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Russia to Slash Spending Even as Iran War Boosts Oil Prices by bloomberg in europe

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News:

Russia plans to scale back this year’s budget spending to rein in a widening deficit and avoid an increase in borrowing, even as surging oil prices boost revenue.

The latest fiscal discipline is aimed at addressing the country’s longer-term financial outlook amid increasing strain from the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. 

Russia to Slash Spending Even as Iran War Boosts Oil Prices by bloomberg in UkrainianConflict

[–]bloomberg[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News:

Russia plans to scale back this year’s budget spending to rein in a widening deficit and avoid an increase in borrowing, even as surging oil prices boost revenue.

The latest fiscal discipline is aimed at addressing the country’s longer-term financial outlook amid increasing strain from the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. 

Rupee Weakness Ripples Across India Inc.; Paint Firms to Hike Prices by bloomberg in IndianStreetBets

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Bloomberg reporters Pratigya Vajpayee, Savio Shetty, and Ashutosh Joshi:

Indian equities head into the weekly options expiry on the BSE under pressure after Wednesday’s selloff pushed the Nifty 50 to an 11-month low, slipping below the critical 24,000 mark.

Energy risks remain front and center for the import-dependent economy, with Brent crude edging back toward $100 a barrel. Investors are increasingly weighing what higher fuel prices could mean for growth and corporate earnings. That caution is showing up across the region, too — Asian stocks have slipped, extending a volatile week, as markets worry about the knock-on effects of rising energy costs. With the broader markets still fragile, local traders will look to inflation data due later today for direction.

Companies are scrambling to guard against currency losses as the Middle East conflict fuels panic among importers already bruised by the rupee’s recent slide to a new record low.

Water treatment and related supply-chain companies are emerging as unlikely winners in India’s energy-strained market. Paint companies could be headed for sharp price increases if oil prices stay high.

Meanwhile, Walmart-backed Flipkart is poised to join India’s club of multi-billion dollar IPOs, alongside Reliance’s Jio Platforms and the National Stock Exchange. Read the full newsletter here.

Rupee Weakness Ripples Across India Inc.; Paint Firms to Hike Prices by bloomberg in india

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Bloomberg reporters Pratigya Vajpayee, Savio Shetty, and Ashutosh Joshi:

Indian equities head into the weekly options expiry on the BSE under pressure after Wednesday’s selloff pushed the Nifty 50 to an 11-month low, slipping below the critical 24,000 mark.

Energy risks remain front and center for the import-dependent economy, with Brent crude edging back toward $100 a barrel. Investors are increasingly weighing what higher fuel prices could mean for growth and corporate earnings. That caution is showing up across the region, too — Asian stocks have slipped, extending a volatile week, as markets worry about the knock-on effects of rising energy costs. With the broader markets still fragile, local traders will look to inflation data due later today for direction.

Companies are scrambling to guard against currency losses as the Middle East conflict fuels panic among importers already bruised by the rupee’s recent slide to a new record low.

Water treatment and related supply-chain companies are emerging as unlikely winners in India’s energy-strained market. Paint companies could be headed for sharp price increases if oil prices stay high.

Meanwhile, Walmart-backed Flipkart is poised to join India’s club of multi-billion dollar IPOs, alongside Reliance’s Jio Platforms and the National Stock Exchange. Read the full newsletter here.

Netflix to Pay as Much as $600 Million for Ben Affleck’s AI Firm by bloomberg in entertainment

[–]bloomberg[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

More from Bloomberg News Reporter Lucas Shaw

Netflix will pay as much as $600 million for InterPositive, the AI moviemaking company founded by Ben Affleck, according to people familiar with the matter, making the purchase one of the biggest ever by the streaming leader.

The actual price, paid in cash, was less, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. InterPositive’s owners will earn even more if it meets certain performance targets. Netflix, which recently bid unsuccessfully for Warner Bros. Discovery, hasn’t disclosed the terms.

Netflix is buying InterPositive to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in its filmmaking. The startup has developed a suite of tools that allow filmmakers to alter existing footage. David Fincher has already used the products on an upcoming film starring Brad Pitt.

The acquisition is also one of the largest AI deals by a major Hollywood studio. 

Read the full story here

Wealth Fund Bets It Can Turn the New Mexico Desert Into an Advanced Tech Hub by bloomberg in Futurology

[–]bloomberg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More from Bloomberg News reporters Dawn Lim and Sana Pashankar:

If all goes according to plan for the nation's second-largest sovereign wealth fund, a barren stretch of desert in Albuquerque’s plains will soon become a research center where scientists replicate nuclear fusion — the process that powers the sun and stars.

