• The top 10 best selling drugs in 2018 generated $90 billion in revenues for large pharma companies
• This comes at a time when many of the top drug makers are facing pressures about drug pricing

AbbVie’s (NYSE:ABBV) arthritis drug Humira remains the best selling drug in the world with over $20B in sales, more than double the second place Eliquis.

Combined, the top 10 best selling drugs in 2018 generated over $90B in revenues. Many of the drug developers, including Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) and Merck (NYSE:MRK) are facing scrutiny for pricing drugs north of $100,000/year in the USA when in other countries the same drugs sell for a fraction of the costs.

Article by: Mick Ross
Mick is currently a full-time investor and formerly a buy-side analyst (2yrs) covering healthcare companies. Before that, he was a salesperson at a bulge-bracket firm, based in Dallas, Texas. Mick blogs to clarify and synthesize his investment thought process and to elicit feedback; additionally he likes to connect with other investors and swap ideas.

• With upcoming elections, countries like India, China and Nigeria are proposing censorship controls in place to limit connectivity and access for their citizens.
• This is a business risk that may impact operations of global tech giants like Google and Facebook

The internet has been a driving force for global connectivity allowing the rise of today’s tech giants like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). Due to the interconnected nature of the internet, these companies have been able to conduct business internationally across all countries.

However, several countries are putting censorship controls in place to limit connectivity and access. With upcoming elections for many countries, worries of foreign tampering have caused some to consider extreme measures.  

• India announced a proposal that would install a Chinese-style censorship ahead of its elections. These proposed rules would allow Indian officials to demand that big web platforms remove content they deem bad for society.
• Russia has considered creating an autonomous internet only for its citizens in the event that the country is cut off from other networks. Citing cyberdefense concerns, Russia has plans to temporarily disconnect from internet as a way to test their defense.
• Congo & Nigeria have used censorship to manipulate elections
• China has long blocked access to certain sites from being accessed within its borders. The use of VPNs to go around these barriers has been deemed illegal.

The isolating tactics by some of these countries goes against the fundamental belief of the open worldwide web. Such moves stall development and prove to be a business risk that the giant tech companies may soon deal with on a global scale.

Article by: Francisco Cortez – Delgado
I graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s of Political Studies. The intertwined world of politics and economics intrigue me. My favourite stories to cover are the ones that show how a few selected officials can impact nationwide macro-economic policies. I also follow the broader markets and FOREX.

• Leafly released a report that projects cannabis jobs to more than double by 2020, outpacing workforce gains in other industries

According to Cannabis Jobs Count report by Leafly, there are now more than 211,000 cannabis jobs across the United States. More than 64,000 of those jobs were added in 2018, a 44% increase over 2017. In 2017, the number of cannabis jobs grew 21% over 2016.

The report states that the rapid job growth will continue in the cannabis space. 2019 will show cannabis jobs to increase at least another 20%. That would be more than 250,000 people employed in the cannabis industry.

The report forecasts that cannabis jobs will grow by 110% from 2017 to 2020. In comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that the fastest-growing employment figures over the next 10 years will be in:

• Home health care aides: expected to grow 47%.
• Wind turbine technicians: expected to increase 96%
• Solar voltaic installers: expected to grow 105%.

Amazingly, these gains reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics are projected to happen over the course of 10 years, while cannabis’ 110% growth will be 3 years.

What Is Funding This Growth?

34 states have legalized the use of medical cannabis, of which 10 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the adult use of cannabis. As a result, legal cannabis sales increased 34% nationwide in 2018, to $10.8 billion. This has contributed to the growth of several cannabis giants like Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) and Aurora (NYSE:ACB)

Article By: Fatimah Aminu
Fatimah is an experienced editor at various financial and consumer publishing houses. She obtained a master’s degree in Publishing from NYU, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree. She is currently earning a second masters degree at CUNY online in Psychology. Fatimah covers healthcare, cannabis and technology.

• EV sales surged 74% in 2018 to a total 1.26M around the world. Atop the list was Tesla’s Model 3

EV sales surged 74% in 2018 to a total 1.26M around the world. Atop the list was Tesla’s Model 3 with 138,000 cars. At number 2, with 92,000 units, was BAIC EC, the Chinese manufacturer.

Tesla’s Model 3 outsold its nearest competitor by about 50% in its first full year on the market.

Even with pressure on their financials, Tesla seems to be dominating the EV market with two models in the top 5. This 2018 data comes around the same time as Elon Musk projected the company to sell 500,000 vehicles in 2019. Tesla is also planning to shut down retail locations as a cost cutting measure to focus funds on bringing their cheaper $35,000 model into the market.

Article by: Mick Ross
Mick is currently a full-time investor and formerly a buy-side analyst (2yrs) covering healthcare companies. Before that, he was a salesperson at a bulge-bracket firm, based in Dallas, Texas. Mick blogs to clarify and synthesize his investment thought process and to elicit feedback; additionally he likes to connect with other investors and swap ideas.

• The tech giants, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are expected to make a push into creating a cloud streaming service for games
• Detailed plans are expected to be unveiled at the upcoming Game Developers Conference in San Francisco March 18-22, 2019

The tech giants are looking at transforming the gaming space by creating a “Netflix for videogames”. Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon are each reportedly working on their own versions of a subscription service for video games.

The companies are contemplating moving video games onto the cloud, which could eliminate the expensive hardware (Playstation and Xbox) needed to play. Instead, games would be accessible on any device, not just specific ones created for gaming.

In order to accomplish this plan, however, the tech giants will need to license content and games from existing developers like Activision and EA. The only issue is that, as it stands, the existing video game publishers have no incentive to change the industry practice.

We will have to wait and see how the most powerful companies in the world divide the terms and incentives with video game publishers.

Below are plans that have been reported from each tech giant

• Google is planning to unveil its videogame service at the Game Developer’s Conference next month in San Francisco, Fortune reports. The search giant is reportedly spending heavily to get game publishers to license their content.

• Apple is looking to build a service that allows users who pay a subscription fee to access a bundled list of titles, Cheddar reported in January. Apple could choose to use a March 25 event, where it is expected to introduce news and video subscriptions, to also debut a game subscription offering.
• Microsoft’s service could let users play high-end video games anytime on any device, not just Microsoft’s own Xbox console, Business Insider reported in January.
• Amazon is building a subscription streaming service for games, The Information reports. Like Google, it’s also reportedly in talks with game publishers.

Article by: Mick Ross
Mick is currently a full-time investor and formerly a buy-side analyst (2yrs) covering healthcare companies. Before that, he was a salesperson at a bulge-bracket firm, based in Dallas, Texas. Mick blogs to clarify and synthesize his investment thought process and to elicit feedback; additionally he likes to connect with other investors and swap ideas.

• Gene-editing technology CRISPR is being tested in disease settings where vaccines are currently not effective
• Although years away from market, early data shows promise

Vaccines work by jump-starting the immune system’s B-Cells to manufacture specific antigens, our body’s defense mechanisms against particular viruses.

Naturally, the body’s immune system will manufacture B-cells when there is a foreign virus that comes from a vaccine or natural infection. Once the body realizes the foreign virus, it produces the virus-matching antigen that can destroy the invader.

An issue arises when the foreign virus has DNA that the body cannot replicate or when the DNA is constantly changing. This is because the B-cells cannot manufacture the required antigen needed to fight the foreign virus. As a result, vaccines are limited or ineffective in people with compromised immune systems (old people), or when someone catches a viral disease that has no vaccine antigen. Examples here are viral diseases and the flu.

Scientists are now testing CRSIPR, a gene-editing technology, in the hopes of turning the immune system against viruses for which there are no vaccines. B-Cells are being engineered to program the defense mechanism to produce and keep producing whichever antibody is needed to fight the foreign virus.

In simple term, CRISPR is being used to nudge B-cells to produce the right antibody needed to fight the disease. The hope is that CRISPR could edit B cells that could produce immunity against diseases where traditional vaccinations fail. CRISPR may be able to manufacture a better equipped B-cell capable of fighting off diseases better than traditional vaccines.

However, there are hurdles that must be overcome. For starters, CRISPR will not replace traditional vaccines due to the high costs. CRISPR is used to modify patients’ B-cells individually (patient by patient). A “mass manufacturing” CRISPR approach would be rejected by our immune system. This makes vaccines, by comparison, are cheap. Secondly, the approach will have to be tested in human clinical trials for years before being commercial. The probability of failure in these clinical trials is high.

Three companies developing CRISPR and gene editing technologies are:

1. CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRISPR)
2. Sangamo (NASDAQ:SGMO)
3. Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT)

Article By: Fatimah Aminu
Fatimah is an experienced editor at various financial and consumer publishing houses. She obtained a master’s degree in Publishing from NYU, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree. She is currently earning a second masters degree at CUNY online in Psychology. Fatimah covers healthcare, cannabis and technology.

• The ING International Survey Savings 2019 surveyed 14,695 people in Europe, the US, and Australia, and discovered the majority worry about not having enough money in retirement.

Residents of economically stressed European nations are worrying as they near retirement. More than half of all people, in primarily developed nations, are worrying about their retirement savings. 69% of surveyed Spanish and 67% of French worry about their retirement fund. In the US, that number is 62%.

Approximately half of retirees are taking a hit in their standard of living once they reach their golden age. Again, French are at the top of the list with 69% of surveyed participants saying they do not enjoy the same standard of living in retirement as they had when they were working. In the US, this number is only 30%.

With governments all burdened in debt, it’s widely expected that budget cuts are in the near future. Low saving rates are becoming a norm amongst the middle class who are living paycheck to paycheck. Inequality is becoming a bigger issue. Retirement is not the forward looking event it once used to be.

Article by: Francisco Cortez – Delgado
I graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s of Political Studies. The intertwined world of politics and economics intrigue me. My favourite stories to cover are the ones that show how a few selected officials can impact nationwide macro-economic policies. I also follow the broader markets and FOREX.

• Healthcare spending will rise by 5.5% annually over next decade as more people get on Medicare
• In order to cover these added costs, governments will be pressured to raise taxes and private insurers to raise premiums
• Investors of insurance and healthcare companies will benefit from increase in spending

Government health agency, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), estimates that US health spending will reach $6T over the next decade. From 2018 – 2027, health spending is expected to increase annually by an average of 5.5% every year. This adds up to health spending that will be 70% higher in 2027 than it is today.

Rising income levels, better employment rate and more people enrolling for the federal health insurance program Medicare will cause healthcare spending to rise to 19.4 percent of the U.S. economy by 2027. In 2017, this figure accounted for 17.9% of the US GDP.

What does this all mean?

Well, approximately 47% of the health spending will be funded by government, compared to 45% in 2017. This additional money will have to be sourced from somewhere. The government will be left with two options to cover the higher spending: higher taxes or go into further debt. The likeliest scenario will be a combination of both.

The remaining 43% of health spending will be funded by private insurance companies. That is approximately an extra $1T in spending for insurers, who will likely raise premiums to cover the costs.

Who stands to benefit most?

Increases in healthcare spending will benefit insurers and healthcare companies. With the industry expected to increase by an average of 5.5% annually, the market remains healthy for investors in the following names:

Insurance Companies

1. UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH)
2. Humana (NYSE: HUM)
3. Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B)

Healthcare Companies

• Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN)
• Merck (NYSE: MRK)
• Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY)

Article by: Francisco Cortez – Delgado
I graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s of Political Studies. The intertwined world of politics and economics intrigue me. My favourite stories to cover are the ones that show how a few selected officials can impact nationwide macro-economic policies. I also follow the broader markets and FOREX.

• Bloomberg’s “Vice Index” tracks the price of recreational drugs around the world. In the US, street drug prices are up 40%.

Each year, Bloomberg looks at the price of recreational drugs to see how they have risen in price. Bloomberg’s “Vice Index” is a basket made up of opioids, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants (ie. ecstasy and meth).

In 2019, recreational drug prices are up around the world. Americans would need to pay $846, the third-highest price in the world. This is up more than 40% from 2018 and is behind only Australia and New Zealand, which were $1,263 and $1,075 respectively.

Transportation costs and annual earnings are likely the top reasons for added costs. Latin America, Middle East and Africa, where parts of the drugs used for the basket are made, were the cheapest regions.

Article by: Francisco Cortez – Delgado
I graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s of Political Studies. The intertwined world of politics and economics intrigue me. My favourite stories to cover are the ones that show how a few selected officials can impact nationwide macro-economic policies. I also follow the broader markets and FOREX.

• US breaches sourced from Chinese hackers have resurged since Obama left office
• Hackers are targeting companies with large data on the general public
• Increase in attacks could end up being a tailwind for cybersecurity names

American businesses have seen an increase in attacks from Chinese-based hacker groups. The spike in attacks, which is primarily targeting telecom, pharmaceuticals and hospitality companies, can be traced back to Trump’s presidency, around the same time the two countries started clashing.

The Obama administration reached a truce in 2015 not to conduct cybertheft of trade secrets and intellectual property against one another for commercial gain. With the recent tension between the two nations, this truce appears to have been called off.

Hackers target telecommunications and hospitality firms due to the amount of information they have on the general public and other organizations like governments and businesses. The US government last year attributed to China the hack of Marriott’s Starwood hotel chain, which potentially exposed the personal information of approximately 500 million guests.

The increase in the amount of breaches will bring greater exposure, and potential business, to cybersecurity companies like FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE) and ProofPoint (NASDAQ:PFPT).

Article by: Mick Ross
Mick is currently a full-time investor and formerly a buy-side analyst (2yrs) covering healthcare companies. Before that, he was a salesperson at a bulge-bracket firm, based in Dallas, Texas. Mick blogs to clarify and synthesize his investment thought process and to elicit feedback; additionally he likes to connect with other investors and swap ideas.