BOARD CERTIFICATION EXAM STUDY GUIDES Lower Extremity Trauma
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Posted on September 23, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Swatting refers to a harassment technique most that entails generating an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses. Swatters do this by making phone calls to emergency lines like 911 and falsely reporting a violent emergency situation, such as a shooting or hostage situation.
Swatters often consider what they are doing to be a prank, but it can come with serious consequences. Swatting occupies law enforcement response teams, making them unavailable to respond to real emergencies. There have even been swatting incidents where law enforcement officers were shot, and in one case the victim of the swatting was shot dead by law enforcement.
In recent years, the US has tried to dissuade swatters by imposing serious penalties for the perpetrators, but swatting continues to be an issue. Swatting is often hard for law enforcement to address, since many swatters use sophisticated techniques to hide their identity. Swatters disguise themselves using techniques like caller ID spoofing, where they utilize software to make it appear as though they are a local caller when they could be anywhere in the world.
Posted on September 22, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
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World Gratitude Day is a timely opportunity to give your employees their deserved props—beyond an ordinary thumbs-up emoji. And, how you celebrate the day is limited only by your imagination.
Some people write thank you notes to those they appreciate. Some make a point of having “gratitude dinners” with family members. And others start a gratitude journal in which they record what they’re grateful for.
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We’re all human, and at Workhuman, they get that. Workhuman’s employee recognition solution, Social Recognition, helps foster employee appreciation—something that strengthens teams, reduces turnovers, and drives business forward.
Yep, a little “Thank you” goes a long way.
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AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2021
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Today, in 2021, the autumnal equinox will also take place at 3:21 p.m. EDT and marks the moment the sun’s rays are shining directly on the equator. It’s called the equinox because daytime and nighttime are equal lengths. The winter solstice, which occurs on Dec. 21, will be the shortest day of the year and marks the start of winter.
Posted on September 21, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Chamath Palihapitiya, the billionaire investor who once claimed to be the next Warren Buffett, is winding down two of his special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and returning $1.5 billion to investors. It marks the symbolic end to the SPAC bubble that Palihapitiya is credited with instigating.
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Markets: Investors pre-gamed the Fed’s big interest rate decision coming this afternoon by sending stocks lower and Treasury yields higher; they’re sweating what’s expected to be the central bank’s third 75-basis-point hike in a row to tamp down inflation. Speaking of inflation, Ford’s stock had its worst day in 11 years after warning of $1 billion in extra supplier costs.
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Finally, the Justice Department charged 47 people for allegedly carrying out the single largest Covid relief fraud scheme to date. Feds say that by exploiting a program meant to feed needy Minnesota children, the defendants stole $250 million. Prosecutors say the fraud was committed by a network of individuals connected to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future and was overseen by the nonprofit’s founder, Aimee Bock. Feeding Our Future was one of a handful of organizations Minnesota trusted to oversee the distribution of meals to children in low-income families during the pandemic. Instead, prosecutors allege, the organization operated a “pay-to-play scheme” in which individuals submitted fake meal sites and children’s names, raking in government money with fraudulent invoices.
Posted on September 14, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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DEFINITION: In finance, inflation is a general increase in prices of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduction in the purchasing power of money.
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DEFINITION: The Producer Price Index PPI is a group of indexes that measure the change, over time, in the prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. It measures price changes from the perspective of the seller rather than the consumer, as with the CPI. The CPI would include imported goods, while the PPI is relevant to U.S. producers, and therefore would not include imports.
The PPI measures over 10,000 products and services. It reports the price changes prior to the retail level. This information is useful to the government in formulating fiscal and monetary policies. The data gathered from the PPI is often used in escalating purchase and sales contracts. That is the dollar amount to be paid at some time in the future.
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Inflation stayed elevated in April but eased off its 40-year high, signaling that a stomach-churning surge in consumer prices since last summer may have peaked.
The consumer price index increased 8.3% annually, down from 8.5% in March, as a drop in gasoline prices offset a continuing run-up in food, rent and other costs, the Labor Department said Wednesday. March’s yearly advance marked the fastest since December 1981.
Posted on September 14, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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Stocks nosedived after a surprising inflation report showed prices rose more than expected last month. All three major averages logged their worst day since June 2020. Technology stocks led the way down, with the NASDAQ Composite plunging 5.2%. Tuesday’s session marks the seventh time this year the NASDAQ slid 4% or more, per data from Bespoke Investment Group. No declines of the same size were recorded last year, while 10 were experienced in 2020.
The S&P 500 sank 4.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 1,300 points, or roughly 4%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August early Tuesday, which showed prices rose 8.3% over the prior year and 0.1% over the prior month. Economists had expected an 8.1% increase in inflation over last year and a decline of 0.1% over the prior month.
Posted on September 9, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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According to a new report by CoreLogic, annual home-price appreciation has slowed for the third month in a row in July, to 15.8%, down from 18.3% in June. And between June and July, home prices actually fell by 0.3%, “a trend not seen between 2010 and 2019,” the company said. The last time home prices dropped month over month was in December 2018. CoreLogic is now expecting home prices to grow annually by 3.8% in July 2023. That’s a big drop from how home prices were trending over the last two years.
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The British Pound Sterling fell to $1.1406, a level not seen since 1985 when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. Like many countries, Britain has been battling double-digit inflation and also the prospect of a long economic contraction.
Posted on September 7, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealedin its most recent jobs report that the U.S. non-farm payrolls added a modest 315,000 jobs in August, 2022. More people are actively seeking jobs, too, meaning that the unemployment jumped to 3.7%, its highest in six months. Economists are celebrating the paradox that is the good news of more people going without work.
“In our view, the August employment report contains enough good news for the Fed that will lead them to slow the pace of rate hikes beginning in September,” wrote Bank of America Research in a note shared on Friday. Meanwhile, Julia Pollak, chief economist for the jobs site ZipRecruiter, sent out a note summing up the observations of many economists like her who closely watch each job report: The unemployment situation is the best news to come out of this data.
