctor investor has a dilemma. He feels certain that the price is going to rise but he cannot watch his computer, or call his broker, every hour of every day. The reason he can’t watch is because patients have to be seen in the office. The only people who watch a computer screen all day are those in the offices of brokerage firms (stock broker registered representatives), and doctor day traders, among others.
In the above example, with a sell limit order, if the doctor investor was willing to settle for a profit of $12 per share, what order would he place at this time? If you said, “sell at $82 good ’til canceled”, you are correct. Why GTC rather than a day order? Because our doctor investor knows that General Motors is probably not going to rise from $70 to $82 in one day. If he had placed an order to sell at $82 without the GTC qualification, his order would have been canceled at the end of this trading day. He would have had to re-enter the order each morning until he got an execution at 82. Marking the order GTC (or open) relieves him of any need to replace the order every morning. Several weeks later, when General Motors has reached $82 per share in the market, his order to sell at 82 is executed. The medical investor has bought at 70 and sold at 82 and realized a $12 per share profit for his efforts.
Let’s suppose that the medical investor, who has just established a $12 per share profit, has evaluated the performance of General Motors common stock by looking at the market performance over a period of many years. Let’s further assume that the investor has found by evaluating the market price statistics of General Motors that the pattern of movement of General Motors is cyclical. By cyclical, we mean that it moves up and down according to a regular pattern of behavior.
Let’s say the investor has observed that in the past, General Motors had repeated a pattern of moving from prices in the $60 per share range as a low, to a high of approximately $90 per share. Further, our investor has observed that this pattern of performance takes approximately 10 to l2 months to do a full cycle; that is, it moves from about 60 to about 90 and back to about 60 within a period of roughly l2 months. If this pattern repeats itself continually, the investor would be well advised to buy the stock at prices in the low to mid 60’s hold onto it until it moves well into the 80’s, and then sell his long position at a profit. However, what this means is that our investor is going to be invested in General Motors only 6 months of each year. That is, he will invest when the price is low and, usually within half a year, it will reach its high before turning around and going back to its low again. How can the doctor-investor make a profit not only on the rise in price of General Motors in the first 6 months of the cycle, but on the fall in price of General Motors in the second half of the cycle? One technique that is available is the use of the short sale.
The Short Sale
If a doctor investor feels that GM is at its peak of $ 90 per share, he may borrow 100 shares from his brokerage firm and sell the 100 shares of borrowed GM at $ 90. This is selling stock that is not owned and is known as a short sale. The transaction ends when the doctor returns the borrowed securities at a lower price and pockets the difference as a profit. In this case, the doctor investor has sold high, and bought low.
Odd Lots
Most of the thousands of buy and sell orders executed on a typical day on the NYSE are in 100 share or multi-100 share lots. These are called round lots. Some of the inactive stocks traded at post 30, the non-horseshoe shaped post in the northwest corner of the exchange, are traded in 70 share round lots due to their inactivity. So, while a round lot is normally 700 shares, there are cases where it could be 10 shares. Any trade for less than a round lot is known as an odd lot. The execution of odd lot orders is somewhat different than round lots and needs explanation.
When a stock broker receives an odd lot order from one of his doctor customers, the order is processed in the same manner as any other order. However, when it gets to the floor, the commission broker knows that this is an order that will not be part of the regular auction market. He takes the order to the specialist in that stock and leaves the order with the specialist. One of the clerks assisting the specialist records the order and waits for the next auction to occur in that particular stock. As soon as a round lot trade occurs in that particular stock as a result of an auction at the post, which may occur seconds later, minutes later, or maybe not until the next day, the clerk makes a record of the trade price.
Every odd lot order that has been received since the last round lot trade, whether an order to buy or sell, is then executed at the just noted round lot price, the price at which the next round lot traded after receipt of the customer’s odd lot order, plus or minus the specialist’s “cut “. Just like everything else he does, the specialist doesn’t work for nothing. Generally, he will add 1/8 of a point to the price per share of every odd lot buy order and reduce the proceeds of each odd lot sale order by 1/8 per share. This is the compensation he earns for the effort of breaking round lots into odd lots. Remember, odd lots are never auctioned but, there can be no odd lot trade unless a round lot trades after receipt of the odd lot order.
