Being a young adult in this present U.S. economy is quite the challenge. With unemployment rate at 9% and quite higher for young adults, last year youth age 24 and younger had an 18.4% unemployment rate. High debt from schooling has not guaranteed a job or higher pay. Those college undergraduates that decided to go back to school and receive a graduate degree to evade the recession find themselves in just about the same position but now with much more debt.
Education should always be a positive investment, but in this economy it seems that going back to school has to be strategized and can end up being a set back. College costs have grown faster than inflation and lending practices have certainly changed. These factors have contributed to a lower amount of people going for advanced degrees. There were more men that earned doctorate degrees in 1975 than in 2005. The only reason the amount of PhDs grew during that period was because the number of women receiving doctorates tripled.
According to an annual report from the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington the doctorate degrees given in 2008-09 where 28,469 for men and 28,962 for women. The class of 2008-09 is believed to be the class to be performing the worst, employers prefer to hire recent graduates than to hire someone who has been out of work for such a long time.
Starting in the summer of 2012 the subsidized loan offered by the government will disappear for graduate students meaning they will start accruing interest on their loans the minute the money disburses. In the past low income graduate students could enjoy going to school interest free on their subsidized loan until 6 months (grace period) after graduation or their last date of attendance. Low income undergraduates will still have subsidized loans available to them. Those considering advancing their learning have to think it twice since degrees that take longer to finish will prove to be more expensive. The added costs will place a burden on the education of college students in a rather slow economy.
Education is what leads to economic growth if the present environment favors the small percentage that is wealthy, then that gives the 1% of the population more of a lead to dwarf all others. Occupy Wall Street is a sign of what young adults are going through, men and women that want to work and not feel bad because they took out a loan to pay for their education. Young men and women who want to start families in this decade and have the ability to buy a home. With little or no credit and student loans that look like mortgages it is difficult for this new generation not to feel upset. The American dream should not be impossible and young adults should not have to live with their parents until they are well into their 30's in order to be able to survive.
Our economy and society has to enhance our education and promote higher learning to all. We have to enable our society to compete at a global level to expand our growth. In a world where technology and innovation are rapidly accelerating we should encourage learning and invest in creating jobs that will enhance the quality of life of our society.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Human Genome Sciences Inc. Overview
Benlysta is the first new lupus drug to be FDA approved in over 50 years and one of the first drugs to derive from the human genome. The human genome project in the 1990's didn't lead to much until now with Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGSI) and their lupus compound Benlysta.
Being first doesn't always equal success or fast growth. During the summer two biotechs were severely punished one of them was HGSI the other Dendreon (DNDN). Human Genome Sciences' stock price was steadily in the 20's for most of 2010-2011 until the summertime blues came and brought the stock down to trade at about half its value. Dendreon with its first FDA-approved autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer Provenge also took a slide during the first days of August from which it has not recovered.
The European debt crisis and the worry of a U.S. double dip recession made investors flee for their lives. The scare made many rethink their strategies as they returned. New technology is seen as risky and in a slowing economy and volatile market traders want out on these high risk securities. Investors are not rushing to return to biotech companies in an environment where traditionally safe stocks have been trading violently.
Human Genome Sciences reported a net loss for the third quarter of 2011 of $88.4 million compared with a net loss of $40.9 million for the third quarter of 2010. In February 2011 HGSI expected cash and investments at the end of 2011 to total about $650 million but has recently stated that they expect that number to drop to about $470 million.
HGSI is co-marketing Benlysta with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) but the worries that the drug may not be as profitable in the next few years has brought down the stock's price. The Glaxo buyout has been rumored since the drug was still in the clinical trial stages yet it has only been a rumor that has given the stock some brief upward movement. The stock is likely to stay highly volatile for the upcoming months. It is hard to justify a high price for a pharmaceutical like Benlysta when the value is based on future events that are set to happen years from now. Some analysts have predicted that in 2019 HGSI is expected to reach sales worldwide of well over a billion.