Posted on September 1, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Eric Bricker MD
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As a result of SDOH problems, Johns Hopkins Hospital Trains Doctors That Have a Ton of Exposure to Diseases That Result from These Social Determinantsof Health: 1) Endocarditis, 2) Hepatitis C, 3) HIV, 4) Pancreatitis, 5) Liver Cirrhosis, 6) Diabetes, 7) Heart Attack, 8) Stroke, 9) Infections, 10) Cancer, 11) Spinal Injuries, 12) Dialysis, 13) Diabetic Ketoacidosis and 14) Hypertensive Emergencies.
Johns Hopkins Hospital Also Loses MoneyWhen Treating These Diseases Caused by Social Determinants of Health.
Posted on August 31, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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By Staff Reporters
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According to the USBLS, the number of open Job positions ticked up unexpectedly in July, with around 11.2 million jobs available, slightly higher than June’s revised total of 11 million openings, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Economists had expected there to be about 10.5 million jobs added, according to estimates from Refinitiv. The June total was revised up by about 300,000 positions.
Oil closed down almost $6 a barrel with global crude benchmark Brent falling beneath key $100 pricing, after a pro-Tehran television station out of London reported that Iran and the United States have reached a deal to revive a nuclear deal that could legitimately put the Islamic Republic’s oil back on the export market.
Stocks fell again on Wall Street, posting their third loss in a row as traders worry that high interest rates are here to stay for a while. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% bringing its loss in the past three days to 5.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ also fell. Energy companies fell along with sliding crude oil prices. Technology stocks and industrial companies were also weak. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady.
Posted on August 22, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Joel Comm
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Machine Learning
The global machine learning market was valued at $15.44 billion in 2021, and it is expected to grow to $209 billion by 2029. Machine Learning is a technology that has grown in popularity over the past years, especially driven by the success of companies like Google in the field of AI.
This success is also in big part due to the technology becoming more accessible to the masses. Take OpenAI’s AI image generator, DALL-E, as an example: Since DALL-E Mini went public, it has been given uses ranging from making memes to artwork worth the attention of The New Yorker.
Gone are the days in which machine learning was only accessible to researchers in top-notch institutions. Today, machine learning can be mastered all around the globe in official institutions, online education platforms, and even via comics.
Web3 / Blockchain Development
Whether you are invested in crypto and NFTs or not, the Metaverse is being built, and it promises to turn centralized, corporate-controlled Web2 on its head. The world of computer users–that’s pretty much all of us–has, for years, grown increasingly frustrated by having to operate under the oversight of a few monoliths.
The promise of Web3 is community–not corporation–first.
Innovators in the space like Proof of Learn are developing easily accessible educational platforms where Web2 pros and the tech-interested can learn to code in Web3, in a learn and earn model. The company’s first project is a lore-rich online academy called Metacrafters.io, drawing in gamers and developers, and attracting some serious backing from leading VCs and crypto investors. Fellow industry leaders, such as Solana, Flow, Avalanche, and Polygon Foundations, recently gave $4.5 million in grant funding to support Metacrafters’ mission of upskilling Web2 developers. This grant helps fund their learn and earn protocol, so you get to take courses in a game world and get paid for it.
Metacrafters.io might be one with this learn and earn model teaching coding skills, but it is in line to inspire more of its kind. Look around at the landscape of Web3 education and get cracking, because the Metaverse will be here sooner than expected, and developers will be the major players in it.
Posted on August 12, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Internal Revenue Service commissioner that if the Inflation Reduction Act becomes law additional IRS resources should not be used to increase audit rates on taxpayers making under $400,000 a year. “This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited,” Yellen said in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.
Meanwhile, the nationwide average price for a gallon of gas dropped to $3.99 according to AAA. That’s down 20% from the mid-June high, and it’s the first time the average has dipped below $4 since early March. Gasoline prices usually rise and fall with the cost of oil, and crude has also been dropping. The U.S. benchmark price is down nearly one-fourth since early June. Other factors are also behind this year’s roller-coaster ride in energy prices. Gasoline prices hit a record $5.02 on June 14. At the time, U.S. crude was about $120 a barrel and the benchmark international price was even a couple dollars above that. Since then, however, oil prices have tumbled.
Posted on August 11, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Inflation eased off historically high levels in July, raising hopes that a relentless surge in prices may have peaked. Consumer prices increased 8.5% from a year ago, down from a 9.1% annual rise – a 40-year high – in June, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index. Gasoline prices fell but food and rent continued to march higher. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated yearly inflation would fall to 8.7%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were unchanged, compared to a 1.3% rise in June. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items and generally provide a better gauge of future trends, increased 0.3% in July following a 0.7% rise the prior month. That held the annual increase at 5.9% after three straight monthly declines.
And, in a bit of good news for aged Americans, Social Security payments may take their biggest jump in years. The surge could be as high as 10%, which is larger than recent increases in the consumer price index. Social Security carries an official name of the “Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI).” Even the rich can get benefits. The income calculation tops out at a maximum of $142,800.
It is the first research to measure long-term symptoms in both infected and non-infected people and therefore creates a more accurate distinction between symptoms caused by long COVID and those from other reasons such as stress or insomnia.
Posted on August 7, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The Biden administration is expected to extend the Covid-19 public health emergency once again, ensuring that federal measures expanding access to health coverage, vaccines and treatments remain in place beyond the midterm elections, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. The planned renewal follows extensive deliberations among Biden officials over the future of the emergency declaration, including some who questioned whether it was time to let the designation lapse.
Under the proposed extension, the Department of Health and Human Services would continue the declaration beyond the November elections and potentially into early 2023 — pushing the U.S. into its fourth calendar year under a Covid public health emergency. “Covid is not over. The pandemic is not over,” one senior Biden official said. “It doesn’t make sense to lift this [declaration] given what we’re seeing on the ground in terms of cases.”
Posted on August 6, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Amid a monkey-pox outbreak in the United States that has been declared a public health emergency, the nation’s top infectious-diseases expert, Anthony S. Fauci, said people should be paying attention but not panicking.
Fauci recently told WTOP News that people do not need to change the way they live their lives but should monitor the situation and adjust behaviors as more information becomes available. “You never blow off any emerging infection when you don’t know yet where it’s going,” he explained. “You pay attention to it. You follow it. Then you respond to it in an appropriate manner.”
Posted on August 3, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The dollar sank to a one-month low after data last week showed the US is technically in recession.
It reflects a “sell-the-fact” reaction in markets as investors expect milder Fed rate hikes.
