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☆ US FTC expands probe into pharmacy benefit managers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it had sought information from two privately held companies that negotiate drug rebates on behalf of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as part of its probe into how PBMs affect pricing of prescription drugs. The two companies, Zinc Health Services and Ascent Health Services, are group purchasing organizations, that negotiate after-market discounts or rebates with drug manufacturers on behalf of PBMs and hold the contracts that govern those rebates. Zinc Health negotiates rebates for CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) and Ascent Health for Cigna Group's (CI.N) Express Scripts unit and Prime Therapeutics, which is a privately held PBM, the FTC said on Wednesday. PBMs act as middlemen and negotiate rebates and fees with drug manufacturers, create lists of medications that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for patients' prescriptions. Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Both sides blame each other for high drug prices. Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is a fierce critic of both industries and will likely grill the executives. Optum Rx CEO Heather Cianfrocco will say manufacturers alone set the drug prices and abuse patent protections to stifle competition, her written testimony shows. Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi all said in March they were cutting list prices by more than 70% for some insulin products. Uninsured people often have to pay full list prices, an average of $900 a month, forcing many to ration or skip doses.

☆ Polls: Where is Trump polling today?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Trump is polling, on average, north of 50% in national polls of likely GOP primary voters. There are very few candidates, of either party, in nonincumbent races who were near or north of 50% in the national primary polls this early on. Trump has now opened up a 20-point advantage in the latest UNH survey among likely GOP primary voters. Of course, if it was solely the polls where Trump was ahead, that might be one thing. It will take something big to knock him off his perch at the top of the Republican polls.

While the Dow Jones Industrial Average 's year-to-date move into the red on Thursday may signal more choppy, range-bound trading ahead, technical analysts say they don't think it's an omen for new multi-year lows. Chart experts say the closely followed blue-chip Dow Jones average could test long-term moving averages. .DJI YTD mountain The Dow Failing to hold above its 200-day moving average of 32,707 could mean more downside ahead for the 30-stock average, said JC O'Hara, chief technical strategist at Roth MKM. "On average the stocks have an aggregated [earnings] surprise of nearly +10%, but the stocks are not being rewarded," O'Hara said of earnings season for Dow stocks thus far. Now, the Dow is the only one of the three in the red on the year as investors favor growth stocks over value.

☆ Insurer Humana lifts profit view as medical costs drop in govt plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Humana Inc (HUM.N) raised its annual adjusted profit forecast on Wednesday after lower medical costs in the firm's government-backed health insurance business helped it beat profit estimates for the first quarter. That has driven increased investor scrutiny into whether one-time items are helping lower medical costs artificially, hurting shares of rivals UnitedHealth (UNH.N) and Elevance (ELV.N) earlier this month despite both beating profit estimates. Medicare Advantage is its main business of government-backed health insurance for the elderly or those with certain disabilities. The impact of its exit from the commercial business was not included in adjusted figures for the quarter, Humana said. Its adjusted profit came in at $9.38 per share, beating estimates of $9.27.

April 26 (Reuters) - Humana Inc (HUM.N) raised its annual adjusted profit forecast on Wednesday after lower medical costs in the firm's government-backed health insurance business helped it beat profit estimates for the first quarter. Some analysts stressed on increased investor scrutiny into whether certain one-time items were helping lower medical costs artificially. Humana CFO Susan Diamond said the insurer saw favorable cost trends in the quarter even as hospitals reported a recovery in procedures. On an adjusted basis, Humana expects annual profit per share of at least $28.25, compared with its previous forecast of at least $28. For the first quarter, it reported adjusted profit of $9.38 per share, beating estimates of $9.27.

☆ Club meeting recap: Stocks edge down, Halliburton, Humana
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. The firm said Humana stock is undervalued, given "multiple levers of upside" to management's guidance, along with Medicare Advantage market-share gains. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Major equity indexes have been largely stable during the early stages of a first-quarter earnings season that investors expect to show tepid results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 79.62 points, or 0.23%, to 33,897.01; the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.35 points, or 0.01%, at 4,154.52; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 3.81 points, or 0.03%, at 12,157.23. The defensive utilities group (.SPLRCU) gained most among S&P 500 sectors, rising 0.8%. S&P 500 companies overall are expected to post a 4.8% decline in first-quarter earnings from the year-earlier period, according to Refinitiv IBES. The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and one new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 123 new lows.