The stock's low price makes the buyout not likely to happen any time soon. The fact that the two companies are working on other projects to treat other diseases makes another buyer aside from GSK not likely. If GSK does buy in the near term then that would give HGSI a nice rally and a good chance for traders to exit with a profit.
The number of accounts ordering Benlysta have increased, purchases of the lupus intravenous infusion has been steadily penetrating hospitals with very large lupus cohorts. Benlysta has also received marketing authorization in Europe making it available in several European countries it is also available in Canada. It also received approval for public fund reimbursement in Spain.
Pharmaceutical companies operating in the negative zone is common with the R&D and expenses to bring drugs to the market. Yet once the blockbuster emerges sales are to make up for the weak income statements. With HGSI Benlysta is the home run the only concern is that the sales may not be as strong and it will take longer to reach the break even point. The longer the wait the more room for unexpected events to come about either good or bad. HGSI is a day traders' stock with high volatility and fairly low volume. For the long term trader the price may seem attractive but this may result in a very long and bumpy ride.
Being first doesn't always equal success or fast growth. During the summer two biotechs were severely punished one of them was HGSI the other Dendreon (DNDN). Human Genome Sciences' stock price was steadily in the 20's for most of 2010-2011 until the summertime blues came and brought the stock down to trade at about half its value. Dendreon with its first FDA-approved autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer Provenge also took a slide during the first days of August from which it has not recovered.
The European debt crisis and the worry of a U.S. double dip recession made investors flee for their lives. The scare made many rethink their strategies as they returned. New technology is seen as risky and in a slowing economy and volatile market traders want out on these high risk securities. Investors are not rushing to return to biotech companies in an environment where traditionally safe stocks have been trading violently.
Human Genome Sciences reported a net loss for the third quarter of 2011 of $88.4 million compared with a net loss of $40.9 million for the third quarter of 2010. In February 2011 HGSI expected cash and investments at the end of 2011 to total about $650 million but has recently stated that they expect that number to drop to about $470 million.
HGSI is co-marketing Benlysta with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) but the worries that the drug may not be as profitable in the next few years has brought down the stock's price. The Glaxo buyout has been rumored since the drug was still in the clinical trial stages yet it has only been a rumor that has given the stock some brief upward movement. The stock is likely to stay highly volatile for the upcoming months. It is hard to justify a high price for a pharmaceutical like Benlysta when the value is based on future events that are set to happen years from now. Some analysts have predicted that in 2019 HGSI is expected to reach sales worldwide of well over a billion.
The stock's low price makes the buyout not likely to happen any time soon. The fact that the two companies are working on other projects to treat other diseases makes another buyer aside from GSK not likely. If GSK does buy in the near term then that would give HGSI a nice rally and a good chance for traders to exit with a profit.
The number of accounts ordering Benlysta have increased, purchases of the lupus intravenous infusion has been steadily penetrating hospitals with very large lupus cohorts. Benlysta has also received marketing authorization in Europe making it available in several European countries it is also available in Canada. It also received approval for public fund reimbursement in Spain.
Pharmaceutical companies operating in the negative zone is common with the R&D and expenses to bring drugs to the market. Yet once the blockbuster emerges sales are to make up for the weak income statements. With HGSI Benlysta is the home run the only concern is that the sales may not be as strong and it will take longer to reach the break even point. The longer the wait the more room for unexpected events to come about either good or bad. HGSI is a day traders' stock with high volatility and fairly low volume. For the long term trader the price may seem attractive but this may result in a very long and bumpy ride.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Rising Healthcare Costs
Rising healthcare costs have led many companies to trim costs and find clever ways to minimize the bill.
Wells Fargo is planning to cut costs by promoting insurance plans that will encourage employees to spend less on healthcare. The options are either to put pretax dollars in these accounts or have the company fund an account this will mean the employee will pay higher insurance premiums.
The accounts puts the employee in a position that makes them more involved in how they are spending healthcare dollars. If employees decide to fund the accounts with their own pretax dollars they will pay more of their medical expenses depending on how often they get sick. On the other hand if they stay healthy they get to enjoy lower premiums.