A weak Chinese economy is also affecting the performance of the greenback on demand concerns.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance against six other currencies including the Japanese yen, slipped 0.52% to trade at $105.35 – its lowest since July 5th. The safe-haven currency has endured sharp sell-offs in recent weeks, only rising on two days since mid-July as a “sell-the-fact” reaction hits markets over expectations that the Fed will become less aggressive in its monetary policy after data showed US GDP contracted for two straight quarters – the technical definition of a recession.
London-based BP earnings tripled and underlying replacement cost profit, which excludes one-time items and fluctuations in the value of inventories, jumped to $8.45 billion from $2.80 billion in the same period a year earlier. The soaring earnings allowed BP to return billions of dollars to shareholders, with the company boosting its dividend by 10% and announcing that it would buy back $3.5 billion in shares. BP said it expects to increase dividends by about 4% annually through 2025.
Moreover, job openings in the U.S. fell to 10.7 million in June to mark the lowest level since last fall, signaling that a red-hot labor market is cooling off a bit as the economy slows. Job openings slipped from 11.3 million in May. They have dropped three months in a row after peaking in the early spring at a record 11.9 million.The last time job openings dipped below 11 million was in November last year. The number of people who quit jobs in June, meanwhile, only fell slightly to 4.23 million, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Quits topped 4 million one year ago for the first time ever, part of a pandemic-era trend that’s become known as “the great resignation.” Before the pandemic, the number of people quitting jobs averaged fewer than 3 million a month.The high number of people quitting jobs suggests the labor market is still quite robust, though. Most people who quit usually find a better job. Layoff also stayed at historically very low levels. Big picture: The economy is cooling off — and so is a sizzling labor market.
Finally, semi-conductor stocks plunged. For example, shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)—the world’s biggest and most valuable semiconductor manufacturer valued at $440 billion—fell 2.4%. Its Taiwanese peers United Microelectronics and MediaTek dipped 3% and 1.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, U.S. chip-maker Intel stock dropped 1.5% on the same day.
Posted on July 31, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Although the future of Social Security remains in doubt, some congressional lawmakers are ensuring that most Social Security recipients get their money and then some. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the Social Security Expansion Act (SSEA) in June. The bill would allot $200 more per month for each Social Security recipient — a 12% boost in money, according to CBS News.
So who will receive these Social Security increases?
The people who are currently eligible for Social Security or anyone who turns 62 in 2023, which is the earliest age to collect Social Security, will be eligible to receive the extra $200 a month with their benefits.
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Now, at present for Social Security, 12.4% is taken out of each paycheck for people earning up to $147,000, with half paid by the employer and half paid by the worker. So, if you make $147,000 or less, you are paying 6.2% into Social Security. If you make, say, $1.47 million, you only pay 0.6% of your income to Social Security.
If the pending new SS bill is approved, the same rate would be taxed on individuals making $250,000 or more. Those making $147,000 or less would continue to pay the same rate as well, with a do-nut hole between the $147,000 and $250,000 — although that $147,000 typically goes up each year, as it is based on average income.
The increased funding — along with a change in the cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) — would help to increase benefits by an estimated $200 per month, or $2,400 per year, which bears out, according to an analysis by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Posted on July 30, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Procter & Gamble(PG) warned hat consumers were beginning to pull back on their spending as inflation concerns mount. P&G posted 7% sales growth during its most recent quarter ending June 30, its strongest growth in years. The company was able to push through higher prices on consumers. But its sales volumes declined 1% last quarter, a sign consumers were dialing back.The company forecast sales growth of between 3% and 5% for its upcoming fiscal year, down from 7% during its latest fiscal year. On a call with analysts Friday, P&G leaders said that while consumers are still buying household necessities, they are beginning to alter their purchasing behavior. For example, consumers are not stocking up their pantries as much as they were early in the pandemic, and they’re buying more private-label brands, particularly in paper goods. As shoppers are “more exposed to inflation broadly in the marketplace with the highest inflation in 40 years, it’d be naive to assume the consumer is not looking at their cash outlay,” P&G finance chief Andre Schulten told analysts. P&G’s stock fell 5% during midday trading.
The S&P 500 was up 1.3% as of 2:18 p.m. Eastern, while the NASDAQ was up 1.6%. Both indexes are on pace to end July with the biggest gains since November 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%. Positive earnings news from Apple and Amazon, as well as oil giants Exxon and Chevron, helped put traders in a buying mood.
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed home mortgage fell to 5.22% from 5.54%. “This is an exceptionally fast drop!” wrote Matthew Graham of Mortgage News Daily. The rate fell even further today to 5.13%. The slide in mortgage rates came after a negative GDP report and the Fed’s latest interest rate hike.
The Mega Millions will hold a drawing tonight for a jackpot of $810 million. If won at that amount, it’d be the fourth-largest lottery prize in history.
Let’s get this out of the way first: You won’t win the jackpot. You just…won’t. The odds of winning are about 1-in-302 million, which means you’re far more likely to die from a meteorite strike or go to the ER because of a pogo stick injury than win the Mega Millions.
But let’s say you do win (because someone has to). Once you regain consciousness after fainting, you’ll be faced with a decision: Take the lump sum all at once, or spread the payout over decades in what’s called an “annuity.”
Here’s how each would work.
Lump sum: You’ll receive a payment of $470.1 million, after the 24% federal tax withholding takes a ~$113 million bite out of your total winnings. Plus, the 37% top marginal tax rate means you’ll fork over more of your prize to Uncle Sam come tax season.
Annuity: You’ll receive an immediate payment followed by 29 annual installments over the next 30 years, with each cash infusion increasing by 5% to account for inflation.
So which should you take?
Most people who win the lottery choose the lump sum, and it’s not hard to see why: You can make more money. Thanks to the magic of compound interest, you can invest your lottery winnings right away, and even with a conservative rate of return, make far more over 30 years than you can with the smaller droplets of cash provided by the annuity.
That said, the lump sum may not be for everyone. Are you the type of person who invested in dogecoin right before Elon Musk hosted SNL? If so, the annuity could offer some self-imposed fiscal discipline to prevent you from blowing all your winnings—which definitely happens. The internet is littered with stories of lottery winners who squandered their fortune, or otherwise watched their lives fall apart after thinking they had made it. One small study in Florida found that lottery winners were more likely to declare bankruptcy in three to five years than the average American.
