BOARD CERTIFICATION EXAM STUDY GUIDES Lower Extremity Trauma
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Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind and cognition. According to linguistics Professor Mackenzie H. Marcinko PhD, it combines various aspects from neuroscience, computer science, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and other fields, into a comprehensive study on the nature of intelligence.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of morphology, syntax, phonetics, and semantics. Specific branches of linguistics include sociolinguistics, dialectology, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, historical-comparative linguistics and applied linguistics.
Now, language and linguistics are closely related fields of study but they have distinct focuses.
Language refers to the system of communication used by humans, encompassing spoken, written, and signed forms. It is a means of expressing thoughts, ideas, and emotions.
On the other hand, linguistics is the scientific study of language itself. It examines the structure, sounds, meaning, and evolution of languages, as well as how they are acquired and used by individuals and communities.
While language is a broader concept that encompasses various forms of communication, linguistics delves into the intricate details and mechanics of language, aiming to understand its underlying principles and patterns.
Posted on May 17, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Arkansas just passed a first-if-its-kind law banning vertical integration between pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on April 16th signed a law prohibiting any company that owns a PBM from also owning or operating pharmacies in the state. The goal of the law is to eliminate “conflicts of interest” that lead to higher drug prices and care delays, according to a press release.
Nvidia climbed 0.42% on reports that the US and United Arab Emirates are nearing a deal that would allow the UAE to import 500,000 chips per year. But shares lost some ground after the company denied reports that it will build a new R&D center in Shanghai.
Galaxy Digital made its long-awaited debut on the Nasdaq today, with the crypto/data center company climbing 4.06%. The company is reportedly in conversation with the SEC to tokenize its stock.
Virgin Galactic rocketed 43.28% higher on the space tourism company’s announcement that it will restart commercial spaceflights.
Coinbase climbed 9.01% after Oppenheimer analysts said the market’s reaction to recent news of a hack and an SEC probe were “overblown.”
CoreWeave soared 22.09% after Nvidia disclosed a larger stake in the data center provider than expected.
Quantum computing stocks popped on news that the company Quantum Computing has finished laying the groundwork for a quantum chip foundry. Shares of Quantum Computing rose 39.29%, while D-Wave Quantum gained 11.06%.
Archer Aviation soared 9.11% after being named the Official Air Taxi Provider of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games, which sounds made up but is apparently very impressive.
Vistra Corp popped 3.06% on the news that it has acquired seven natural gas facilities from Lotus Infrastructure Partners for $1.9 billion.
What’s down
Novo Nordisk slipped 2.69% on the news that its CEO is stepping down after eight years at the helm, due to the pharma giant’s recent challenges.
Applied Materials sank 5.25% after the semiconductor maker’s revenue last quarter came in under analyst estimates.
Cava crumbled 2.27% thanks to financial forecasts of slower growth for the salad bowl chain in the coming year.
Take-Two Interactive Software lost 2.41% due to weaker-than-expected projections for net bookings this quarter and this year.
Doximity plunged 10.08% after the healthcare platform issued fiscal guidance for the current quarter and full year that came in below analyst expectations.
Two of the biggest cable companies in the United States have agreed to merge, marking a major milestone in consolidation as cord-cutters continue to ditch their pricey TV packages, thus forcing companies to adjust to their dwindling futures. Charter Communications, which operates under the Spectrum branding, is combining with its privately held rival Cox Communications, which it values at $34.5 billion including debt, the two companies announced Friday.
Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.
Markets started the day down yesterday but regained lost ground throughout the afternoon as investors decided that any day with no new tariff announcements is a good day.
Be advised: Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that “supply shocks” pose a challenge for the economy, and that interest rates may need to remain higher for longer. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said a recession is still on the table.
Oil took a tumble on comments by President Trump that the US is nearing a deal with Iran over its nuclear program that could lift sanctions against the country.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on May 16, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
The Justice Department is investigating UnitedHealth Group for possible criminal Medicare fraud, the WSJ reported. The healthcare-fraud unit of the Justice Department’s criminal division is overseeing the investigation and it has been an active probe since at least last summer. Apparently the federal investigation is focusing on the company’s Medicare Advantage business practices. UnitedHealth said in a statement it hadn’t been notified by the Justice Department of the criminal investigation. The statement said the company stands “by the integrity of the Medicare Advantage program.”
Fiserv’s CFO said that the fintech’s retail payment system will see similar volume next quarter. Shareholders hoping for stronger growth were disappointed and pushed shares down 16.19%.
Posted on May 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Nvidia climbed 3.97% on CEO Jensen Huang’s announcement of a partnership with Saudi Arabia-backed Humain to build a 500 megawatt data center.
Advanced Micro Devices popped 4.18% after it, too, revealed it’s helping Humain out. The chipmaker’s board also authorized a $6 billion stock buyback program.
Super Micro Computer continued to rally, soaring another 15.69% on the back of Raymond James analysts’ initiating their coverage with an “outperform” rating.
Boeing climbed 0.59% thanks to a $96 billion deal with Qatar Airlines to buy up to 210 aircraft.
Exelixis soared 19.70% after the oncology company reported a shockingly strong beat-and-raise quarter.
Septerna exploded 28.97% on the news that Novo Nordisk will license its oral obesity pill candidate for $2.2 billion.
What’s down
Airline stockswere down across the board after the FAA met with executives to discuss cutting flights in and out of Newark Airport. Delta Air Lines lost 4.32%, and United Airlines sank 3.51%.
American Eagle Outfitters tumbled 5.93% after the retailer cut its fiscal guidance, announced it’s writing down $75 million in merchandise, and forecast a decline in next quarter’s sales.
Grail plummeted 23.48% after the biotech’s revenue last quarter failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations.
Aurora Innovation fell 7.58% thanks to an announcement from Uber that it’s offering $1 billion in convertible notes that can be exchanged for Aurora shares.
JD.com lost 4.24% after the Chinese online retailer beat earnings expectations yesterday but still saw its price target cut by Morgan Stanley analysts.
Posted on May 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Inflation fell by one tenth of a percentage point to 2.3% for the year ending in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday in an update to the consumer price index. Forecasters had expected inflation to hold at 2.4%.
Coinbase exploded 23.97% on the news that the crypto trading platform will be added to the S&P 500 next week.
Nvidia climbed back into the elite $3 trillion market cap club today, rising 5.63% on the announcement that it will send 18,000 AI chips to Saudi Arabia.
Solar stocks soared after early drafts of a Republican tax and spending bill revealed renewable energy cuts weren’t as bad as feared. First Solar climbed 22.66%, while SunRun popped 8.58%.
Super Micro Computer climbed 16.02% thanks to Raymond James analysts initiating their coverage of the server maker with an “outperform” rating.
Boeing rose 2.46% now that the Chinese government has removed its ban on domestic airlines accepting orders from the plane manufacturer.
Rising sentiment powered popular momentum stocks higher today: Palantir rose 8.14%, AppLovin climbed 6.38%, Robinhood Markets jumped 8.95%, and Hims & Hers Health gained 15.92%.
What’s down
Honda Motor fell 4.20% after the company warned that tariffs will ding its bottom line and postponed its plans to build an EV plant in Canada.
Hertz Global plunged 16.93% after it missed analyst estimates across the board and announced it will offer fewer cars for rentals this year.
Enphase Energy lost 4.82% on a downgrade from Barclays analysts, who foresee slower demand for residential solar power products.
Rigetti Computing dropped 14.59% after the quantum computing company failed to live up to the high expectations that strong results from its competitors had given shareholders.
Virtual chronic care provider Omada Health has filed to go public in the United States, the latest in a string of healthcare listings expected this year. Omada did not disclose the details as to how much it plans to raise from its IPO.
The San Francisco, California-based company, which last raised $192 million in a Series E funding round in 2022, reported a 38% increase in revenue to $169.8 million for 2024, according to its IPO paperwork. For the first quarter of 2025, the company posted a 56.6% year-on-year jump in revenue to $55 million. Omada has applied to list its common stock on the NASDAQ under the symbol “OMDA”.
Healthcare IPOs on U.S. exchanges have fetched $7.1 billion in 2024, compared with $2.8 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Posted on May 13, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
During the 2024–25 Annual Enrollment Period, Medicare Advantage drew in only 1.3 million new members, compared to 2+ million in each of the five years prior, according to a March 25 report by consulting firm HealthScape Advisors. Traditional fee-for-service Medicare grew by about 200,000 after years of losing hundreds of thousands of members, according to HealthScape. During the 2023–24 AEP, it lost about 800,000.
Semiconductor stocks that looked like some of the biggest losers of the trade war just last week soared on today’s China/US deal. Nvidia popped 5.44%, TSMC rose 5.93%, AMD climbed 5.13%, Broadcom rose 6.43%, and Qualcomm gained 4.78%.
