Market Currents

• Tuesday, December 22, 2009

• 10:23 AM Winners in the Senate healthcare reform:
  - Drug and device makers (PFE, MRK, BSX, MDT)
  - Hospitals (UHS, THC)
  - Biologics (AMGN)
  - Cosmetics (JNJ, AGN)
  - Home healthcare providers (AMED, ADUS, GTIV)
  Losers:
  - Health insurers (WLP, UNH, AET)
  - Generic drugmakers
  - Pharmacy benefit managers (MHS, CVS, ESRX)
  - Nursing homes (SKH, KND) 13 Comments

• Monday, December 21, 2009

• 14:51 PM Stocks are enjoying a healthy rally in more ways than one: Healthcare issues are leading sectors today. While the Senate bill that advanced early this morning toughens restrictions on insurers, it's also likely to bring more customers (video, 0:51) as coverage is extended. [[UNH]] +1.7%. [[WLP]] +2.6%. [[CI]] +4%. [[AET]] +4.4%. [[HUM]] +3.5%. Comment!

• Tuesday, November 3, 2009

• 13:06 PM Senate probe finds U.S. health insurers (AET, CI, CVH, HUM, UNH, WLP) are spending considerably less of their premiums on medical care than official industry estimates - an average of $0.70/dollar instead of the $0.87 cited by AHIP. The report also singles out Cigna for mislabeling $5B worth of clients. Sen. Jay Rockefeller: "While health-care costs are spiraling upwards, consumers are paying more and getting less, and the health insurance industry doesn't want anyone to know what they are up to." 9 Comments

• Thursday, October 29, 2009

• 06:14 AM Aetna (AET): Q3 EPS of $0.69 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $8.72B (+14.4%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $2.75 vs. $2.86 consensus. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: ABX, AEP, AET, AGN, AN, APA, AVP, AYE, AZN, BC, BCRX, BKC, BPO, CL, CLI, CME, CMS, COCO, COT, DLR, EK, EXPE, FNFG, GTI, K, KBR, MCO, MOT, MPS, MWW, MYL, NBL, NEM, NRG, ODP, OMX, PCG, PDE, PG, PPL, PTEN, RDS.A, S, SII, TSM, VTR, WMB, XEL, XOM Comment!

• Thursday, October 22, 2009

• 15:52 PM Health insurer stocks spike again, on news that critical health-reform swing vote Olympia Snowe says she won't support immediately creating a public insurance option. WellPoint (WLP) +1.9%; UnitedHealth (UNH) +2.6%; Aetna (AET) +1.2%; Humana (HUM) +2.1%; Cigna (CI) +2.9%. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, October 13, 2009

• 15:58 PM Health insurer shares have tanked further after the Senate Finance Committee approves the Baucus healthcare bill 14-9. Aetna (AET) down 3.3%; UnitedHealth (UNH) down 3.6%; WellPoint (WLP) down 0.5%; Humana (HUM) down 1.1%; Cigna (CI) down 3.1%. Comment!

• Thursday, October 8, 2009

• 13:37 PM Health insurer stocks are suffering today after the Senate's reform bill gets a boost from a Congressional Budget Office report saying the bill would cut the budget deficit by $81B over 10 years. Wellpoint (WLP) -7.1%, UnitedHealth (UNH) -4.7%, Aetna (AET) -5%, Humana (HUM) -5.4%, Cigna (CI) -4%. (CBO letter to Baucus, .pdf) 2 Comments

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 15:26 PM Managed-care stocks spiked up after a Senate committee rejected a public health insurance option amendment, but have since given back some gains. Now: Aetna (AET) down 1.7%; Humana (HUM) up 2%; UnitedHealth (UNH) up 0.9%; WellPoint (WLP) down 0.7%. Comment!

• Monday, July 27, 2009

• 09:01 AM Premarket gainers: CIT +9%. NVAX +9%. COT +7%. JASO +5%. ESLR +5%. LDK +4%. RSH +4%. AGEN +4%.
  Losers: PXP -12%. AET -10%. ACI -4%. INSM -4%. 1 Comment
• 07:47 AM Aetna (AET) is reportedly looking to sell its pharmacy benefits management business for up to $2B. Potential buyers include CVS Caremark (CVS) and Medco Health Solutions (MHS). Comment!
• 06:54 AM Aetna (AET): Q2 EPS of $0.68 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $8.7B (+10.3%) vs. $8.6B. Issues downside EPS guidance for FY '09 of $2.75-2.90 vs. $3.53 consensus. Shares -5.4% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Monday's open: AET, ANR, EPD, FCL, GLW, HON, ICO, LO, RSH, SOHU, TLAB, VZ 1 Comment

• Tuesday, July 14, 2009

• 08:18 AM The Department of Defense awards billion-dollar health-care contracts to Aetna (AET) and UnitedHealth (UNH), who will take over from rivals Health Net (HNT) and Humana (HUM). Health Net and Humana may protest the decision. Comment!

• Wednesday, June 3, 2009

• 10:26 AM Aetna (AET -8.1%) isn't likely done with cutting its 2009 guidance, Credit Suisse says, downgrading shares to Underperform. "We believe Aetna's reserve cushion is too thin and that it will ultimately need to boost reserves in order to account for the continued pressure on margins," firm says, predicting AET will underperform its peers. Comment!
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: TIVO +47%. PPHM +22%. TSRA +11%. SAY +11%. CTIC +11%. PMI +10%. AAI +8%. ANPI +6%. FE +6%. HEB +5%. CHLN +5%. TGB +5%. AIB +4%.
  Losers: VLO -12%. STLD -10%. JBLU -9%. FFBC -9%. AET -9%. RBS -7%. UBS -6%. BCS -6%. MT -5%. HOV -4%. GFI -4%. SOL -4%. Comment!