Bottom line: You’re not going to win the Mega Millions (because we are), so consider this a lighthearted economics thought experiment and nothing more.
Posted on July 26, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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By Staff Reporters
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The $7.25 federal minimum wage is now 13 years old after last being raised in July 2009. The value of the minimum wage has fallen by 40% since the 1960s. And, $7.25 in July 2009 would be worth around $10 now after adjusting for inflation.
In the next jobs report, Turn predicted that the unemployment rate will fall to a seasonal low of 3.5% due to a 64.7% increase in hiring in June, a trend that could continue through July. Turn predicted a significant shift away from filling hourly, pandemic-related jobs, such as warehouse positions, after hiring for traditional economic roles likes retail workers and janitorial services surged 210% in June. Turn also predicted a rise in hiring for semi-skilled hourly and salaried jobs in July such as mechanics and nurses. While hiring for these positions accounted for just 11.5% of monthly jobs over the past 12 months, Turn predicted that these jobs will make up 22% of all new hires in July.
AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. shocked investors with their second-quarter results last week — the former warning about the high cost of phone giveaways and the latter failing to meet growth targets. The news sparked a sell-off that erased some $40 billion in market value from the three industry leaders. Now T-Mobile US Inc. is cast as the potential Goldilocks in this drama — if its second-quarter results are just right. T-Mobile reports financial results tomorrow before markets open. Investors will be eager to see if the wireless industry is starting to see a slowdown in consumer spending due to decade-high inflation, or if some of the troubles might be more self inflicted.
Posted on July 26, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Dr. Keith L. Gurnick, DPM
[Los Angeles, CA via PM Online]
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Paid spokespersons consisting exclusively of older celebrities, including William Shatner, George Forman, Joe Namath, and Jimmie “J.J.” Walker read similar, if not exact, scripts in an attempt to induce the elderly to phone and check their “zip code” to see if they are eligible. I can’t figure out what the zip code has to do with anything, but maybe someone can help me to understand this fish hook?
As of November 2021, 42% of all Medicare eligible patients are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Does the viewing public not wonder why there is never any mention at all during these commercials that changing to a Medicare Advantage plan means switching their traditional Medicare over to an HMO, and that most likely they will lose their network of doctors and possibly hospitals as well?
Posted on July 23, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The stock markets fell after new data showing U.S. manufacturing activity stalled and the service sector’s pandemic recovery has gone into reverse as a result of high inflation and mounting interest rate hikes, feeding concerns that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool decades-high price increases may force the economy into a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 138 points, or 0.4%, to close at 31,899, while the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ 1.9%; for the week, the indexes ended up 2%, 2.5% and 3%, respectively.
US social-media companies also saw more than $130 billion wiped off their stock-market values after disappointing revenue from Snap Inc. and a lackluster report from Twitter Inc. raised new concerns about the outlook for online advertising. The Snapchat parent plummeted 39%, sinking to its lowest level since March 2020. Meanwhile, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. fell 7.6%, Pinterest Inc dropped more than 13%, and Google owner Alphabet Inc. declined 5.6% in its biggest one-day drop since March 2020. Twitter also reported quarterly results on Friday, though Wall Street remains focused on the company’s legal battle with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is attempting to withdraw from a deal to buy the company. The stock rose 0.8% on the day.
Posted on July 22, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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By Staff Reporters
President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus, raising health concerns for the 79-year-old president and underscoring how the virus remains a persistent, if muted, threat in a country trying to put the pandemic in the past.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren along with 22 more Democratic lawmakers are pushing the IRS to create its own free tax filing service. The bill also aims to allow eligible taxpayers to choose a “return-free option,” providing a pre-populated filing. “The average American spends 13 hours and $240 every year to file their taxes — that’s too much time and too much money,” Warren said in a press release. But some tax professionals say it’s not a realistic plan for the overburdened agency.
A case of polio has been identified in an un-vaccinated adult in Rockland County, according to a news release from the New York State Department of Health. The agency confirmed that the infection was transmitted from someone who received the oral polio vaccine, which has not been administered in the United States since 2000. Officials believe the virus may have originated outside the United States, where the oral vaccine is still administered.
he New York Times opinion columnist Paul Krugman published a mea culpa in column form flat out admitting he was wrong for thinking inflation wouldn’t be that bad. In his piece, titled, “I Was Wrong About Inflation,” the economics professor noted that he was on “Team Relaxed” when it came to fears of inflation and acknowledged that was a “very bad call.” Krugman began by recounting the “intense debate among economists about the likely consequences of the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion package enacted by a new Democratic president and a (barely) Democratic Congress.” He mentioned how he originally didn’t see the massive government spending bill as that dangerous for the economy. “Some warned that the package would be dangerously inflationary; others were fairly relaxed. I was Team Relaxed. As it turned out, of course, that was a very bad call,” he confessed.
Posted on July 17, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
KNOW THETHE DIFFERENCE
By Staff Reporters
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As doctors, nurses and medical professionals try to get an idea of what their home is worth, please go into the process with the knowledge that the concept of “value” can carry a different definition depending on who’s assigning it.
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For example:
Appraised value – The appraised value of your home is the number assigned to it by a professional appraiser. This value is especially important when a home buyer is getting a mortgage. The lender will typically require a professional appraisal to verify that the borrower hasn’t agreed to an unrealistic valuation.
Assessed value – The assessed value of your home is the figure assigned to it by the county where it’s located for property tax purposes. While an appraisal involves someone inspecting the interior and exterior of your home, assessments are often conducted in a mass approach by using pricing trends.
Fair market value – The fair market value of your home doesn’t involve a professional. Instead, it involves other people just like you who might be willing to pay more because they love a home or a certain neighborhood. So, for example, an appraised value might be $300,000, but a recent surge in buying activity and limited supply might motivate a buyer to go above that price. On the flip side, keep in mind that those buyers might be willing to pay less than what you believe it’s worth, too.
Posted on July 17, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The U.S. budget deficit shrank 49% to $89 billion in June from $174 billion a year earlier, reflecting the end of Covid-relief spending and an increase in tax revenue. Specifically, government spending fell in June by 12% to $550 billion compared to $623 billion in the same month one year ago.