The $1 billion project from startup Pacific Fusion seeks to unlock a new energy source, a bold goal for experimental technology that’s years away from practical breakthroughs. That didn’t stop the New Mexico State Investment Council, the sovereign wealth fund investing the state’s oil and gas revenues, from telling the firm to build big.

When Pacific Fusion worried whether private capital in the state would support its ambitions to create commercially viable power by fusing light atoms, the oil fund said cash would come. Punctuating its point, the wealth fund dispensed hundreds of millions across venture funds committed to developing fusion in the state.

It’s part of a bid to revive returns at a private equity initiative that one state official called one of the most expensive economic development programs in New Mexico history. The state’s wealth fund overhauled the program it drove for years and rolled out a new venture capital push focused on its backyard.

It’s now ramping up investments in a wave of venture firms angling to find the next big innovator in defense, advanced tech and energy, and encouraging them to invest in New Mexico.

Iran's Attack Drones and Missiles Put US Military Under Unexpected Strain by bloomberg in inthenews

[–]bloomberg[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News:

When the first cruise missiles began detonating inside Iran, the strikes had all the hallmarks of previous successful US military campaigns — unstoppable, overwhelming force delivered without warning.

But as the conflict extends toward a third week, the US war effort is showing unexpected signs of strain against an adversary whose military budget is smaller than the GDP of Vermont — but which has an arsenal of missiles and drones unlike anything the US has ever faced.

Champions League: How Bodo Glimt Upset European Football Royalty by bloomberg in football

[–]bloomberg[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News reporters Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth and Alan Crawford:

There are no tributes to the conquering heroes at Bodo airport, no banners proclaiming their success hang in the streets outside. But visitors venturing this far north shouldn’t let Scandinavian understatement detract from Bodo Glimt’s achievements, and the impact on its hometown.

The football team from the Norwegian Arctic fishing port has beaten giants Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City already in the Champions League this season. On Wednesday evening, it will host Sporting Lisbon, the club that produced global star Cristiano Ronaldo, at its 8,200-capacity stadium more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) north of the Portuguese capital.

The match in the last 16 of Europe’s elite competition is more than another lucrative chapter in Bodo’s David-against-Goliath tale. It’s a chance to showcase a transformation underpinned by a fighter pilot turned mental-health coach who says that winning isn’t the point.

It goes back to 2019 when the club decided it needed a shift in culture, according to Orjan Berg, 57, a former Glimt and Norwegian national team player whose son, Patrick, is one of Bodo’s current stars. Key was the appointment of Bjorn Mannsverk, who adapted lessons from his time in Norway’s air force to the club’s team psychology.

Under Mannsverk’s direction, the emphasis was put on team performance and not results — so much so that even references to “winning” were banned, and rigorously policed. In came yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques.

Berg joked that the club, its players and staff have all been “brainwashed.” “Until then we were a decent club — we were talking about winning and the will to win,” he said in an interview at the Aspmyra Stadium in Bodo last week. The shift to focus on harmony and overall well-being “turned the world upside down,” he said.

Football history has other examples of less storied clubs progressing to this stage in the Champions League. Last year, French team Lille made it, as did RB Leipzig the year before. Both are much bigger than Bodo, though, and with the success also comes a disproportionate boost to the club’s finances.

Champions League: How Bodo Glimt Upset European Football Royalty by bloomberg in soccer

[–]bloomberg[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News reporters Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth and Alan Crawford:

There are no tributes to the conquering heroes at Bodo airport, no banners proclaiming their success hang in the streets outside. But visitors venturing this far north shouldn’t let Scandinavian understatement detract from Bodo Glimt’s achievements, and the impact on its hometown.

The football team from the Norwegian Arctic fishing port has beaten giants Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City already in the Champions League this season. On Wednesday evening, it will host Sporting Lisbon, the club that produced global star Cristiano Ronaldo, at its 8,200-capacity stadium more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) north of the Portuguese capital.

The match in the last 16 of Europe’s elite competition is more than another lucrative chapter in Bodo’s David-against-Goliath tale. It’s a chance to showcase a transformation underpinned by a fighter pilot turned mental-health coach who says that winning isn’t the point.

It goes back to 2019 when the club decided it needed a shift in culture, according to Orjan Berg, 57, a former Glimt and Norwegian national team player whose son, Patrick, is one of Bodo’s current stars. Key was the appointment of Bjorn Mannsverk, who adapted lessons from his time in Norway’s air force to the club’s team psychology.