Major equity indexes have been largely stable during the early stages of a first-quarter earnings season that investors expect to show tepid results. The defensive utilities group (.SPLRCU) gained most among S&P 500 sectors, rising 0.7%. S&P 500 companies overall are expected to post a 4.8% decline in first-quarter earnings from the year-earlier period, according to Refinitiv IBES. Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL.N) surged 23% after the company posted stronger-than-expected earnings, helping lift the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE.P) 4%. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 111 new lows.

☆ A Fidelity fund manager who's beaten 93% of competitors in the past 5 years shares his strategy for delivering upside while avoiding painful selloffs — and explains how he finds 'mispriced growth' sto
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Fidelity Puritan Fund has dominated in the past five years under Dan Kelley. Here's how the portfolio manager finds underpriced growth stocks that are still high quality. Meanwhile, about half of the fund's bonds are US Treasuries, and just 11.5% are high-yield. How to find mispriced growth in marketsWhen looking for stocks, Kelley said his focus is on finding "mispriced growth" companies, which is similar to what many fund managers call "growth at a reasonable price," or GARP. That's the same mindset that's kept the Fidelity Puritan Fund going for nearly eight decades.

UnitedHealth is among the largest players in the Medicare Advantage market, where private insurers offer an alternative to the original Medicare - the federal government's health insurance plan for people aged 65 and older or those with certain disabilities. Medicare and Medicaid memberships make up a third of the company's health insurance business. It added 655,000 Medicare Advantage members and 570,000 Medicaid members in the quarter. Meanwhile, a slow recovery in non-urgent procedures helped lower medical costs at its insurance unit, driving the company's first-quarter profit above expectations. The company's medical cost ratio - the percentage of payout on claims compared with premiums - came in at 82.2%.

BlackRock Inc's (BLK.N) quarterly profit also beat analysts' estimates as investors continued to pour money in the world's largest asset manager's various funds. The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) has lagged the broader S&P 500 (.SPX) this year with a 13% decline, while the KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) has already lost 20% in its worst performance since 2009. Bank stocks lag S&P 500 this yearThe S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial (.DJI) closed at almost two-month highs on Thursday as economic data showed cooling inflation and a loosening labor market, fueling optimism that the Fed could be nearing the end of its aggressive interest rate-hike cycle. Among other big-ticket earnings, healthcare conglomerate UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) beat estimates for quarterly profit and raised its annual forecast, pushing its shares up 0.7%. ET, Dow e-minis were down 9 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 68.75 points, or 0.52%.

☆ Three stocks making big moves Friday: BA, UNH, and JPM
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThree stocks making big moves Friday: BA, UNH, and JPMShelby McFaddin, an investment analyst at Motley Fool Asset Management, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss Boeing's shares sliding over 737 delays, UnitedHealth's fundamentals, and JPMorgan delivering impressive deposit growth.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

JPM revenue $39.3 billion versus $36.2 billion expected; adjusted EPS $4.32 versus $3.41 expected. WFC revenue $20.7 billion versus $20.1 billion expected; adjusted EPS $1.23 versus $1.13; bought back $4 billion at $46. Dow stock JPM up nearly 6%, the most I have ever seen ahead of regular trading. Dow stock Boeing keeping a lid on the Dow after a big rally Thursday. Revenue $91.9 billion versus $89.4 billion expected.

The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) has lagged the broader S&P 500 (.SPX) this year with a 13% decline, while the KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) has already lost 20% in its worst performance since 2009. "The retail sales are kind of a disappointment," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth. Traders stuck to bets the U.S. central bank will raise its benchmark rate in May by another 25 basis points after the retail sales data. Among other big-ticket earnings, healthcare conglomerate UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) beat estimates for quarterly profit and raised its annual forecast, pushing its shares up 0.4%. BlackRock Inc's (BLK.N) quarterly profit also beat analysts' estimates as investors continued to pour money in the world's largest asset manager's various funds.

☆ UnitedHealth flexes market and political power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UnitedHealth (UNH.N) powered on in the first quarter. Revenue grew 15% compared with the same period last year as the firm added about 2 million customers to its insurance arm. The company’s Optum division, which provides medical care among other things, expanded even faster as it keeps adding services. Health insurance is a highly concentrated business, giving UnitedHealth power over markets in which it operates. Further cuts may be a risk, but history suggests UnitedHealth will keep chugging along.

