DAILY UPDATE: UnitedHealth, Aetna, Long Covid and Physician Burnout as NASDAQ Collapses

as MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST TODAY’S NEWSLETTER BRIEFING

***

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.

http://www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com

SPONSORED BY: Marcinko & Associates, Inc.

***

http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

Daily Update Provided By Staff Reporters Since 2007.
How May We Serve You?
© Copyright Institute of Medical Business Advisors, Inc. All rights reserved. 2024

REFER A COLLEAGUE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/sponsors/

ADVERTISE ON THE ME-P: https://tinyurl.com/ytb5955z

***

The Dow surged another 240 points as the cyclical rotation continues, sending the index to its 22nd record closing high of the year. The S&P 500 had its worst day since late April, while the NASDAQ slumped to its worst finish since December 2022. The last time the Dow rose on the same day the S&P 500 fell by more than 1% was all the way back in 1999. Gold hit a record high yesterday on hopes of a rate cut, not a hike. Oil bubbled up thanks to an Energy Information Administration report highlighting higher demand and lower crude inventories. Bond yields stayed steady throughout the trading session before sinking slightly 20-year Treasury bond auction.

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

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500® index (SPX) fell 78.93 points (–1.39%) to 5,588.27; the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 243.6 points (0.59%) to 41,198.08; the NASDAQ Composite plunged 512.41 points (–2.77%) to 17,996.92.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) dropped just below 4.15%.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index jumped sharply to 14.48.

What’s up

  • VF Corp. rose 13.64% on the news that it is selling its Supreme brand to EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion.
  • Roche soared 7.55% after the Swiss pharmaceutical company announced it has made strides in developing a weight-loss and diabetes treatment that uses a pill rather than an injection. Competitors sank on the news, with Eli Lilly declining 3.78% and Novo Nordisk falling 3.87%.
  • GitLab popped 9.34% on a report that the software developer is exploring a sale, potentially to cloud company Datadog, whose shares fell 7.35%.
  • Johnson & Johnson rose a tepid 3.67% thanks to a mixed earnings announcement that included beating expectations this quarter but warning of lower profits ahead.

What’s down

  • Spirit Airlines descended 10.76% to a new all-time low after warning that both earnings and revenue will come in lower than expected this coming quarter.
  • Five Below plummeted 25.05% after its CEO, who has helmed the company for over a decade, announced his departure smack in the middle of a very difficult year.
  • J.B. Hunt tanked 6.88% thanks to a poor second-quarter earnings report in which earnings and revenue came in well below analyst expectations.
  • Charles Schwab fell yet another 5.34% as the hits keep coming. Today, the culprit was a price target downgrade from Bank of America analysts.
  • Elevance Health slipped 5.96% despite beating analyst expectations this quarter, but warning that Medicaid membership declined.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/2h47urt5

UnitedHealth Group has bounced back in the second quarter, reaffirming its guidance for the year as it posts a profit of $4.2 billion


An audit of Aetna Health of Texas found significant errors in how the health plan calculated the qualifying payment amount for air ambulance services, raising more questions over broader noncompliance in the industry for the No Surprises Act.


And … clinical decision software company Regard pocketed $61 million in series B funding to scale its reach in healthcare as investors have a growing appetite for AI-powered startups.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

A study published in JAMA this month found that nearly 7% of the US population (or roughly 18 million people) have had long Covid. Symptoms of the condition vary widely, but often include fatigue, brain fog, and post-exertional malaise (meaning symptoms worsen after minimal exertion), according to the CDC. Booster shots may help protect against long Covid, the JAMA study suggested.

And, President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas with ‘mild symptoms’.

Physician burnout is on the decline after spiking to unprecedented levels during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey from professional group the American Medical Association (AMA).

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

EDUCATIONAL TEXTBOOKS: https://tinyurl.com/4zdxuuwf

***