Intuitive Surgical rises 9 pct. on strong earnings

WASHINGTON -- Shares of robot surgical company Intuitive Surgical Inc. rose 9 percent Wednesday after the company reported continuing demand for its remote-controlled surgical devices.

THE SPARK: On Tuesday Intuitive Surgical said that it sold another 175 da Vinci surgical systems in the fourth quarter, up from 152 a year ago. The da Vinci system uses robotic arms, cameras and a remote control console to help doctors perform surgery with tiny incisions. Intuitive Surgical's business model is built around sales of the $1.5 million devices, plus disposable instruments that must be replaced after each procedure. Intuitive said procedures with the robot increased 25 percent in the fourth quarter, with the largest areas of growth in gynecology and general surgery procedures.

THE ANALYSIS: The company said Tuesday that it expects procedures with da Vinci to increase by 20 to 23 percent in the coming year. Analysts say the actual figure could be higher. Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Rick Wise said Intuitive Surgical "starts new fiscal years with a conservative outlook that is frequently exceeded." Wise raised his 2013 sales projections for the company to $2.56 billion from $2.49 billion.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Jeremy Feffer said there are "limited opportunities for revenue upside" compared with 2012. However he still expects "continued solid growth" and raised his price target for the stock to $500 from $525.

SHARE ACTION: Intuitive Surgical shares rose $47.10, or 9.1 percent, to $565.59 in afternoon trading.

View the original article here

Doctors Praise Bill To Repeal Medicare Cost-Cutting Board

The American Medical Association praised the reintroduction Wednesday of a bill to repeal the controversial Medicare payments board in President Obama's healthcare law.

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) reintroduced his bill to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) — a panel of 15 healthcare experts with the power to cut Medicare payments to doctors if spending grows faster than a prescribed rate.

The AMA and other healthcare providers strongly oppose the IPAB, which would essentially have the power to make Medicare cuts now reserved for Congress — and thus subject to intense lobbying by groups trying to avoid a cut to their payments.

"IPAB is a panel that would have too little accountability and the power to make indiscriminate cuts that adversely affect access to healthcare for patients," AMA President Jeremy Lazarus said in a statement.

Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) is again cosponsoring Roe's bill, as she did in the last Congress.

Republicans — including Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — have called for IPAB repeal to be on the table in debt and deficit negotiations, but because the IPAB reduces costs, repealing it would add to the deficit.

View Comments

View the original article here

ObamaCare Highlights Top Hospitals — And Bars More

Surgeons insert a stent into a patient during heart surgery on Dec. 22, 2010, at Avera Heart Hospital, a physician-owned specialty hospital based in... View Enlarged Image

The Obama administration says it's identified hospitals that provide patients with the most value under a new ObamaCare bonus program. Unfortunately, the sweeping health law also makes it very hard for such facilities to expand or new ones to be built. Unfortunately, they turn out to be the very same facilities that the sweeping health care law tries to block from expanding.

ObamaCare has impeded the expansion of the hospitals that may provide patients with the most value according to the results of an ObamaCare bonus program.

The law's Hospital Value Based Purchasing program rewards hospitals that meet certain quality standards with a small percentage increase in their Medicare payments. Those that fall short face small Medicare payment percentage cuts.

The standards include "process measures," such as the percentage of patients receiving an antibiotic within an hour of surgery, and patient satisfaction measures, including how well a doctor communicates with a patient.

Nine of the top 10 hospitals in the first round of HVBP were physician-owned. Indeed, doctor-owned hospitals accounted for 48 of the 100 top spots, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. More than 3,400 hospitals were included in the program.

Treasure Valley Hospital got the top bonus, a 0.83% increase in its Medicare payments. The Boise, Idaho, physician-owned hospital offers an array of surgical services.

Most physician-owned hospitals tend to specialize in one field, such as cardiac or orthopedic surgery.

Physician-owned hospitals did so well because they "have more focus on patients and patient care. They put more money at the bedside," said Paul Kerens, president of Physician Hospitals of America. "Unlike major hospitals, we don't have as many bureaucratic layers to go through to get quality to the patient bedside."

Nancy Foster, vice-president for safety and patient quality at the American Hospital Association, said, "The measures are dominated by heart care and orthopedic care, which is where physician-owned hospitals are likely to excel. Additionally, hospitals that are new and smaller do better on the (patient satisfaction) measures and those differences make it more challenging for general, acute-care hospitals to score well."