Magnificent Seven stocks also shot higher, particularly Apple (6.31%) and Amazon (8.07%), two companies that were bearing the brunt of higher tariffs.
Tesla jumped 6.75% on the tariff deal news, given a massive production plant that was responsible for 22% of Tesla’s total revenue last year is located in China.
US-listed Chinese stocks popped, for obvious reasons: JD.com gained 6.47%, Alibaba rose 5.82%, and Baidu climbed 5.08%.
Healthcare company Kindly MD soared 251.03% today after merging with Nakamoto, a bitcoin investment company founded by Trump’s crypto advisor David Bailey.
NRG Energy popped 26.21% after it agreed to acquire a slew of natural gas facilities from LS Power Equity Advisors.
Next Technology Holding soared 38.56% after the software company added 5,000 bitcoin to its portfolio and said it wants to add even more.
What’s down
EchoStar tumbled 16.58% today after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Communications Commission was opening an investigation into the firm’s 5G network.
A slew of metal mining stocks fell today as gold declined on the tariff deal: AngloGold Ashanti fell 10.31%, Wheaton Precious Metals dropped 7.92%, NewmontCorporation lost 5.93%, and Gold Fields Limited sank 10.47%.
The Dow Jones exploded 1,000 points in pre-market trading, and the rally never waned toay. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are nearly back to even for the year, while the NASDAQ clawed its way out of bear market territory.
Bonds tumbled while yields soared as the market pushed the timing for the Fed to cut interest rates back from July to September.
Gold sank as traders passed right on by the go-to investment for safety and sprinted straight toward equities.
Crude oil popped on the hopes of stronger economic growth for both the US and China now that the two countries are finally engaging in trade discussions.
Posted on May 10, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Meta is reportedly developing a “super-sensing” mode for its AI glasses that could identify people by name.
De Beers, the South African-British diamond giant, is closing its lab-grown diamond business, the company announced, as the value of human-made gems declines.
Coinbase acquired Deribit, a popular trading platform for bitcoin and ether options, for $2.9 billion.
FEMA acting head Cameron Hamilton was fired yesterday, Politico reported, amid reports that President Trump could look to shrink the department or eliminate it entirely.
Match Group, which owns Hinge and Tinder, cut 13% of its workforce as it seeks a turnaround following several executive departures and pressure from activist investors.
Microchip Technology climbed 12.60% on a solid beat-and-raise quarter for the semiconductor stock.
Pinterest gained 4.84% thanks to higher-than-expected revenue last quarter and projected strong revenue growth in the current quarter.
Insulet popped 20.88% after the insulin device manufacturer crushed Wall Street’s estimates on the top and bottom lines and raised its fiscal forecast.
Trade Desk soared 18.60% thanks to an impressive first quarter for the digital marketing company, including EPS of $0.33 compared to forecasts of $0.25.
DraftKings rose 2.49% thanks to a smaller-than-expected loss last quarter due in part to fewer March Madness upsets than usual.
Cloudflare popped 6.32% on strong earnings after the cloud services provider inked its biggest contract ever last quarter.
Monster Beverage missed first-quarter revenue estimates, but the energy drink giant still managed to climb 1.43%.
What’s down
United Airlines lost 2.69% on the news that Newark Airport experienced its second major outage in two weeks.
Coinbase stumbled 3.48% lower on a surprise revenue miss last quarter, thanks to a 17% decline in consumer trading volume.
Expedia beat profit estimates, but lower revenue thanks to a travel spending slowdown still sank the stock 7.30%.
Sweetgreen was crushed by 16.25% due to full-year fiscal guidance that came in way worse than Wall Street anticipated.
Affirm may have done well in the third quarter, but the Buy Now, Pay Later company fell 14.47% thanks to lower revenue forecasts this quarter.
UnitedHealthcare Group was sued by shareholders claiming the company didn’t properly adjust its earnings outlook following the death of CEO Brian Thompson.
Posted on May 9, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Thursday lost her bid to have an appeal of her 2022 fraud conviction reheard. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Holmes’ request for a rehearing before the original three-judge panel that upheld her conviction. At the same time, the court said no judge on the circuit court had asked for a vote on whether to have the full court rehear the appeal.
IonQ is one of the rare cases of a company in the quantum computing industry that reported solid financials. Shareholders rewarded it with a 9.27% gain today.
Axon Enterprise got a 14.13% jolt after the Taser maker reported strong earnings growth and upped its revenue guidance for the current quarter.
Crypto stocks had a great day thanks to bitcoin’s breakout (more on that later). MicroStrategy rose 5.58%, Coinbase climbed 5.06%, and Riot Platforms gained 7.65%.
What’s down
Arm Holdings fell 6.18% after the semiconductor manufacturer warned that both earnings and revenue will come in lower than Wall Street expected this year.
Peloton Interactive lost 6.73% thanks to a bigger-than-expected loss last quarter and a 13% decline in revenue.
Cleveland-Cliffs tumbled off a cliff on the news that the steelmaker is fully or partially pausing production at six of its facilities. Shares tumbled 15.78%.
Krispy Kreme crashed 24.71% after the donut chain paused its deal with McDonald’s, scrapped its dividend to save money, and pulled its fiscal guidance.
Fortinet dropped 8.41% after the cybersecurity company beat analyst forecasts but projected lower revenue in the current quarter than initially expected.
Pharma stocks fell across the board on reports that President Trump will slash drug costs with revisions to Medicare pricing. Eli Lilly lost 3.25%, Bristol Myers sank 1.55%, and AbbVie fell 1.33%.
Posted on May 8, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
The Fed left its key interest rate unchanged again Wednesday and gave no hint it plans to lower it soon as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs raise the risks of both another inflation spike and recession. But officials signaled they’re growing increasingly concerned about both hazards.
Netflix rose 1.56% after the streamerrevamped its homepage and rolled out new AI search tools.
Nvidia popped 3.10% on news that President Trump will rescind Biden-era global chip curbs.
Advanced Micro Devices rose just 1.76% despite the chipmaker beating earnings and forecasting solid growth ahead.
Lions Gate Entertainment soared 20.77% after it finalized the separation of its studio and STARZ business segments into two distinct companies.
Logitech rose 1.46% thanks to an upgrade from UBS analysts who say the device maker is well-positioned to capitalize on Gen Alpha, 94% of whom play video games.
Charles River Laboratories popped 18.81% after the pharmaceutical company raised its full-year guidance above Wall Street’s expectations.
Rockwell Automation gained 11.90% on a beat-and-raise quarter thanks to higher demand for domestic manufacturing.
What’s down
Super Micro Computer fell 1.40% after the AI server maker missed on revenue last quarter and forecast slower revenue growth this quarter.
WW International, better known as Weight Watchers, plummeted 43.04% on the news that the company is going bankrupt.
Marvell Technology plunged 8.02% after the data storage manufacturer postponed its investor day—never a good sign.
Rivian Automotive tumbled 5.78% on management’s forecast that vehicle deliveries will be lower than expected this year.
Arista Networks beat Wall Street’s estimates but fell 4.76% after it warned that its margins will be squeezed in the coming quarters.
Sarepta Therapeutics plummeted 21.45% after posting a bigger-than-expected loss last quarter and projecting slower revenue growth this quarter.
Posted on May 7, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Ford managed to rise 2.45% despite the automaker suspending its 2025 fiscal guidance, citing “industrywide supply chain disruption impacting production.”
WeRide skyrocketed 31.68% on the news that it’s expanding its partnership with Uber to include rolling out robotaxis in 15 new cities. Pony AI soared 47.63% thanks to its bigger role helping Uber grow throughout the Middle East.
Hims & Hers Health gained 18.12% after the telehealth stock beat analyst forecasts last quarter,even though it provided lower-than-expected revenue guidance this quarter.
Celsius Holdings missed on both top and bottom line expectations, but shares of the energy drink maker still managed to bubble 4.81% higher.
Mattel rose 2.78% even though the toy company paused its fiscal guidance and warned it will raise prices in the US.
Upwork, everyone’s favorite side-gig platform, soared 18.02% as Americans brace for economic upheaval by finding second jobs.
Constellation Energy may have missed Wall Street forecasts last quarter, but shareholders pushed the stock 10.29% higher on upbeat fiscal guidance.
SolarEdge Technologies climbed 11.22% on a smaller-than-expected loss last quarter and projections that tariffs won’t be as bad as feared.
Neurocrine Biosciences popped 8.36% thanks to strong revenue growth due to high sales of its movement disorder treatment Ingrezza.
What’s down
Tesla fell 1.75% on the latest data showing its sales plummeted in Europe last month, including a 46% decline in Germany.
Pharma stocks took a beating after the FDA announced that industry critic Dr. Vinay Prasad will be named its top vaccine regulator. Moderna lost 12.25%, Novavax fell 3.19%, Merck sank 4.59%, and Pfizer fell 4.15%.