World Emoji Day on July 17th is a celebration of all emojis. Last year, the World Emoji Awards helped crown the Most Popular New Emoji, the Most Anticipated Emoji and the Most 2021 Emoji!
A report from the American Community Survey found, “A one-percentage point increase in the marriage penalty tax rate decreases the probability of marrying for females with children by 3.69 percentage points. For males, a one-point tax increase translates to a 0.21-point decline in the probability of marrying if they have kids and a 1.54-point decline if not.”
Posted on July 13, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By MCOL.com
Dr. Seleem R. Choudhury
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“Uberization” is a catchphrase that has quickly become part of common parlance in discussions about the pandemic-induced economy. Uberization is the movement by organizations to “replace fixed wage contracts with ‘dynamic pricing’ for labor” (Davis, & Sinha, 2021). It is transforming many elements of the economy and replacing employees employed by the organization with a type of self-employed or contract employee. In essence, it allows businesses to “recruit labour at a large scale in new ways” (Davis, & Sinha, 2021).
The global business community has had a range of responses to the trend of uberization (Babali, 2019), as has the healthcare industry in particular. Yet as health systems emerge from the pandemic, Bloomberg reports that “the ongoing elevated costs of [healthcare] workers are causing profit warnings” (KHN, 2022; Court, & Coleman-Lochner, 2022). Regardless of one’s resistance or acceptance of uberization, healthcare employment is in crisis. Change must occur to keep health systems from financial disaster.
It seems that the tide of uberization in the healthcare industry is already rising. An increasing number of employees are contracting with hospitals and health systems via a staffing agency. This trend is likely to evolve, with a portion of staff employed directly by the hospital, and the remaining employees self-contracting with hospitals or health systems with short-term or even daily contracts. In fact, hospitals are reporting that rather than temporary “travel nurses” coming from other states to work on a contract basis, nurses are taking short-term contract work at hospitals a short drive from their own homes rather than pursue permanent employment with these organizations. We are witnessing the uberization of nursing, which will eventually extend to other healthcare occupations.
Why uberization?
The healthcare workforce shouldered the heavy burden of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet a collaborative study from Indiana University, the nonprofit Rand Corp., and the University of Michigan that analyzed the changes in the U.S. healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic found that “the average wages for U.S. healthcare workers rose less than wages in other industries during 2020 and the first six months of 2021” (Toler, 2022; Cantor, Whaley, Kosali, & Nguyen, 2022). According to a February 2022 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 35 percent of healthcare and social assistance organizations “increased wages and salaries, paid wage premiums, or provided bonuses because of the COVID-19 pandemic” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022).
Due to the media attention the “Great Resignation” has received, it is common knowledge that workers across industries have been leaving their jobs at higher rates than before the pandemic (Parker, & Horowitz, 2022). Yet by October 2021, when the “quit rates” were at their highest recorded levels, healthcare and social assistance job resignations had increased to 35% higher than they had been before the pandemic, slightly higher than the increase of resignations among all workers in the same period (29%) (Wager, Amin, Cox, & Hughes-Cromwick, 2021).
Over the last ten years, “the salary of registered nurses increased by 1.67 percent in the United States” (Michas, 2021). Whereas healthcare executives make on average eight times more than their hourly employees (Saini, Garber, & Brownlee, 2022). The pandemic has rebalanced the scales in favor of those underpaid for many years. The salary landscape has changed, and in response many hospital systems blindly grasp to the pre-pandemic state of agency staffing. This, combined with near flat salary increases, contribute to the uberization of healthcare.
For many healthcare professionals, the combination of work-related stress and incommensurate compensation was the final straw. However, in addition to fair salary, flexibility has become a top demand of employees—even in healthcare. “Gone are the days when job security or pay was everything. Workers now are giving more thought to how their jobs fit into their lives. Ambition for ambition’s sake is being reassessed” (Buckingham, & Richardson, 2022).
A recent survey articulated “higher pay and dissatisfaction with management were also key drivers of nurses changing work settings in 2020 or 2021,” with 28% of respondents saying they’ve changed work settings (Lagasse, 2022). The percentage of nurses considering changing employers increased by 6% from 2020 to 2021, with 17% saying they are contemplating making an employment change. The percentage of nurses who are “passive job seekers – not actively looking for a new job but open to new opportunities – also increased, from 38% in 2020 to 47% in the current survey” (Lagasse, 2022).
The moment: contractor or non-contractor
As the trend of uberization continues to spread beyond the transportation industry, the global business community should be watchful of challenges that the trendsetter Uber is facing to understand future implications of this movement in their own industry. For example, recent legal battles regarding the employment status of Uber drivers will likely impact the cost-benefit analysis of those considering traditional employment or independent contracting. While an independent contractor is free to offer services to anyone and doesn’t have the limits on their freedom that comes with being an employee of a single organization, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board decision that Uber drivers are independent contractors means that drivers have no federal right to unionize (HyreCar, 2021; Fishman, 2020). In Europe, however, Uber drivers are considered employees and not independent, which could mean that unionization could occur en masse.
The future
The future of healthcare employment could be via an app on smart phones. Imagine: daily staffing supplemented by workers employed and credentialed through the app. The healthcare worker could choose their rate and shifts, and the hospital could determine the desired experience, quality, and patient experience reviews for the open position. It could shift the future of employment healthcare significantly.
The rate of change in today’s workplace is accelerating whether it is through the uberization of healthcare workers or advancements in workers’ rights. A recent New York Times article entitled “The Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class” states: “The support for labor unions among college graduates has increased from 55 percent in the late 1990s to around 70 percent in the last few years, and is even higher among younger college graduates” (Scheiber, 2022).
This may have a ripple effect on the healthcare workforce. Years of stagnating salaries and organizations’ undefined workforce vision has primed the industry for action with record job-quits within healthcare. This has proven especially true in rural markets where recruitment of permanent and agency staff has posed numerous challenges. Our current climate potentially opens the door for workers to leverage themselves via the advocacy of a union.
