DAILY UPDATE: Google DOJ, Big Lots Bankrupt, Starbucks CEO, Rite Aid Private as Markets Rise

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST – TODAY’S NEWSLETTER BRIEFING

REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11th – PATRIOT DAY

***

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-

Rite Aid completed its financial restructuring by eliminating $2 billion in debt and adding $2.5 billion in exit financing, as the slimmed-down chain is now led by a new CEO

Google reported to court yesterday to defend itself against monopoly allegations for the second time in less than a year in a new case that has the potential to strip the world’s largest online advertiser of a chunk of its ad business.

And, Apple and Google lost on appeal to the European Union’s highest court Tuesday in two separate cases requiring the tech giants to face billions of dollars in fines. The decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union mark a significant win for the bloc’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.

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

What’s up

  • Mission Produce soared 21.05% after the farming company announced impressive revenue growth last quarter thanks to rising avocado, blueberry, and mango prices. Rival produce producer Calavo Growers announced similarly strong results for much the same reasons, pushing shares 10.75% higher.
  • Alibaba rose 2.90% after its Hong Kong shares were added to a new program linking Hong Kong stocks with Chinese stock exchanges, which should help attract more investors.
  • Boot Barn, which is the name of a real company that sells Western apparel, popped 9.94% and hit an all-time high today after a JPMorgan analyst raised his price target 10%.

What’s down

  • Southwest Airlines descended 1.61% after Executive Chairman Gary Kelly announced he’ll retire next year in the face of activist investing pressure.
  • Ally Financial plummeted 17.65% after the consumer lending company’s CEO highlighted ongoing credit challenges in today’s economy.
  • JPMorgan sank 5.21% thanks to comments from its COO that investor expectations for net interest income, a key part of the bank’s business, are too high.
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise dropped 8.41% on the news that the tech company will sell $1.35 billion in preferred stock to fund its acquisition of Juniper Networks.

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

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The SPX rose 24.47 points (0.45%) to 5,495.52; Dow Jones Industrial Average® ($DJI) fell 92.63 points (–0.23%) to 40,736.96; NASDAQ Composite® ($COMP)added 141.27 points (0.84%) 17,025.88.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) dropped five basis points to 3.64%, the lowest close since mid-2023.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) continued to pull back from last week’s elevations, closing at 19.08.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Big Lots, the 1,300+ store discount chain, has filed for bankruptcy with a plan to sell itself to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management for ~$760 million and a commitment to keep offering “extreme bargains.”

The new CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, formerly of Chipotle, is now officially in charge of the coffee chain.

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

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", "Doctors Only", Breaking News, Career Development, Drugs and Pharma, Ethics, Experts Invited, Information Technology, Investing, Marcinko Associates, Quality Initiatives, Recommended Books, Sponsors | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

DAILY UPDATE: Stock Markets Up Before FOMC Meeting

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

Stocks started the week off strong yesterday as tech companies rose. Chipotle, Progressive, and more hit all-time highs. Tesla got a boost after announcing higher prices for its Model Y in the US and parts of Europe.

Here’s where major benchmarks ended yesterday:

  • The S&P 500 index rose 32 points (0.6%) to 5,149.42; the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJI) gained 75.66 points (0.2%) to 38,790.43; the NASDAQ Composite jumped 130.27 points (0.8%) to 16,103.45. 
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield rose nearly four basis points to 4.34%. 
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) dipped 0.08 to 14.33.

All but two S&P 500 sectors finished in the green, with communications, information technology, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples leading the advance. Health care and real estate finished modestly lower.

Crude oil prices rose to multi-month highs on the heels of stronger-than-expected industrial production data from China and concerns over potential supply disruptions.

According to Reuters, a Ukrainian strike sparked a fire at the Slavyansk refinery in Krasnodar on Saturday and ongoing attacks have now idled around 7% of Russia’s refining capacity so far this year. Brent Crude Oil (/BZ) futures, the global benchmark, gained 2% Monday.

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

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Alternative Investments, Breaking News, Experts Invited, Financial Planning, Health Economics, Investing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

DAILY UPDATE: Bloomberg Health Staffing Philanthropy as Stock Markets Hit Record Highs, Again!