Clorox got taken to the cleaners, losing 2.41% after missing Wall Street’s profit forecasts.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals fell 10.03% thanks to big misses across the board last quarter due to higher costs.
Lattice Semiconductor lost 9.28% after management warned that tariffs will have indirect consequences on its business.
US gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.3% in Q1, the Commerce Department reported yesterday, missing economists’ expectations of a 0.4% increase.
That drop can likely be attributed to a massive spike in imports (roughly a 41% increase from the previous quarter) from companies stocking up on goods and materials before President Trump’s tariffs took effect. The Commerce Department counts imports as a negative in GDP calculations as they represent spending on foreign goods.
Posted on May 6, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Doctor David Edward Marcinko; MBA MEd
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National Teachers’ Day is observed on the first Tuesday of the first full week of May (May 6th) and we’re more than ready to show our appreciation to those who have taught us. Everyone has had that favorite teacher that has helped inspire them. This day meant to honor them was actually made by a teacher.
None other than First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt herself. Eleanor Roosevelt was more than Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wife, she has a history of civic duty and was an advocate for fellow teachers. Her love for education began at a young age when she was privately tutored and encouraged by her aunt Anna “Barnie” Roosevelt. No matter how high she rose on the social ladder, she never forgot where she came from.
Posted on May 6, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Aetna is waving goodbye to the ACA marketplace. Executives announced during CVS Health’s Q1 2025 earnings call on May 1 that the insurance giant is withdrawing from the individual marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, as the company expects to lose as much as $400 million from that part of the business in 2025.
Stocks sank a bit today while investors remain in wait-and-see mode. All eyes are on Jerome Powell & Co. this Wednesday: The market thinks the Fed will stay put until June, while some pros think the next rate cut will be in July.
Among the major indexes, the Dow Jones industrials fared best, though it was only up 0.1%. McDonald’s and UnitedHealth led blue chips with gains of more than 1%. Apple lagged most, dropping 2.6%. Chevron skidded more than 2%. The NASDAQ composite fell 0.4%. Trade Desk outperformed here, rallying more than 3%, while Charter Communications and Fortinet each rose nearly 3%. Meanwhile, On Semiconductor and Grail lagged, diving more than 8% and 4%, respectively. The S&P 500 dropped 0.4%. The benchmark index’s sectors were mixed, but with a slight downside bias. Energy and consumer discretionary were getting hit the hardest. Industrials and consumer staples made the best gains.
Skechers exploded 24.35% after the footwear retailer inked a deal with 3G Capital to go private.
Electronic Arts climbed 2.41% on the news that it has teamed up with Major League Soccer to offer four matches via its mobile gaming platform this year.
United Airlines rose 1.07% despite its announcement that it’s cutting some flights out of Newark, New Jersey, where apparently flying is terrible.
Howard Hughes Holdings gained 2.81% thanks to a $900 million investment in the real estate company from Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square.
What’s down
Sunoco sank 5.64% on the oil & gas company’s plans to acquire Canadian gas station chain Parkland Corporation for $9.1 billion.
Shell fell 2.28% on reports that the company is considering ways to acquire rival BP.
ON Semiconductor lost 8.35% despite outpacing analysts’ estimates on both the top and bottom lines, as shareholders focused on warnings of weaker demand.
Tyson Foods fell 7.75% after the meat giant missed sales estimates and warned revenue will remain flat in the coming year.
Loews may have beaten analysts’ estimates on revenue, but the luxury hospitality stock still fell 1.77% after missing on profits.
Wolfspeed, which is a company name we will never get tired of writing, gave up another 8.52% following a wild short squeeze last week.
Posted on May 5, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
U.S. stock futures declined after the S&P 500 notched its longest winning streak in more than 20 years last week. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down around 280 points, or 0.7%, as of 11 p.m. Eastern. S&P 500 futures and NASDAQ-100 futures were off about 0.8%.
The labor market stayed strong. The US added 177,000 jobs in April, while unemployment stayed steady at 4.2%, new Labor Department data shows. That was slightly less job growth than the month before, but still more than expected, and it shows a resilient labor environment even as the president’s introduction of tariffs roiled the stock and bond markets and raised concerns about a recession. President Trump celebrated the news in a Truth Social post that once again urged the Fed to cut interest rates.
Markets: Stocks soared like a balloon whose string a toddler couldn’t keep hold of yesterday. Unexpectedly strong jobs data for last month and reports that China is open to trade talks helped push the S&P 500 to its longest winning streak in more than 20 years (more on that later), erasing the losses from recent tariff turmoil. On its own impressive streak is Netflix, which hit an all-time high and finished its 11th day in the green for its longest positive run ever.
Crude oil futures dropped more than 3% Sunday after OPEC+ agreed to accelerate production increases for a second straight month in June by 411K bbl/day.
U.S. WTI crude (CL1:COM) for June delivery recently traded -3.4% at $56.28/bbl and July Brent crude (CO1:COM) -3.2% at $59.34/bbl, with both front-month contracts touching their lowest levels since April 9th.
Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.
An emergency medicine physician is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute and life-threatening medical conditions that require immediate intervention. These physicians work in hospital emergency departments, urgent care centers, and other acute care settings, where they provide rapid assessment, stabilization, and treatment to patients of all ages with a wide range of medical emergencies.
Emergency medicine physicians are trained to handle diverse medical emergencies, including trauma, cardiac emergencies, respiratory distress, severe infections, neurological emergencies, and obstetric emergencies, among others. They play a vital role in the front line management of medical emergencies, ensuring that patients receive prompt and appropriate care to improve outcomes and save lives.
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Classic: Emergent Room or Emergency Department care is the provision of immediate medical service offering outpatient care for the treatment of acute and chronic illness and injury. It requires a broad and comprehensive fund of knowledge to provide such care. Excellence in care for patients with complex and or unusual conditions is founded on the close communication and collaboration between the urgent care medicine physician, the specialists and the primary physicians.
Modern: Urgent care does not replace your primary care physician. An urgent care center is a convenient option when someone’s regular physician is on vacation or unable to offer a timely appointment. Or, when illness strikes outside of regular office hours, urgent care offers an alternative to waiting for hours in a hospital Emergency Room.
Examples: Chest pain, bleeding that cannot be stopped and loss of consciousness; etc.
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SOME ER DOCTORS WORK FOR FREE
The new president of emergency medicine for the Alberta Medical Association says Emergency Room physicians already coping with long hours, staff shortages and jammed waiting rooms are also being obligated, in some cases, to work for free. Dr. Warren Thirsk says the government has yet to follow through on a promise to reimburse emergency room doctors for so-called “good faith” payments.
“There’s been lots of excuses, but the bottom line is no one has actually received a penny for those suspended good-faith payments,” Thirsk said in an interview. “On average, every emergency physician in this province is out thousands of dollars for free work.” Good-faith payments reimburse ER doctors when they see patients who don’t have identification and can’t prove an Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan billing number.
Thirsk said the United Conservative government stopped those payments when it ripped up the master agreement with the AMA in early 2020. He said it promised to bring back those payments when the two sides agreed to a new deal in September 2022. But to date that hasn’t happened, he said.
“I’m legally and morally bound to look after you [if] you’re unidentified [as a patient],” said Thirsk, an emergency room doctor at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital.
“I’m going to look after you because it’s the right thing to do no matter what the problem is.”
COMMENTS APPRECIATED
The Medical Executive-Post is a news and information aggregator and social media professional network for medical and financial service professionals. Feel free to submit education content to the site as well as links, text posts, images, opinions and videos which are then voted up or down by other members. Comments and dialog are especially welcomed. Daily posts are organized by subject. ME-P administrators moderate the activity. Moderation may also conducted by community-specific moderators who are unpaid volunteers.
Posted on May 3, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stat: $1.5 billion. That’s how much a lawsuit alleged hospitals lost because of under funding for facilities serving low-income patients. The Supreme Court ruled against the push for more reimbursement. (Healthcare Dive)
Read: An exclusive interview with Marty Makary, the newly appointed FDA commissioner, on cuts, vaccines, and his future goals. (MedPage Today)
MicroStrategy climbed 3.35% despite reporting a bigger EPS loss than expected. Shareholders must have liked hearing CEO Michael Saylor call the company the Domino’s Pizza of crypto.
Maplebear, which does business as Instacart, rose 13.62% after missing analyst estimates but issuing strong fiscal guidance for the coming quarter.
Dexcom popped 16.17% on strong earnings for the glucose monitor manufacturer.
Wolfspeed exploded 23.89% higher as shareholders cheered the departure of the semiconductor stock’s CFO and a short squeeze took traders by surprise.
What’s down
Take Two Interactive Software tumbled 6.66% after the video game maker announced the release of its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 will be delayed until next May.
Posted on May 2, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Meta Platforms jumped 4.23% after the big tech giant reported that its advertising revenue came in at $41.39 billion, beating analyst projections of $40.44 billion, thanks to higher ad price growth than expected. Daily active users rose to 3.43 billion, up from 3.35 billion last quarter, while nearly 1 billion people use its digital AI assistant every month. Management expects Q2 sales to come in between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion, in-line with analyst forecasts of $44.03 billion.