While ObamaCare highlights and rewards physician-owned hospitals for their high patient value, the law also effectively bars any more from ever being built. Provisions withhold Medicare funds from any physician-owned hospital built after 2010.

That was a big victory for traditional hospitals, which claim their physician-owned rivals don't take as many low-paying Medicaid patients and thus are unfair competition. For years the AHA and the Federation of American Hospitals lobbied Congress to stop the expansion of physician-owned hospitals.

View the original article here

The Kids Are Not All Right: Senate Hearing Highlights Children’s Mental Health Coverage Gaps

During a wide-ranging hearing on the status of America’s mental health system before a Senate health committee on Thursday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) Franken declared his intention to introduce the Mental Health In Schools Act to address issues of mental illnesses among America’s youth. Thursday’s event was the first Senate hearing on mental health care in six years, as the U.S. is currently engaged in a renewed national conversation on gun safety and mental health issues after last month’s tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Franken explained that his legislation would “allow schools to collaborate with mental health providers, law enforcement, and other community-based organizations to provide expanded access to mental health care for their students” and “support schools in training staff and volunteers to spot warning signs in kids and to refer them to the appropriate services.”

While emphasizing that he didn’t want to inaccurately stigmatize most Americans with mental illnesses as being predisposed to violence, the senator questioned the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Thomas Insel, about the correlation between untreated mental problems in American youth and subsequent violent behavior:

FRANKEN: If mental health issues go untreated, does that increase the chance that someone within a subset, a certain subset of a type of mental illness, will become more violent, Dr. Insel, or will be higher chance that they might become violent?

INSEL: So, Sen. Franken, within that narrow band of the people we’re talking about — which is a small, small segment of the population of people with a mental illness — but those, for instance, who have what we call ‘first episode psychosis’ — we know that the duration of untreated psychosis is related, in fact, to the risk for having a violent act. That’s been studied quite carefully and there’s a real correlation there, so closing that gap is one of the things we can do to increase safety.

FRANKEN: So since, in a sense since Newtown did prompt this, in that very narrow — and that was one of a number of horrific occurrences where I think that no one would question that in Tucson, in Newtown, that we’re talking about someone who’s deranged — that had that person been diagnosed, say, in school and had been able to get some kind of treatment, that there is some kind of connection between making sure that we’re identifying and treating children early on with the tragedy that brought us here?

INSEL: …The published data are quite clear. The difference between severely violent acts like homicide between those who are untreated and those who are treated is fifteen fold. So you drop the risk fifteen fold with treatment. So it’s vital – it’s absolutely vital – that we detect earlier and intervene earlier with something that’s effective.

While the public education system serves as American children’s primary resource for accessing mental health care, only one in five American children in need of treatment actually receives it. This is particularly problematic considering that half of all lifetime mental disorder cases set in by the age of 14.

But if the last several weeks are any indication, lawmakers seem to have woken up to the fact that the current trend is unsustainable. Franken’s proposal for expanding the public school system’s mental health safety net would work in conjunction with President Obama’s Project AWARE initiative to provide similar support and training to schools and other community-based organizations.

View the original article here

North Carolina GOP Governor Distances Himself From His Party’s Super-Regressive Tax Plan

North Carolina Republican lawmakers, following on the heels of Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Gov. Sam Brownback (R-KS), have proposed eliminating their state’s income tax and corporate tax, replacing them with an expanded sales tax. Such a move is highly regressive, pushing taxes onto those lower on the income scale who are likely to spend most or all of their income.

The state’s Republican governor though, seems to be wary of the plan, with his budget director admitting that it would “absolutely” be regressive:

Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget director distanced the Republican chief executive from a proposal to eliminate income taxes in North Carolina and expressed his own “great concerns” with the concept being floated by leading GOP lawmakers. [...]

In particular, Pope cited a concern that the higher sales tax is “absolutely, no doubt” regressive, meaning it would hurt low-income taxpayers the hardest. He said it amounts to a gross income tax “without any regard to whether you are making any money.” And he worried about upsetting the current three-tier system of income, sales and properties taxes, calling it “fairly balanced.”