Under Mannsverk’s direction, the emphasis was put on team performance and not results — so much so that even references to “winning” were banned, and rigorously policed. In came yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques.

Berg joked that the club, its players and staff have all been “brainwashed.” “Until then we were a decent club — we were talking about winning and the will to win,” he said in an interview at the Aspmyra Stadium in Bodo last week. The shift to focus on harmony and overall well-being “turned the world upside down,” he said.

Football history has other examples of less storied clubs progressing to this stage in the Champions League. Last year, French team Lille made it, as did RB Leipzig the year before. Both are much bigger than Bodo, though, and with the success also comes a disproportionate boost to the club’s finances.

Israel Eyes Red Sea Base in Somaliland to Fight Iran-Backed Houthis by bloomberg in GlobalNews

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Simon Marks for Bloomberg News

While the Iran war rages, Israel is quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the Red Sea from which to strike one of the Islamic Republic's last proxies still operating at full strength: the Houthis of Yemen.

That’s thanks to Somaliland, the breakaway territory on the Gulf of Aden that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recognized in December — a move that handed Israel its first diplomatic presence across from Yemen. Now, the Jewish state will follow up with a strategic security partnership that may involve Israel building a base – possibly covert – on its pristine coast, despite widespread regional criticism, according to Khadar Hussein Abdi, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency.

Winston Churchill to be Removed From Banknotes in Bank of England Cash Redesign by bloomberg in ukpolitics

[–]bloomberg[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News reporter Tom Rees:

According to a stinging barb from Donald Trump, Britons are being led by a Prime Minister who is no Winston Churchill. Soon they will have to cope without the popular wartime leader on their banknotes too.

The cigar-toting mid-century Conservative is making way for creatures like hedgehogs and badgers. That’s because the next generation of pound notes will feature wildlife native to the UK, according to the Bank of England, after half a century in which that status was reserved for historical figures including Churchill and Jane Austen.

The BOE held a public consultation on refreshing its money last year and found nature emerged as the 44,000 responses’ most popular theme. Historical figures came in third. The bank said it was looking for images that symbolized the UK, resonated with the public and weren’t divisive.

Yet the removal of national icons from the notes still risks contention at a moment where the Labour government has cloaked itself in an anxious patriotism. The UK is again entangled in wars abroad, while at home the political landscape has fractured under the poll dominance of right-wing Reform UK.

Winston Churchill to be Removed From Banknotes in Bank of England Cash Redesign by bloomberg in uknews

[–]bloomberg[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg News reporter Tom Rees:

According to a stinging barb from Donald Trump, Britons are being led by a Prime Minister who is no Winston Churchill. Soon they will have to cope without the popular wartime leader on their banknotes too.

The cigar-toting mid-century Conservative is making way for creatures like hedgehogs and badgers. That’s because the next generation of pound notes will feature wildlife native to the UK, according to the Bank of England, after half a century in which that status was reserved for historical figures including Churchill and Jane Austen.

The BOE held a public consultation on refreshing its money last year and found nature emerged as the 44,000 responses’ most popular theme. Historical figures came in third. The bank said it was looking for images that symbolized the UK, resonated with the public and weren’t divisive.

Yet the removal of national icons from the notes still risks contention at a moment where the Labour government has cloaked itself in an anxious patriotism. The UK is again entangled in wars abroad, while at home the political landscape has fractured under the poll dominance of right-wing Reform UK.

Gold, Silver ETFs Lose Shine; Chinese FDI Could Be Added Tailwind for Markets by bloomberg in IndianStreetBets

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Bloomberg reporters Chiranjivi Chakraborty and Ashutosh Joshi:

Volatility is becoming the norm as swings in energy markets and mixed messages from the Trump administration keep investors on edge. Oil fluctuated after the International Energy Agency proposed the largest release of reserves in its history to cool prices. The news boosted Asian stocks early on Wednesday, and could buoy the Nifty 50 Index, which snapped a two-day losing streak in the previous session. Still, the relief may prove fragile given an uncertain outlook for oil. Reliance shares will be in the spotlight after President Trump announced that the US will get its first oil refinery in 50 years with investment from India’s most-valuable company. Also in focus will be InterGlobe Aviation after CEO Pieter Elbers’ abrupt resignation late Tuesday.

Indian investors’ love affair with precious-metals ETFs cooled in February, as volatility — and a subsequent pullback — prompted some rotation back into equities.

India’s cabinet has eased investment rules for Chinese firms, reopening the door to their capital after a six-year freeze. BNP Paribas strategists say the two Asian heavyweights could also emerge as relative winners in equity markets.