EPS: $6.43 per share, crushing estimates of $5.28
Revenue: $42.31 billion, above the $41.10 expected
Microsoft leaped 7.63% after reporting its profit jumped a staggering 18% from a year earlier. That wasn’t the only good news: Revenue from Microsoft’s Azure cloud software grew 33% year over year, higher than the 31% expected by analysts. But perhaps the best news of all was management’s upbeat guidance—Microsoft projected revenue between $73.15 billion and $74.25 billion for the current quarter, well above expectations of $72.26 billion.
EPS: $3.46 per share, beating forecasts of $3.22
Revenue: $70.07 billion, above the $68.42 billion projected
Eli Lilly dropped 11.66% today, despite the fact that the pharmaceutical giant reported that sales skyrocketed 45% year over year thanks to its lucrative GLP-1 drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro. Two things spooked investors today: The company lowered its profit outlook well below its preview estimate due its acquisition of a cancer drug from Scorpion Therapeutics, and CVS Health dropped Zepbound from its preferred drug list in lieu of arch-rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy this morning.—LB
EPS: $3.34 adjusted, beating the $3.02 expected
Revenue: $12.73 billion, compared to the $12.67 projected
Carrier Global climbed 11.61% after the air conditioning company boosted its fiscal forecast. Turns out everyone needs AC regardless of economic uncertainty.
People also need straight teeth: Dental products manufacturer Align Technology rose 1.98% on solid earnings.
Quanta Services gained 9.99% after the construction engineering company beat Wall Street estimates on both the top and bottom line.
What’s down
Qualcomm may have beaten earnings expectations, but shares fell 8.92% after investors were disappointed by the chipmaker’s lower guidance.
GM was in the same boat: Earnings beat forecasts, but poor guidance and warnings that tariffs could cost the company up to $5 billion this year pushed shares 0.42% lower.
Robinhood Markets enjoyed a 50% increase in revenue last quarter as traders played the volatile market, but the stock still sank 5.07%.
Moderna fell 5.29% after the vaccine maker missed revenue expectations and said it’s planning another $1.5 billion in cost cuts.
Church & Dwight, maker of household goods like Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, missed revenue forecasts last quarter and sank 6.87%.
Becton Dickinson & Co. lost 18.13% after the medical device maker warned of the adverse effects of, what else, tariffs.
If you looked at how stocks were doing yesterday morning and then looked away, we’ve got good news.
After a rough start to the day—especially for tech companies, whose earnings are due out soon—stocks mostly turned things around, with the S&P 500 and the Dow ending the day in the green.
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IBM plans to invest $150 billion in the US over five years. That includes $30 billion earmarked for R&D for manufacturing its mainframe and quantum computers in the US. It’s not the only tech company to announce a big commitment to spend in the US since President Trump took office and unveiled steep tariffs on imports from abroad.
Nvidia and Apple have each separately said that they plan to spend $500 billion stateside over the next four years. Companies in other industries, including pharmaceuticals, have also committed to increased US investment.—AR
Posted on April 29, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Plug Power soared 25.68% on the news that the hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer has signed a deal that allows it to issue $525 million in secured debentures.
Tesla eked out a 0.33% gain as investors took profits following the EV company’s strong week in spite of terrible earnings.
IBM rose 1.61% after the tech company pledged to invest $150 billion in US manufacturing over the next five years.
Peloton climbed 4.93% thanks to an upgrade from Truist analysts, who said the home workout company has cleaned up the “BS.”
MGM Resorts International gained 1.71% after reporting an impressive 34% increase in revenue last quarter thanks to its BetMGM platform.
ADMA Biologics popped 12.12% on FDA approval of its new production process that draws 20% more usable material from donated plasma than current methods.
What’s down
Nvidia sank 2.05% on the news that China’s Huawei Technologies is preparing to test a new semiconductor that could rival Nvidia’s most powerful tech.
Coinbase fell 2.08% on a double downgrade from Compass Point analysts, who cited a decline in retail trading activity.
DraftKings dropped 1.51% after Mizuho analysts lowered their price target on the company, cutting their expectations for the gambling stock’s EBITDA.
Posted on April 26, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Despite rising Medicare Advantage (MA) utilization, Elevance Health has come out of Q1 2025 unscathed. The company reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $11.97 and stuck to its prediction of $34.15 to $34.85 adjusted earnings per share for 2025. This contrasts with peer UnitedHealth Group, which lowered its earnings predictions for the year in its call last week following a disappointing quarter. (Elevance released a preview of its earnings in a Form 8-K on April 17, hours after UnitedHealth detailed its surprisingly bad quarter, to reassure investors.)
Tesla gained 9.80% following a White House announcement yesterday that it will loosen US regulations around self-driving cars.
Boston Beer popped 2.26% thanks to strong light beer sales offsetting lower craft beer revenue.
Charter Communications climbed 11.43% after it lost fewer internet customers than last year and beat estimates on both the top and bottom line.
VeriSign rose 8% following strong results for the internet infrastructure company, as well as the announcement of a new dividend.
SoFi Technologies got a 4.63% boost from Citizens JMP analysts, who initiated coverage of the fintech stock with an “outperform” rating and called the company “a compelling long-term investment opportunity.”
What’s down
T-Mobile tumbled 11.22% after the cell carrier added 495,000 new wireless phone subscribers last quarter, below Wall Street’s forecasts.
Gilead Sciences sank 2.81% due to a revenue miss in the first quarter thanks to lower sales of its cancer and Covid treatments.
Avantor plummeted 16.58% after the lab chemicals manufacturer missed estimates, cut its forecast, and announced its CEO is departing.
Saia plunged 30.66% thanks to an enormous first-quarter miss from the shipping company due to customer pullback amid tariff uncertainty.
Investments are soaring: A new SVB report found that women’s health startups saw a whopping 55% increase in VC investments in 2024. Learn about the factors driving this record-breaking funding and the sector’s long-term potential.*
Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.
Posted on April 25, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Merck rose 1.40% today after beating earnings expectations. The problem is that the pharma giant expects a $200 million hit to its bottom line due to tariffs. And that doesn’t count the potential additional pharmaceutical levies Trump has indicated he’s planning.
Alphabet warned some remote employees that they must return to the office three days a week or lose their jobs. Shareholders clearly approve: The stock gained 2.53%.
Amazon and Nvidia executives made it clear that contrary to popular belief, demand for AI data centers isn’t slowing down. Amazon rose 3.29%, while Nvidia climbed 3.62%.
Newmont gained 4.80% after the gold miner reported strong earnings thanks to gold’s incredible run.
ServiceNow soared 15.49% after the enterprise tech company posted a beat-and-raise earnings report.
Texas Instruments popped 6.56% thanks to a strong first quarter and healthy fiscal guidance from the domestic semiconductor company.
Chipotle eked out a 1.60% gain despite a mixed quarter that saw same-store sales fall for the first time since 2020.
What’s down
IBM topped analyst expectations on sales and profits, but the tech stock fell 6.58% thanks to a poor performance from its consulting and its mainframe businesses.
Nokia tumbled 8.65% following a big earnings miss last quarter, and warned that tariffs will take a serious toll on its business this quarter.
Fiserv plunged 18.52% after the software provider beat expectations for profits but missed on revenue.
Procter & Gamble outpaced Wall Street’s forecast for earnings but fell short on revenue and cut its fiscal guidance, pushing shares of the consumer goods giant down 3.74%.
Comcast also beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines, but sank 3.71% after reporting it lost 199,000 broadband customers last quarter.
Posted on April 24, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
OpenAI would be open to buying Chrome if Google is forced by a federal court to sell the web browser, the company’s ChatGPT head said yesterday.
The FDA suspended milk quality tests in some dairy products due to reduced capacity stemming from federal workforce cuts, Reuters reported.
Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, is investing $50 billion in US manufacturing to circumvent President Trump’s tariffs, the company said yesterday.
Rite Aid is preparing to sell itself in pieces ahead of a possible second bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.
Oklo gained 8.60% after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced he’s stepping down as chairman of the board of the nuclear power startup.
Duolingo popped 10.01% after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the language learning company, calling it a “best-in-class consumer internet asset.”
Cava climbed 6.29% due to an upgrade from analysts at Bernstein, who think the bowl slop stock will not only survive but thrive in an economic downturn.
Amphenol rose 8.21% thanks to impressive earnings for the high-speed cable company, coupled with a solid fiscal outlook.
Vertiv Holdings jumped 8.60% after the data center company posted an impressive quarterly profit and raised its fiscal forecast.
Stocks surged first thing this morning after President Trump said the media blew things out of proportion and that he has “no intention” of firing Jerome Powell. He also said he would be “very nice” to China in tariff negotiations.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also did some damage control, touting the opportunity for a “big deal” between the US and China.