The North Carolina Justice Center’s budget and tax project found that the plan proposed by the GOP would “provide a significant windfall to the wealthiest 20 percent of state taxpayers while requiring low- and middle-income households to pay more. A family earning $24,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $500, while one earning $1 million would get a $41,000 break.” This chart shows the change in taxes as a share of income for various income levels:

View the original article here

New IPO for the Dogs, Says Cramer

Background

Zoetis makes anti-infectives, vaccines, anti-parasite medications, as well as medicinal feed additives and other pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products for the animal health industry.

About 65% of the company's sales are livestock related, and the other 35% come from healthcare for dogs, cats and horses.

"Make no mistake, animal health is a huge business," said Cramer.

According to Pfizer, just vaccines and medicines for animals represents a $22 billion market. And after the spin-off, Zoetis will be the largest manufacturer of animal health products on earth, with roughly a 19% market share.

"In many ways, designing medicines for animals is actually a better business than coming up with drugs for humans. You don't need to do as many clinical trials, which means your products get to market much more quickly," Cramer said.

"Also most animal health customers pay out-of-pocket, so the insurance companies have a lot less leverage over Zoetis when it comes to reimbursement," Cramer added.

"And you also have less competition from generic drugs in this space, another big positive," he said.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More from Cramer:
Secret Bull Story Developing
Financial Crisis: As Cramer Warned, Fed Laughed
Worst Time of Year to Make Money
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

View the original article here

Remarks by the President at a Personnel Announcement

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

State Dining Room

2:38 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Over the last four years, I’ve talked about how shared prosperity -- from Wall Street to Main Street -- depends on smart, common-sense regulations that protect the vast majority of Americans from the irresponsible actions of a few. 

That’s why we passed tough reforms to protect consumers and our financial system from the kinds of abuse that nearly brought the economy to its knees.  Today, there are rules to help families -- responsible families buy a home or send their child to college without worrying about being tricked out of their life savings.  There are rules to make sure that financial firms which do the right thing aren’t undermined by those that don't do the right thing.  And there are rules to end taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailouts once and for all.  

But it’s not enough to change the law.  We also need cops on the beat to enforce the law.  And that’s why, today, I am nominating Mary Jo White to lead the Security and Exchange Commission, and Richard Cordray to continue leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

This guy is bothering me here -- (swatting at a fly.)

As a young girl, Mary Jo White was a big fan of the Hardy Boys.  I was, too, by the way. 

MS. WHITE:  Good.  Good.

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  As an adult, she’s built a career the Hardy Boys could only dream of.  Over a decade as a U.S. Attorney in New York, she helped prosecute white-collar criminals and money launderers.  In the early 1990s, she brought down John Gotti, the head of the Gambino crime syndicate.  And she brought to justice the terrorists responsible for bombing the World Trade Center and the American embassies in Africa.  So I’d say that’s a pretty good run.  You don't want to mess with Mary Jo.   

As one former SEC chairman said, Mary Jo “does not intimidate easily.”  And that’s important, because she has a big job ahead of her.  The SEC played a critical role in protecting our financial system during the worst of the financial crisis.  But there’s much more work to be done to complete the task of reforming Wall Street and making sure that American investors are better informed and better protected going forward.  And we need to keep going after irresponsible behavior in the financial industry so that taxpayers don’t pay the price.

I am absolutely confident that Mary Jo has the experience and the resolve to tackle these complex issues and protect the American people in a way that is smart and in a way that is fair.

And I want to thank Elisse Walter, who has done an outstanding job holding down the fort as chairwoman.  And I expect the Senate to confirm Mary Jo as soon as possible so she can get to work.

My second nominee is a familiar face.  A year and a half ago, I nominated Richard Cordray to lead the watchdog agency we created to give Americans the information they need to make sound financial choices and protect them from unscrupulous lenders and debt collectors. 

As a former attorney general of Ohio with a long record of working with Democrats and Republicans on behalf of the American people, nobody questioned Richard’s qualifications.  But he wasn’t allowed an up or down vote in the Senate, and as a consequence, I took action to appoint him on my own.  And over the last year, Richard has proved to be a champion of American consumers. 

Thanks to his leadership, we’ve made it tougher for families to be tricked into mortgages they can’t afford.  We’ve set clearer rules so that responsible lenders know how to operate fairly.  We’ve launched a “Know Before You Owe” campaign to help parents and students make smart decisions about paying for college.  We’ve cracked down on credit card companies that charge hidden fees, and forced those companies to make things right.  And through it all, Richard has earned a reputation as a straight shooter and somebody who’s willing to bring every voice to the table in order to do what’s right for consumers and our economy.