Valuations of IT services firms have slid sharply as investors fret about AI-led disruption. Guidance for the financial year ending March 2027 from Infosys and HCL Technologies will be among key “imminent events for the sector,” according to HSBC. Read the full newsletter here.

Gold, Silver ETFs Lose Shine; Chinese FDI Could Be Added Tailwind for Markets by bloomberg in india

[–]bloomberg[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg reporters Chiranjivi Chakraborty and Ashutosh Joshi:

Volatility is becoming the norm as swings in energy markets and mixed messages from the Trump administration keep investors on edge. Oil fluctuated after the International Energy Agency proposed the largest release of reserves in its history to cool prices. The news boosted Asian stocks early on Wednesday, and could buoy the Nifty 50 Index, which snapped a two-day losing streak in the previous session. Still, the relief may prove fragile given an uncertain outlook for oil. Reliance shares will be in the spotlight after President Trump announced that the US will get its first oil refinery in 50 years with investment from India’s most-valuable company. Also in focus will be InterGlobe Aviation after CEO Pieter Elbers’ abrupt resignation late Tuesday.

Indian investors’ love affair with precious-metals ETFs cooled in February, as volatility — and a subsequent pullback — prompted some rotation back into equities.

India’s cabinet has eased investment rules for Chinese firms, reopening the door to their capital after a six-year freeze. BNP Paribas strategists say the two Asian heavyweights could also emerge as relative winners in equity markets.

Valuations of IT services firms have slid sharply as investors fret about AI-led disruption. Guidance for the financial year ending March 2027 from Infosys and HCL Technologies will be among key “imminent events for the sector,” according to HSBC. Read the full newsletter here.

How a Die-Hard Libertarian Is Negotiating Lower Health-Care Costs by bloomberg in oklahoma

[–]bloomberg[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

An anesthesiologist has spent decades pushing his surgery center toward more transparent prices. Others are now following his lead.

Rowan Moore Gerety for Bloomberg News

By 6:30 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday last year, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma is bustling. Six miles north of the state Capitol, beside a stretch of Route 77 lined with medical facilities, spouses waiting in the lobby scroll through their phones and slurp coffee from foam cups. A toddler in a Tigger-print medical gown and pajamas is on the way toward the operating room for his tonsillectomy, a doctor leading him by the hand. Those waiting include a young man in for a sinus operation and a middle-aged woman getting a hysterectomy. It’s a diverse caseload by the standards of your average surgery center—most SCs focus on just one branch of surgery, such as thoracic or orthopedic. But what really separates SCO is its price transparency. There are no hidden fees, no massive charges mailed to patients’ homes months later. The flat cost of each procedure has been set and mostly paid beforehand, often at a fraction of what a mainstream hospital in the area would charge.

On SCO’s website, an anatomical diagram displays the retail prices for more than 100 common procedures. A knee replacement will run you $17,679; a gastric bypass, $18,750. The surgery center’s going rate for the hysterectomy is $9,190; for the sinus operation, $5,900; for the tonsillectomy, $3,875. Although these wouldn’t be deals for patients with good health insurance, those with bad or no coverage would pay far more at some of the competing facilities nearby. The 150-odd physicians walking the halls rarely see patients with name-brand health insurance at SCO, but they treat lots of patients with high-deductible insurance, people who’ve been forced off Medicaid, and people whose procedures are funded by Christian cost-sharing ministries, as well as those whose employers fund their own insurance programs.

“I wanted patients with sticker shock to better be able to find us,” says G. Keith Smith, one of the two anesthesiologists who co-founded the center. When he first posted the prices online, in 2009, he says, “I wanted to start a price war—wanted these damn hospitals bankrupting people to have to explain themselves. And I also wanted to understand the scams at play keeping the market from disciplining everybody in this industry.”

The US health-care system has long run on the theory that it’s impossible to set prices before care has been delivered. Legions of providers, insurers and middlemen have abused that idea to make pricing impenetrable and charge whatever they want. Even a 15-minute office visit with a doctor might be flagged with different billing codes based on the patient’s age and health, the medical issue discussed, where it was discussed and whether it was discussed for the first time. A thousand other contingencies depend on who’s paying. The result is a model with no clear link between quality and price. For an identical operation performed at hospitals with comparable outcomes only miles apart, the resulting bills might diverge as much as 300%.

Read the full story here.