Summary
The labor supply and demand are out of balance. The long-term effects on the health sector labor market from the pandemic are unknown, but changes in healthcare delivery (such as the growth of telehealth) may lead to lasting shifts in the healthcare industry. Fierce competition for healthcare workers means that employers must go beyond good pay and benefits to attract the best candidates. Healthcare recruitment is a zero-sum game. There isn’t a pool of healthcare workers lying idle, and so recruitment is often at the cost of a competitor. The employee knows that this demand exists, and this could further drive the uberization of healthcare workers. However, there is potential for this new movement to benefit both parties. As limited number of employees equates to skill scarcity which drives salaries, hospitals could utilize their skilled workforce based on need and demand.
Posted on July 12, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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US stocks closed lower to start the week with the NASDAQ Composite slipping by over 2% as investors get ready for earnings to roll in and await key inflation data set to be released midweek. A wave of companies will kick off quarterly earnings season starting this week.
The Russian ruble slipped back past the 61 level against the dollar after volatile swings in recent sessions, as the market continued to wait for updates on currency interventions.
Shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) fell as much as 10%, while Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) fell 10%, and Melco Resorts (NASDAQ: MLCO) plunged 13.8%.
The euro and the dollar are under half a penny away from parity for the first time in 20 years
Increasing access to care: 25% of U.S. healthcare leaders
Providing care in the community/community outreach: 24% of U.S. healthcare leaders
Promoting community education: 17% of U.S. healthcare leaders
Generating financial support for under-served communities: 16% of U.S. healthcare leaders
Identifying collaborative partners: 11% of U.S. healthcare leaders
Notes: Responses from U.S. healthcare leaders according to Philips’ “Future Health Index 2022” report, an analysis of feedback from nearly 3,000 healthcare leaders across 15 countries. Source: Phillips, June 8, 2022 Source URL: https://www.usa.philips.com/a-w/about/news/archive/standard/…
Posted on July 11, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Many forecasters expect U.S. home prices to edge up to new post-pandemic highs, despite a near doubling of the 30-year mortgage rate. On the other hand, prices for used cars already have shown signs of normalizing (see chart) as supply chains untangle and dealer inventories restock.
World Population Day is observed on July 11th every year, to raise awareness regarding global population issues. The day is aimed to address the urgency and significance of issues related to the population. It may be noted that World Population Day was established by the United Nations Development Programm in 1989 when the global population reached 5 billion. Being celebrated for over three decades, is meant to raise awareness about solutions related to population control. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the world population will hit the 8 billion mark in 2022. This comes after the world achieved the seven billion-mark in 2011 only.
Posted on July 10, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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The price of gold dropped below $1,800 an ounce and appears hyper-focused on the soaring U.S. Dollar Index, which rose to 107.15. Over the last five days, the index is up by more than two points, and has risen five points over the last 30 days.
Children in the US are getting vaccinated at a lower rate than the rest of the nation, with only 300,000 kids under five receiving the vaccine since it became available two weeks ago. Health officials say this was expected since most parents want to get their kids vaccinated at a doctor’s office.
Finally, lumber markets were a harbinger of economic shifts during the pandemic and today’s slumping prices could be just as prescient. Lumber prices hit a record $1,607 per thousand board feet in May 2021, due to soaring demand for new homes, a boom in DIY home renovation activities, and production and supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic. Twelve months later, lumber prices collapsed to $648, a more than 50% decrease from $1,464 in March.
Posted on July 9, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur, has been facing a torrent of criticism for several days linked to a partnership forged with a crypto firm. Indeed, Cuban, an evangelist of the crypto industry in which he has invested, signed an agreement linking his NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, to the crypto lender Voyager Digital last October. The contract, signed on October 28, is for five years and has a mission to promote cryptocurrencies by making coins more accessible through educational and digital programs.
Beleaguered crypto lender Celsius Network operated as a classic “Ponzi scheme,” the former head of the company’s key investment strategy alleged in a lawsuit, claiming the company used customer deposits to cover huge liabilities caused by reckless mismanagement.
The closely watched criminal trial of three former JPMorgan Chase & Co employees just commenced, with a prosecutor saying they “ripped off” the precious metals futures market with fake orders and defense attorneys saying the orders were genuine. The bank’s former global precious metals desk head Michael Nowak, precious metals trader Gregg Smith and salesperson Jeffrey Ruffo are charged with racketeering and conspiracy in the U.S. Justice Department’s most aggressive case to date targeting the manipulative trading tactic known as spoofing.
Finally, job payrolls grew by 372,000 in June, according to the Labor Department, easing fears over a potential recession while clearing the way for another round of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve later this month and beyond.
Posted on July 8, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Markets: The S&P climbed for its fourth-straight trading day, tying its best winning streak in 2022 (h/t chip and energy companies). But, at 8:30am ET today, with the release of the June jobs report, any sign of a recession will show up.
Elon Musk could take drastic action to back out of his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, according to the Washington Post. Apparently Musk’s team cannot verify the data on bots that were provided to them and therefore are looking to exit the agreement.
Former Theranos executive Sunny Balwani was convicted of defrauding investors and patients in his role as president and COO of the company.
Finally, under proposed IRS changes, individuals who make more than $400,000 annually and couples who make more than $500,000 will have to pay a 3.8% tax on earnings from their pass-through business income. Those revenues would be used to shore up the government-run Medicare healthcare program for the elderly. A pass-through business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, or S corporation that is not subject to the corporate income tax; instead, this business reports its income on the individual income tax returns of the owners and is taxed at individual income tax rates.
Posted on July 7, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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According to research from the International Monetary Fund, e-commerce went from taking up 10.3% of total global spending in 2019 to 14.9% at the height of the pandemic in 2020 before falling again to 12.2% in 2021.
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Respondents to Schwab’s 2021 Modern Wealth Survey said a net worth of $1.9 million qualifies a person as wealthy. Indeed, the annual Schwab survey found that respondents are lowering the bar for what they consider wealthy. Compared to 2021 standards, respondents to the 2020 survey described the threshold for wealth as being a net worth of $2.6 million.
Posted on July 4, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Richard Helppie
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EDITOR’S NOTE: I first Met Rich Helppie when I was in business school. He was the CEO of Superior Consultant at the time. Today he is a respected philanthropist and publisher of The Common Bridge. This is a much-requested replaying of Rich’s 2021 podcast honoring of Independence Day. He takes some time to reflect on why we still should celebrate our nation’s birthday even though our history has been imperfect. -David E. Marcinko
Posted on July 4, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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As reported by CoinDesk, Meta [Facebook] is ending its three-year experiment with crypto this month. The company will shut down its crypto wallet, Novi, in September, but will prevent customers from adding any more funds to it later in July.
