Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
FYI: Health care mutual funds have outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin in the past 15 years and have really taken off the past two years.
You'd be sitting on $48,522 today if you'd invested $10,000 in the average health care fund on Sept. 30, 1999, according to Morningstar data. The same investment in the S&P 500, which tracks the broad stock market, would have grown to $21,149. Regards, Ted http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MTg2NjE0NjA=
And if this continues I won't hesitate to vote 'yes' for the Hall of Fame regardless of whether there were PED's involved or not. It would be appropriately ironic if health care stocks were using drugs!
Who thinks there will be less healthcare necessary in the future? and it will cost less. To those I would say don't invest in healthcare, to everyone else......Do what you want
Who thinks there will be less healthcare necessary in the future? and it will cost less. To those I would say don't invest in healthcare, to everyone else......Do what you want
To me, there's a few different layers of appeal. You have discoveries being made that I find absolutely astonishing. There is a lot of growth in biotech and I think there's still a lot of road ahead. Yet, there's the defensive nature that what's being provided are absolute needs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results by any means, but look how well some of the big biotechs fared in 2008.
@scott makes a good point. The strength and growth in healthcare is coming from biotech and bionics and IT. Big pharma gives a steady investment along with companies like Becton Dickinson, Abbott, and numerous others. Even mainstream companies like GE have a healthcare component due to their manufacturing of diagnostic imaging devices and other electronics.
@MFO Members: Warren Buffett's latest purchase. The insurer's only new money purchase during the period was 450,000 shares of Express Scripts (ESRX) for an estimated cost of around $32 million
@MFO Members: Warren Buffett's latest purchase. The insurer's only new money purchase during the period was 450,000 shares of Express Scripts (ESRX) for an estimated cost of around $32 million
Thanks Ted...he also added to, reduced and sold some other stocks over the last three months:
New Purchases: ESRX, Added Positions: DTV, CHTR, GM, WMT, DVA, IBM, V, SU, MA, PCP Reduced Positions: COP, Sold Out: DE,
@MFO Members: Warren Buffett's latest purchase. The insurer's only new money purchase during the period was 450,000 shares of Express Scripts (ESRX) for an estimated cost of around $32 million
Thanks Ted...he also added to, reduced and sold some other stocks over the last three months:
New Purchases: ESRX, Added Positions: DTV, CHTR, GM, WMT, DVA, IBM, V, SU, MA, PCP Reduced Positions: COP, Sold Out: DE,
I think most of these changes were by Coombs and Wechsler who manage separate pools of money than Warren. Buffett probably was responsible for WMT, IBM, SU, and COP. The changes in those were very minor compared to portfolio size.
Are you comfortable investing in healthcare in view of the headwinds for Obamacare which may lead to temporary disruptions?
There's so much going on in healthcare and, quite honestly, I don't think there will be a disruption in Obamacare. Additionally, I believe healthcare (and related) companies are sort of like TBTF banks. Heads they win, tails they win.
In all seriousness, there's so many trends going on right now (aging population, unfortunate situations like diabetes/obesity, etc etc etc...) health care has a lot of tailwinds and what's going on with some of the discoveries in biotech is amazing.
I agree with both Mark and scott. 0bamacare is just the vehicle for healthcare. That might sound important up front but investing in healthcare focuses on the companies directly involved. Even with the news of premium increases and changes for 2015, healthcare stocks will continue to go up. The boomer access is too big.
Are you comfortable investing in healthcare in view of the headwinds for Obamacare which may lead to temporary disruptions?
I work in the health sciences industry....for a company working with the biotechs, big pharma and the medical device companies to bring their new compounds and devices through the clinical trial process and into the marketplace.
Never have any of my customers mentioned the Affordable Care Act as a barrier to any business process or to their pipeline.
Are you comfortable investing in healthcare in view of the headwinds for Obamacare which may lead to temporary disruptions?
I work in the health sciences industry....for a company working with the biotechs, big pharma and the medical device companies to bring their new compounds and devices through the clinical trial process and into the marketplace.