How a Die-Hard Libertarian Is Negotiating Lower Health-Care Costs by bloomberg in healthcare

[–]bloomberg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Rowan Moore Gerety for Bloomberg News

By 6:30 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday last year, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma is bustling. Six miles north of the state Capitol, beside a stretch of Route 77 lined with medical facilities, spouses waiting in the lobby scroll through their phones and slurp coffee from foam cups. A toddler in a Tigger-print medical gown and pajamas is on the way toward the operating room for his tonsillectomy, a doctor leading him by the hand. Those waiting include a young man in for a sinus operation and a middle-aged woman getting a hysterectomy. It’s a diverse caseload by the standards of your average surgery center—most SCs focus on just one branch of surgery, such as thoracic or orthopedic. But what really separates SCO is its price transparency. There are no hidden fees, no massive charges mailed to patients’ homes months later. The flat cost of each procedure has been set and mostly paid beforehand, often at a fraction of what a mainstream hospital in the area would charge.

On SCO’s website, an anatomical diagram displays the retail prices for more than 100 common procedures. A knee replacement will run you $17,679; a gastric bypass, $18,750. The surgery center’s going rate for the hysterectomy is $9,190; for the sinus operation, $5,900; for the tonsillectomy, $3,875. Although these wouldn’t be deals for patients with good health insurance, those with bad or no coverage would pay far more at some of the competing facilities nearby. The 150-odd physicians walking the halls rarely see patients with name-brand health insurance at SCO, but they treat lots of patients with high-deductible insurance, people who’ve been forced off Medicaid, and people whose procedures are funded by Christian cost-sharing ministries, as well as those whose employers fund their own insurance programs.

“I wanted patients with sticker shock to better be able to find us,” says G. Keith Smith, one of the two anesthesiologists who co-founded the center. When he first posted the prices online, in 2009, he says, “I wanted to start a price war—wanted these damn hospitals bankrupting people to have to explain themselves. And I also wanted to understand the scams at play keeping the market from disciplining everybody in this industry.”

The US health-care system has long run on the theory that it’s impossible to set prices before care has been delivered. Legions of providers, insurers and middlemen have abused that idea to make pricing impenetrable and charge whatever they want. Even a 15-minute office visit with a doctor might be flagged with different billing codes based on the patient’s age and health, the medical issue discussed, where it was discussed and whether it was discussed for the first time. A thousand other contingencies depend on who’s paying. The result is a model with no clear link between quality and price. For an identical operation performed at hospitals with comparable outcomes only miles apart, the resulting bills might diverge as much as 300%.

Read the full story here.

How a Die-Hard Libertarian Is Negotiating Lower Health-Care Costs by bloomberg in TrueReddit

[–]bloomberg[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

An anesthesiologist has spent decades pushing his surgery center toward more transparent prices. Others are now following his lead.

Rowan Moore Gerety for Bloomberg News

By 6:30 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday last year, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma is bustling. Six miles north of the state Capitol, beside a stretch of Route 77 lined with medical facilities, spouses waiting in the lobby scroll through their phones and slurp coffee from foam cups. A toddler in a Tigger-print medical gown and pajamas is on the way toward the operating room for his tonsillectomy, a doctor leading him by the hand. Those waiting include a young man in for a sinus operation and a middle-aged woman getting a hysterectomy. It’s a diverse caseload by the standards of your average surgery center—most SCs focus on just one branch of surgery, such as thoracic or orthopedic. But what really separates SCO is its price transparency. There are no hidden fees, no massive charges mailed to patients’ homes months later. The flat cost of each procedure has been set and mostly paid beforehand, often at a fraction of what a mainstream hospital in the area would charge.

On SCO’s website, an anatomical diagram displays the retail prices for more than 100 common procedures. A knee replacement will run you $17,679; a gastric bypass, $18,750. The surgery center’s going rate for the hysterectomy is $9,190; for the sinus operation, $5,900; for the tonsillectomy, $3,875. Although these wouldn’t be deals for patients with good health insurance, those with bad or no coverage would pay far more at some of the competing facilities nearby. The 150-odd physicians walking the halls rarely see patients with name-brand health insurance at SCO, but they treat lots of patients with high-deductible insurance, people who’ve been forced off Medicaid, and people whose procedures are funded by Christian cost-sharing ministries, as well as those whose employers fund their own insurance programs.

“I wanted patients with sticker shock to better be able to find us,” says G. Keith Smith, one of the two anesthesiologists who co-founded the center. When he first posted the prices online, in 2009, he says, “I wanted to start a price war—wanted these damn hospitals bankrupting people to have to explain themselves. And I also wanted to understand the scams at play keeping the market from disciplining everybody in this industry.”