July 4th is the 10th anniversary of the discovery of the Higgs boson, also known as God’s particle. After a search of more than 40 years, the particle was discovered in experiments on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland on July 4, 2012. Considered one of the most important scientific discoveries of the modern era, the Higgs boson provides evidence for the Standard Model of Physics, which describes how various particles make the universe.
The Persistent Mortality Advantage of a College Degree
In 2019, Americans with a four-year college degree had six years greater life expectancy at age 25 than those without a degree. These educational differences in mortality have been growing in recent decades and are apparent across demographic groups. In Mortality Rates by College Degree before and during COVID-19 (NBER Working Paper 29328), Anne Case and Angus Deaton explore the evolution of these differences during the pandemic.
If every American faced an equal threat of infection and death from COVID-19, then the mortality gap between more and less educated individuals would have narrowed during the pandemic. However, the risks from COVID-19 were plausibly greater for those without a college degree for a variety of reasons. For example, people without college degrees disproportionately work in occupations where working from home to avoid infection is not feasible. They are more likely to use public transportation and to live in crowded housing arrangements, heightening their risk of exposure. Conditional on infection, less educated individuals may experience worse outcomes due to higher average rates of pre-existing conditions and poorer access to health care.
Using provisional mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the researchers determine that a college degree was protective against mortality during the calendar year 2020, which encompassed the first nine months of the pandemic. They express the mortality advantage of a college degree using the ratio of the mortality rate for those without a four-year college degree to the rate for those with a degree. The researchers calculate these ratios for 60 different demographic groups, identified by two genders, five age groups, and six racial/ethnic categories (Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Asian, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and those who report two or more races).
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The Bulletin on Health is edited by Robin McKnightAcross all demographic groups, the ratios were all above one in 2020, reflecting higher mortality rates for those without college degrees. The ratios were highest for younger age groups: in the 25 to 39 age group, mortality rates for those without college degrees were as much as seven times the rates for those with college degrees. The researchers argue that the association between education and mortality is concentrated among preventable deaths, which are more prevalent causes of death among younger adults. In addition, older Americans are more likely to be retired, so additional risks that less educated workers faced due to occupational differences were less relevant for older age groups.
The overall finding that those without college degrees were at greater risk of death during the pandemic may not seem surprising, given their differential risks of infection, higher rates of pre-existing conditions, and worse access to care. A more unexpected finding is that these differences in mortality risk, as reflected in the mortality ratio, were very similar to the differences in mortality risk in the year prior to the pandemic. The figure, which plots the ratios for each demographic group in 2019 and in 2020, shows that the mortality advantage of a college degree was little changed during the pandemic relative to the prior year.
The figure highlights a few exceptions to this pattern. For Hispanic women aged 25 to 64 and for non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native women aged 25 to 39, the mortality advantage of a college degree was substantially higher in 2020 than in 2019. But for most demographic groups, the mortality ratios during the pandemic were strikingly similar to those before the pandemic. In fact, for over half of the demographic groups, the ratio was slightly lower in 2020 than in 2019.
The results suggest that the mortality advantage of a college degree during the pandemic was a continuation of pre-existing health differentials between those with and without college degrees. “The mystery,” the researchers conclude, “is not why the [college degree] was protective during the pandemic, but why the effect was proportionately as large before the pandemic.”
Posted on July 3, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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A new COVID-19 wave is emerging in the United States, dominantly propelled by two strong omicron strains. First seen in South Africa, later in Portland, the BA.5 sub-variant has been pegged as the “worst version” of omicron by experts, as it evades antibodies and transmits easily, according to NBC New York.
This week, the BA.5 strain alone made up 36% of cases in the U.S., while BA.4, another omicron sub-variant gaining momentum, had a hold on 15.7% of infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data tracker.
Finally, a host of companies have announced job cuts or hiring freezes in just the last two weeks. They range from Tesla and JPMorgan Chase to Redfin and Coinbase. Netflix last week announced a second round of job cuts for the year, this time eliminating around 300 positions. And, last week Mark Zuckerberg announced similar restructuring for FB [Meta].
Posted on June 30, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Under a law passed by Congress last November, cryptocurrency firms are supposed to begin recording their clients’ detailed transaction data in 2023, with reports sent to the IRS and to investors the following year. From the beginning, industry executives have pushed back, complaining that the legislation was drafted too broadly. Now, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are likely to push off a January date for the firms to begin tracking data such as customers’ capital gains and losses, according to anonymous insiders. The move would mean the tax agency waits longer to get the kind of data it gets for stocks or bonds.
Bitcoin: $20,289.61
Markets: After another boring trading session, stocks wait to complete the first half of 2022—which will come at 4pm ET today.And, the carnage from Bed Bath & Beyond is a result of the company reporting a big sales decline from the previous year and showing CEO Mark Tritton the door.
Economy: Fed Chair Jerome Powell and two other central bank chiefs spoke about their inflation-combating efforts at a conference in Portugal. All three acknowledged that recent economic shocks (COVID, the war in Ukraine) have upended how inflation was understood for decades. “I think we now understand better how little we understand on inflation,” Powell said.
Posted on June 26, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Bitcoin’s energy hunger, which has alarmed environmentalists and consumer advocates concerned about pollution and utility prices, comes from the process of mining new tokens. Bitcoin miners earn new tokens by validating transactions through an inherently energy-inefficient process, using specialized machines to solve complex puzzles. All that computing by all those machines has led to an energy appetite rivaling that of entire nations. Bitcoin’s annualized energy consumption has fallen from about 204 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year on June 11th to around 132 TWh per year on June 23rd. But even though its electricity use has plunged, it’s still very high — roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity Argentina uses in a single year.
Editor’s Note: Incidentally, colleague Mike Burry MD, the Scion Asset Management boss has also compared the crypto boom to the dot-com and housing bubbles, and cautioned that retail buyers of meme stocks and crypto are barreling towards the “mother of all crashes.” – DE Marcinko
Markets: Finally, and according to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 116.98 points, or 3.08%, to end at 3,912.71 points, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 380.21 points, or 3.38%, to 11,612.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 839.93 points, or 2.70%, to 31,505.59.