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is taking a swing at the healthcare staffing shortage. His philanthropy arm recently dedicated $250 million to create high schools that move grads straight into healthcare jobs. The schools plan to partner directly with big-name health systems, including Mass General Brigham and Northwell Health.

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

Stocks climbed as investors got good news from companies reporting their quarterly earnings, including Chipotle and Ford. NY Community Bancorp continued its wild ride since reporting surprise Q4 losses, finishing on an upward swing yesterday after reassuring investors about its liquidity and deposits—though it’s still down 31% from the beginning of the month.

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500 index rose 40.83 points (0.8%) to 4,995.06; the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 156.00 points (0.4%) to 38,677.36; the NASDAQ Composite® (COMP) added 147.65 points (1.0%) to 15,756.64.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) rose slightly more than 2 basis points to 4.117%.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) fell 0.23 to 12.83.

Transportation shares were among the strongest performers behind gains in trucking companies like XPO, Inc. (XPO), which rallied 18% after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings before Wednesday’s open. The Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJT) rose 0.4% and hit its highest level since mid-August. Consumer discretionary and semiconductor shares also ranked among the strongest sectors.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Breaking News, Drugs and Pharma, Ethics, Experts Invited, Financial Planning, Health Economics, Health Insurance, Healthcare Finance, Investing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

DAILY UPDATE: Name Brand Drug Prices Up as Corporate Earnings Week Awaits

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

As the federal government seeks to rein in drug prices, pharmaceutical companies this year have been raising prices on hundreds of name-brand drugs. A new analysis by the drug research firm 46brooklyn Research found that companies increased prices on 910 branded drugs in January, although the median increase was 4.7% – the lowest drug inflation rate in more than a decade, the analysis shows.

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

Whether you’re into (McDonald’s), (Disney), (Ford), (Chipotle), or paying extra for medicine (Eli Lilly), there’s an earnings report for you this week. A strong earnings season so far has helped push the major stock indexes to four straight weekly gains.

And, while Meta’s historic stock-pop hosted the headlines last week, Nvidia has quietly put together a phenomenal start to 2024. The chip-making giant added nearly $300 billion in market value in January, its biggest monthly gain ever. That’s one reason the S&P 500 is kicking off the week at a record high.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

Filed under: Breaking News, Drugs and Pharma, Ethics, Experts Invited, Health Economics, Health Insurance, Healthcare Finance, Investing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Meta, Chipotle, Microsoft, Eggs and Rent

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

ECONOMIC OUTPUT

By Staff Reporters

***

***

A government report on U.S. economic output in the first quarter will shed light on how consumers and businesses are faring under high inflation, rising interest rates and the onset of banking problems. Consumer spending, the primary driver of growth, and hiring were surprisingly strong at the start of the year, but more recently slowed as the Federal Reserve continued raising interest rates to cool the economy and curb rapid price increases. TO WIT:

***

Meta’s “Year of Efficiency” is off to a strong start: After three straight quarters of falling revenue last year, the company saw an uptick in ad sales for a 3% revenue jump from Q1 2022. Profits were down, but the company still beat expectations, and Facebook gained users again after losses last year. But not all of Mark Zuckerberg’s dreams are coming true—the company’s Metaverse unit lost almost $4 billion last quarter.

Chipotle—which hit near all-time highs after saying customers kept coming back for burrito bowls despite price increases.

The UK’s competition regulator blocked Microsoft’s bid to acquire the Call of Duty-maker saying it would hurt competition in the cloud gaming sector. The move came as a shock because the regulator had previously said Microsoft had assuaged its concerns about the console gaming market. The decision, which Microsoft plans to appeal, puts a strain on the deal while the companies wait for competition decisions from the EU and the US, where the FTC has already sued to scuttle it.

Finally, while egg prices have fallen dramatically, one sector of the economy remains stubbornly expensive: rents.

  • In the latest consumer price index report, the shelter category (aka rents) was the largest contributor by far to overall inflation. And despite moderating in recent months, rent growth remains 17% higher than 2021 levels.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Breaking News, Financial Planning, Investing, LifeStyle | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »