Understanding Hobson’s Choice in Healthcare

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP

***

***

Hobson’s Choice in Medicine

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Hobson’s choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that choices are available. The best known example is “I’ll give you a choice: Take it or leave it”, wherein “leaving it” is strongly undesirable.

The phrase is said to have originated with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England, who offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest to the door or taking none at all.

A CASE MODEL

Half of Physicians Plan to Change Career Paths

The Physicians Foundation recently conducted a survey on physician practice patterns and perspectives. Here are some key findings from the report:

• 31% of physicians identify as independent practice owners or partners.
• Almost half (47%) of physicians plan to change career paths.
• 78% of physicians sometimes, often or always experience feelings of burnout.
• Nearly a quarter of physician time is spent on non-clinical paperwork.

This result is not a good Hobson’s Choice in Medicine.

Cite: The Physicians Foundation, September 2018

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

EDUCATION: 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 an RFP for speaking engagements: CONTACT: Ann Miller RN MHA at MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com -OR- http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

Subscribe, Like and Refer

***

***

***

ALTERNATE INVESTMENTS: 401[k] Accounts

By A.I. and Staff Reporters

***

***

President Trump is set to sign an executive order allowing alternative assets such as cryptocurrency, private equity investments, and real estate in 401(k) accounts. Those accounts are a veritable gold mine—Americans have stashed approximately $12.5 trillion away for retirement, and alternative asset managers have been chomping at the bit to get a piece of that pie.

WIND ENERGY: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2012/08/20/wind-energy-alternate-investments/

According to Brew Markets, the changes have been a long time coming. All the way back in his first term, Trump ordered the Labor Department to review how to incorporate private equity investments into retirement accounts, an effort that was later reversed under President Biden. This latest move expands beyond private equity, coinciding with Trump’s push to bring crypto mainstream.

REAL ESTATE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2013/09/10/financial-freedom-through-commercial-real-estate-education-and-investing/

Proponents argue that alternative assets in 401(k) accounts will enhance investment diversification and could provide retirees with greater profits. Detractors note that these assets are less liquid, less transparent, and generally more risky than investing retirement funds into publicly traded stocks and bonds.

HEDGE FUNDS: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2024/07/09/hedge-funds-understanding-fees-and-costs/

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Like and Subscribe

***

***

DAILY UPDATE: Meta Anti-Trust Trial and Drug Price Negotiations with Few UP and Many DOWN Stocks

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. 2025

REFER A COLLEAGUE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

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

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

Your Referral Count -0-

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

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.”

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

🟢 What’s up

  • 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 Anglogold Ashanti climbed 2.13%.

What’s down

  • Chipotle sank 3.48% after announcing plans to open its first restaurant in Mexico.
  • 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%.
  • Comerica lost 4.36% after the regional bank forecast lower loans and deposits in 2025.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

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.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

DAILY UPDATE: Health Care is Wealth Care as Stock Markets Close Mixed

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. 2025

REFER A COLLEAGUE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

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

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

Your Referral Count -0-

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

In great news for investors, a new study found that major healthcare companies have paid out $2.6 trillion to shareholders over the past 20 years in the form of dividends and share buybacks, and those payments are increasing. Bad news for patients: Some of that money could’ve been spent on, well, healthcare. The study, published Februrary 10th in JAMA, found that publicly traded S&P 500 healthcare companies paid shareholders a total of $170.2 billion in 2022, up 315% from payouts of just $54 billion in 2001.

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

The S&P 500 fell 0.5%. The NASDAQ 100 slid 1.2%. A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega-caps sank 2.2%. Nvidia Corp.’s shares slid 2.8% on the eve of the company’s results, while Tesla slumped 8.4% to fall below $1 trillion in market value. The DJIA was up.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank 11 basis points, while its Australian counterpart fell four points in early trading on Wednesday.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

DAILY UPDATE: S&P 500 Notches Record Market Close

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. 2025

REFER A COLLEAGUE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

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

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

Your Referral Count -0-

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

US stocks were mixed on Tuesday to begin a holiday-shortened week of trading, with potential policy moves by the Federal Reserve and President Donald Trump in focus.

The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose nearly 0.2%, with most of the games coming in the final 10 minutes of trading, to hit a fresh record close of 6,129.58. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) finished barely in the green.

Stocks on Wall Street were largely cautious after Monday’s closure for Presidents Day as investors debate the future path of interest rates. Fed officials over the long weekend signaled a firm belief that rates should stay at current levels to combat rising inflation.

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

Treasury yields stepped higher as investors sought more clues to the chances of rate cuts this year, given recent data failed to give a clear steer. The benchmark 10-year yield (^TNX) rose to trade around 4.54%.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE REFER AND SUBSCRIBE:

MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

DAILY UPDATE: HSA Reform & BoA Paper Bond Losses as Wall Street Tanks!

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@outlook.com

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

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

Your Referral Count -0-

 Healthcare insurance plans could undergo major changes under the incoming Trump administration thanks to a new bill being introduced this week seeking to reform health savings accounts. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced the Healthcare Freedom Act on Thursday seeking to reform the healthcare system by expanding health savings accounts to broaden coverage for U.S. taxpayers and “give Americans the quality of care they deserve.”

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

Barron’s estimates that Bank of America’s paper losses on a portfolio of $568 billion of bonds, mostly U.S. agency mortgage securities, could widen to $111 billion or more, compared with $86 billion at the end of September.

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

US stocks plunged Friday as investors digested a better-than-expected jobs report that soured expectations of future rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The Dow dropped by 697 points, closing at 41,938, while the S&P 500 fell by 1.5% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ index was lower by 1.6%. The three indices all finished the week in the red as Friday’s selloff erased the week’s previous gains.

The selloff comes as the economy added 256,000 jobs in December, far outpacing expectations of around 153,000 jobs. While strong job growth signals a healthy economy, it raises the question of how soon the central bank needs to cut interest rates again. Traders now expect just a 2.7% chance the Fed will cut rates at its policy meeting later this month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

DAILY UPDATE: Winter Solstice & Endo Health Solutions as Stock Markets Rebound

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@outlook.com

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

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

Your Referral Count -0-

The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (North and South). For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, and when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Each polar region experiences continuous darkness or twilight around its winter solstice.

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

Stat: $200 million. That’s how much drug manufacturer Endo Health Solutions paid the federal government for profiting from the opioid crisis and racking up $4 billion in unpaid taxes. (ProPublica)

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

US stocks bounced back Friday as investors digested key inflation data that showed a deceleration in price increases during the month of November.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) gained 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added 1.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1.1%.

But the rebound wasn’t enough to overcome losses earlier in the week. All three major gauges finished the week lower. The NASDAQ gave up 1.8% while the Dow and the S&P both shed around 2%.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

PARADOX: Generosity V. Miserliness

By Staff Reporters

***

***

According to BC Smith and Hilary Davidson, generosity is paradoxical. Those who give, receive back in turn. By spending ourselves for others’ well-being, we enhance our own standing. In letting go of some of what we own, we better secure our own lives. By giving ourselves away, we ourselves move toward flourishing. This is not only a philosophical or religious teaching; it is a sociological fact.

The the generosity paradox can also be stated in the negative.

By grasping on to what we currently have, we lose out on better goods that we might have gained. In holding onto what we possess, we diminish its long-term value to us. And, by always protecting ourselves against future uncertainties and misfortunes, we are affected in ways that make us more anxious about uncertainties and vulnerable to future misfortunes.

In short, by failing to care for others, we do not properly take care of ourselves. It is no coincidence that the word “miser” is etymologically related to the word “miserable.”

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Subscribe Today!

***

***

GIBSON’S PARADOX: Inaccurate Economic Observations

Why were interest rates and prices correlated?

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

***

***

Gibson’s paradox is based on an economic observation made by British economist Alfred Herbert Gibson regarding the positive correlation between interest rates and wholesale price levels. John Maynard Keynes later called this relationship a paradox because he claimed that it could not be explained by existing economic theories.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/0826102549

There have been possible explanations raised by economists to solve Gibson’s paradox over the decades. But as long as the relationship between interest rates and prices remains artificially de-linked, there may not be enough interest by today’s macro-economists to pursue it any further.

In the end, Gibson’s paradox was neither Gibson’s (having been previously discovered by others) nor a true paradox (as plausible explanations already existed at the time of Keynes’s writing and more have been explored since) and is of little interest beyond being a historical footnote to the gold standard era.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

MEMORY: Fallibility

By Staff Reporters

***

***

Memory is Fallible. Think you have a great memory? Think again.

