Sunday, August 15, 2010
Chris Botti & Yo-Yo Ma - Cinema Paradiso
The weather in New York is cooling down. It makes people wanna dance. This classic “Cinema Paradiso" was introduced me by a very gifted individual stock trader. Wish him all the best thousands of miles away.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Health Care Reform Part I
“On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. The law puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will roll out over four years and beyond, with most changes taking place by 2014.”
We are planning to run a mini-series examining different aspects of the Act. In this part, we will talk about the effects of expanding preventive services to millions. The Act states that for health plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010, “All new plans must cover certain preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies without charging a deductible, co-pay or coinsurance.” http://www.healthcare.gov/law/about/provisions/services/index.html
How will it affect consumers?
Although it is a blessing to consumers, the actual cost of health-care might go up. Insurance companies will provide the preventive care at no extra cost, but in effect, they will raise the cost of providing overall insurance. So, consumers can expect that their overall deductible/coinsurance/copays to rise.
Good news for medical device manufacturers!
Demand for all devices that helps in preventive care will rise. As preventive care becomes more affordable, people will have regular routine care. So, demand for mammograms, colonoscopies and other preventive care are expected to rise and medical devices manufacturers will have to keep up with this extra demand. It is a very positive news for medical device manufacturers.
How will it affect the overall society?
“Prevention is better than cure.” Early detection of diseases can prevent life-threatening episodes that need emergency visits or costly health-care procedures. So, preventive services are expected to lower costs of health-care, by preventing frequent emergency visits and other costly medical procedures. Hence, the overall benefit to the society is considered to outweigh the cost. However, many studies have pointed out that availability of improved preventive care has sometimes led to higher cost of care. It is stated that with the availability of better preventive care, doctors ask to have more preventive care services which shoots up health-care expenses. If preventive care services are available to consumers at no extra cost, then we do not see that problem. However, we also have to be careful that insurance companies do not shoot up the overall health-care costs, as mentioned earlier.
by Roy Tutu
About the author:
Roy Tutu is the publisher of the blog, “ephemeralthinking.com” – a blog that covers topics related to economics, business, society and entertainment.
Roy is an economist with a passion for writing. According to Roy, “our informal conversations leap from one topic to another, transforming and reshaping our views and opinions. Ephemeralthinking.com is an avenue that brings in such informal discussions to curious readers.”
Contact Roy Tutu at roytutu@ephemeralthinking.com
We are planning to run a mini-series examining different aspects of the Act. In this part, we will talk about the effects of expanding preventive services to millions. The Act states that for health plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010, “All new plans must cover certain preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies without charging a deductible, co-pay or coinsurance.” http://www.healthcare.gov/law/about/provisions/services/index.html
How will it affect consumers?
Although it is a blessing to consumers, the actual cost of health-care might go up. Insurance companies will provide the preventive care at no extra cost, but in effect, they will raise the cost of providing overall insurance. So, consumers can expect that their overall deductible/coinsurance/copays to rise.
Good news for medical device manufacturers!
Demand for all devices that helps in preventive care will rise. As preventive care becomes more affordable, people will have regular routine care. So, demand for mammograms, colonoscopies and other preventive care are expected to rise and medical devices manufacturers will have to keep up with this extra demand. It is a very positive news for medical device manufacturers.
How will it affect the overall society?
“Prevention is better than cure.” Early detection of diseases can prevent life-threatening episodes that need emergency visits or costly health-care procedures. So, preventive services are expected to lower costs of health-care, by preventing frequent emergency visits and other costly medical procedures. Hence, the overall benefit to the society is considered to outweigh the cost. However, many studies have pointed out that availability of improved preventive care has sometimes led to higher cost of care. It is stated that with the availability of better preventive care, doctors ask to have more preventive care services which shoots up health-care expenses. If preventive care services are available to consumers at no extra cost, then we do not see that problem. However, we also have to be careful that insurance companies do not shoot up the overall health-care costs, as mentioned earlier.
by Roy Tutu
About the author:
Roy Tutu is the publisher of the blog, “ephemeralthinking.com” – a blog that covers topics related to economics, business, society and entertainment.
Roy is an economist with a passion for writing. According to Roy, “our informal conversations leap from one topic to another, transforming and reshaping our views and opinions. Ephemeralthinking.com is an avenue that brings in such informal discussions to curious readers.”
Contact Roy Tutu at roytutu@ephemeralthinking.com
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Have steel prices bottomed?
Steel prices in China have reversed a sequence of decline that lasted for more than 3 months since April, according to data reported by China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
As China is the world largest producer of steel, producing half of the global steel output, steel prices of China have significant impacts on global steel prices. In the first quarter of 2010, over-production in China created downward pressure on steel prices worldwide as steelmakers such as those in the US face fierce competition from low-priced imports from China.
However, analysts cautioned that it is too early to call for a turnaround in the sector. In Marketwatch,
As China is the world largest producer of steel, producing half of the global steel output, steel prices of China have significant impacts on global steel prices. In the first quarter of 2010, over-production in China created downward pressure on steel prices worldwide as steelmakers such as those in the US face fierce competition from low-priced imports from China.
However, analysts cautioned that it is too early to call for a turnaround in the sector. In Marketwatch,
"We believe that the signs of a tentative recovery are welcome for a beleaguered sector," said Goldman Sachs analysts in a report this week.
"However, we caution that channel checks with steel traders themselves suggest that it is too early to tell if the current recovery is sustainable," said analysts Rajeev Das, Nana Hasegawa and HJ Moon.
......................."Many traders do not believe the recovery to be real," they said, because the price rises for flat steel "represent the raising of asking prices, as few actual transactions appear to have taken place."
Moreover, they said, traders have indicated that "barring the auto sector, demand from many other industries remains weak" amid a seasonal slowdown in many Asian markets, particularly South Korea.
While activity in China "still appears to be quite strong, some traders are afraid that the government tightening could yet have a delayed impact when construction in progress is finished," they said. But they cited consensus among traders that production cuts in July were deeper than those in June, and economic data due out in the middle of this month "will help soothe concerns."Despite this caution, investors took advantage of this short-term rally of steel prices. Steel stocks such as AKS, X, NUE had large gains since mid-July after months of downtrend. Steel ETF, SLX, rallied 12% since mid-July versus 3% of the major index, S&P 500.
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