DAILY UPDATE: UnitedHealth Group and Fidelity Investments Suffer Ransomware Attacks as Stock Markets Crash

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA

By Staff Reporters

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According to Fidelity, in documents filed with the Maine attorney general’s office, miscreants “likely acquired” information about 28,268 people’s life insurance policies after infiltrating Infosys.

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Criminals have probably stolen nearly 30,000 Fidelity Investments Life Insurance customers’ personal and financial information — including bank account and routing numbers, credit card numbers and security or access codes — after breaking into Infosys’ IT systems.

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Healthcare providers across the United States are struggling to get paid following the week-long ransomware outage at a key tech unit of UnitedHealth Group, with some smaller medical providers saying they are already running low on cash.

And, the nation’s health-care system continues to reel from a cyberattack that has crippled payments for tens of thousands of organizations as Daniel Gilbert writes in The Post.

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

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500® index (SPX) dropped 52.30 points (1.0%) to 5,078.65; the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 404.64 points (1.0%) to 38,585.19; the NASDAQ Composite fell 267.92 points (1.7%) to 15,939.59.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) fell about 8 basis points to 4.137%.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) rose 0.97 to 14.46.

With chip makers under pressure, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) fell 2.1%, reversing part of a recent surge to a record high. Consumer discretionary and real estate shares also ranked among the weakest performers Tuesday. Banks were one of the few industries to buck the broader weakness, perhaps supported by further declines in Treasury yields. The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) almost fell to a four-week low near 4.11%. The KBW Regional Banking Index (KRX) jumped 4.3%. 

In other markets, bitcoin plunged almost 10% after climbing earlier Tuesday to a record above $69,000. The cryptocurrency had rallied as much as 36% over the last week of February. 

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MILLIONAIRES: Retirement Accounts Are Up

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA

By Staff Reporters

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Retirement Accounts are Minting Millionaires

It’s good to have money stashed in the stock market when the market is doing well. The number of people with at least $1 million in their 401(k) and IRA accounts jumped 12% in the second quarter, according to a report from Fidelity Investments, largely tracking the market’s gain during that period. It’s the third straight quarter of growth in $1+ million accounts and close to a record high.

But start saving now, because building a hard-boiled nest egg through retirement accounts takes time: The average age of a 401(k) millionaire is 59, Fidelity said.

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