Now, Richard’s appointment runs out at the end of the year, and he can’t stay on the job unless the Senate finally gives him the vote that he deserves.  Financial institutions have plenty of lobbyists looking out for their interests.  The American people need Richard to keep standing up for them.  And there’s absolutely no excuse for the Senate to wait any longer to confirm him. 

So I want to thank Mary Jo, Richard, and their families once again for agreeing to serve.  And now I’d like to invite them to say a few words, starting with Mary Jo.

MS. WHITE:  Thank you, Mr. President, for the confidence that you have placed in me and the faith that you’ve shown in me by nominating me to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  I’m deeply, deeply honored. 

If confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to committing all of my energies to working with my fellow commissioners and the extremely dedicated and talented men and women of the staff of the SEC to fulfill the agency’s mission to protect investors, and to ensure the strength, efficiency, and the transparency of our capital markets.

The SEC, long a vital and positive force for the markets, has a lot of hard and important work ahead of it.  I would welcome the opportunity to lead those efforts and to build on the work of Chairman Mary Shapiro and Chairman Elisse Walter, who I’m very honored is present today.

And finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my husband, John White, who is here today, on what is our 43rd anniversary --

THE PRESIDENT:  Today?

MS. WHITE:  -- today -- for his strong support of me in seeking to engage in this very significant and challenging public service. 

Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

Richard.

MR. CORDRAY:  Thank you, Mr. President, for the confidence you’ve placed in me and our team at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  We understand that our mission is to stand on the side of consumers -- our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters -- and see that they’re treated fairly. 

For more than a year, we’ve been focused on making consumer finance markets work better for the American people.  We approach this work with open minds, open ears, and great determination. 

We all thank you and the Congress for the opportunity and the honor to serve our country in this important way.  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I just want to thank again Mary Jo and Richard for their willingness to serve.  These are people with proven track records.  They are going to look out for the American people, for American consumers, and make sure that our marketplace works better -- more transparently, more efficiently, more effectively.  So I again would urge the Senate to confirm both of them as quickly as possible. 

And I also want to express congratulations to the Whites for their anniversary.  If I had known, we would have maybe rolled out a cake or something.  (Laughter.)  But have fun.

MS. WHITE:  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  I hope you enjoy it. 

END
2:46 P.M. EST

Watch the full video of a Google+ Hangout with Vice President Joe Biden.

President Obama renominates Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

view all related blog posts

View the original article here

House Republicans Start New Congress By Telling The Same Old Lies About Wall Street Reform

The new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), this week released a statement announcing that “the work of our committee and subcommittees has perhaps never been more important to hard-working taxpayers.” However, Hensarling made it clear that he doesn’t have much interest in abandoning the playbook of former Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), as the statement went on to say “during the past few years, we’ve seen a mind-numbing, innovation-choking, job-killing flood of federal red tape…And we’ve observed how Congress enshrined a ‘too big to fail’ bailout scheme into law.”

But there is no “too big to fail bailout scheme” in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which was signed by President Obama in 2010. The law lays out a clear process, called resolution authority, for unwinding a troubled financial firm without resorting to the sort of bailouts used in 2008. The law, in fact, explicitly bars the use of the process to bail out a firm. Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) — whose name graces the Wall Street reform law — called the process “death panels” for banks.

But House Republicans love to perpetuate the myth that Dodd-Frank enshrines bailouts. In fact, recent House Republican budgets have called for the repeal of resolution authority, even though that would set the country back right where it was in 2008: with little choice but to bail out failing firms or risk a financial calamity. As economist Mark Thoma explained:

The resolution authority in Dodd-Frank is intended to fix this problem [of bailouts] by putting into place a procedure that is similar to what is done with ordinary banks. Resolution authority allows government regulators to take control of the banks, fix the problems, and then return them to the private sector. But, and this is important to recognize, Dodd-Frank also prevents the type of bank bailout that was done during the financial crisis.