Posted on August 30, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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DEFINITION: Consumer confidence index (CCI) is a standardized confidence indicator providing an indication of future developments of households’ consumption and saving.
The index is based upon answers regarding household’s expected financial situation, their sentiment about the general economic situation, unemployment and capability of savings. An indicator above 100 signals a boost in the consumers’ confidence towards the future economic situation, as a consequence of which they are less prone to save, and more inclined to spend money on major purchases in the next 12 months. Values below 100 indicate a pessimistic attitude towards future developments in the economy, possibly resulting in a tendency to save more and consume less.
The decline in inflation and the expectation of an imminent interest rate cut have Americans feeling better about the economy than they have in a while, according to the latest update of the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index [CCI].
On the other hand, consumers are worried about the softening labor market. While the unemployment rate remains below historical standards at 4.3%, it has increased for four straight months—likely enough to convince J. Powell and the Federal Reserve to cut rates in September.
DEFINITION: According to Wikipedia, the lipstick index is a term coined by Leonard Lauder, chairman of the board of Estee Lauder, used to describe increased sales of cosmetics during the early 2000s recession. Lauder made the claim that lipstick sales could be an economic indicator, in that purchases of cosmetics – lipstick in particular – tend to be inversely correlated to economic health. The speculation was that women substitute lipstick for more expensive purchases like dresses and shoes in times of economic distress.
Lauder identified the Lipstick index as sales across the Estee Lauder family of brands. Subsequent recessions, including the late-2000s recession, provided controverting evidence to Lauder’s claims, as sales have actually fallen with reduced economic activity. Conversely, lipstick sales have experienced growth during periods of increased economic activity. As a result, the lipstick index has been discredited as an economic indicator. The increased sales of cosmetics in 2001 has since been attributed to increased interest in celebrity-designed cosmetics brands.
In the 2010s, many media outlets reported that with the rise of nail art as fad in the English-speaking countries and as far afield as Japan and the Philippines, nail-polish had replaced lipstick as the main affordable indulgence for women in place of bags and shoes during recession, leading to talk of a Nail Polish index. Similar sentiment was noted during the coronavirus pandemic, when the mandated use of face masks to prevent the spread of the disease resulted in an increase of eye makeup purchases, suggesting a Mascara index.
Now, decades after former Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder first recognized the infamous “lipstick index”—the idea that cosmetics sales hold steady and sometimes spike during economic downturns—the same company posted a relatively downbeat earnings report.
Currently, the economy’s not great, but not abysmal, which makes for two possible interpretations of Estée Lauder’s latest report: Either the economy’s better than it seems, or the lipstick index was always a bit off.
The cosmetics giant reported declining sales figures, while weakening its full-year forecast. “For full-year fiscal 2023, we delivered organic sales growth and prestige beauty share gains in many developed and emerging markets, but Asia travel retail pressured results, particularly in skin care, and we continued to experience softness in North America,” the report said.
Posted on August 28, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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A consumer confidence index (CCI) is an economic indicator published by various organizations in several countries.
In simple terms, increased consumer confidence indicates economic growth in which consumers are spending money, indicating higher consumption. Decreasing consumer confidence implies slowing economic growth, and so consumers are likely to decrease their spending.
The idea is that the more confident people feel about the economy and their jobs and incomes, the more likely they are to make purchases. Declining consumer confidence is a sign of slowing economic growth and may indicate that the economy is headed into trouble.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Consumers’ assessment of current business conditions was mixed in November, 2022.
18.2% of consumers said business conditions were “good,” up from 17.7%.
On the other hand, more consumers, 26.7%, said business conditions were “bad,” up from 24.0%.
Consumers’ appraisal of the labor market was somewhat more favorable.
45.8% of consumers said jobs were “plentiful,” up from 44.8%.
13.0% of consumers said jobs were “hard to get,” unchanged from last month.
Leveraged ETFs have received tremendous media attention and are proving to be extremely popular with both individual and institutional investors. There are hundreds of leveraged ETFs, covering virtually every asset class and industry sector. The majority are double-leveraged, but there’s a sizeable group of triple-leveraged ETFs.
