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☆ CVS digs into primary care with $9.5 bln Oak Street Health deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) said on Wednesday it would buy Oak Street Health Inc (OSH.N) for about $9.5 billion in cash, expanding its healthcare services by adding hundreds of primary care clinics mostly for older people. Shares of the primary care firm rose 5% before the bell. The Oak Street deal echoes similar moves by rivals into primary care. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O) and Cigna (CI.N) have made investments in primary care provider VillageMD, and Amazon (AMZN.O) announced a $3.49 billion deal last year to buy One Medical (ONEM.O) to expand into the space. UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) also runs urgent care, primary care and surgical care centers.

☆ The arms race for doctors is on. CVS is hoping a $10.6 billion deal will help it compete with Amazon and UnitedHealthcare.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

CVS Health just said it wants to buy primary-care company Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion. CVS Health is finally entering the arms race among health insurers and big retailers to employ doctors. Oak Street gets most of its revenue from relationships with CVS-owned Aetna rivals Humana, Centene, and UnitedHealthcare. And though Aetna is a big Medicare Advantage player, it also has millions of members who get insurance through their employers. Mike Pykosz, Oak Street Health CEO Oak Street HealthGuertin also noted that the improved health outcomes and better experience provided in Oak Street clinics would help Aetna hold onto its Medicare Advantage patients.

☆ These are the top 10 holdings of the AI-driven investment fund powered by Watson that has been crushing the market this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The AI Powered Equity ETF has doubled the performance of the S&P 500 so far in 2023. These are the top 10 holdings in the AI Powered Equity ETF that's driven by IBM's Watson. One ETF has been utilizing aspects of artificial intelligence to drive its investment decisions since its launch in 2017: the AI Powered Equity ETF. These are the top 10 holdings in the AI Powered Equity ETF that's driven by IBM's Watson supercomputer. Norwegian Cruise Line HoldingsTicker: NCLH% of ETF: 1.9%Industry: Cruise Ships6.

☆ Forget ChatGPT - an AI-driven investment fund powered by IBM's Watson supercomputer is quietly beating the market by nearly 100%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

While the language bot ChatGPT has gone viral, a Watson-powered ETF is making nearly double the returns of the broader market. The AI Powered Equity ETF is up 10.4% in 2023, whereas the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index is up 5.67%. Issued by ETF Managers Group in partnership with the fintech firm Equbot, the fund leans on IBM's Watson supercomputer to balance its portfolio. That 114-holding portfolio is up 10.4% so far in 2023, while the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF is up 5% over the same stretch. Chris Natividad, the chief investment officer of Equbot, said the Watson-powered fund can look beyond standard market data and cull information from tweets and earnings calls, according to ETF.com.

☆ Looking beyond FAANG: Here's how the Club portfolio lines up with the Dow's workhorse stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Think most of the stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the kind of stocks Warren Buffett loves to own for Berkshire Hathaway ." But in the near term, we still favor stocks of companies that are the backbone of the real economy. Dow Inc (DOW): The materials company we own in the portfolio is industrial gas giant Linde (LIN). 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.

☆ Billionaire Mark Cuban invested in digital-health's go-to pharmacy even though it struggled to keep up with orders from his drug-pricing company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban has invested in the online pharmacy Truepill, he confirmed to Insider. It works with Cuban's other healthcare bet Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.Mark Cuban's interest in breaking into the healthcare industry is heating up. In November, he backed the online pharmacy Truepill through its funding round, Cuban confirmed to Insider in an email. He's played an active role in his drug-pricing startup, which launched as the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. in 2021. When asked about the delays, Cuban said Cost Plus Drugs' volume exceeded both companies' expectations.

☆ Health insurer Elevance's strategy is coming into focus as it goes head-to-head with giants UnitedHealth and CVS
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elevance Health, the major US health insurer formerly called Anthem, said Monday that it plans to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana in a rare merger between two Blue-affiliated health insurers. It's possible that if the merger goes through, the Louisiana Blue could flip to using Elevance's PBM. While competitors like UnitedHealth, CVS, and Humana are pushing deeper into delivering primary care, Elevance has focused on owning businesses that serve people with serious and chronic illnesses. Carelon's strategy has been to sell its services to both Elevance's own health plans and other Blue-affiliated insurers. Carelon brought in almost $41 billion in revenue in 2022, and 60% of that came from Elevance's own health plans, Boudreaux said Wednesday.

