Cramer: Already High, This Stock Trades Higher

Biogen is a leading maker of the most effective treatments for multiple sclerosis, a disease which afflicts some 350 thousand people in the United States and perhaps two million worldwide.

"Because multiple sclerosis is a chronic condition that comes and goes, the goal of every MS treatment is simply to prevent relapses, basically to keep the disease at bay," Cramer explained. "Therefore, there's a population of people who need to take these drugs for life. The total MS market should be worth nearly $18 billion by 2016."

Among Biogen's treatments is a drug called Avonex, said Cramer.

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"It's a mature drug. Nonetheless, it still generated $2.9 billion in sales last year," he explained. "Biogen also makes Tysabri, viewed as having more side effects but also seen as a more effective treatment for MS. And just this week, Biogen received approval for a brand new MS drug called Tecfidera.

But Biogen is about much more than MS treatments. Cramer is also impressed with drugs Biogen has developed to treat other health issues.

"Biogen gets a piece of Rituxan," Cramer explained, "That's Roche's drug for non-hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis. Their cut is equal to about 20% of the drug's sales, and that came to more than a billion dollars last year."

Also the company is working on a hemophilia franchise that could ultimately be worth $3 billion in sales by the second half of the decade.

On top of that Cramer said they have promising new drugs still in earlier stages of development.

"Biogen has an antibody based therapy for MS that's in phase 2 development and they're partnered with ISIS on a spinal muscular atrophy drug that generated positive data just last week, but it's still only in phase one trials."

All told, Cramer likes what he sees.

"Given the strength of the company's MS franchise and their pipeline, I think there's still plenty of upside here. Of course, I hate to chase and the stock is at its 52-week high now, so I say you wait for a pullback and then do some buying—that is, if we get one."

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Does ‘Game of Thrones’ Need More Male Nudity?

My friend, New York Magazine television critic Matt Zoller Seitz has a novel solution to the complaint that Game of Thrones makes gratuitous use of female nudity: get the guys naked more often. He argues:

Since its 2011 debut, Thrones has been attacked for “gratuitous” nudity and labeled sexist for stripping its women more often than its men. These are two different complaints, though; intertwining them muddies each. The first concerns the appropriateness of graphic sex and/or nudity; the second is about the show’s “gaze,” which is undeniably heterosexual and male. But it’s possible to enjoy sex and nudity without guilt or bluenosed justifications while simultaneously pointing out that the scales of spectatorship are out of whack. I’d like Game of Thrones to enlarge the scope of its fantasy­ — to show more same-sex couplings and male nudity — as Starz’s Spartacus series has done with such panache. For all its tough, complicated women characters, Thrones is rightly perceived as too much of a ­sausagefest. The producers could change that perception by adding more sausage.

I think he’s on the right track, but has arrived at the wrong destination. What Game of Thrones needs isn’t more anatomy of any variety—and, as I’ll discuss at greater length in my full review of the season, which will be up on Friday, I think the show has actually absorbed that criticism in a productive way and is stronger for it. Instead, it needs more consensual sex, preferably in situations where one partner isn’t paying the other. At its best, Game of Thrones can be a terrific story about sexual violence in wartime. But for the full weight of that argument to be felt, and for sexual violence to register with the horror it’s meant to elicit—particularly given the troubling use of rape as a way to generate drama on prestige television without thought to larger context—we need to see the alternative, to see some of the happiness and normality that gets destroyed by war. It may be harder to depict good sex than the embarrassment of bad sex or the numbing fear of sexual violence. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying, in part to remind those of us watching at home what kind of good world our friends in Westeros and beyond are fighting for.

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Economics Model Answers Twelve - 2013

(Difference between revisions)4.  Review:  Suppose that after completing this course, you start a new company.  In your first year, you "broke even" (had zero profits), and in your second year you want to increase your revenue and profits.  After careful study of your market, you decide that you can increase your revenue by increasing your price.  Therefore your good must be price elastic/inelastic (choose one).4.  Review:  Suppose that after completing this course, you start a new company.  In your first year, you "broke even" (had zero profits), and in your second year you want to increase your revenue and profits.  After careful study of your market, you decide that you can increase your revenue by increasing your price.  Therefore your good must be price elastic/inelastic (choose one).:The good must be price inelastic.5.  A monopolistic competitive firm has the following characteristic that ''is lacking'' for a perfectly competitive firm:5.  A monopolistic competitive firm has the following characteristic that ''is lacking'' for a perfectly competitive firm:

1. Which concept in Economics do you think is the best self-motivator, which you might use to achieve more?

Answers vary, but could include a discussion of opportunity costs, maximizing marginal utility, economic costs, advantages of long run planning, how time is equivalent to money, etc.