For professional investors, leveraged ETFs are useful in statistical arbitrage, short-term tactical strategies, and for use as short-term hedges without the need to roll futures. For individual investors, leveraged ETFs are alluring because of the potential for higher returns.
Now, some physicians and Uninformed investors might assume that the leverage returns are generated on a continuous basis, so that if an underlying index is up 5% for a month, the double-leveraged ETF will be up 10% for the same month; if the index is up 10% for 6 months, the ETF will be up 20%, and so forth. That is absolutely not the case. The leverage is determined on a daily basis and the returns for any other period usually will not be double or triple the underlying index.
In order for the leveraged funds to achieve appropriate levels of assets so they can provide their implied leverage, they have to rebalance daily. In the case of an ETF providing long 2-times leveraged exposure, they would typically attain exposure to a notional set of assets equal to 2 times their NAV.
Example: An example would be an ETF that takes in 100 units in assets that does a swap with a counterparty to provide exposure to 200 units in performing assets. The rebalancing activity of these funds will almost always be in the same direction as the market.
In essence, a leveraged ETF is essentially marked to market every night. It starts with a clean slate the next day, almost as if the previous day had not existed. This process produces daily leverage results. However, over time, the compounding of this reset can potentially vary the performance of the fund versus its underlying benchmark. This can result in either greater or lesser degrees of final leverage over individual holding periods.
Posted on August 23, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
Is A Market Downside Ahead?
By Staff Reporters
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Charles Schwab: The stock is about to form a death cross pattern as the 200-day and 50-day moving averages are about to cross each other. If this pattern forms, there are signs that the stock will continue falling as sellers target the key support at $60.8, its lowest point this month. A break above that level will see it drop to the psychological support at $55.
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What Is a Death Cross?
The death cross is a technical chart pattern indicating the potential for a major sell-off. The death cross appears on a chart when a stock’s short-term moving average crosses below its long-term moving average. Typically, the most common moving averages used in this pattern are the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
Financial ratio analysis typically involves the calculation of ratios that are financial and operational measures representative of the financial status of a clinic or medical practice enterprise. These ratios are evaluated in terms of their relative comparison to generally established industry norms, which may be expressed as positive or negative trends for that industry sector. The ratios selected may function as several different measures of operating performance or financial condition of the subject entity.
Common types of financial indicators that are measured by ratio analysis include:
Liquidity. Liquidity ratios measure the ability of an organization to meet cash obligations as they become due, i.e., to support operational goals. Ratios above the industry mean generally indicate that the organization is in an advantageous position to better support immediate goals. The current ratio, which quantifies the relationship between assets and liabilities, is an indicator of an organization’s ability to meet short-term obligations. Managers use this measure to determine how quickly assets are converted into cash.
Activity. Activity ratios, also called efficiency ratios, indicate how efficiently the organization utilizes its resources or assets, including cash, accounts receivable, salaries, inventory, property, plant, and equipment. Lower ratios may indicate an inefficient use of those assets.
Leverage.Leverage ratios, measured as the ratio of long-term debt to net fixed assets, are used to illustrate the proportion of funds, or capital, provided by shareholders (owners) and creditors to aid analysts in assessing the appropriateness of an organization’s current level of debt. When this ratio falls equal to or below the industry norm, the organization is typically not considered to be at significant risk.
Profitability. Indicates the overall net effect of managerial efficiency of the enterprise. To determine the profitability of the enterprise for bench marking purposes, the analyst should first review and make adjustments to the owner(s) compensation, if appropriate. Adjustments for the market value of the “replacement cost” of the professional services provided by the owner are particularly important in the valuation of professional medical practices for the purpose of arriving at an ”economic level” of profit.
The selection of financial ratios for analysis and comparison to the organization’s performance requires careful attention to the homogeneity of data. Bench marking of intra-organizational data (i.e., internal bench marking) typically proves to be less variable across several different measurement periods.
However, the use of data from external facilities for comparison may introduce variation in measurement methodology and procedure. In the latter case, use of a standard chart of accounts for the organization or recasting the organization’s data to a standard format can effectively facilitate an appropriate comparison of the organization’s operating performance and financial status data to survey results.
Posted on August 19, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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What are inverse ETFs?
An inverse ETF, often known as a bear or short ETF, is an exchange-traded fund designed to profit from a market decline. These short-term, publicly traded investments are utilized by investors who believe that a particular market or individual security will lose value in the near future. They may use inverse ETFs as a way of hedging losses during a downturn.
“Inverse ETFs are a tool to hedge a stock portfolio,” according to John DeYonker. “If the S&P 500 is your benchmark, and it goes up 1%, then your hedge will go down 1% and vice versa. Hedging with inverse ETFs can reduce volatility for investors—it’s like insurance.”
Investors may also use inverse ETFs as a way to take advantage of a predicted decline. In this way, they may be used as an alternative to short selling. For example, if an investor believes that the oil industry will have a setback in the immediate future, they may choose to purchase an inverse ETF of securities tied to energy producers. If correct in their prediction, the investor’s inverse ETF may recognize a profit. If the investor is incorrect, and the market or individual security increases in price, they may see a loss.
An investor who believes that the S&P 500 will decline, for example, may choose to purchase shares of the ProShares Short S&P 500. This inverse ETF’s value is inversely proportional to the overall S&P 500 index.
Inverse ETFs are generally considered to be highly volatile investments, as their losses typically compound daily. This makes inverse ETFs more risky than the index to which they are tied.
Posted on August 18, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Options are contracts that give investors the right to buy or sell stocks, indexes or other financial securities at an agreed upon price and date. Puts are the option to sell while calls are the option to buy.
Specifically – A Call Option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation to buy the underlying security at the exercise price, at or within a specified time. A Put Option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation to sell the underlying security at the exercise price, at or within a specified time.
Ratio – When the ratio of puts to calls is rising, it is usually a sign investors are growing more nervous. A ratio above 1 is considered bearish. The Fear & Greed Index uses a bearish options ratio as a signal for Fear.
Posted on August 17, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
What is is – How it works
By Staff Reporters
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A virtual credit card is a randomly generated 16-digit number associated with your actual credit card account. Your credit card provider may offer this service as a way to protect against fraud whenever you shop without presenting your physical credit card.
Posted on August 17, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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When you plastic, use a credit card instead of a debit card whenever possible.
Credit cards are protected under The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), while debit cards are protected by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). As the Federal Trade Commission explains, the FCBA limits your potential liability to $50, while the EFTA can leave you responsible for up to $500 of fraudulent charges (and occasionally more) in certain situations.
Posted on August 12, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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An interval fund is a closed-end mutual fund that buys back shares only during specific intervals. Shares of the First Eagle Credit Opportunities Fund aren’t traded on public exchanges, and purchases or sales take place at the close of business, at the net asset value (NAV).
A fund’s NAV is simply the sum of its assets divided by the number of shares. A traditional open-ended mutual fund isn’t publicly traded either, and investors can buy or sell at NAV at the market close every business day. This means the manager of an open-ended fund has limited investment choices because a relatively high level of liquidity is needed to handle daily re-demptions.
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An interval fund sets intervals (time periods) during which shares can be sold back to the fund manager and the number of shares it is willing to redeem during any interval. This makes it possible for the manager to go for higher yields by participating in less liquid markets.
The stock markets have been near all time highs, lately. Physician colleagues and clients are so excited that they are even checking the overnight status of favorite stocks and/or the domestic/overseas markets.
Some colleagues are even becoming a bit OCD by checking the implied open of various markets the night before. But, what exactly is the Implied Open? How is it calculated?
DEFINITION: The Implied Open attempts to predict the prices at which various stock indexes will open, at 9:30am New York time. It is frequently shown on various cable television channels prior to the start of the next business day.
EXAMPLE: Considering the DJIA as an example, the basis of calculating implied open is the price of a “DJX index option futures contract”. This is not the price of the DJIA itself but rather the current ticker price of an option issued by the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
CBOE: The Chicago Board Options Exchange, located at 400 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, is the largest U.S. options exchange with annual trading volume that hovered around 1.27 billion contracts at the end of 2014. CBOE offers options on over 2,200 companies, 22 stock indices, and 140 exchange-traded funds.
NOTE: We would like to remind you that new amendments adopted by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have gone into effect as of September 28, 2021. These amendments restrict the ability of market makers to publish OTC quotations for those companies that have not made required current financial and company information available to regulators and investors.
Posted on August 12, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Free Market Medical Association
*** DEFINITION: Direct Primary Care (DPC) is an innovative alternative payment model improving access to high functioning healthcare with a simple, flat, affordable membership fee. No fee-for-service payments. No third party billing. The defining element of DPC is an enduring and trusting relationship between a patient and his or her primary care provider. Patients have extraordinary access to a physician of their choice, often for as little as $70 per month, and physicians are accountable first and foremost their patients. DPC is embraced by health policymakers on the left and right and creates happy patients and happy doctors all over the country!
Investment fees matter. They can make a big difference to your financial health in the long run. Before you put money into any investment, it’s vital to uncover the real costs.They typically include these six types of fees:
1. An up-front commission earned by the salesperson or their firm. Don’t rely on a vague assurance or a verbal answer: get a specific number in writing.If you have trouble getting a number, ask, “If I buy this investment today and want to get out tomorrow, how much do I get back?” If the answer is not “all your money,” the difference is probably the upfront fees and commissions.
I don’t recommend purchasing financial products with significant upfront commission or costs. I have seen investments where these fees run as high as 30% of the money invested. If you were to earn 5% a year on the investment, it would take 8 years just to break even.
2. Ongoing advisory fees. These are monthly, quarterly, or annual fees you pay advisors for their investment advice and oversight. This includes working with you to pick the asset classes, set the diversification, select the managers, tax optimization, rebalancing, and other periodic tasks.
This fee can have many names including wrap fee or investment advisory fee. The normal “rule of thumb” is 1% of the assets the advisor is managing, although fees can range from 0 to 7%. This fee can be charged to you even if the advisor receives an upfront commission. It can be easy to see or hidden away in the fine print of the investment.
3. Additional fees for services. Find out specifically what services are included in the advisor fee. Additional fees for financial planning or ancillary services are rarely disclosed or discussed.
Services can range from minimal hand-holding only focused on your investments to comprehensive, holistic financial planning. Amazingly, there is no correlation between price and the breadth of services. That’s illogical, but the financial services industry gets away with this, in part because consumers don’t do their homework.
4. Ongoing fees charged by the managers of the specific funds or investment products. These fees are referred to as the fund’s expense ratio. This comes out of the profits generated by the manager, and it is one of the hardest fees to find. Only the most transparent advisor or salesperson will disclose it. It is incredibly well hidden; you will never see it in your brokerage statements or your advisor’s invoices. The only way to know the amount of this fee is to read the prospectus or some other third party analysis of the investment, like Morningstar.
These fees can vary greatly for the same investment, depending on the class of share you buy. For example, American Fund’s New Perspective Fund’s expense ratio ranges from0.45% to 1.54%. The average expense ratio of a mutual fund that invests in stocks is 1.35%. Conversely, the average expense ratio of a Vanguard S&P 500 fund is 0.10%. The difference of 1.25% is staggering over time.
5. Miscellaneous fees. These are also rarely talked about and hard to find. Many advisors charge $50 to $100 a year per account, hundreds of dollars to open or close an account, and even fees to dollar cost average your funds into the market.
6. Transaction fees. Every time you buy or sell a fund, a fee is typically paid to a custodian. These can range from $5 to hundreds of dollars per transaction.
Assessment
Remember, it’s your job to persist until you find out the total costs of an investment. Next week I’ll suggest ways to ask the tough questions about fees.
Conclusion
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Thirty one years ago yesterday, the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US launched. In the decades since, these once-niche investment products have become ubiquitous on Wall Street, disrupting the mutual fund industry and transforming people’s relationship with the stock market.
On January 29th, 1993, a spider decoration hanging in the American Stock Exchange heralded the arrival of the first US ETF—what’s now called the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. It had a measly $6.5 million in assets and no one really paid much attention to it. The first US ETF is now the world’s biggest, with $375 billion in assets, and the ETF sector in total had amassed $6.5 trillion in assets by the end of 2022. While mutual funds still have 3x the amount of assets that ETFs have, the tide is turning: Investors poured $600 billion into US ETFs on a net basis last year, but pulled out almost $1 trillion from mutual funds.
