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Up Close With CVS

by InvestingPharmacy

A 10k means different things to different people. For some, to use what I think is a British term, it's a footrace. If you're thinking rings, it's a measure of the purity of gold. For others, a not-so-breezy 100+ page annual report that's filed with the SEC by US-listed companies, full of footnotes, official risks, financial statements, a business overview, legal proceedings, and more. It's not the same as the glossy annual report, which, though it shows numbers, and uniquely and usefully, the ...

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Time Frames and Adjusted EBITDA

by InvestingMetrics

Corporate earnings calls are dry but can be entertaining. There are the rare "boring boneheaded questions are not cool" Elon Musk type comments. There was a lively moment yesterday on FedEx's earnings call when a Deutsche Bank analyst started the Q&A session by asking CEO Fred Smith about "balancing capital investments and returns," given negative cash flow numbers while reporting 17% adjusted earnings growth. His answer: "the perspective of Wall Street is always give me the money; perspecti ...

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March’s Index

by Index

As a tip of the hat to the beautiful Harper's Index, here is the March Index on cool, interesting, and thought-provoking stats related to healthcare and finance. Change in hospital discharges per 1,000 in the US since 1999: -10%. Hospital discharges per 1,000: 111 Reduction in hospital beds per 1,000 since 1999: -17%; as of 2017: 2.5; in 1999: 3.0 The median hospital beds per 1,000 for the 15 states that don't have certificate of need (CON) laws: 2.2 For CON states: 2.5 Total ...

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Healthcare Advice On An Index Card

by Education

Harold Pollack is a University of Chicago professor famously said: "that the best (financial) advice for most people would fit on an index card." He and writer Helaine Olen ironically wrote a whole book The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicatedabout the expanded topic. I haven't read it yet. The card that inspired the book is below. Twitter version: contribute to your 401(k). Limit fees. Invest. Save. Don't have dumb debt. Live below your means.   ...

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On Tailwinds

by Industry TrendsInvestingThought Leadership

Anyone who wants to understand business should read Warren Buffett's letters*. All of them. Even his partnership ones when he was in his 30s. I read them about 10 years ago, and continue to intellectually salivate near the end of February when a new one is published. They're especially an interesting respite and cross-disciplinary perspective if you work in industries like healthcare or education, two of the most regulated and inflationary, and avoided by Buffett. Hint: there is a lot more going ...