2. Which is true about the average fixed costs (AFC) of a firm?

(a) A firm can eliminate these costs by shutting down in the short run.
(b) As output increases, AFC decreases.
(c) As output increases, AFC increases.
(d) AFC is part of average variable costs.

Briefly explain your answer.

B is the correct answer, because AFC is fixed costs divided by total output: FC/Q. As Q increases, the outcome decreases.

3. What is one of the primary responsibilities of the Federal Reserve Bank?

Control the interest rates of banks (which controls the flow of money), and keep banks from failing.

4. Review: Suppose that after completing this course, you start a new company. In your first year, you "broke even" (had zero profits), and in your second year you want to increase your revenue and profits. After careful study of your market, you decide that you can increase your revenue by increasing your price. Therefore your good must be price elastic/inelastic (choose one).

The good must be price inelastic.

5. A monopolistic competitive firm has the following characteristic that is lacking for a perfectly competitive firm:

(a) There are low barriers to entry.
(b) MR = MC in the long run.
(c) P > MC
(d) There are many competitors.

Choose one of the above and explain your answer.

The correct answer is "C". A monopolistic competitive firm has the characteristic "P > MC", which is not true for a perfectly competitive firm. A monopolistic competitive firm does not have to repeatedly lower its prices to keep up wih the competition.

6. If you were to loan someone money, why would you want him to pay you something extra (interest) when he pays back the loan? Give at least one reason.

Here are two reasons: the time value of money, and something extra to compensate you for taking the risk that your loan will not be paid back.

7. Review: is the cost of the bus for the March for Life trip to D.C. a "fixed cost" or a "variable cost"? Explain, assuming for the purpose of this question that one and only one bus can be used (in reality, we used several buses).

The cost of the bus is a fixed cost, because it is the same cost whether there is one person on the bus (or no one), and whether there are 47 people on the bus. The cost does not "vary" with the output.

8. Suppose I will pay you $1000 in two years, and the interest rate is 10% per year, compounded annually. How much should you pay me today to receive $1000 in two years? Show your work.

Work backwards: at 10% interest, $1000 in two years is the same as $1000/1.1=$909.09 in one year. That is because $909.09 generates $1000 in one year at 10% interest. Then we have to work backwards one more year to get to "today": $909.09/1.1=$826.45. So the answer is $826.45 - that is what we would need to receive today for it to be the same as $1000 in two years, at 10% interest compounded annually. Check our answer: $826.45 times 10% = $82.65. Add that and our total in one year is it would require $1000/1.1=$909.10. Repeat that process for the second year and the total is $909.10 plus $90.91=$1000.01 (the extra penny is due to rounding error).

9. Explain why in long-run equilibrium the price charged in monopolistic competition is greater than marginal cost but equal to average total cost.

In monopolistic competition there are almost no barriers of entry. A new firm can easily enter the market if products were selling above average total cost. If they charged more than ATC they would be undersold by the competition, and if they charged less then they would loss money overall.

10. Economics is sometimes called the “dismal science” because economists predicted population to grow faster than the food supply, marginal returns to diminish, and profits to vanish. But, in fact, there is an abundance of food and profits have not vanished. Why is economics not so dismal after all?

Because new inventions and hard work by people create wealth, charity, ingenuity, and so on.

11. What is "Keynesian economics" and what is your view of it?

Keynesian economics claims that government interference, and especially government spending, is good for the economy.

12. An agreement by different firms with each other to reduce output is illegal. Why should that be illegal?

Yes, because reducing output is harmful to the public.

13. Nash equilibrium, revisited: What is the Nash equilibrium for two gas stations (an oligopoly) that are situated immediately across the street from each other? In other words, what price do they sell at, expressed in terms of one of their cost measures? Explain the process that reaches that "equilibrium".

They sell at MR=MC. If one firm were to sell higher, than the other firm would boost its profits by reducing its price to where MR=MC.

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Suicides, Disease: Europe's Sick Economy Costs Lives

Europe's financial crisis is costing lives, with suicides and infectious diseases on the rise, yet politicians are not addressing the problem, health experts said on Wednesday.