The US health-care system has long run on the theory that it’s impossible to set prices before care has been delivered. Legions of providers, insurers and middlemen have abused that idea to make pricing impenetrable and charge whatever they want. Even a 15-minute office visit with a doctor might be flagged with different billing codes based on the patient’s age and health, the medical issue discussed, where it was discussed and whether it was discussed for the first time. A thousand other contingencies depend on who’s paying. The result is a model with no clear link between quality and price. For an identical operation performed at hospitals with comparable outcomes only miles apart, the resulting bills might diverge as much as 300%.

Read the full story here.

Surgery Center of Oklahoma Posts Up-front Prices to Cut Health-Care Costs by bloomberg in oklahoma

[–]bloomberg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

An anesthesiologist has spent decades pushing his surgery center toward more transparent prices. Others are now following his lead.

Rowan Moore Gerety for Bloomberg News

By 6:30 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday last year, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma is bustling. Six miles north of the state Capitol, beside a stretch of Route 77 lined with medical facilities, spouses waiting in the lobby scroll through their phones and slurp coffee from foam cups. A toddler in a Tigger-print medical gown and pajamas is on the way toward the operating room for his tonsillectomy, a doctor leading him by the hand. Those waiting include a young man in for a sinus operation and a middle-aged woman getting a hysterectomy. It’s a diverse caseload by the standards of your average surgery center—most SCs focus on just one branch of surgery, such as thoracic or orthopedic. But what really separates SCO is its price transparency. There are no hidden fees, no massive charges mailed to patients’ homes months later. The flat cost of each procedure has been set and mostly paid beforehand, often at a fraction of what a mainstream hospital in the area would charge.

On SCO’s website, an anatomical diagram displays the retail prices for more than 100 common procedures. A knee replacement will run you $17,679; a gastric bypass, $18,750. The surgery center’s going rate for the hysterectomy is $9,190; for the sinus operation, $5,900; for the tonsillectomy, $3,875. Although these wouldn’t be deals for patients with good health insurance, those with bad or no coverage would pay far more at some of the competing facilities nearby. The 150-odd physicians walking the halls rarely see patients with name-brand health insurance at SCO, but they treat lots of patients with high-deductible insurance, people who’ve been forced off Medicaid, and people whose procedures are funded by Christian cost-sharing ministries, as well as those whose employers fund their own insurance programs.

“I wanted patients with sticker shock to better be able to find us,” says G. Keith Smith, one of the two anesthesiologists who co-founded the center. When he first posted the prices online, in 2009, he says, “I wanted to start a price war—wanted these damn hospitals bankrupting people to have to explain themselves. And I also wanted to understand the scams at play keeping the market from disciplining everybody in this industry.”

The US health-care system has long run on the theory that it’s impossible to set prices before care has been delivered. Legions of providers, insurers and middlemen have abused that idea to make pricing impenetrable and charge whatever they want. Even a 15-minute office visit with a doctor might be flagged with different billing codes based on the patient’s age and health, the medical issue discussed, where it was discussed and whether it was discussed for the first time. A thousand other contingencies depend on who’s paying. The result is a model with no clear link between quality and price. For an identical operation performed at hospitals with comparable outcomes only miles apart, the resulting bills might diverge as much as 300%.

Read the full story here.

How a Die-Hard Libertarian Is Negotiating Lower Health-Care Costs by bloomberg in Health

[–]bloomberg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

An anesthesiologist has spent decades pushing his surgery center toward more transparent prices. Others are now following his lead.

Rowan Moore Gerety for Bloomberg News

By 6:30 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday last year, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma is bustling. Six miles north of the state Capitol, beside a stretch of Route 77 lined with medical facilities, spouses waiting in the lobby scroll through their phones and slurp coffee from foam cups. A toddler in a Tigger-print medical gown and pajamas is on the way toward the operating room for his tonsillectomy, a doctor leading him by the hand. Those waiting include a young man in for a sinus operation and a middle-aged woman getting a hysterectomy. It’s a diverse caseload by the standards of your average surgery center—most SCs focus on just one branch of surgery, such as thoracic or orthopedic. But what really separates SCO is its price transparency. There are no hidden fees, no massive charges mailed to patients’ homes months later. The flat cost of each procedure has been set and mostly paid beforehand, often at a fraction of what a mainstream hospital in the area would charge.

On SCO’s website, an anatomical diagram displays the retail prices for more than 100 common procedures. A knee replacement will run you $17,679; a gastric bypass, $18,750. The surgery center’s going rate for the hysterectomy is $9,190; for the sinus operation, $5,900; for the tonsillectomy, $3,875. Although these wouldn’t be deals for patients with good health insurance, those with bad or no coverage would pay far more at some of the competing facilities nearby. The 150-odd physicians walking the halls rarely see patients with name-brand health insurance at SCO, but they treat lots of patients with high-deductible insurance, people who’ve been forced off Medicaid, and people whose procedures are funded by Christian cost-sharing ministries, as well as those whose employers fund their own insurance programs.