The combination sent a relief rally sweeping through markets, and while the euphoria faded by mid-afternoon, all three indexes ended the day in the green.
Gold fell and bitcoin rose as investors took on more risk (see below), while oil dropped on reports that OPEC+ may hike its crude output after its meeting next month.
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company. When you purchase an annuity, you make a lump-sum contribution or a series of contributions, generally each month. In return, the insurance company makes periodic payments to you beginning immediately or at a pre-determined date in the future. These periodic payments may last for a finite period, such as 20 years, or an indefinite period, such as until both you and your spouse are deceased. Annuities may also include a death benefit that will pay your beneficiary a specified minimum amount, such as the total amount of your contributions.
The growth of earnings in your annuity is typically tax-deferred; this could be beneficial as you may be in a lower tax bracket when you begin taking distributions from the annuity.
Warning: A word of caution: Annuities are intended as long-term investments. If you withdraw your money early from an annuity, you may pay substantial surrender charges to the insurance company as well as tax penalties to the IRS and state.
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There are three basic types of annuities — fixed, indexed, and variable
1. With a fixed annuity, the insurance company agrees to pay you no less than a specified (fixed) rate of interest during the time that your account is growing. The insurance company also agrees that the periodic payments will be a specified (fixed) amount per dollar in your account.
2. With an indexed annuity, your return is based on changes in an index, such as the S&P. Indexed annuity contracts also state that the contract value will be no less than a specified minimum, regardless of index performance.
3. A variable annuity allows you to choose from among a range of different investment options, typically mutual funds. The rate of return and the amount of the periodic payments you eventually receive will vary depending on the performance of the investment options you select.
The Medical Executive-Post is a news and information aggregator and social media professional network for medical and financial service professionals.
Feel free to submit education content to the site as well as links, text posts, images, opinions and videos which are then voted up or down by other members. Comments and dialog are especially welcomed.
Daily posts are organized by subject. ME-P administrators moderate the activity. Moderation may also conducted by community-specific moderators who are unpaid volunteers.
Posted on April 23, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stocks came off of their highs yesterday afternoon trading after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessentreportedly said in a private speech for JPMorgan Chase that talks between the United States and China had yet to formally start and that negotiations will likely be a “slog.”
Still, US stocks soared on Tuesday following a bruising day on Wall Street, as investors built hope for deescalation on several fronts of President Trump’s trade battles.
Still, markets delivered solid gains with Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) adding over 1,000 points as the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) and tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) each rose around 2.5% and 2.7%, respectively.
Prior to Bessent’s reported comments, stocks hit earlier session highs as Bloomberg reported the treasury secretary told a closed-door investor summit Tuesday that “the tariff standoff with China is unsustainable and that he expects the situation to de-escalate.”
🟢 What’s up
Amazon rose 3.5% a day after Wells Fargo analysts revealed that the tech giant has paused some of its data center leases, the latest sign of an AI trade slowdown.
The DOJ has called for a breakup of Alphabet’s business. Investors don’t seem to mind: Shares of the search giant rose 2.57%.
Boeing gained 2% after announcing it will sell portions of its digital aviation solutions business to Thoma Bravo for $10.55 billion.
Ford is up 1.90% a day after reports emerged that it has stopped shipping cars to China.
Coreweave rose 8.74% after several Wall Street analysts initiated coverage of the newly public cloud computing company. While the pros lean toward bullish, the stock’s reception has been largely mixed.
Equifax soared 13.84% following strong results for the credit rating company, as well as its announcement of a $3 billion buyback program.
BP managed to gain 2.81% after regulatory filings revealed that Elliott Investment Management has accrued a 5% stake in the oil giant.
Verizon eked out a 0.61% gain after it beat Wall Street forecasts for the first quarter but lost more postpaid net phone subscribers than expected.
What’s down
Halliburtondisappointed shareholders with a decline in both revenue and profits last quarter, sending the oil service company’s shares 5.57% lower.
Defense contractors tumbled after reporting mixed earnings. RTX lost 9.81%, and Northrop Grumman sank 12.66%.
Medpace Holdings crumbled 2.32% after the clinical research company revealed a 19% decline in net new business awards last quarter.
Posted on April 22, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Meta’s antitrust trial resumes: The FTC is accusing CEO Mark Zuckerberg of purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp to gain an unfair monopoly in the social media space, while the defense is expected to argue that the success of those apps is a product of Meta’s acquisition. Testimony will continue this week, with one Vanderbilt law professor telling Quartz that she expects to hear more expert testimony: “Judges tend to put a lot of stock in expert opinion in antitrust cases, especially when it comes to market definition and monopoly power.”
Netflix rose 1.57% on a strong vote of confidence from Wall Street pros: After last week’s earnings blowout, the streaming service received price target upgrades from JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Evercore ISI, Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler today.
Discover Financial Services climbed 3.53% after its merger with Capital One got the greenlight from regulators. Capital One rose 1.54%.
MicroAlgo exploded 74.93% after the tech holding company became the latest hot penny stock du jour.
Gold miners continue to mint big gains as the hot commodity broke yet another record. Barrick Gold gained 1.39%, while AnglogoldAshanti climbed 2.13%.
Hertz Global gave up some of last week’s big gains today, dropping 4.98% as investors took profits following Bill Ackman’s hint that the rental car company may team up with Uber.
Speaking of, Uber fell 3.08% after the FTC sued the ride-hailing company for “deceptive billing and cancellation practices.”
Amazon lost 3.11% thanks to a downgrade from Raymond James analysts. They believe the e-commerce titan’s retail and advertising businesses are too exposed to tariffs.
Salesforce stumbled 4.45% on a downgrade from DA Davidson analysts, who say the SAAS company is too focused on AI and not on its core business.
Deutsche Post AG, better known as DHL, announced it is suspending shipments worth over $800 as the international shipping company struggles with tariffs. Shares fell 1%.
Now that the US government is negotiating drug prices directly with manufacturers, states want to get in on the action, too. These efforts vary by state, but generally involve creating a board to review drugs’ affordability and sometimes setting upper price limits (UPLs). While none have implemented UPLs as of April, as the idea gains momentum, there are questions about UPLs and boards’ legality, practicality, and whether they will actually lower costs for patients.
Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.
Several years ago a group of highly trusted and deeply experienced financial advisors, insurance service professionals and estate planners noted that far too many of their mature retiring physician clients, using traditional stock brokers, management consultants and financial advisors, seemed to be less successful than those who went it alone. These Do-it-Yourselfers [DIYs] had setbacks and made mistakes, for sure. But, the ME Inc doctors seemed to learn from their mistakes and did not incur the high management and service fees demanded from general or retail one-size-fits-all “advisors.”
In fact, an informal inverse related relationship was noted, and dubbed the “Doctor Effect.” In others words, the more consultants an individual doctor retained; the less well they did in all disciplines of the financial planning and medical practice management, continuum.
Of course, the reason for this discrepancy eluded many of them as Wall Street brokerages and wire-houses flooded the media with messages, infomercials, print, radio, TV, texts, tweets, dinners and internet ads to the contrary. Rather than self-learn the basics, the prevailing sentiment seemed to purse the holy grail of finding the “perfect financial advisor.” This realization confirmed the industry culture which seemed to be:
Bread for the advisor – Crumbs for the client!
And so, Marcinko Associates formed a cadre’ of technology focused and highly educated multi-degreed doctors, nurses, financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, psychologists and educational visionaries who decided there must be a better way for their healthcare colleagues to receive financial planning advice, products and related advisory services within a culture of fiduciary responsibility.
We trust you agree with this specific niche knowledge, and collegial consulting philosophy, as illustrated thru our firm and these two books.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on April 20, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Markets: The markets were closed for Good Friday giving investors time to take a breather amid tariff-induced volatility after all three major indexes finished the short trading week in the red.
Stock spotlight: As a sign of just how confusing it is out there, United Airlines stock rose this week after the company released two different forecasts—one for a stable economy and one for a possible US recession.
A $35 billion merger between Capital One and Discover that would make Capital One the nation’s largest credit card issuer cleared a major regulatory hurdle this week, according to multipleoutlets, as the Justice Department told antitrust officials it did not find reasons to block the deal, paving the way for a potentially historic shakeup of the American credit card space.
Posted on April 19, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stat: $30,000–$50,000. That’s the estimated cost to address one case of measles, making the growing outbreak quite pricey for the US public health system, a CDC official said Tuesday. (NBC)
Quote: “These are still children with illnesses, and they want to be in their home city, where their family can visit them.”—Cynthia Rogers, a pediatric psychiatrist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, on resistance against pediatric mental health hospitals being built in some communities (KFF)
When you buy a share of stock, you are taking ownership in a company. Collectively, the company is owned by all the shareholders, and each share represents a claim on assets and earnings. If the company distributes profits to its shareholders, you should receive a proportionate share of the earnings.