Deep budget cuts and growing unemployment are tipping more people into depression, and falling incomes mean fewer people can see their doctors or afford to buy medicines.

The result has been a reversal since 2007 of a long-term decline in suicide rates, coupled with worrying outbreaks of diseases including HIV - and even malaria - in Greece, according to an major analysis of European health in The Lancet journal.

Countering these threats requires strong social protection schemes, researchers argue. But the austerity measures imposed after a string of crises in southern Europe - most recently in Cyprus - has shredded such safety nets.

"There is a clear problem of denial of the health effects of the crisis, even though they are very apparent," said lead researcher Martin McKee of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a group backed by the World Health Organisation.

"The European Commission has a treaty obligation to look at the health effect of all of its policies but has not produced any impact assessment on the health effects of the austerity measures imposed by the troika."

The so-called troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund is the group of lenders responsible for a series of economic bail-outs.

McKee said the failure of European governments and the European Commission to face up to the health consequences of their policies was reminiscent of the "obfuscation" of the tobacco industry over curbs on smoking.

The case of Iceland, however, suggests there is an alternative.

Despite a devastating financial crisis, Iceland rejected austerity, following a referendum, and instead continued to invest in its social welfare system. As a result, the researchers found there had been no discernible effects on health since the crisis.

Iceland's economy has now returned to growth, but the recovery is patchy and inflation has remained stubbornly high.

By contrast, McKee and colleagues reported that healthcare systems were now under strain in many European countries, including Spain, Portugal and Greece, with a series of negative consequences.

In particular, there is a growing trend for patients to seek care at a later stage, even though this will mean worse outcomes for individuals and higher costs for the healthcare system in the long term.

In Greece, meanwhile, hospitals are struggling to maintain basic standards, resulting in a rise in antibiotic resistant infections, and patients have suffered shortages of a number of medicines, including epilepsy treatments.

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Remarks by the President at Swearing-in Ceremony of Julia Pierson as the Director of the U.S. Secret Service

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

Oval Office

3:16 P.M. EDT

(The Vice President administers the oath to Ms. Pierson.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Congratulations.

THE PRESIDENT:  Great job.

MS. PIERSON:  Thank you very much, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.  Well, listen, I have to say that Julia’s reputation within the Service is extraordinary.  She’s come up through the ranks.  She’s done just about every job there is to do at the Secret Service. 

Obviously, she’s breaking the mold in terms of directors of the agency, and I think that people are all extraordinarily proud of her.  And we have the greatest confidence in the wonderful task that lies ahead and very confident that she is going to do a great job.  So we just want to say congratulations. 

As Joe Biden pointed out, this person now probably has more control over our lives than anyone else -- (laughter) -- except for our spouses.  And I couldn’t be placing our lives in better hands than Julia’s.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And my agents are excited that we picked her.

THE PRESIDENT:  Absolutely.  You’re going to do a great job.

Q    How did you make your decision?

THE PRESIDENT:  She has extraordinary qualifications, and I think a lot of people who have worked with Julia know how dedicated, how professional, how committed she is, and I think are absolutely certain that she’s going to thrive in this job.

Thank you, guys.

Q    How are you feeling about your bracket, sir?

THE PRESIDENT:  Busted.  (Laughter.)  I think my women’s bracket is doing much better than my men’s bracket.

END  
3:18 P.M. EDT

During a ceremony in the Oval Office, President Obama praised the veteran agent for her dedication, professionalism and commitment to her work.

On Thursday, March 28th at 3:00 pm ET, White House innovation advisor Tom Kalil will join a Google+ Hangout to discuss the Maker Movement with leading innovators and Makers from around the country.

It was the second trip in two years for the Galaxy, while the Kings made their first visit after winning their first Stanley Cup in 2012.

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User:Conservative/scenic pictures and clips

Scenery around the world:

Boracay Island:

IloIlo City:

Caribbean:

China:

India:

Greece:

Norway:

Ireland:

Russia:

Africa:

France:

Germany:

Italy:

Scotland:

India - Documentary 2012:

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BRIEF-FDA approves Biogen Idec's Tecfidera for Multiple Sclerosis

March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

* FDA says approved Biogen idec's tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate)

capsules to treat adults with relapsing forms of Multiple Sclerosis

* Source text for Eikon:

* Further company coverage ((Bangalore Newsroom; +1 646 223 8780))

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