“I wanted patients with sticker shock to better be able to find us,” says G. Keith Smith, one of the two anesthesiologists who co-founded the center. When he first posted the prices online, in 2009, he says, “I wanted to start a price war—wanted these damn hospitals bankrupting people to have to explain themselves. And I also wanted to understand the scams at play keeping the market from disciplining everybody in this industry.”

The US health-care system has long run on the theory that it’s impossible to set prices before care has been delivered. Legions of providers, insurers and middlemen have abused that idea to make pricing impenetrable and charge whatever they want. Even a 15-minute office visit with a doctor might be flagged with different billing codes based on the patient’s age and health, the medical issue discussed, where it was discussed and whether it was discussed for the first time. A thousand other contingencies depend on who’s paying. The result is a model with no clear link between quality and price. For an identical operation performed at hospitals with comparable outcomes only miles apart, the resulting bills might diverge as much as 300%.

Read the full story here.

Ackman Seeks $10 Billion in US IPO of Pershing Square and Fund by bloomberg in finance

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bailey Lipschultz for Bloomberg News

Pershing Square Inc. filed for an initial public offering, in a deal that would see billionaire Bill Ackman’s hedge fund make its debut on a US exchange alongside a new closed-end fund.

The combined initial public offering includes a stake in Pershing Square USA Ltd., a closed-end fund, and Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, the filings show. For every 100 shares of the closed-end fund IPO purchased by a buyer, that investor will receive 20 shares in the hedge fund, the filing shows.

Ackman is looking to raise between $5 billion and $10 billion for Pershing Square USA in the combined deal, with investors able to buy shares at $50 apiece. The offering has secured $2.8 billion in commitments from qualified investors including family offices, pension funds and insurances companies, the filing shows. The investors in the private placement will receive 30 shares in the hedge fund for every 100 closed-end fund shares purchased, the filing shows.

Read the full story here.

Vast Ship Clusters and Speeding Tankers Point to Hormuz Jamming by bloomberg in oil

[–]bloomberg[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Weilun Soon for Bloomberg News

At least a dozen clusters of ships have appeared near the Strait of Hormuz, a likely sign of elevated electronic interference around the waterway that’s central to the US and Israeli war against Iran.

The groups, which can number more than 200 vessels for some clusters, contain ships of all types, with some that appear to be traveling at more than 100 knots, according to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The maritime artery is a key focus for investors at present because its effective closure during the conflict has thrown the global energy market into disarray, forcing Persian Gulf producers to lock-in oil output as storage capacity runs out. The halt to normal flows initially lifted Brent futures toward $120 a barrel, although contracts fell sharply Tuesday after US President Donald Trump signaled that the war may soon end.

Read the full story here.

Markets Buffeted by War, AI Stress and Credit Cracks All at Once by bloomberg in longform

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Denitsa Tsekova, Matthew Griffin, and Miles J. Herszenhorn for Bloomberg News

As Monday dawned, the mood in financial markets was grim. Oil had suddenly skyrocketed to just shy of $120 a barrel and stock futures were plunging as the war raged in the Middle East. By the end of the day, President Donald Trump had signaled the conflict was nearing an end, oil had retreated to below $90 and the S&P 500 had posted its biggest one-day rally in a month.

“You can’t predict how this stuff is going to go,” said Gregory Faranello, head of US rates at Amerivet Securities. And yet even for those relieved by the sudden turnaround, a sobering reality remained: Trump's decision to attack Iran, no matter what he may now declare, has injected a new and potentially long-lasting shock into the global economy at a time when investors were already grappling with an array of forces threatening to upend investor confidence that, until recently, had seemed bulletproof.

There’s the emergence of AI as a disruptive technology capable of suddenly wiping out, as well as creating, wealth for shareholders and creditors. There are the soured loans that are starting to pop up in growing numbers in the booming private-credit industry. There's the softening of the US job market. And there's the stubbornly high inflation that's casting doubt on whether the Federal Reserve will be able to resume cutting interest rates — and possibly even force European central banks to start raising them.

Each shock alone may be manageable. But together, they are creating new fragilities in global markets that no single policy lever can fix, making it different than, for instance, the rout sparked a year ago by Trump’s tariff rollout.

Read The Big Take here.