Never have any of my customers mentioned the Affordable Care Act as a barrier to any business process or to their pipeline.
Frankly, I find that to be a fairly odd question.
Thanks for the information. Given my fascination with the industry and continued allocation towards the sector, any other information/insights or general outlook regarding the industry is greatly appreciated.
Thanks Scott....as you can imagine, I am bound pretty tightly by non-disclosure and insider trading limitations, not only for my company but for my clients whose compounds are going through clinical trials in advance of hopeful FDA approval.
In response to the question of the impact of the ACA, I will simply propose this pretty simple question....how many people have healthcare insurance because of the ACA who didn't have it previously? 9 Million? Or, pick a number based on your politics. It's a big number.
If the marketplace for the consumption of medically related products increases due to new consumers, do you think the producers of these products will benefit?
Not directly related to U.S. healthcare, I am sure many here are aware of the foreign health centers that have come into place in the past 10-12 years, in particular with India and Thailand. This is a new entry that I have watched for the past two years; although there isn't any investment potential directly related the hospital, as it is private.
Ascension is a full blown, very sophisticated total health care organization involved in all areas of the business from venture capital startups to insurance and is a non-profit, Catholic based group.
Although this hospital is not directly investible; the nature of the direction of these type of services/systems globally is part of healthcare, and many investments mixed into broadbased funds will have pieces of the various pies which sustain these type of operations.
There is a growing number of people who opt to have medical procedures done outside the U.S. mainly because it is cheaper. Asia and Latin America are common destinations and even Europe where some treatments can be done that are unavailable in the US.
The reason why I asked about ACA is that I still remember the time when the healthcare was way undervalued. An official explanation at that time was that uncertainty of the future legislation makes it difficult at least for some companies to plan ahead. What if we enter a similar period again? Perhaps it should not affect biotech companies, but they may be found "guilty by association", especially if they are no longer inexpensive.
I am not making any predictions, lots of my own money is in healthcare, and I am happy that you are not concerned by the recent events.
Comments
To those I would say don't invest in healthcare, to everyone else......Do what you want
New Purchases: ESRX,
Added Positions: DTV, CHTR, GM, WMT, DVA, IBM, V, SU, MA, PCP
Reduced Positions: COP,
Sold Out: DE,
More Q3 data:
Warren+Buffett (x-out popup to see page)
Regards
Ted
As for Obamacare, I mean, as one of the architects of it (who, as we find out below, got paid millions for his involvement) noted, the voting population is too stupid to understand it (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-10/obamacare-architect-admits-lack-transparency-huge-advantage-against-stupidity-americ) so would we really be aware if it was disrupted? I mean...what was I saying again ...hey, the Kardashians are on!
In all seriousness, there's so many trends going on right now (aging population, unfortunate situations like diabetes/obesity, etc etc etc...) health care has a lot of tailwinds and what's going on with some of the discoveries in biotech is amazing.
Additionally, today re Obamacare: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-16/obama-comments-grubergate-i-did-not-mislead-americans-even-gruber-pocketed-millions
Never have any of my customers mentioned the Affordable Care Act as a barrier to any business process or to their pipeline.
Frankly, I find that to be a fairly odd question.
In response to the question of the impact of the ACA, I will simply propose this pretty simple question....how many people have healthcare insurance because of the ACA who didn't have it previously? 9 Million? Or, pick a number based on your politics. It's a big number.
If the marketplace for the consumption of medically related products increases due to new consumers, do you think the producers of these products will benefit?
Sorry....that's a rhetorical question.
This is a new entry that I have watched for the past two years; although there isn't any investment potential directly related the hospital, as it is private.
Acension Health/Caymans
Ascension is a full blown, very sophisticated total health care organization involved in all areas of the business from venture capital startups to insurance and is a non-profit, Catholic based group.
Regards,
Catch
Regards,
Ted
As for unavailable treatments....well, if the Cleveland Clinic doesn't do it, I'm not interested.
I am not making any predictions, lots of my own money is in healthcare, and I am happy that you are not concerned by the recent events.