Thus, the authority for the type of bailout that we saw during the crisis no longer exists. If if we now remove resolution authority there will be just one choice if a too big to fail firm gets in trouble — let it fail. That, and the cascading shadow bank failures that would follow, would be a disaster.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, responded to Hensarling’s statement by saying, “our colleagues in the majority made a claim which misrepresents the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act…Dodd-Frank specifically ends too-big-to-fail by prohibiting the bailout of a failing financial institution. In fact, it mandates the orderly liquidation of such an institution, in which its executives are dismissed and its shareholders are wiped out.”

Outgoing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an interview that he believes “efforts to water down the Dodd-Frank financial reform law have largely fallen by the wayside.” But that hasn’t stopped House Republicans from employing the same rhetorical pot shots that they were using even before the law passed.

View the original article here

Novartis meningitis vaccine wins EU approval

European regulators have approved the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Swiss drugmaker Novartis.

Novartis said Tuesday that the European Commission approved Bexsero for use in patients ages 2 months and older, and the company will make the vaccine available as soon as possible.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. The disease can be fatal or can leave patients with lifelong consequences such as brain damage or impaired hearing.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis, and while vaccines exist to protect against four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Novartis said a vaccination is the best defense against the rare disease, since its symptoms often resemble the flu, and it can be easily misdiagnosed.

The European Medicines Agency had said in November that it recommended the vaccine's approval. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the United States.

Its shares closed at $65.64 on Friday.

View the original article here

Amgen Gives Early Payday to the Bulls

Amgen, which was down slightly when the trades occurred, closed the session up 1.47 percent to $83.29. The stock fell on Jan. 8 after the company had cut its guidance because of a tax credit, but management remained sanguine over the longer term. That could be leading some investors to expect a positive report this afternoon.

Total option volume in the name was almost nine times greater than average in the session.

—By CNBC Contributor David Russell

Additional News: Top Biotech Trades

Additional Views: CBS Bulls Are Poised for Big Gains: Russell

___________________________

Options Trading School:

___________________________
Disclosures:

David Russell is a reporter and writer for OptionMonster. Russell has no positions in AMGN.

___________________________

.Disclaimer

View the original article here

Less talk, more action: No budget, no pay

By Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) - 01/22/13 04:30 PM ET

The date: April 29, 2009. The time: 05:31 p.m. On that day, at that hour, the United States Congress did something it has failed to do ever since – pass a budget.
That’s why I’m pleased the House will vote on legislation this week to withhold congressional pay until a federal budget is passed.

While countless families and businesses across America have had to make the tough choices to spend within their means, Congress has operated over a thousand days without passing a fiscal blueprint to restore financial sanity to Washington. This blatant neglect of a fundamental duty has led to runaway spending, trillion-dollar deficits and has contributed to the worst jobs climate since the Great Depression.
Make no mistake, passing a budget is not a choice. The 1974 Congressional Budget Act obligates both chambers to adopt a budget resolution every year by April 15. The House has done its part, passing resolutions the past two years that cut trillions in wasteful spending. Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others in his chamber continue to sit on the sidelines – 1,364 days and counting.

During this time, the national debt has grown from $11 trillion to over $16 trillion – exceeding the entire U.S. economy. In fact, the United States recently joined Greece on the short list of seven developed nations with debt exceeding total economic output. The last time America’s debt topped the size of its overall economy was in 1947 due to the costs incurred fighting World War II. Today, there is no excuse for spending more than we’re taking in. Frankly, it’s a recipe for disaster. ?

The people deserve better.  And for that reason, I have four words: No Budget, No Pay.? ?The legislation I have co-sponsored is simple – members of the U.S. Senate and House do not get paid until they pass a budget. The appropriately named “No Budget, No Pay Act,” stipulates that if Congress does not approve a budget and spending bills by October 1st of each year, the paycheck for every single member of the Senate and House will be withheld until a budget is approved. Additionally, no member can retroactively receive pay that would have been earned during the time without a budget.? ?No small business would tolerate paying an employee who refuses to do his or her job.  So why should taxpayers pay a Congress that refuses to complete one of its most basic annual responsibilities? They shouldn’t, and that’s why I support the “No Budget, No Pay Act.” ? ?In Florida, passing a balanced budget is priority number one for the state legislature. In Washington, we need less talk and more action if we’re ever to remove the burden of debt that weighs so heavily upon us and future generations. ??It’s time to hold Congress’ feet to the fire.

View Comments

View the original article here