Stocks are often categorized by the size of the company, or their market capitalization. The market capitalization is determined by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the current share price. The most common market cap classes are small-cap (valued from $100 million to $1 billion), mid-cap ($1 billion to $10 billion), and large cap ($10 billion to $100 billion).
Stocks are also categorized by their sector, or the type of business the company conducts. Common sectors include utilities, consumer staples, energy, communications, financial, health care, transportation, and technology.
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Stocks are often viewed as being in one of two categories — growth or value.
Growth stocks are ones that are associated with high quality, successful companies that are expected to continue growing at a better-than-average rate as compared to the rest of the market.
Value stocks are ones that have generally solid fundamentals, but are currently out of favor with the market. This may be due to the company being relatively new and unproven in the market, or because the company has recently experienced a decline due to the company’s sector being affected negatively. An example of this would be if the federal government was to levy a new tax on all cell phones, thus negatively affecting all cell phone company stocks.
History has shown that, over time, stocks have provided a better return than bonds, real estate, and other savings vehicles. As a result, stocks may be the ideal investment for investors with long-term goals.
Posted on April 18, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stocks ended the shortened trading week on a mixed note.
The Dow sank all day long, while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 struggled to stay out of negative territory. The S&P 500 squeaked by with a win, but the NASDAQ fell into the red just before the closing bell.
The WSJ reported that President Trump has explored firing Jerome Powell for months now. “If I want him out he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Trump told reporters at the White House today.
Carried interest accounts for the bulk of private equity fund managers’ compensation. It is calculated as a share of fund profits, historically 20% above a threshold rate of return for limited partners.
In contrast with most other forms of employment compensation and business income, carried interest earned from fund investments held for at least three years is taxed as a long-term capital gain at a rate below the top marginal income tax rate.
Critics of the provision contend it taxes highly compensated private equity managers at a lower rate than comparably paid providers of labor or business services.
Defenders of carried interest argue taxing it as income would be unfair because it represents capital gains even if they’re not derived from recipients’ capital.
Posted on April 16, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stocks started the day strong but the rally eventually fizzled out as reports of trade talks between the US and EU making “little progress” left all three major indexes in the red.
The dreaded death cross has arrived: The S&P 500’s 50-day moving average is now below the 200-day moving average for the first time since 2022, a bearish technical indicator that has investors worried.
10-year Treasury yields fell to a one-week low, letting traders breathe a small sigh of relief after tariffs upended the status quo last week.
Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
WARNING – WARNING
By Staff Reporters
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A “retirement account scam” is a type of online fraud that occurs when a third party administrator (TPA) for retirement investment accounts is tricked into authorizing a money distribution to an imposter posing as the true account holder.
The imposter often starts the scam by calling the TPA, identifying himself or herself as an actual account holder, and requesting a withdrawal distribution form. Once the imposter receives the withdrawal distribution form, the imposter returns the completed form to the TPA. The form is completed with the account holder’s real personal identifying information (PII)—often stolen via schemes, data breaches, and other hacking offenses—and bank account information for an account controlled by the imposter or the imposter’s conspirators.
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After the TPA processes the fraudulent request, the request is forwarded to the investment firm responsible for managing the account holder’s investments, and the funds—often the account holder’s life savings—are then directed to the imposter’s designated bank account.
Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
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.
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that in 2021, UnitedHealth Group received just under $14 billion in extra Medicare Advantage payments after using a code that made its members appear sicker. It’s another tough break for the plan and provider that has faced allegations of illegally taking additional money from patients and taxpayers, especially after its CEO was fatally shot in early December.
US stocks edged higher on Monday as investors focused on tech’s temporary reprieve from President Trump’s tariffs.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) trimmed bigger gains to rise a healthy 0.8%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) also closed off its session high, up 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up around 0.7%, or more than 300 points.
The vast majority of physicians and medical professionals major in one of the hard science while in college; biology, engineering, chemistry, mathematics, computer science or physics; etc. Few take undergraduate courses in finance, business management, securities analysis, accounting or economics; although this paradigm is changing with modernity. These course are not particularly difficult for the pre-medical baccalaureate major, they are just not on the radar screen for time compressed and highly competitive students; nor are they needed for medical or nursing school admission, or the many related allied health professional schools.
In fact, William C. Roberts MD, originally from Emory University in Atlanta, and former editor for the Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings and The American Journal of Cardiology, opined just a decade ago:
“Of the 125 medical schools in the USA, only one of them to my knowledge offers a class related to saving or investing money.”
And so, it is important to review some basic principles of economics, finance and accounting as they relate to financial planning in thees two textbooks; and this ME-P.
Posted on April 10, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stat: 5.06%. That’s how much Medicare payment rates will increase for 2026, doubling what was previously proposed. (the Wall Street Journal)
Quote: “The move displays the utmost disrespect for public service. It is clearly designed to force talented scientists and health experts to leave government. It is also an insult to those healthcare professionals in the Indian Health Service who dedicate their lives to providing healthcare services on tribal lands.”—Richard Besser, CEO of the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on offers to reassign HHS workers on administrative leave to the Indian Health Service (NPR)
Read: Some psychologists are offering free or low-cost therapy for federal healthcare workers. (Stat)
US stocks rocketed higher on Wednesday as President Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries, yet at the same time upped increasingly ballooning levies on China.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) roared up over 9.5%, posting its best day since 2008. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) rallied a whopping 12% for its second-best day on record and its biggest gain since 2001. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up over 7.8%, or roughly 3,000 points.
Posted on April 9, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stat: 11%. That’s the share of US residents who said they couldn’t afford medical care or medication over a three-month period, according to a new Gallup survey. (the New York Times)
An epic stock-market bounce turned into a historic fizzle, extending the bruising selloff sparked by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures to a fourth straight session.
SPX-1.57% saw an intra-day gain of 4.05% evaporate to end with a loss of 1.6%, marking its biggest blown percentage gain since Oct. 14th, 2008, during the darkest days of the 2007-09 financial crisis. And it’s the first time the S&P 500 was up more than 4% at its intra-day high but finished with a loss of more than 1%, based on data going back to 1978, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
DJIA-0.84% rallied 1,461 points, or 3.85%, at its intra-day peak, but ended the day down more than 400 points, its biggest erased percentage gain since April 2020.The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite.
Posted on April 8, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
e Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans last week to accelerate the rollout of its embattled electronic health records system. Lawmakers, meanwhile, continue to call for oversight despite concerns over the future of the modernization program. The VA added nine new medical facilities in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Alaska to the deployment schedule, along with four sites in Michigan that will launch in 2026 after the program expansion has largely been on hold since April 2023, when the agency acknowledged glitches in the system had contributed to at least four veterans’ deaths and “catastrophic harm” to others.
After a roller coaster day, the Dow closed lower by 349 points, or 0.91%. The broader S&P 500 fell 0.23%. The NASDAQ Composite was 0.1% higher after fluctuating between gains and losses. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, on Monday closed at the highest level since the Covid pandemic as investors fretted over the market’s next move. The VIX surpassed an intraday level of 50 points midday Monday, a rare level associated with extreme volatility.
Posted on April 5, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
WARNING – WARNING
By Dr. DavidEdwardMarcinko; MBA MEd
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According to www.NPR.org, there are more than120,000 health care forums on the Internet with opinions ranging from pharmaceuticals, to sexual dysfunction, to acne. The same goes for commercial doctor blogs that promote lotions, balms and potions, diets and vitamins, minerals, herbs, drinks and elixirs, or various other ingest-ants, digest-ants or pharmaceuticals, etc.
And, to other doctors, the blogging craze is a new novelty where there are no rules, protocols, standards or precise figures on how many “medical-doctor” or related physician-blogs are “out there.” Unfortunately, too many recount gory ER scenes, or pictorially illustrate horrific medical conditions, or serious and traumatic injuries. Of course, others simply are medical practice websites, or those that entice patients into more lucrative plastic surgery or concierge medical practices. Some are from self-serving/credible plaintiff-seeking attorneys wishing to assist patients.
Not all physician blogs are geared toward practice information, marketing or medical sensationalism. In fact, just the opposite seems to be the case in extremely candid blogs, like “Ranting Docs”, “White Coat Rants,” “Grunt Docs”, “Cancer Doc,” “The Happy Hospitalist,” “Mom MD”, “Cross-Over Health”, “Angry Docs” and “M.D.O.D.,” which bills itself as “Random Thoughts from a Few Cantankerous American Physicians.”
According to some of these, they are more like personal journals, or public diaries, where doctors vent about reimbursement rates, difficult cases, medical mistakes, declining medical prestige and control, and/or what a “bummer” it is to have so many patients die; not pay, or who are indigent, noncompliant. We call these the “disgruntled doctor sites.” Some even talk about their own patients, coding issues, or various doctor-patient shenanigans.