According to psychologist and colleague Dan Ariely PhD, memory is more like a game of telephone than a recording device. Each time you recall an event, your brain makes tiny edits, adding some flair or skipping the boring parts. It’s why you can’t remember where you left your keys but can vividly recall an embarrassing moment from high school.

So, the next time someone says, “I remember it like it was yesterday,” know that yesterday might be a heavily edited rerun.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Subscribe Today!

***

***

DAILY UPDATE: Election Week Wrap-Up

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

Your Referral Count -0-

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

  • Stocks ended a record-breaking election week by breaking records: The Dow rose above 44,000 for the first time ever, the S&P 500 rose above 6,000 for the first time ever, and the NASDAQ hit its own all-time high.
  • Tesla in particular had an excellent week, rising to a market cap of $1 trillion on a post-election surge.
  • Treasury yields fell and ended the week lower than where they began as investors hedged their bets and bought bonds.

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

  • Oil rose a bit this week on fears that Hurricane Rafael would disrupt supply in the Gulf Coast, but new projections show the storm losing steam, which meant oil did as well.
  • One investment that didn’t go down this week: bitcoin. The crypto king soared to a new all-time high as traders bought into a friendlier regulatory environment under Donald Trump.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

DAILY UPDATE: SPX Ends Just Short of 6,000

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

Your Referral Count -0-

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

Stocks up

  • In another daily double-digit swing, Trump Media & Technology Group jumped 15.22% after President-elect Trump announced he has no plans to sell shares of his social media company.
  • Toast isn’t just for breakfast anymore—it’s also a restaurant software company that’s making money hand over fist. Shares popped 14.93% on strong earnings news.
  • Axon Enterprise climbed 28.68% to a new all-time high thanks to an impressive quarter for the law enforcement technology company.
  • Upstart started up and stayed there, soaring 46.02% after the AI lending marketplace beat-and-raised analyst estimates last quarter.
  • Unless you’re a medical professional, you’ve probably never heard of digital platform Doximity, but doctors love it. Shares surged 34.06% on a stronger-than-expected quarter.

Stocks down

  • Pinterest plummeted after the social media site announced slowing user growth combined with lower ad pricing, a one-two combo that sent shares tumbling 14%.
  • Airbnb may have beaten revenue expectations, but shareholders punished it for missing on earnings estimates last quarter. Shares fell 8.66%.
  • Sweetgreen sank 6.01% after the fast casual eatery fell short of analyst estimates last quarter and Goldman Sachs lowered its rating from “buy” to “neutral.”
  • Redfin plunged 15.62% after it announced lower earnings than analysts expected, cut its forecasts, and revealed it’s losing ground to competitors.

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

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The SPX rose 22.44 points (0.38%) to 5,995.54 to end the week up 4.66%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® ($DJI) added 259.65 points (0.59%) to 43,988.99 to end the week up 4.61%; and the NASDAQ Composite®($COMP) climbed 17.31 points (0.09%) to 19,286.78 to end the week up 5.74%.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) fell four basis points to 4.31%, but the 2-year yield added three basis points to 4.25%. Shorter-term yields, which are more closely connected to near-term rate policy, gained on longer-term ones this week.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) fell to 14.99, near a two-month low.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Big Technology Stocks

By Staff Reporters

***

***

After its AI-related earnings disappointed Wall Street last quarter, Big Tech doubled down in the latest period:

  • Amazon spent $22.6 billion on property and equipment like data centers and chips. That’s an 81% spike from the same time last year.
  • Meta raised its low-end guidance for capex (capital expenditures), which could reach $40 billion by the end of the year. It beat earnings estimates, even with AR glasses subsidiary Reality Labs costing $4.4 billion in operating losses.
  • Apple is still betting on Apple Intelligence to boost sales. Most revenue came from the new iPhone 16, Apple Watch, and AirPods, but Apple services like TV+ and iCloud also grew massively to account for a quarter of the business.
  • Google crushed earnings estimates and revealed that more than 25% of all new code it writes is generated by AI (and reviewed by engineers).

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/0826102549

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Subscribe Today!