☆ The Government Thinks It Is Overpaying for Medicare, Spelling Trouble for Insurers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( David Wainer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Health insurers had the best of both worlds last year. Their stocks benefited from a rotation into value and their profits weathered the inflationary environment as healthcare utilization remained low. But as managed-care companies kick off earnings season, sentiment has shifted. In fact, industry behemoth UnitedHealth Group Inc. earlier this month reported a 12% increase in revenue to $82.79 billion, topping analyst expectations. Yet that did nothing for the stock, which is down 8.2% for the year.

☆ Billionaire Mark Cuban has invested in yet another healthcare company: online pharmacy Truepill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban has invested in the online pharmacy Truepill, he confirmed to Insider. Truepill works with healthcare startups to send medications through the mail. It works with Cuban's other healthcare bet Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.Mark Cuban's interest in breaking into the healthcare industry is heating up. In November, he backed the online pharmacy Truepill through its funding round, Cuban confirmed to Insider in an email. He's played an active role in his drug-pricing startup, which launched as the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. in 2021.

☆ These health care stocks are expected to rally at least 20% this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Health care stocks were able to outperform the broader market in 2022. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF dipped 3.6% in 2022, far better than the broader S & P 500 , which slumped 19.4%. CVS is rated a buy by 58% of analysts with an average price target implying a 28% upside. Nearly three out of five analysts rate the stock a buy, with an average price target reflecting an upside of almost 22%. About 75% of UnitedHealth analysts rate it a buy, with an average price target implying a 20% upside.

☆ UnitedHealth Revenue Climbs as Premiums Rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Dean Seal | Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

UnitedHealth is the first healthcare heavyweight to report earnings this season. UnitedHealth Group Inc. closed out 2022 with a fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth as both premiums and medical costs continue to rise. The healthcare and insurance company said Friday that revenue rose 12% to $82.79 billion, topping analyst expectations of $82.48 billion, according to FactSet.

☆ UnitedHealth Group Q4 Beats
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUnitedHealth Group Q4 BeatsBertha Coombs breaks down fourth quarter results for UnitedHealth Group. Despite a surge in flu and Covid during the quarter, medical costs were in line, which bodes well for health insurers.

☆ Futures subdued as focus shifts to results from big U.S. banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

With the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening campaign to combat inflation, higher borrowing costs have prompted consumers and businesses to curb their spending, impacting banks' profits as demand for credit slows. "Bank earnings are going to be a big test," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. "It will be interesting to see whether they (banks) have made any further provisions for non-performing loans, how they see demand for loans." Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) are also scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Friday. ET, Dow e-minis were up 10 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.5 points, or 0.01%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 16.5 points, or 0.14%.

☆ UnitedHealth quarterly profit beats as medical costs stay low
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies UnitedHealth Group Inc FollowJan 13 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) on Friday reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by lower medical costs and a boost from its Optum health services unit, which operates the company's pharmacy benefit management business. Health insurers' costs have been in flux during the pandemic, but have eased over the past year as COVID-related hospitalizations have fallen from their peak. Revenue from Optum rose 16.5% to $47.87 billion, aided by strong growth in its health service and pharmacy benefit management business. Optum includes the company's pharmacy benefit management business that helps negotiate the terms of coverage between health insurers, their clients and drug manufacturers. Reporting by Leroy Leo and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) fell 1.2% as it set aside $1.4 billion in anticipation of a mild recession, even after beating quarterly profit estimates. The bank's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon listed a number of uncertainties facing the economy including geopolitical tensions and sticky inflation. Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) reported better-than-expected profit, with CEO Brian Moynihan also acknowledging an "increasingly slowing economic environment". Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N) fell short of quarterly profit estimates, sending their shares down 3.9% and 0.6% respectively. Keeping the pressure off the Dow Jones, UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) rose 1.9% after beating Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter profit.

☆ Morning Bid: Money in the bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Kicking off the fourth-quarter corporate results season in earnest, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo are among the countries biggest banks updating on Friday. It will take some twist to puncture the optimism on peak inflation and peak Federal Reserve interest rates, however. Futures markets still see rates topping out below 5% by midyear and pencil in a half point of rate cuts between then and yearend. The yen surged on speculation the Bank of Japan could revise its ultra-loose monetary policy again at next week's policy meeting. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, targets Eli Lilly and Co , Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVOb.CO) and Sanofi SA (SASY.PA), which together make more than 90% of the insulin drugs sold globally. Insulin drugs are used to control blood sugar in patients with diabetes. Eli Lilly and Sanofi both previously announced that they would cap the cost of a 30-day supply of insulin at $35 for uninsured patients. California said that the companies' dominance in the market has allowed them to hike insulin prices at patients' expense, violating the state's Unfair Competition Law. Prices of top-selling insulin drugs have soared in recent years.