But, according to psychiatrist and blogger Dr. Deborah Peel and others, the problem with blogging about patients is the danger that one will be able to identify themselves – the doctor – or that others who know them will be able to identify them.” Her affiliation, Patient Privacy Rights, rightly worries that patients might track back to the individual, and adversely affect their employment, health insurance or other aspects of life.
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And, according to Dr. Jay S. Grife; MA Esq., it is certainly true that if a doctor violates a patient’s privacy there could be legal consequences. Under HIPAA, physicians could face fines or even jail time. In some states, patients can file a civil lawsuit if they believe a doctor has violated their privacy. Still, internet privacy issues are an evolving gray-area that if not wrong, may still be morally and ethically questionable [personal communication].
Our colleague Robert Wachter MD, author of the blog called “Wachter’s World,” says it’s important for doctors to be able to share cases, as long as they change the facts substantially. On the other hand, the author of “Wachter’s World” and a leading expert on patient safety alternately suggests “You might say we as doctors should never be talking about experiences with our patients online or in books or in articles.” But, he says that “patients shouldn’t take all the information on blogs at face value. Taken for what they are — unedited opinions, and in some cases entertainment — blogs can give readers some useful insight into the good, the bad and the ugly of the medical profession”. Link: http://www.the-hospitalist.org/blogs
Well, fair enough! But, doctors unhappy with their current medical career choice, or its modern evolution, should probably consider counseling or even career change guidance, re-education and re-engineering. It is very inappropriate to vent career frustrations in a public venue. It’s far better for the blog to be private and/or by invitation only; if at all [Personal communication].
We believe that a hybrid mash-up of both views can be wholly appropriate, or grossly inappropriate in some cases. Of course the devil is in the details; linguistics and semantics aside. Nevertheless; what is not addressed in electronic physician “mea-culpas” are the professional liability risks and concerns that are evolving in this quasi-professional, quasi-lay, communication forum.
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Example: We have seen medical mistakes, and liability admissions of all sorts, freely and glibly presented. In fact,
“Some physicians find that the act of liability blogging as a professional confession that is useful in moving past their malpractice mistakes. And, it is also a useful way to begin a commitment to a better professional life of caring in the future. It helps eliminate the toxic residue and angst of professional liability and guilt. Moreover, as they are unburdened of past acts of omission or commission, doctors should remember to also forgive those who have wronged them. This helps greatly with the process and brings additional peace.”
However, although some may say that this electronic confession is good for the soul, it may not be good for your professional liability carrier, or you, when plaintiff’s attorneys release a legion of IT focused interns, or automated bots, searching online for your self-admissions and scouring for your self-incriminations. Of course, a direct connection to a specific patient may still not be made and no HIPAA violation is involved. But, a vivid imagination is not need needed to envision this type of blind medical malpractice discovery deposition query even now.
QUESTION:“Doctor Smith, I noted all the medical errors admitted on your blog. What other mistakes did you make in the care and treatment of my client?”
And so, the question of plausible deniability, or culpability, is easily raised. If you must journalize your thoughts for sanity or stress release; do it in print. And, don’t tell anyone about it so the diary won’t be subpoenaed. Then tear it up and throw it away. Remember, with risk management, “It is all about credibility.” Don’t trash yours! These thoughts may be especially important if you covet a medical career as a researcher, editor, educator, medical expert or something other than a working-class or employed physician.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: CONTACT: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on April 5, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Microsoft is reportedly pulling back on data center projects around the world as it reexamines its AI plans. Hershey reportedly bought the popcorn brand LesserEvil for $750 million.
US stocks cratered on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plunging more than 2,200 points after China stoked trade-war fears and Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of higher inflation and slower growth stemming from tariffs.
The Dow pulled back 5.5% to enter into correction territory. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank nearly 6%, as the broad-based benchmark capped its worst week since 2020. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) dropped 5.8% to close in bear market territory.
Stocks were decimated yesterday in the first full trading day following President Trump’s tariff announcement. It was the biggest single-day decline since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Every Magnificent Seven stock was battered—Apple worst of all. And so perhaps it is a good time to discuss the concept of “Money Scripts”.
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Money Scripts are unconscious beliefs about money that are typically only partially true, are developed in childhood, and drive adult financial behaviors. Money scripts may be the result of “financial flashpoints,” which are salient early experiences around money that have a lasting impact in adulthood. Money scripts are often passed down through the generations and social groups often share similar money scripts. And so, we argue that Money scripts are at the root of all illogical, ill-advised, self-destructive, or self-limiting financial behaviors.
In research at Kansas State University [KSU], researchers identified four distinct Money script patterns, which are associated with financial health and predict financial behaviors. These include: (a) money avoidance, (b) money worship, (c) money status, and (d) money vigilance [personal communication Brad Klontz, PsyD, CFP®, Kenneth Shubin-Stein, MD, MPH, MS, CFA and Sonya Britt, PhD, CFP®].
And so, we all like to think our financial decisions are fully rational, but the truth is that our subconscious beliefs have a dramatic impact on our money and financial decisions. These money scripts are important to know and understand. A summary is below:
Money Avoidance
Money avoidance scripts are illustrated by beliefs such as “Rich people are greedy,”“It is not okay to have more than you need,” and “I do not deserve a lot of money when others have less than me.” Money avoiders believe that money is bad or that they do not deserve money. They believe that wealthy people are corrupt and there is virtue in living with less money. They may sabotage their financial success or give money away even though they cannot afford to do so. Money avoidance scripts may be associated with lower income and lower net worth and predict financial behaviors including ignoring bank statements, overspending, financial dependence on others, financial enabling of others, and having trouble sticking to a budget.
Money Worship
Money worship is typified by beliefs such as “More money will make you happier,” “You can never have enough money,” and “Money would solve all my problems.” Money worshipers are convinced that money is the key to happiness. At the same time, they believe that one can never have enough. Money worships have lower income, lower net worth, and higher credit card debt. They are more likely to be hoarders, spend compulsively, and put work ahead of family.
Money Status
Money status scripts include “I will not buy something unless it is new,” “Your self-worth equals you net worth,” and “If something isn’t considered the ‘best’ it is not worth buying.” Money status seekers see net worth and self-worth as being synonymous. They pretend to have more money than they do and tend to overspend as a result. They often grew up in poorer families and believe that the universe should take care of their financial needs if they live a virtuous life. Money status scripts are associated with compulsive gambling, overspending, being financially dependent on others, and lying to one’s spouse about spending.
Money Vigilance
Money vigilant beliefs include “It is important to save for a rainy day,” “You should always look for the best deal, even if it takes more time,” and “I would be a nervous wreck if I did not have an emergency fund.” The money vigilants are alert, watchful and concerned about their financial welfare. They are more likely to save and less likely to buy on credit. As a result, they tend to have higher income and higher net worth. They also have a tendency to be anxious about money and are secretive about their financial status outside of their household. While money vigilance is associated with frugality and saving, excessive anxiety can keep someone from enjoying the benefits that money can provide.
Identification
When money scripts are identified, it is helpful to examine where they came from. A simple behavioral finance technique involves reflecting on the following questions:
What three lessons did you learn about money from your mother?
What three lessons did you learn about money from your father?
What is your first memory around money?
What is your most painful money memory?
What is your most joyful money memory?
What money scripts emerged for you from this experience?
How have they helped you?
How have they hurt you?
What money scripts do you need to change?
Conclusion
Ideally, from a balanced middle ground, we can see past the limitations of money scripts, our self and others who are polarized. Those who believe “Money is meant to be spent” or “Money is meant to be saved” have a world view that results in extreme positions. Labeling them as “correct” or “wrong” is not a useful way to try to shift anyone’s polarized money script beliefs.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: CONTACT: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on April 4, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Roughly $2.5 trillion was erased from the S&P 500 Index on Thursday amid worries that President Donald Trump’s sweeping new round of tariffs could plunge the economy into a recession. The damage was heaviest in companies whose supply chains are most dependent on overseas manufacturing. Apple Inc., which makes the majority of its US-sold devices in China, fell 9.3%. Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Nike Inc., among companies with manufacturing ties to Vietnam, were both down more than 9%. Target Corp. and Dollar Tree Inc., retailers whose stores are filled with products sourced outside of the US, dropped more than 10%.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) led the sell-off, plummeting 6%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank nearly 5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) tumbled 4%. The Dow’s 1,700-point drop was the fifth-worst in its history.
Posted on April 3, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
BREAKING NEWS – MARKET VOLATILITY
By Staff Reporters
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US stocks nosedived on Thursday, with the Dow tumbling more than 1,200 points as President Trump’s surprisingly steep “Liberation Day” tariffs sent shock waves through markets worldwide. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite (IXIC) led the sell-off, plummeting over 4%. The S&P 500 (GSPC) dove 3.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) tumbled roughly 3%. [ongoing story].