***

***

DAILY UPDATE: Stock Markets Fall

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

Your Referral Count -0-

Here’s where the major stock market benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500® index (SPX) fell10.69points (–0.18%) to 5,853.98; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® ($DJI) lost 344.31 points (–0.80%) to 42,931.60; and the NASDAQ Composite® ($COMP) rose 50.45 points (0.27%) to 18,540.01.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) climbed 11 basis points to 4.18%, outpacing a 7 basis-point rise for the 2-year Treasury note yield.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index®(VIX) climbed to 18.6 but remains below recent peaks.

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

STOCKS UP

  • Spirit Airlines soared like one of its bankrupt planes, rising 53.06% thanks to an extension for refinancing its debt.
  • Boeing popped 3.11% on the news that it has reached a tentative deal with the machinists union that has been on strike for over a month now. With Boeing’s earnings announcement coming Wednesday, shareholders are definitely breathing a sigh of relief.
  • Activist investor Starboard Value has taken a sizable stake in Tylenol-maker Kenvue, which was spun off of Johnson & Johnson just last year. Kenvue shares rose 5.52% on the news.
  • Warby Parker climbed 9.84% thanks to an upgrade from Goldman Sachs analysts, who like the company’s strong margin growth and improved operational efficiency.

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

STOCKS DOWN

  • Cigna will once again attempt to acquire fellow health insurer Humana. Shareholders on both sides didn’t like the idea: Shares of Cigna sank 4.69%, and Humana fell 2.51%.
  • UPS dropped 3.38% on a downgrade from Barclays analysts citing pressures on the company’s margins, including higher competition and weaker demand. Management will have a chance to respond when earnings drop on Thursday.
  • Southwest Airlines fell 1.74% after Bloomberg reported that the beleaguered airline wants to call a truce with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

CHARITY LURE: Identifiable Victim Effect

IDENTIFIABLE PERPETRATOR EFFECT

By Staff Reporters

***

***

According to colleague Dan Ariely PhD, the The Identifiable Victim Effect [IVE] is why we’re more moved by one person’s story than by statistics. It’s easier to empathize with a single, identifiable victim than with a faceless group. Charities know this and often highlight individual stories to tug at our heartstrings. It’s a powerful reminder that our compassion is wired for personal connections.

The identifiable victim effect has two components. People are more inclined to help an identified victim than an unidentified one, and people are more inclined to help a single identified victim than a group of identified victims. Although helping an identified victim may be commendable, the identifiable victim effect is considered a cognitive bias. From a consequential point of view, the cognitive error is the failure to offer N times as much help to N unidentified victims.

The identifiable victim effect has a mirror image that is sometimes called the identifiable perpetrator effect. Research has shown that individuals are more inclined to mete out punishment, even at their own expense, when they are punishing a specific, identified perpetrator.

So, when you hear a touching story that makes you want to help, remember: it’s your brain responding to the power of a single, human face.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

DAILY UPDATE: Ikea & Fidelity Investments with SPX Bank at New High

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

Your Referral Count -0-

Ikea’s revenue fell for the first time in four years after it lowered prices to spark an increase in orders.

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

Stocks up

Stocks down

  • Stellantis continued to tumble today, falling another 2.22% after the carmaker announced its CEO will step down in early 2026.
  • A.O. Smith probably doesn’t ring a bell, but there’s a good chance they made the water heater in your basement. Unfortunately, they’re not selling too many these days, and shares sank 6.25% after the company cut its full-year outlook.

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

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The SPX rose 34.98 points (0.61%) to 5,815.03 to end the week up 1.11%; the $DJI added 409.74 points (0.97%) to 42,863.86 to end the week up 1.21%; and the $COMP gained 60.88 points (0.33%) to 18,342.94 to end the week up 1.13%.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) fell two basis points to 4.07% but rose nine basis points this week.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) slipped to 20.41, still up slightly for the week.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Fidelity Investments has notified 77,099 people that their personal information was stolen in an August data breach. he mega asset manager has not disclosed what data the digital crooks nabbed, but assured customers that the security snafu “did not involve any access to your Fidelity account(s).” But hey, no worries, the firm claimed no evidence of data misuse.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Thank You

***

***

***

***

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

***

Stocks, Oil, Gold and Bitcoin

By Staff Reporters

***

  • October continues to be a tough month for stocks, with all three major indexes spending yesterday afternoon in the red. The Dow in particular had a horrible day and dropped over 500 points, while major tech stocks were pushed lower by a series of analyst downgrades.
  • Oil continued its hot streak yesterday, rising above $77 on the back of geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. That helped ensure that, while everything else fell, energy was the only positive sector in the S&P 500.
  • Gold has often found itself rising in tandem with crude, though it broke that habit, with the shiny safe haven dropping a hair as investors digest the idea that the Fed’s next interest rate cut may be smaller than they thought.
  • Bitcoin broke above $64,000 for a moment yesterday only to be yanked back down, as crypto traders ride out the recent volatility.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

DAILY UPDATE: FluMist, Neural Data and the Jobs Report

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

Your Referral Count -0-


The FDA just approved FluMist from AstraZeneca for self- or caregiver administration for the prevention of influenza virus subtypes A and B.