UnitedHealth has by far the biggest weighting in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . The 126-year-old blue-chip benchmark is price-weighted, meaning stocks with higher share prices are given the most weight. The health-care stock closed Wednesday at $520.97, while the stock with the second-highest impact on the 30-stock Dow, Goldman Sachs , stood at $327.37, nearly $200 less than UnitedHealth. While almost all other equity indexes are weighted by market capitalization, including the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite , that doesn't mean UnitedHealth's power is diminished. The insurer is so large, with a $486 billion market cap, it ranks as the ninth-biggest company in the S & P 500.

☆ Earnings playbook: Your guide to trading the start of a big reporting season this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Thursday Delta Air Lines is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a conference call with management at 10 a.m. This quarter: Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect revenue to have jumped more than 45% from the year-earlier period, Refinitiv data shows. Friday JPMorgan Chase is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a call with management at 8:30 a.m. What history shows: FactSet data shows JPMorgan Chase topped earnings estimates in eight of the last 10 quarters. What history shows: Bespoke data shows UnitedHealth beats earnings estimates 93% of the time.

☆ Analysts worry about Microsoft's cloud but really like Humana. Here's our take on both Club stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

UBS analysts are warning about additional weakness in Microsoft 's (MSFT) key cloud computing, while Morgan Stanley issued a rosy multiyear outlook on Humana (HUM). Here's a look at both notes and how we feel about the stocks, which are both in the Club's portfolio. MSFT 1Y mountain Microsoft's stock performance over the past 12 months. Ahead of all that, UBS lowered its own Azuze revenue growth estimates for Microsoft's fourth-quarter and upcoming fiscal year 2024. The news: Club holding Humana is the "strongest earnings growth story" in the managed care industry, Morgan Stanley equity analysts told clients in a note Tuesday.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Barclays cut its price target on Club holding Constellation Brands (STZ) to $277 per share, from $279, while maintaining an overweight rating. The bank maintained a price target of $390 per share, along with an overweight rating. Citi reiterated neutral ratings on chipmakers Intel (INTC) and Club holding Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a result of ongoing weak cloud demand. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ 3 reasons big bank earnings are super important to the stock market in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

There are two big watchers on our list for the week ahead, and one of them — believe it or not — is not an inflation reading. The consumer price report (CPI), which calculates the average change over time in prices shoppers pay for goods and services, comes out Wednesday before the opening bell. Other data next week includes the producer price index report on Thursday and the retail sales report on Friday. ET: Consumer Price Index 2:00 p.m. The most important macroeconomic update of the week came on Friday while the market was closed for Good Friday.

☆ Premarket stocks: These are the only stocks that matter right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Leading the way in growth are tech stocks like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA) and Meta (FB). That’s been a boon to large cap tech stocks that are more sensitive to interest rates because they tend to borrow more than established companies and rely more on the prospect of future earnings. But it also means that the current market rally is thin, as the major indexes outperform the average stock. Strong outperformance from the largest stocks often power indexes to rise, said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Schwab, in a note Tuesday. But healthy markets should be characterized by greater participation of the “soldiers” — the rest of the stocks, she said.

UnitedHealth shares are well-positioned to have a strong 2023, according to Raymond James. Analyst John Ransom upgraded shares of UnitedHealth to strong buy from outperform. UnitedHealth shares are down 7% in 2023, lagging the S & P 500's 6.8% advance. UNH YTD mountain UNH in 2023 Ransom said that many of the policy overhangs on UnitedHealth, which accounted for his previous downgrade in December, are now past the company. Raymond James sees these measures as "a win for the industry as it buffers the initial impact and buys time for behavior changes.

☆ How to trade the three names moving markets today: FDX, UNH, and A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow to trade the three names moving markets today: FDX, UNH, and A.I. Payne Capital Management's Courtney Garcia joins 'Power Lunch' to talk through plays for today's biggest movers: FedEx, UnitedHealth Group, and C3.AI.

☆ Bank of America lists its top stock picks for the second quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

With the start of the second quarter, Bank of America has a new list of short-term ideas for investors seeking clarity amid ongoing market volatility. The bank expects its Medicare Advantage plans to comprise two-thirds of the company's revenue growth for this year. The bank assigned a $650 price target on UnitedHealth, suggesting the stock could gain more than 31% from Tuesday's close. The bank expects even more gains for the stock, with its 12-month price target of $115 per share implying 11% upside from Tuesday's close of $103.58. Analysts at the bank aren't as bullish on CarMax Bank of America expects CarMax shares to shed 37% to its $40 per share price target.

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