Definition: An ETF is simply a security that tracks the performance of a particular basket of investments, like stocks. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF, for example, tracks the performance of companies in the S&P 500. Many other ETFs also track indexes, allowing people to park their money in funds that follow the ebbs and flows of the broader market.
If that sounds like a mutual fund…it’s similar. But ETFs have a few advantages over its stuffy, older cousin.
ETFs generally have lower fees than mutual funds.
They have built-in tax benefits.
They’re accessible to anyone with a brokerage account—you can buy or sell them like you would a stock.
Finally,all these advantages aside, the rise of ETFs has been also fueled by the growing recognition that trying to invest in individual stocks is foolish. Passive index funds, which aren’t designed for frequent trading, have surged to represent almost half of US fund assets, compared to less than 2% in the early ’90s.
Posted on August 7, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Stock Marketsseesawed up yesterday, making back some of the ground lost to Monday’s sell-off. Analysts say the market could remain volatile until September, when the Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates—barring an emergency cut before then. One of the day’s big winners was Uber, which revved up after smashing Q2 revenue expectations thanks to unexpectedly strong consumer demand.
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One day after the S&P 500’s worst session since 2022, stocks partially rebounded, putting fears of a recession on hold. Tuesday started well, with Japan’s Nikkei—which had cratered on Monday—logging its best day since 2008, giving US investors some positive energy From there, US stocks, including Magnificent Seven stalwarts like Microsoft and Nvidia, and both major cryptocurrencies, moved up. “Get used to the volatility,” one Bank of America analyst told Bloomberg. The S&P 500 is still up over 10% this year despite this week’s turbulence.
Finally, DuckDuckGo might soon get its time to shine. A federal judge just ruled that Google has a monopoly over the search engine business, creating the potential for curbs to its power that could change how you look up people you just met online. Google said it will appeal the ruling, but that’s just on one front. It faces another lawsuit questioning whether it abused its monopoly on online advertising technology.
Posted on August 7, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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By Staff Reporters
According to Wikipeida, Mark-to-market (MTM or M2M) or fair value accounting is accounting for the “fair value” of an asset or liability based on the current market price, or the price for similar assets and liabilities, or based on another objectively assessed “fair” value.[1] Fair value accounting has been a part of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States since the early 1990s. Failure to use it is viewed as the cause of the Orange County Bankruptcy,[2][3] even though its use is considered to be one of the reasons for the Enron scandal and the eventual bankruptcy of the company, as well as the closure of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.[4]
Mark-to-market accounting can change values on the balance sheet as market conditions change. In contrast, historical cost accounting, based on the past transactions, is simpler, more stable, and easier to perform, but does not represent current market value. It summarizes past transactions instead. Mark-to-market accounting can become volatile if market prices fluctuate greatly or change unpredictably. Buyers and sellers may claim a number of specific instances when this is the case, including inability to value the future income and expenses both accurately and collectively, often due to unreliable information, or over-optimistic or over-pessimistic expectations of cash flow and earnings.[5]
Stock brokers allow their clients to access credit via margin accounts. These accounts allow clients to borrow funds to buy securities. Therefore, the amount of funds available is more than the value of cash (or equivalents). The credit is provided by charging a rate of interest and requiring a certain amount of collateral, in a similar way that banks provide loans. Even though the value of securities (stocks or other financial instruments such as options) fluctuates in the market, the value of accounts is not computed in real time. Marking-to-market is performed typically at the end of the trading day, and if the account value decreases below a given threshold (typically a ratio predefined by the broker), the broker issues a margin call that requires the client to deposit more funds or liquidate the account.
Posted on August 3, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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When economic trouble and/or uncertainty is brewing, it’s not uncommon for the US Treasury yield curve to flatten or even invert. A yield curve inversion, like we’re experiencing now, involves short-term-maturing bonds sporting higher yields than longer-dated Treasury bonds. It’s an indication that investors are worried about the U.S. economic outlook.
For the past 64 years, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has used the Treasury yield spread between the 10-year bond rate and three-month bond rate to calculate the probability of a U.S. recession occurring within the next 12 months. Over these 64 years, the probability of a recession has topped 25% a dozen times and 40% on eight occasions.