Plus, August’s revised jobs report showed the US actually created 159,000 jobs, up from 142,000 initially reported last month.

People in CA will have explicit rights to their own “neural data”—covering anything a person thinks or physically/emotionally feels—which is designed to prevent companies from gathering and selling that type of personal info

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Thank You

https://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Financial-Planning-Strategies-Advisors/dp/1482240289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8u0026amp;qid=1418580820u0026amp;sr=8-1u0026amp;keywords=david+marcinko

***

***

***

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

***

Should Doctors Collect Treasures?

Join Our Mailing List

On Investing in Art and Collectibles

By Rick Kahler CFP®

Rick Kahler CFPAlmost everyone has a story about a cousin or an aunt who bought a box of junk at an auction and found in it a diamond ring worth several hundred dollars. Every once in a while a valuable painting by a famous artist turns up in someone’s attic. “Antiques Roadshow” sometimes features odd items that have been sitting around in someone’s house for years and that are appraised for thousands of dollars.

This doesn’t mean buying and selling art or collectibles is a good way to make money.

Collectibles

Buying art, antiques, or collectibles is extremely speculative, in part because values are so subjective. What a given item is worth depends entirely on what a collector might be willing to pay at any given time. A piece of pottery or jewelry might fluctuate considerably in value as trends come and go. Yesterday’s hot collectible (think Beanie Babies or Jim Beam bottles) might be tomorrow’s overpriced embarrassment.

Does this mean you should never buy art or antiques in hopes that they’ll increase in value? Not necessarily. I am suggesting, though, that investment shouldn’t be the primary reason for your purchase.

If you’re going to collect Art Deco jewelry or decorate your home with original artwork, do so because you like those things. Choose a painting because you want it hanging on your wall. Buy a carving or a pot because you want it. Collect iron toys or old books because you have fun searching for them at antique stores and garage sales. If your art or collectibles increase in value, consider it a nice bonus.

If you’re hanging onto a piece of art or an antique that you don’t like because you think it’s valuable and you think of it as an investment, why keep it? You could sell it and put the proceeds into your retirement portfolio. Then your investment wouldn’t be taking up space in your house, and you wouldn’t need to worry about maintaining it or insuring it. Another option would be to use the money to buy something you would enjoy owning.

Do the Research

If you do decide to sell an item, do some serious research and try to find out what it’s really worth. Don’t just stick a price on it for a garage sale or walk into an antiques store and take whatever they offer you. Get at least two or three estimates from dealers or other qualified experts. For something that’s potentially quite valuable, paying for an appraisal might be money well spent.

Finding valuable collectibles at rummage-sale prices is almost always sheer luck. Anyone who consistently makes money buying and selling art or collectibles has invested the time and effort to become an expert. Unless you’re willing to do the same—and you would enjoy it—don’t try to fund your retirement this way.

Making Memories

In the interests of full disclosure, I should confess that not all of my own purchases turn out perfectly. One of my travel memories is of the time I bought two hand-woven carpets at bargain prices. What made the purchase memorable was the experience of stuffing the bulky rolled-up rugs into a taxi and hauling them to the airport, only to find that the baggage handlers had gone on strike.

Those carpets still decorate the floors in our house. Are they worth more than I paid for them? After all the effort it took to get them home, I certainly hope so. But I bought them because I liked them and wanted them in my home.

Assessment

But, if my primary goal had been investing, I would have put the purchase price into several well-diversified mutual funds instead.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Risk Management, Liability Insurance, and Asset Protection Strategies for Doctors and Advisors: Best Practices from Leading Consultants and Certified Medical Planners™8Comprehensive Financial Planning Strategies for Doctors and Advisors: Best Practices from Leading Consultants and Certified Medical Planners™

***