The most basic form of scambaiting sets out to waste a scammer’s time. At a minimum, scambaiters attempt to make scammers answer countless questions or perform pointless and random tasks. By keeping a scammer busy, scambaiters claim they’re preventing the scammer from defrauding a real victim.
Scambaiting may also be conducted with a specific purpose in mind. Sometimes scambaiters attempt to obtain an offender’s bank account information, for instance, which they then report to a financial institution. But there are other, less benevolent motives in the scambaiting community.
Thousands of scambaiters are organised on the 419eater forum, which describes itself as the “largest scambaiting community on earth”, with over 1.7 million forum threads. The forum was first established in 2003 to tackle the growing issue of 419 emails – a scam that promises people huge sums of cash in return for a small upfront fee.
419eater provides a particularly interesting case study because members are incentivised and rewarded for their scambaits through a unique system of icons, regarded as trophies, that they can obtain in their profile’s signature lines.
Posted on June 25, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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W. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased roughly 9.5 million shares of Occidental over the past week at a cost of nearly $530 million, according to a new regulatory filing late on Wednesday. Buffett’s investing conglomerate now owns roughly 152 million shares of Occidental—a 16.3% stake worth nearly $8.5 billion that makes Berkshire by far and away the largest shareholder in the energy giant.
Sectors: Sectors like utilities, consumer staples, and real estate helped push the market higher yesterday. Today, however, we could see a lot spicier action. Index provider FTSE Russell is re-balancing its stock benchmarks, which will send investors scrambling to trade an estimated $112 billion just before the market closes. Among other tweaks it’s making, Russell will now label Meta, Netflix, and PayPal as “value” stocks.
Markets:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.68% gained 823.32 points, or 2.7%, to close at 31,500.68, its largest daily percentage gain since May 4.
The S&P 500 SPX jumped 116.01 points, or 3.1%, to finish at 3,911.74, its biggest daily percentage gain since May 18, 2020.
The NASDAQ Composite COMP, +3.34% surged 375.43 points, or 3.3%, to end at 11,607.62, its largest daily percentage gain since May 13.
For the week, the Dow booked a 5.4% gain, while the S&P 500 climbed 6.5% and the NASDAQ jumped 7.5%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Dow and S&P 500 each saw their biggest weekly gain since late May, while the NASDAQ had its best week since March.
Posted on June 23, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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The rate of inflation rose again in May, remaining at 40-year highs, the Office for National Statistics revealed. The rate of Consumer Prices Index [CPI] inflation rose slightly to 9.1 per cent in May from 9 per cent in April, according to the ONS. The increase matches what analysts had expected. And, supply constraints, exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine account for about half of the surge in US inflation, with demand currently making up a third of the increase, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
US gasoline futures are about 13% below the record high seen earlier this month and pump prices have dropped for more than seven days straight — the biggest run of losses since April — after rising to a fresh peak early last week, as recession concerns grip the market. Oil prices have tumbled toward $100 a barrel as traders fear that sharply higher interest rates would slow down economic growth and lead to demand destruction. The AAA reports that the average price of a gallon of regular gas slipped 6 cents since last week, to $4.955.
U.S. online trading firms specializing in crypto were hit hard after BinanceUS, an arm of the word’s biggest digital currency exchange, eliminated its bitcion spot trading fees. BinanceUS will now allow its users to trade bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, against assets such as the U.S. dollar, tether, and other dollar-backed stablecoins for free, eliminating its prior levy of 0.1% on transaction valued at less than $50,000.00.
Altria’s big tumble—the tobacco company owns a 35% stake in Juul, and a WSJ report suggested the FDA could order Juul to yank its products off the market imminently.
Posted on June 19, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Staff Reporters
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Recession fears overtook the S&P 500 a day after the Fed meeting, reversing gains seen midweek.
The S&P 500 has been higher only 43.5% of all trading days in 2022, a gloomy marker, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Meanwhile, it said the Fed is facing a “policy error” in focusing on headline inflation that’s swayed by high gas prices.
This year’s dismal performance in US equities worsened this week as a post-Fed rally fizzled and investors cemented the S&P 500 to one of its shabbiest mid-year showings in decades, all taking place with poor economic data piling up.
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Goldman Sachs’ President John Waldron admitted at a June 2 conference that this is “among—if not the most—complex, dynamic environments” that he’s ever experienced. As a result, investment banks and economists are split on what the most likely outcome will be for the U.S. economy moving forward. Deutsche Bank has argued since April that we’re headed for a “major” recession, but Morgan Stanley’s CEO James Gorman said on Monday the odds of even a minor recession are more like 50-50.
Bank of America believes we will most likely avoid a recession altogether and instead face “extended weakness,” while the economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman appeared to side with more optimistic Fed officials arguing that we could be headed for a ”goldilocks” scenario, where economic growth slows enough to cool inflation without instigating a recession.
Posted on June 18, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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By Staff Reporters
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Per history, Bank of America’s Global Investment Strategy chief investment officer, Michael Hartnett, pointed out that the average peak-to-trough bear-market decline is 37.3% over a span of 289 days. Matching that pattern would put the end of current pain on Oct. 19th, 2022. This happens to mark the 35th anniversary of Black Monday, as the stock-market crash of 1987 is widely known. And according to statistical averages, the S&P 500 will likely bottom at 3,000.
Despite rising slightly, the S&P just posted its worst week since March 2020. Even energy stocks, one of the lone bright spots in the market, have taken a beating during this higher interest-rate era
The FDA just authorized two Covid-19 vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, for kids under five—a year and a half after vaccines were approved for adults 16+.
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Due to the media attention the “Great Resignation” has received, it is common knowledge that workers across industries have been leaving their jobs at higher rates than before the pandemic (Parker, & Horowitz, 2022). Yet by October 2021, when the “quit rates” were at their highest recorded levels, healthcare and social assistance job resignations had increased to 35% higher than they had been before the pandemic, slightly higher than the increase of resignations among all workers in the same period (29%) (Wager, Amin, Cox, & Hughes-Cromwick, 2021). 
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