With the exception of a peak probability of a recession of 41.14% in October 1966, the New York Fed’s recession-forecasting tool hasn’t been wrong if it’s surpassed 40%. In other words, if the New York Fed’s recession probability indicator surpasses 40%, we’ve had a recession within 12 months, without fail, for more than a half-century.
In December 2022, this recession probability tool hit 47.31%. That’s the highest reading since 1981, and a very clear indication that economic activity is expected to slow at some point in 2024?
Posted on August 1, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
Jerome Powell says September rate cut could be “on the table”
By Staff Reporters
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Jerome Powell isn’t known for being direct, but he made an exception yesterday, saying an interest rate cut could come “as soon as the next meeting” in September after the FOMC kept rates steady at the two-decade high they’ve been at since last July.
“We’re getting closer to the point at which it’ll be appropriate to reduce our policy rate,” he said. “But we’re not quite at that point.”
It’s a change from Powell’s other recent statements, which were hazier on the timing, though he did say the decision to cut rates still depends on inflation continuing to cool.
Posted on July 29, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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By MCOL
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25% of Primary Care Doctors Delivered 86% of Medical Care
• 25% of primary care doctors delivered 86% of medical care. • 25% of specialists on average provided 75% of medical care. • 16.3% of physicians listed in Medicaid managed care plan provider network directors in a year qualified as ghost physicians (seeing zero Medicaid beneficiaries over the course of the year in an outpatient setting). • The share of ghost physicians ranged from 13.4% to 24.9% across states.
Posted on July 27, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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According to Wikipedia, front running, also known as tailgating, is the practice of entering into an equity (stock) trade, option, futures contract, derivative, or security-based swap to capitalize on advance, nonpublic knowledge of a large (“block”) pending transaction that will influence the price of the underlying security. In essence, it means the practice of engaging in a personal or proprietary securities transaction in advance of a transaction in the same security for a client’s account.
Front running is considered a form of market manipulation in many markets. Cases typically involve individual brokers or brokerage firms trading stock in and out of undisclosed, unmonitored accounts of relatives or confederates. Institutional and individual investors may also commit a front running violation when they are privy to inside information.
A front running firm either buys for its own account before filling customer buy orders that drive up the price, or sells for its own account before filling customer sell orders that drive down the price. Front running is prohibited since the front-runner profits come from nonpublic information, at the expense of its own customers, the block trade, or the public market.
Citron Research founder Andrew Left is used to being the one calling out fraud, but federal prosecutors and the SEC claimed he’s the one pulling a financial fast one. The government alleges that Left committed securities fraud by using his appearances on television and his social media accounts to make misleading statements that manipulated the market—and reaped $16 million in profit for doing so.
Left declined to comment to news outlets, but his lawyer told the Wall Street Journal that the government’s cases were “based on a defective theory” and targeted Left for sharing his opinions.
Posted on July 26, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a collection of 30 “blue-chip” U.S. stocks. Blue chip = big, established, and influential companies like Microsoft, JPMorgan, Disney, and McDonald’s. The Dow recently updated its roster, swapping ExxonMobil, Pfizer, and Raytheon for Salesforce, biotech Amgen, and manufacturing heavyweight Honeywell.
The Dow is weighted by share price, so higher-priced stocks have more influence on the index’s total value. Price-weighting also means that if the price of any stock in the Dow changes by $1, it has the same impact on the index, even though a $1 increase to a stock worth $20 is more significant (relatively) than a $1 change to a stock worth, say, $40.
During stock splits—when a company increases its number of outstanding shares and chops prices by the same factor—a company’s influence in the Dow can fall even if their market value doesn’t change. The Dow has some mechanisms to account for stock splits, but they can still lead to a shakeup in the index (like what happened last summer).
At 124 years old, the Dow has had plenty of time to cement its reputation as a leading indicator of the stock market. But with only 30 stocks representing a smattering of U.S. corporate titans, it’s not exactly representative.
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At one point the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 585 points before it sold off later yesterday afternoon, though it wrapped the trading session with a small win. The S&P 500 fought its way into positive territory but struggled to stay there, eventually sinking into negative territory at the end of the day.