According to the Center for Disease Control about half of all chronic diseases are linked to problems that are preventable such as obesity, physical inactivity and smoking.
Many studies have shown that patients with chronic diseases that get involved in their own care and take an interest in their health, have lower health care expenses because their health improves.
Job seekers are more attracted to work at a company that offers better healthcare benefits 25% of them will choose employment based on better health benefits according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. But In this economic environment they will happily take just about any employment and healthcare package that is offered.
According to the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey 2007 about 50 million Americans did not have health insurance and 25 million of them were underinsured.
What have the uninsured and underinsured done to survive?
Couples have been marrying to give their significant other health care benefits. Others have chosen to travel to receive medical attention. Destinations such as South America, Central America and Asia have been chosen for those seeking hip replacement, heart surgery, dental work as well as other medical procedures. According to Josef Woodman author of "Patients Beyond Borders" savings from medical tourism can add up to 40% per procedure.
About 400 organizations worldwide have been accredited by the Joint Commission International. Of course there are pros and cons when considering medical tourism. If a medical complication arises or post operative follow ups are necessary the patient will have to travel once again or prolong their trip. Also the doctor overseas will not be familiar with the patient's medical history. On the other hand the patient will get to take advantage of the trip and get to visit popular tourist destinations. Some oversea doctors have been trained and schooled in the U.S. making them highly qualified.
The Commonwealth Fund found that the uninsured and underinsured both behave very similar when it comes to taking care of their medical needs. Many of them do not visit the doctor regularly, undergo check ups and lab tests or fill prescriptions.
The highest rate of underinsured at about 31% can be found in families with incomes under the poverty level.
It appears that the uninsured and underinsured are not as proactive when it comes to medical care and are less likely to seek medical attention.
Wells Fargo is planning to cut costs by promoting insurance plans that will encourage employees to spend less on healthcare. The options are either to put pretax dollars in these accounts or have the company fund an account this will mean the employee will pay higher insurance premiums.
The accounts puts the employee in a position that makes them more involved in how they are spending healthcare dollars. If employees decide to fund the accounts with their own pretax dollars they will pay more of their medical expenses depending on how often they get sick. On the other hand if they stay healthy they get to enjoy lower premiums.
According to the Center for Disease Control about half of all chronic diseases are linked to problems that are preventable such as obesity, physical inactivity and smoking.
Many studies have shown that patients with chronic diseases that get involved in their own care and take an interest in their health, have lower health care expenses because their health improves.
Job seekers are more attracted to work at a company that offers better healthcare benefits 25% of them will choose employment based on better health benefits according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. But In this economic environment they will happily take just about any employment and healthcare package that is offered.
According to the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey 2007 about 50 million Americans did not have health insurance and 25 million of them were underinsured.
What have the uninsured and underinsured done to survive?
Couples have been marrying to give their significant other health care benefits. Others have chosen to travel to receive medical attention. Destinations such as South America, Central America and Asia have been chosen for those seeking hip replacement, heart surgery, dental work as well as other medical procedures. According to Josef Woodman author of "Patients Beyond Borders" savings from medical tourism can add up to 40% per procedure.
About 400 organizations worldwide have been accredited by the Joint Commission International. Of course there are pros and cons when considering medical tourism. If a medical complication arises or post operative follow ups are necessary the patient will have to travel once again or prolong their trip. Also the doctor overseas will not be familiar with the patient's medical history. On the other hand the patient will get to take advantage of the trip and get to visit popular tourist destinations. Some oversea doctors have been trained and schooled in the U.S. making them highly qualified.
The Commonwealth Fund found that the uninsured and underinsured both behave very similar when it comes to taking care of their medical needs. Many of them do not visit the doctor regularly, undergo check ups and lab tests or fill prescriptions.
The highest rate of underinsured at about 31% can be found in families with incomes under the poverty level.
It appears that the uninsured and underinsured are not as proactive when it comes to medical care and are less likely to seek medical attention.
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