☆ Nearly 16 million Americans sign up for 2023 Obamacare plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. President-elect Joe Biden adjusts his face mask after during a news conference, where he discussed health care and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare, at the theater serving as his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 10, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstJan 11 (Reuters) - Nearly 16 million Americans have so far signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, a 13% jump from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday. Enrollment for 2023 healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is open between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15. About 3.1 million people who have signed up for the plans are new enrollees, HHS said. Obamacare helps low and middle-income Americans who do not have access to affordable health insurance coverage through an employer.

☆ Want to land a remote job in 2023? These 20 companies are on a hiring spree
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

To help people find the best remote opportunities, FlexJobs, a membership service for jobseekers, identified the top 100 companies hiring remote jobs in 2023, taking into account some 58,000 companies who listed their openings on the site between January and December 2022. "We're not seeing one industry dominate the remote job market like we used to," Kathy Gardner, the vice president of communications at FlexJobs, says. "Three years ago, your best bet to land a remote job was to apply to tech companies, but now, there's a much more healthy mix of industries offering flexible opportunities." "It's still a tight labor market, which means companies have to cater to what jobseekers want — and that's remote work," Gardner says. Here are the top 20 companies hiring for the most remote jobs in 2023, according to FlexJobs (and see the full list here):

☆ Cramer’s week ahead: Corporate earnings will set the tone for the market
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Wednesday: KB HomeQ4 2022 earnings release between 4:10 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. Friday: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, UnitedHealthWells FargoQ4 2022 earnings release at 7 a.m. Bank of AmericaQ4 2022 earnings release at 6:45 a.m. ETProjected EPS: 78 centsProjected revenue: $24.3 billionJPMorgan ChaseQ4 2022 earnings release at 6:45 a.m. BlackRockQ4 2022 earnings release at 6:15 a.m.

☆ Take Five: Welcome to 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A potential shift by the world's most dovish major central bank, inflation pressures abating, a turn in the economic outlook and oil markets suffering their biggest tumble in decades: Welcome to 2023! 1/ EARNINGS AND INFLATIONThe week ahead brings a critical read into two key themes for Wall Street in 2023: the health of corporate profits and inflation. With crude oil volatility soaring, 2023 might be anything but plain sailing for producers and consumers alike. Barclays expects the UK economy to keep contracting until the end of the third quarter of 2023. It takes time for declines in market prices to filter through into household bills, but signs are positive for cash-strapped consumers and businesses.

☆ Markets rally on signs inflation is abating, as investors look to next week's consumer price data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Later in the day, markets were also buoyed by the ISM's nonmanufacturing purchasing managers' index, which said the services industry contracted last month. The next big test will be December's consumer price index report, to be released Thursday. Meanwhile, the fourth-quarter earnings season kicks off next Friday, when the banks – including Club holding Wells Fargo (WFC) – are set to report. On Thursday, the December ADP employment report was released, showing an additional 235,000 jobs, well above the 153,000 expected by analysts. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Wall St Week Ahead Stock swoon resets valuations but recession risk, rates cloud outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The S&P 500 tumbled 19.4% in 2022, as the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes designed to tamp down 40-year high inflation punished asset prices. The market's 2022 slide cut the ratio of price to forward earnings estimates to around 17 from about 21.7 a year ago, according to Refinitiv Datastream. S&P 500 forward price-to-earnings ratio over timeValuations may still be too high if a recession comes to pass, as many on Wall Street expect. Combined with an expectation of weakening earnings estimates, that would lower the S&P 500 to 3,200, UBS said, roughly 16% below current levels. The 2022 surge in interest rates also could undermine stock valuations by making relatively safe assets like U.S. Treasuries more attractive alternatives.

"It's a combination of the FTC and (Justice Department) being willing to litigate and the fact that companies are fighting back," Grosberg said. More recently, they have lost four attempts to block mergers in court, though they are appealing two of the cases. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Break-up fees that acquirers agree to pay their targets if their deal gets shot down by antitrust regulators are also on the rise. Many companies facing merger challenges say they will fight on, emboldened by the four court losses of the Justice Department and FTC.

The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company negotiates directly with drugmakers. So far, that's been the strategy for the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. In October, Cost Plus Drug Company announced a partnership with Capital Blue Cross. Cuban said he wanted Cost Plus Drug Company to be as transparent as possible on pricing. Cost Plus Drug Company is considering a test program for insulin that would offer a 90-day supply of insulin, or a total of 12 vials, for $170.

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