As for the NASDAQ, the tech selloff continued to punish the index for most of yesterday afternoon. Treasury yields fell a bit on positive GDP news, though the big PCE [personal consumption expenditures] announcement is the one investors have been waiting for.
Oil popped on a stronger than expected GDP reading, with traders banking on future economic growth and stronger oil demand.
Bitcoin sank a bit yesterday ahead of a major conference that could set the tone for the entire digital asset industry for years to come.
Posted on July 25, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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What it is: The NASDAQ Composite is an index composed of 2,500+ stocks as well as other equities such as American Depository Receipts [ADRs] and Real Estate Investment Trusts [REITs].
How it works: Unlike the DJIA, the NASDAQ weights by market cap (number of outstanding shares a company has multiplied by the share price), a setup that gives extra-large companies an extra-large impact. The NASDAQ is also heavily skewed toward tech companies, which account for nearly half the index’s total value.
Why it matters: As the world’s first electronic [e]-exchange, the NASDAQ has historically attracted more tech-focused companies. While the index tracks more stocks than the S&P and Dow combined, tech’s heavy influence means the NASDAQ doesn’t always illustrate how other industries are faring. The index can also be volatile because it includes more small, speculative companies.
And so, Big Tech and the NASDAQ suffered big losses yesterday after Tesla and Alphabet posted disappointing quarterly results the day before.
The Magnificent Seven tech stocks lost a combined $750 billion in market cap for their worst day ever, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ had their worst days since 2022—with the S&P ending its longest streak without a 2% dip since the financial crisis began in 2007, as per Bloomberg.
Posted on July 23, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index
What it is: Investment company Standard & Poor’s maintains an index of 500 stocks from the largest companies listed on the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange. To be eligible for consideration, companies have to meet certain criteria—including a market cap of $8.2+ billion, a U.S. headquarters, and positive earnings for at least four consecutive quarters. They can be kicked out if they slip.
How it works: Companies are weighted by their market cap, specifically their float-adjusted market cap (which only counts shares that are theoretically available for retail investors to buy). That means the S&P skews toward larger cap companies, and tech stocks now account for over a quarter of the index’s total value.
Why it matters: With 500 stocks covering a broad range of industries, the S&P is widely considered the best indicator of large-cap stocks in the U.S. While the S&P’s weighting-by-market-cap method is more common than the Dow’s weighting by share price, it does introduce some risk that overvalued stocks will inflate the overall index.
Posted on July 22, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Earnings announcements are a public statement of a company’s profitability for a specific period of time, such as a quarter (90 days) or a year. Equities research analysts will issue estimates of the company’s earnings numbers prior to its announcement date, which is generally set weeks or months in advance. If a company releases better results than analysts predict, its share price will generally rise after the announcement. Below you will find a list of public companies announcing their earnings results this week.
Earnings reports to feast on them this week. About one-quarter of S&P 500 companies will release their Quarter 2nd financials, including Alphabet, Coca-Cola, Tesla, UPS, Visa, Chipotle, Comcast, GM, and Southwest Airlines.
And if you have room for more economic data, the government will release its first estimate of Q2 GDP on Thursday and an important inflation gauge on Friday.
Posted on July 21, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
And … the Solow capital motion growth model?
[By staff reporters]
In economics, the Golden Rule savings rate is the rate of savings which maximizes steady state level or growth of consumption, as for example in the Solow growth model.
Although the concept can be found earlier in John von Neumann and Maurice Allais‘s works, the term is generally attributed to Edmund Phelps who wrote in 1961 that the golden rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” could be applied inter-generationally inside the model to arrive at some form of “optimum“, or put simply “do unto future generations as we hope previous generations did unto us.”
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The Solow growth model
In the Solow growth model, a steady state savings rate of 100% implies that all income is going to investment capital for future production, implying a steady state consumption level of zero. A savings rate of 0% implies that no new investment capital is being created, so that the capital stock depreciates without replacement. This makes a steady state unsustainable except at zero output, which again implies a consumption level of zero.
Somewhere in between is the “Golden Rule” level of savings, where the savings propensity is such that per-capita consumption is at its maximum possible constant value.
Assessment
Put another way, the golden-rule capital stock relates to the highest level of permanent consumption which can be sustained.
Conclusion
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