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By Staff Reporters

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The online health insurance marketplace for members of Congress and Washington, D.C., residents was subjected to a hack that compromised the personal identifying information of potentially thousands of lawmakers, their spouses, dependents and employees, according to a letter from House leaders informing their colleagues about the breach and a memo from the Senate’s top security official.

CITE: https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Health-Information-Technology-Security/dp/0826149952/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254413315&sr=1-5

CITE: https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Health-Insurance-Managed-Care/dp/0826149944/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275315485&sr=1-4

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Today the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (US-BLS) will report the number of jobs the U.S. economy added in February as well as other pertinent information surrounding the labor market. Officials at the Fed and investors have been watching the labor market very carefully, which has been red hot with the unemployment rate in January remaining near historic lows at 3.4%. Fed officials believe the tight labor market is empowering consumers to spend through rising consumer prices, which has made inflation sticky. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said previously the Fed would like to see some deterioration in the labor market to know that it’s winning its war with inflation.

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• Bank stocks plunged as investors assessed the potential fallout from the implosions of Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Capital.
• SVB Financial surprised investors with lowered guidance, a $2.3 billion capital raise, and a massive $1.8 billion loss from its bond portfolio.
• “This is sending shock waves through the financials with the regional bank ETF lower by 8%,” NYSE’s Michael Reinking said.

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U.S. stocks declined to close out a choppy trading session, adding to weekly losses that followed this week’s hawkish Congressional testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. A larger-than-expected increase in weekly initial jobless claims seemed to offer a modest reprieve from the concerns about how aggressive the Fed may be.

The Financial sector saw pressure, as SVB Financial plummeted after selling securities for a loss, and Silvergate Capital dropped after announcing that it would shut down its bank operations and liquidate. As a result of the turmoil in the sector, the shares of numerous banks declined. In other equity news, Dow member American Express increased its share buyback plan and raised its dividend, while GE rallied as the Street cheered its long-term outlook.

Treasury yields were mostly lower with short-term rates giving back recent gains, and the yield curve steepened somewhat after inverting further on Powell’s testimony.

The U.S. dollar relinquished some of this week’s rally, while crude oil prices were lower, and gold traded to the upside.

Asian stocks finished mixed following some cooler-than-expected Chinese inflation reports, and Europe ended mostly lower, as the global markets continued to react to Fed Chair Powell’s comments.

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ORDER: https://www.routledge.com/Comprehensive-Financial-Planning-Strategies-for-Doctors-and-Advisors-Best/Marcinko-Hetico/p/book/9781482240283

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