So, does the traditional 60 stock / 40 bond strategy still work or do we need another portfolio model?
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The 60/40 strategy evolved out of American economist Harry Markowitz’s groundbreaking 1950s work on modern portfolio theory, which holds that investors should diversify their holdings with a mix of high-risk, high-return assets and low-risk, low-return assets based on their individual circumstances.
While a portfolio with a mix of 40% bonds and 60% equities may bring lower returns than all-stock holdings, the diversification generally brings lower variance in the returns—meaning more reliability—as long as there isn’t a strong correlation between stock and bond returns (ideally the correlation is negative, with bond returns rising while stock returns fall).
For 60/40 to work, bonds must be less volatile than stocks and economic growth and inflation have to move up and down in tandem. Typically, the same economic growth that powers rallies in equities also pushes up inflation—and bond returns down. Conversely, in a recession stocks drop and inflation is low, pushing up bond prices.
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But, the traditional 60/40 portfolio may “no longer fully represent true diversification,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink writes in a new letter to investors.
Instead, the “future standard portfolio” may move toward 50/30/20 with stocks, bonds and private assets like real estate, infrastructure and private credit, Fink writes.
Here’s what experts say individual investors may want to consider before dabbling in private investments.
It may be time to rethink the traditional 60/40 investment portfolio, according to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. In a new letter to investors, Fink writes the traditional allocation comprised of 60% stocks and 40% bonds that dates back to the 1950s “may no longer fully represent true diversification.“
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Patient satisfaction occurs when patient perceptions exceed their expectations. They get an intangible “something extra” from their visit, above what they paid for. When patient expectations match their perceptions, mutual obligations are fulfilled, making both practitioner and patient “break-even”.
The clinical result, within a relevant range, is only part of the patient’s perceptions. Numerous sub-conscious impressions comprise the remainder. We’ve all had patients love us despite a less than optimal result. We’ve all had patients angrily leave the practice over some non-clinical matter like a trivial billing dispute. A patient’s perception of any health care service is colored by a vast array of prior experiences that set up current expectations. The patient is pleased to the extent that his current perceptions exceed his/her pre existing expectations. This encompasses far more than the clinical result (within a relevant range), and includes such non-treatment issues as the demeanor of the staff, condition of the physical premises, psychological comfort during the visit, etc.
Remember, all patients talk about you anyway. In the past, a happy patient told four others about what a nice doctor you are. Today, patients post website comments or blogs immediately after their visits. They are more likely to complete treatment and follow instructions, thus obtaining a better medical outcome, and, generating additional fees for the practice. They pay quicker, cause less bad-debt and help create a pleasant environment for us to work in.
An unhappy patient vehemently tells nine others, onground or online, what a nasty greedy rip-off artist you are. Sad, but true! They are not as likely to complete treatment, thus incurring a less than optimal result, and generate fewer fees. They pay slower, if at all, create a stressed environment and detrimentally affect the attitude of other patients in the office.
Try to eliminate problems that might cause negative perceptions (i.e., a filthy restroom) and implement controls that help assure positive perceptions. Patient satisfaction is a soft managerial science. It is a numbers game. Most patients don’t pre-define what would be “acceptable” from this encounter, but have vaguely defined ranges of prior expectations anyway, gleaned from a lifetime of health care related experience. Any variance between these this “acceptable” range of expectations and each trivial encounter invokes some degree positive or negative feeling in the patient.
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The total perception of the office experience is an aggregate of multiple trivial, often subliminal, observations. Patient satisfaction is an intangible and amorphous process complicated by:
Inter patient variables: Significant differences between patients in their “expectations”. Intra patient variables: A single patient can perceive the same thing or situation differently at different times, depending on uncontrollable variables like mood, or, context of occurrence which may (sometimes and/or partially) be controllable by the practice. Luck of the draw” in physical variables: Does Sally or Mary escort the patient to the exam room? Was it the blue or green exam room? Did the last patient to use the rest room, five minutes ago, leave a disgusting mess? Heterogeneous staff variables: Even with appropriate training, people are not machines and have their own quirks.
ASSESSMENT
By proactively anticipating the entire visit, from the patient’s perspective, the practitioner can structure and arrange things such that most patients have, mostly positive perceptions, most of the time. This can be done despite all the potential hetero-genicity of the above factors. Patient satisfaction can be improved in any office, and can be done by anyone.
CONCLUSION
Because patient satisfaction is a multi-faceted amorphous subject, there are multiple correct approaches to the subject and no “cook book” recipe on how to proceed. Try and get the big picture. Identify the worst areas and fix them. Identify the best areas and reinforce them. Proceed slowly. It can be done one facet at a time. Adapt things to your own managerial style and personality. Be completely open to suggestion and change.
Finally, be aware that patient relationship and satisfaction implementation strategies frequently overlap.
SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit a RFP for speaking engagements: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com
Posted on April 3, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST–TODAY’SNEWSLETTERBRIEFING
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Essays, Opinions and Curated News in Health Economics, Investing, Business, Management and Financial Planning for Physician Entrepreneurs and their Savvy Advisors and Consultants
“Serving Almost One Million Doctors, Financial Advisors and Medical Management Consultants Daily“
A Partner of the Institute of Medical Business Advisors , Inc.
Stocks looked like a very concerning EKG recently, fluctuating throughout as investors weighed today’s tariff announcement. The Newsmax meme stock kept on surging, stacking a 180% gain on top of Monday’s 735% spike to skyrocket over 900% since the conservative media outlet went public earlier this week.
U.S. stocks whipped through another dizzying day Wednesday in the final hours before President Donald Trump’s unveiling of the tariffs promised as part of his “Liberation Day,” which could drastically remake the global economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, but only after careening between an earlier loss of 1.1% and a later gain of 1.1%. It’s had a pattern this week of opening with sharp drops only to finish the day higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 235 points, or 0.6%, and the NASDAQ composite climbed 0.9%. Both also veered from sharply lower in the morning to sharply higher in the afternoon before doubling back.
Mass layoffs at health agencies begin. The purge of thousands of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees announced last week by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. started yesterday, with senior leaders at the FDA, CDC, and other departments saying they had been pushed out. Among those removed were the FDA’s chief tobacco regulator, its top veterinarian, and medical officers in charge of new drug approvals.
f you like to use Zelle to send money to others, you need to find a new solution. On April 1st, the digital payment app shut down.
Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.
Posted on April 2, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™
By Ann Miller RN MHA CPHQ CMP™
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Finally … Fiduciary second investing and financial planning opinions right here!
Telephonic or electronic advice for medical professionals that is:
Objective, affordable, medically focused and financially personalized
Rendered by a pre-screened financial consultant for doctors and medical professionals
Offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, by phone or secure e-mail transmission
The iMBA Discussion Forum™ is a physician-to-financial advisor telephone or e-mail portal that connects independent financial professionals to doctors, nurses or healthcare executives desiring affordable and unbiased financial planning advice.
Medical professionals and healthcare executives can now receive direct access to pre-screened iMBA professionals in the areas of Investing, Financial Planning, Asset Allocation, Portfolio Management, Insurance, Mortgage and Lending, Human Resources, Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits. To assist our medical professional and healthcare executive members, we can be contracted with per-minute or per-project fees, and contacted by client phone, email or secure instant messaging.
A hedge fund is a limited partnership of private investors whose money is pooled and managed by professional fund managers. These managers use a wide range of strategies, including leverage (borrowed money) and the trading of nontraditional assets, to earn above-average investment returns. A hedge fund investment is often considered a risky, alternative investment choice and usually requires a high minimum investment or net worth. Hedge funds typically target wealthy investors.
QUESTION:Can I invest my Individual Retirement Account [IRA] in a Hedge Fund?
This is up to the manager, but there is no legal restriction on a hedge fund accepting individual retirement account (IRA) assets. IRA accounts are not well suited for funds that make extensive use of leverage, however. In such cases, the fund is likely to generate significant amounts of unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) – profits of the fund attributable to the use of leverage. The holder of an IRA account must pay taxes on UBTI, even if the UBTI was generated in an IRA account.
But, today’s hedge funds may or may not use leverage. Many hedge funds are not hedged at all, but rather are just specialized versions of regular long stock portfolios. If such funds do not use much leverage, IRA investors will not encounter much difficulty with UBTI and should not hesitate in considering these funds.
In considering whether to accept IRA money, hedge fund managers must consider several factors. If the only type of retirement money accepted by the hedge funds is IRA money, then the manager has no limit on how much retirement money the fund can accept. If, however, there are other types of retirement money invested in the fund, such as pension funds, IRA money will be counted towards a total of 25 percent of fund assets that can be invested in retirement accounts before the fund becomes subject to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Funds subject to ERISA regulations face a heavy administrative burden and more restrictions than most fund managers like.
Finally, IRA distributions from a hedge fund are subject to the standard 20 percent withholding unless the funds are directly rolled over to other qualified plans.
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