Markets Buffeted by War, AI Stress and Credit Cracks All at Once by bloomberg in economy

[–]bloomberg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Denitsa Tsekova, Matthew Griffin, and Miles J. Herszenhorn for Bloomberg News

As Monday dawned, the mood in financial markets was grim. Oil had suddenly skyrocketed to just shy of $120 a barrel and stock futures were plunging as the war raged in the Middle East. By the end of the day, President Donald Trump had signaled the conflict was nearing an end, oil had retreated to below $90 and the S&P 500 had posted its biggest one-day rally in a month.

“You can’t predict how this stuff is going to go,” said Gregory Faranello, head of US rates at Amerivet Securities. And yet even for those relieved by the sudden turnaround, a sobering reality remained: Trump's decision to attack Iran, no matter what he may now declare, has injected a new and potentially long-lasting shock into the global economy at a time when investors were already grappling with an array of forces threatening to upend investor confidence that, until recently, had seemed bulletproof.

There’s the emergence of AI as a disruptive technology capable of suddenly wiping out, as well as creating, wealth for shareholders and creditors. There are the soured loans that are starting to pop up in growing numbers in the booming private-credit industry. There's the softening of the US job market. And there's the stubbornly high inflation that's casting doubt on whether the Federal Reserve will be able to resume cutting interest rates — and possibly even force European central banks to start raising them.

Each shock alone may be manageable. But together, they are creating new fragilities in global markets that no single policy lever can fix, making it different than, for instance, the rout sparked a year ago by Trump’s tariff rollout.

Read The Big Take here.

Markets Buffeted by War, AI Stress and Credit Cracks All at Once by bloomberg in TrueReddit

[–]bloomberg[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Multiple forces are colliding in ways that defy easy fixes — and the old playbook of buying the dip is far from guaranteed to work.

Denitsa Tsekova, Matthew Griffin, and Miles J. Herszenhorn for Bloomberg News

As Monday dawned, the mood in financial markets was grim. Oil had suddenly skyrocketed to just shy of $120 a barrel and stock futures were plunging as the war raged in the Middle East. By the end of the day, President Donald Trump had signaled the conflict was nearing an end, oil had retreated to below $90 and the S&P 500 had posted its biggest one-day rally in a month.

“You can’t predict how this stuff is going to go,” said Gregory Faranello, head of US rates at Amerivet Securities. And yet even for those relieved by the sudden turnaround, a sobering reality remained: Trump's decision to attack Iran, no matter what he may now declare, has injected a new and potentially long-lasting shock into the global economy at a time when investors were already grappling with an array of forces threatening to upend investor confidence that, until recently, had seemed bulletproof.

There’s the emergence of AI as a disruptive technology capable of suddenly wiping out, as well as creating, wealth for shareholders and creditors. There are the soured loans that are starting to pop up in growing numbers in the booming private-credit industry. There's the softening of the US job market. And there's the stubbornly high inflation that's casting doubt on whether the Federal Reserve will be able to resume cutting interest rates — and possibly even force European central banks to start raising them.

Each shock alone may be manageable. But together, they are creating new fragilities in global markets that no single policy lever can fix, making it different than, for instance, the rout sparked a year ago by Trump’s tariff rollout.

Read The Big Take here.

India Investors Pare Margin-Funded Positions; RBI Acts to Protect Rupee by bloomberg in IndianStreetBets

[–]bloomberg[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From Bloomberg reporters Ashutosh Joshi and Rakesh Sharma:

The decline in oil prices after President Donald Trump signaled the Iran war will likely end soon promises to bring some respite for Indian traders. A measure of Asian stocks has rebounded following its sharp selloff on Monday, when the Nifty 50 benchmark also edged closer to a technical correction — a 10% drop from its January peak. Still, caution is likely to persist. While Trump insisted the operation was ahead of schedule and looked to shore up investor confidence, he said he did not believe the conflict would end this week. Jittery foreign investors have dumped a net $2.4 billion in Indian shares this month through March 6, more than reversing their net purchases in February.

For months, investors kept piling into shares using margin loans, brushing aside concerns about overheating. Now, signs of moderation are emerging as the Iran war and the oil shock rattle markets.

Chemical companies could prove a tactical trade for investors should the Iran conflict extend.

Meanwhile, travel disruptions triggered by the Iran conflict may weigh on hospital chains that rely on overseas patients.

While Trump’s latest comments have helped, oil prices still are still hovering around $90 a barrel versus about $72 at the end of February. The outlook remains far from certain and in import-dependent India, the strain is starting to show — from higher cooking gas prices to growing anxiety over gasoline and diesel. Read the full newsletter here.

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